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Do you ever feel like you get carried away adding too many flavors?
submitted over 5 years ago by TheFriendlyCactus1

I'm up to almost 20 ingredients (17% flavor) on a smoothie recipe, but I'm finding them all to be pretty essential (except the creams, that could certainly be simplified) and if i take anything out it really messes with the balance.
I realize most people aren't into using so many ingredients so i get it if you don't mix this, just wanted to share where i was at with this crazy thing.
It started with me wanting to use MB pineapple lassi that bcf sent me as a sample.
Somehow guanabana and dragonfruit are the main flavors, taste basically no peach/strawb but they're essential for the texture.
And then the cream base, i basically just haphazardly mixed everything creamy in my arsenal, and it came out amazing. I mix the base as a oneshot and add 6% to the juice I'm making.
Cream base
https://m.imgur.com/XXs4WrR
Fruit mix
https://imgur.com/a/cOggxMj
Do you have any super complicated recipes that you love?

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12 points
 
by Zany1337over 5 years agoSir-Mix-a-Lot

Don't really understand why you have FLV Wild Melon as part of the "Cream Base" - But if it tastes good to you, no one can tell you that "you're doing something wrong".
Just don't expect a lot of people to mix it up and provide feedback.

-
I will say that I think you can get good results, with half as much complexity. To me it all just seems overly complicated though.

3 points
 
by TheFriendlyCactus1over 5 years ago

For me it imparts a bit of a creamy melon flavor, like kind of a thick honeydew paste or something. It really tastes like melon hichew to me, its a polarizing flavor tho and its definitely one that can be removed.
The cream base could certainly be simplified, but the fruits are real essential. I started with only one strawberry and one peach, but layering them really improves the texture and it feels really lacking without all of them.
I'll be the first to agree its complicated, and i even said i wouldn't be surprised if nobody mixes it ha this recipe is for me.
Just curious if anyone else gets crazy with their mixes, this is like the 8th iteration and it's only gotten better the more stuff I've added. It's certainly not my typical approach.

1 points
 
by GruesomeDubzabout 5 years ago

I totally go over board, lol there’s lots of different ways to approach it. And one way was to think of it as mixing paint if you add too many colors it just ends up turning a grey or brownish color, not the most appealing to the eyes. And concept can go as if it were taste and using flavors. But layering and just working on it will make it perfect. But yeah I love to load it up.

6 points
 
by ben_gamingover 5 years agoDiketones, Schmiketones

One of my more well-received recipes, Sunmist, uses 12 flavors, and each ingredient has its place in what It tries to achieve. However, its current form slowly evolved from an already complicated orange soda recipe, so I‘ve learned what each element has added (and subtracted) from the experience. There’s nothing wrong with complicated recipes, when you know what each ingredient is doing there. But it sounds like you don’t know why you made the decisions you did, especially on your cream base, and that suggests that some flavors are likely muddying up the potential. It can be way too easy to drown fruit flavors in too many creams. So I guess my main suggestion is to try some tests where you strip down the fruits and the creams so you can distinguish each element; that will likely tell you a lot about what’s actually helping and what might be actually getting in the way. If you’re just making this for yourself, you may not care, but it’s really hard to balance that many flavors, and you’ll need to deconstruct the bases a bit and be willing to experiment if you want to dial in the elements that actually make it sing for you. I like to think about mixing like music. It’s possible to balance a mix with 20 instruments, but it takes a lot more work and you have to know exactly what each part is contributing. Often the most catchy pop music has far fewer instruments that are produced just right.

3 points
 
by TheFriendlyCactus1over 5 years ago

Thank you for the insight, the creams are definitely a newer addition to the recipe and definitely what I'm hoping to refine still.
The fruits though, while i don't know exactly what each one is doing, they're extremely important.
The peach and strawberry are like the base of the fruits, really mostly providing wetness and blending, I've mixed the recipe with just the peach and strawberry and it's super weird. The guanabana started as mango but i don't like flv mango and wanted to bring it the background flavors, but i found whatever i added was just boosted by the strawb/peach.
Guana/pitaya is a combo i love so i went with that but you could really use anything i think, harvest berry/ forest fruit, anything you want as a focus gets crazy boosted by the strawb/peach.

