Good morning, say it back.

Figured I've been a cuck long enough and bailed on actually making a Tutorial Tuesday post. Partially because I'm lazy, partially because I couldn't think of something to write, partially because of work/personal life shit. Anyway, here I am, and today we're going to dive into what, I believe, to be a solid list of flavors that you should have at your disposal. I will break this list of flavors down into three sections; Versatile, Abstract, and Accent. It's pretty obviously where these all fit in, but before I get into it, let's have a quick refresher course on how flavors can sit in a recipe.

Flavor Positioning - Bases VS Top Notes

So again, I'm sure this is nothing new to 90% of y'all reading this, but for those new mixers flooding in like some sort of new plague, this could be beneficial. I'll keep it as brief as possible, because this is not really something that needs too much explanation.

The base in your recipe is the "generalized" profile of what you're trying to experience through the vape, or the most dominate profile in the mix. Depending on what you want will determine what your base should be. In something like a strawberries and cream recipe, it almost always invariably stands that the cream notes are your base. This is simply because creams are notorious for becoming overpowering as time goes on. Things like TPA Vanilla Bean Ice Cream, HS French Vanilla Ice Cream, or CAP Vanilla Custard tend to really dominate a mix after a couple of days of aging. While, off a shake, you might think you found the perfect balance between your creams and fruits, it's almost always going to end up leaning more heavily toward those creams after a day or two. Ways to combat this? Simple. Boost your fruit notes higher in a fruit/cream mix, let the mix sit for a day or two, then make a decision. Is the fruit still holding up how you'd like? Perfect, you can make small tweaks depending on preference. Is the fruit completely lost in the ice cream or custard? Great, you can dial back the cream and bump up the fruit in the next attempt? And vice versa.

TL;DR - the base is your main focus of the mix. The flavor or profile you want to stand out among the others. Side note, your base needs to be strong. If your main profile tastes like garbage, any accents or top notes are going to be affected negatively as well. What's the phrase? Something about houses and foundations.

Now, the top notes, or accents in your mix. These are your little unique additions that make your mix better than the next. Staying in line with the strawberry cream example. Maybe you want that cream to be a little darker or more complex. Instead of just blasting ass with TPA VBIC, maybe you add a little FLV Milk & Honey for some deeper, darker, and more thick accents. Perhaps you add (my personal favorite), some FLV Bourbon in there for a boozy note. Creams ain't your focus? Add a touch of FA Black Currant to add some fruity depth/complexity to the strawberry. Are creams not even a part of your strawberry mix? Well great, because a few drops of your preferred lemon or lime flavor will bring those berries up to a new level of brightness. Play around, accents are fun.

TL;DR - the accents are your top notes. The varying factor in a mix. Use these to boost up the aspects of your base that you want to stand out.

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Alright, so we touched on the main two categories your flavors could fall into, so here comes the list. As always, try to remember that taste is subjective, so my list might not match yours. Just being preemptive about the people on this sub who dislike me and will spit some bullshit about how I'm a dumbass and don't know what I'm talking about.

The Versatile List

FA STRAWBERRY ( RED TOUCH )

PLACEMENT : Base

PERCENT : 2 - 5%

NOTES : This is my favorite strawberry on the market right now. It accepts other flavors and melds with them nicely, but can hold it's own if it's all you want to use for your strawberry. To me, it's the perfect balance between realistic and candy strawberry.

IN RECIPES : Like I said, this one is accepting of others in the best way. Add CAP Sweet Strawberry if you want to go the more candied route, add a drop or two of INW Lime to start building a nice strawberry limeade, or a splash of INW Shisha Strawberry to dive a bit deeper into the "authentic" berry world.

SECOND OPINION

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FA PEAR

PLACEMENT : Base

PERCENT : 2 - 4%

NOTES : This is very well rounded start to a pear profile. There's a good bit of sweetness and juiciness. However, it's a bit strange when pushed too high, so keep it around 4%. This does not work entirely on it's own, so it's a great example of a base that can really shine with accent notes.

IN RECIPES : Pair this with a 2:1 ratio of FA Pear : TPA Pear to create something truly authentic. The earthy funk of TPA's option give some depth to FA, while preventing some of that sickening sweetness you might pick up on at higher percentages. Adding maybe 1% of FA Fuji to FA Pear will also be a great way to add some tartness to the pear, and some wetness to the apples.

SECOND OPINION

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VT FIZZY SHERBET

PLACEMENT : Base

PERCENT : 1 - 4%

NOTES : One of my favorite concentrates out on the market today. This shit is just perfect. To me, it is Sprite; a solid base of lemon/lime without any off notes. It's a perfect solo base of soda, accepting of anything you want to throw at it. At low percentages, it just adds a little candied sweetness/tartness. But at higher percentages, it's as close as we're gonna get to effervescence.

IN RECIPES : man, do what you want with this. I've yet to find something that doesn't work well, at least in the realm of common sense. Like, don't go adding some fuckin tobaccos to this and then complain to me that I said "do what you want." It's a fruity soda base, so run with it.