2 points
 
by akumakuja28over 5 years ago

Do you have a link to Sunmist? Ordering flavors soon and yours sounds interesting. :)

2 points
 
by ben_gamingover 5 years agoDiketones, Schmiketones

Sure do! https://alltheflavors.com/recipes/152352#sunmist_by_beeker

Hope you enjoy it! It won recipe of the month when I shared it with the subreddit and my non-redditor vaping friends dig it.

4 points
 
by saspi25over 5 years ago

Finally a recipe i got all the flavors for! (jk but i do lol) If it works for you it works and that's what matters. I do often find myself also adding layer after layer thinking everything might be essential but I tend to give some friends samples of the simple and the complex version of the same recipe and 8/10 times they can't tell any difference. So I think it might be a personal mindset situation if that makes sense

2 points
 
by TheFriendlyCactus1over 5 years ago

Ooo i love that idea, I'm definitely going to mix up a simple version for some pals to compare against.
Have you played with MB pineapple lassi much? I am gonna have to pick up a bottle cuz i love the sample they sent

1 points
 
by saspi25over 5 years ago

I wouldnt say much but i do enjoy the creamy yoghurt part of that one. More than the pineapple per se. Thats why i tend to use that flavoring as a bridge between fruits and creams, even at lower percentages

3 points
 
by trapsocksover 5 years ago

i just started mixing a couple weeks ago and was really amazed by the amount of flavours people were using in their recipes. i saw some with up to ten, and i was using 2 or 3 max in my first mixes and was very happy with the result. i'm mixing fruity flavours though, so i'm sure that has a lot to do with it.

1 points
 
by TheFriendlyCactus1over 5 years ago

I definitely try to stick to under 8 or so ingredients, but i was aiming for something specific, and every time i added something it got closer, removing stuff definitely felt like a step back so i just kept going and I'm finally really happy with where I'm at with it

3 points
 
by St1llFrankover 5 years agoThis flavor... This is not my kind of flavor

I try to not go crazy adding everything but the kitchen sink in my recipes. I'm more about keeping it simple. If I see long recipes posted, I usually don't ever try them. If they're popular I might but I've made lots of recipes with ten plus flavors that were just muddled messes IMO.

3 points
 
by dlipford370over 5 years ago

I started mixing my own juice six or seven years ago, and in all that time I've mixed a total of three or four flavors. I found a flavor I liked, spend a few months zeroing in on making it perfect and kept it the same for years. I then stopped vaping for about a year, and then when I started again I couldn't find those flavors so I started making a new favorite. It's a mix of vanilla cup cake and butter cream. That's it, been vaping just that for the last year, and I honestly don't crave anything else. It's excellent, I love it, I buy the flavoring in bulk and I'm set.

http://imgur.com/a/4MAEYkH

Here's the recipe in that image if anyone wants to try it, the numbers are in grams, or whatever measurement of weight, as long as the ratios are the same. The numbers are in addition to the last, so basically you just watch the scale hit the number adding the next ingredient and you're set.

If you do happen to make it give it about three days to steep and, in my opinion it's the best flavor I've ever tried. It is great, right after mixing, but a few days of steeping makes it incredible.

2 points
 
by mitchav1995over 5 years ago

How much diet Dr pepper do I add?

1 points
 
by dlipford370over 5 years ago

Hahaha. "and add Dr. Pepper to taste..." lol - Yeah, I was wondering if someone was going to go there! I just through the can in the picture for some size reference.