SECOND OPINION

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FLV VIRGINIA TOBACCO

PLACEMENT : Base / Top Note

PERCENT : 3 - 5%

NOTES : For the tobacco heads, and I know, you're going to say I'm wrong for this one. But again, personal preference, my dudes. Anyway, I think this is one of the best tobaccos to mix with. It's non-offensive, pretty light, and doesn't overpower things you want to add to it. Granted, you're not getting much of a "dessert" tobacco out of this on it's own, but it's a nice starting point if you're focusing MORE on the "cigarette" aspect of tobacco, as opposed to blasting it's ass with creams, custards, or bakery notes. I love this shit paired with FLV Kentucky Blend, but it's just a really nice starting point for a no-bullshit, ashy, light tobacco.

IN RECIPES : Like I said, it's a starting point. Bring your preferred "complex" bacco to this party, and you'll get something that's really full bodied and pleasant. I've even added fucking strawberry to this and had success. Weird success, but success nonetheless.

SECOND OPINION

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FA WATERMELON ( RED SUMMER )

PLACEMENT : Top Note, Base

PERCENT : 2 - 5%

NOTES : Like FA's Strawberry, I personally believe this to be one of the best watermelon concentrates out right now. However, it isn't complete on it's own. But this is the way you'll end up getting a pretty accurate tasting watermelon if paired with one of the more candied options out there. FA Watermelon is mild, but it works because you get a touch of the white watermelon flesh added to it's more candied watermelon flavor. I love this shit.

IN RECIPES : I love to pair this with FLV Watermelon with maybe a touch of FLV Wild Melon. With that, you get a solid, watermelon focused base that is really accepting of other flavors. The only thing you need to be careful of is that this shit really does get drowned out easily. So play around to find the sweet spot that works for you.

SECOND OPINION - nothing specific to FA Watermelon, but there's some good discussion HERE

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The Accent List

FLV BOURBON

PLACEMENT : Top Note

PERCENT : 1.5 - 3%

NOTES : Charred oak, boozy throat hit, and dark sweetness. What more could you ask for from a flavor that is trying to evoke real bourbon? Well, I guess you could ask that it holds its own in a mix, which FLV Bourbon does exceptionally. I've been a die-hard TPA Kentucky Bourbon fan for years, but once I grabbed a bottle of this stuff, it became a new staple.

IN RECIPES : So, here's where you have to make the decision. I believe FLV Bourbon and TPA Kentucky Bourbon create something magical, but it all depends on what your end game is. For bakeries, I'd stick with a higher percentage of TPA against FLV, because FLV Bourbon is heavier and sweeter, so you may end up getting a bit too much of a dark sugar note. However, if you're creating a boozy drink recipe, then a heavier application of FLV Bourbon will provide you with that throat hit, sweetness, and earthy oak notes you want in a bourbon forward recipe.

SECOND OPINION

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FLV GINGER

PLACEMENT : Top Note

PERCENT : 0.5 - 1%

NOTES : I like this one a lot, it's mainly there to just remind you that there's ginger in the recipe. It's not blasting your senses with spice or anything like that, so if that's what you're after, look elsewhere. What we get here is just a nice subtle ginger flavor, with the perfect amount of throat tickle to suggest that spiciness. I like this shit, but it IS weak.

IN RECIPES : Really, there isn't much to say. If you think a touch of ginger would benefit your recipe, then add it in. I've found that 0.8% is the sweet spot. Anything more and you kind of lose the subtle spiciness and get just straight ginger syrup, anything less and it's just nonexistent. Easy.

SECOND OPINION

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FLV PINK GUAVA

PLACEMENT : Top Note

PERCENT : 0.25 - 0.75%

NOTES : It honestly took me a long fucking time to appreciate the benefit that this concentrate can bring to a recipe. Like holy shit, it's powerful, but if you can be surgically precise with it, you can boost your recipe to something amazing with just a few drops.

IN RECIPES : It works best in recipes that are already pretty tropical heavy, but even in normal recipes, it can add a touch of tropical deliciousness. Bonus note, if you want to add some extra throat hit to a recipe (in particular if you use smooth nic salts), this stuff can really work. It's quite harsh at times, so it works nicely to simulate added throat hit if the inherent flavor of it works in your mix. I've used it in recipes paired with Yakima Hops to create a nice suggestion of an IPA because FLV Pink Guava has this strange, funky, hoppy note in it. I love this shit. Give it a go sometime.

SECOND OPINION

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FA LIME TAHITI COLD PRESS

PLACEMENT : Top Note

PERCENT : 0.5 - 3%

NOTES : It's just lime. But what's interesting is how the percentage really changes what it is. Really low percentages give us this sort of bitter, lime peel type profile. It's still a great accent, but it's much more "authentic" at low percent. The higher you push it though, the more "sweetened lime juice" it becomes. Very interesting.

IN RECIPES : I use this a lot to add extra brightness to berries, more often than not. However, it can also be used to boost the tartness in apple recipes, give some more body to pear / peach recipes, or round out a tropical mix recipe. This works with damn near anything but tobaccos and non-citrus bakery recipes. I'd highly recommend getting this, and playing around to see where it fits best for you.

(Couldn't find much of a second opinion on this one)

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The Abstract List

FLV YAKIMA HOPS

PLACEMENT : Top Note / Base

PERCENT : 2.5 - 5%

NOTES : Knock the cap off this shit, and just take a nice smell. That's what you're gonna get out of this. It's funky, bread-y, basically a perfect base to build a beer recipe off of. What I dig about this one is, you can fuck around with the percentages and not really run into anything horribly offensive. This is a weird one though, so if you don't like the idea of a watered down IPA that you need to build upon to create something solid, maybe skip it...

IN RECIPES : ...but if you DO like that idea, then fuck, go absolutely wild. I've thrown so much shit at this flavor just TRYING to break it, and it's difficult. It adds interesting notes to light tobaccos, holds onto tropical fruits and such to create different types of IPAs, and has enough of a mouthfeel to really suggest beer if you're not too close minded about it. Higher percentages give you a bit of an NE Style IPA in terms of that silky mouthfeel, while lower percentages really keep it bright, funky, and dirty. That's really it, this shit is dirty, but in the best way.

SECOND OPINION

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FW BEETLE JUICE

PLACEMENT : Base

PERCENT : 2 - 6%

NOTES : This is honestly just a fruit mess. Depending on percentages, wattage, and airflow, you'll pick up on different fruit flavors in here. Most prominent seems to be pineapple and dark berries. That's at least what I get the most of. But it morphs depending on all other aspects of the recipe. Another great one to experiment with, and hell, it's tasty on it's own, so it's really difficult to fuck this one up.

IN RECIPES : Just use it as a base for an ambiguous fruit hellscape. It's tasty. But it will also wreck your coils. So....yeah.

SECOND OPINION

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INW DRAGONFRUIT

PLACEMENT : Top Note, Base

PERCENT : 1 - 2%

NOTES : Another weird one, since it tastes and feels nothing like TPA Dragonfruit, or really anything I would assume as dragonfruit in any other context. What this gives us is a very chewy top note. We end up with more of a mouthfeel here that can add some great texture to a recipe. Keep it low though, because it's quite potent. The flavor here can get off putting at higher applications (think chapstick or some sort of organic cough medicine). Otherwise, if you're looking for a simple "description," just think chewy banana/pineapple with a touch of aloe.

IN RECIPES : this doesn't work as a go to pairing with something like Strawberry that we're accustomed to with TPA Dragonfruit. In recipes, I like to use this to simply add a slightly ambiguous tropical note, but above that, it's perfect for adding texture. If you're trying to make some sort of taffy or candy recipe, this might be the move to achieve that chewiness.

SECOND OPINION

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FLV BACK BAR BITTERS

PLACEMENT : Top Note, Base

PERCENT : 0.75 - 1.5%

NOTES : In MY opinion, this is not an accurate representation of Angostura Bitters, but I do think this has it's place in recipes looking for a "bitters" suggestion. It does add that slightly herbal, slightly citrusy note you'd look for. However, I believe this, surprisingly, works way better in bakery recipes as a bit of a catch all to complement the other parts.

IN RECIPES : For me, I'm getting more warmth, cooked orange/peach notes, and brown sugar out of this concentrate. I'd love to see this used as a starting point for a peach cobbler or something like that. This does work well in bourbon recipes, but I don't think you'll really achieve a believable Old Fashioned by using this one. Focus on spiced fruit bakery profiles, and FLV Back Bar Bitters will absolutely deliver great results.

SECOND OPINION

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TPA CHERRY BLOSSOM

PLACEMENT : Top Note

PERCENT : 1.5 - 2.5%

NOTES : This is a really great flavor to add to your "red" fruit recipes. Shyndo and I had some in depth conversations about this one, because it really makes recipes feel "pink." You get some slightly floral and cherry notes here, but overall, it's just going to add a delicious syrupy sweetness.

IN RECIPES : This works best with fruits, but I could see an argument made that this would also be delicious in ice creams or even fruity cocktails. With some CAP Sweet Strawberry added to it, you'll have a pretty accurate artificial strawberry syrup.

Couldn't find much of a second opinion on this one.

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Okay, I've literally been working on this post for like, an entire week, so I'm done. I know there are a lot more that belong in this list, but this is all I've got the mental capacity for at this time. HOWEVER, if you think of things you'd like added to this list, just pop it down in the comments. I'd love for this to be a nice catch all of necessary flavors with solid notes and ways to use them. So add what you want in the comments (preferably with notes like I've done, but if not, I'll add notes), and then I'll throw them up into the actual post.

Cool. Sorry this took forever. See ya.