2 points
 
by kuri_sanTouover 5 years agoDiketones, Schmiketones

I mixed up a recipe of mine and ended up with around 14 different flavors. Half of the flavors were like supporting flavors to round out a layer. Total percentage was only around 11% but it just looked so weird having 14 flavors. I thought I could find a way to reduce the amount of flavors but I was getting a head ache and the process was just too time consuming and a bit boring. I got a long list of things I want to mix so I put that recipe away to continue another day. Still hasn’t happened

2 points
 
by TheFriendlyCactus1over 5 years ago

Yea like if this was ever something i wanted other people to try i know that i would have to simplify it.
But i also imagine that there are commercial juices out there using a bunch of ingredients, if it's good it doesn't really matter right?

3 points
 
by kuri_sanTouover 5 years agoDiketones, Schmiketones

Yeah, there’s this guy on the discord that sells juice and shares recipes. He’s got a few that have up to 22 flavors . Looking at it gives me anxiety, haha. They’re probably good though so who cares

2 points
 
by Morgan_Druryover 5 years agoCoil Sauce Sommelier

I've got 15 in a purple banana fluffernutter recipe.

There's no rule saying you can't have 20. You do you.

2 points
 
by TheFriendlyCactus1over 5 years ago

That sounds yummy, wanna share it?

2 points
 
by Morgan_Druryover 5 years agoCoil Sauce Sommelier

http://tjek.nu/r/xraq

1 points
 
by TheFriendlyCactus1over 5 years ago

That sounds awesome ha that baked bread flavor seems like a winner

2 points
 
by Moltar_Returnsover 5 years ago

I did in the first few years, but in the past 4 years of mixing I long for simplicity and refuse to write a recipe with more than 7. Typically stick in the 4-6 range.

I admire your resolve in pursuing a very specific result though!

2 points
 
by TheFriendlyCactus1over 5 years ago

This is the recipe that inspired me to not be afraid to add more ingredients i guess, i haven't actually tried it yet but everybody says it's a delicious pb and j, from Facebook i think
https://e-liquid-recipes.com/recipe/2965723/Epic+Grape+PB%2526J?fbclid=IwAR2N7Zqj-yzlQVgFB_eHbNbFcs8WOc0ZlC5r_X1ZpbpUdyHMUQ2iVbBwOMw

2 points
 
by 1ronMindover 5 years ago

This honestly looks like the result of playing the Kings drinking game and drinking the result, but in e juice form..

1 points
 
by meezergirl67over 5 years ago

My goal when creating is always 5 or less. I will mix a recipe up to 8. But after that I lose interest.

1 points
 
by kurplop666over 5 years ago

I get carried away some times. I always end up thinking keep it simple stupid.

1 points
 
by xGRANITExover 5 years agoSilky

you could consolidate and simplify so much in my opinion

1 points
 
by TheFriendlyCactus1over 5 years ago

I've simplified the cream base a bunch since this post, would definitely like to hear opinions on simplifying it though for sure

1 points
 
by nightshardover 5 years ago

I do feel I got carried away buying too many flavors.

As for using, I try to keep it to around 10% and a reasonable amount of flavors.

1 points
 
by TheFriendlyCactus1over 5 years ago

Yea I've got plenty of flavors I've only used once in a recipe that turned out soso, want to find more uses for them.
I try not to limit myself to %, i definitely aim to keep below 20% but ive had recipes that are great at 6%, but some dessert recipes that don't flesh out until 18 or so

1 points
 
by mixman0gover 5 years agoDelightfully Mediocre

Carried away with it? I'm sure some folks might say that about a recipe or two of mine, but honestly I don't care how many flavors if it's tasty. If 25 flavors in a recipe gets or keeps you, a loved one, or a friend off of tobacco products then I'm all for it.

-9 points
 
by jasone414over 5 years agoProud Sidebar Reader!

Not trying to be a dick, but this isn't really the place for this recipe. Recipe posts that contain significant notes that people might actually learn something from belong here. If you just have a recipe, with just a basic description and no notes, that should go in the monthly recipe thread.

7 points
 
by TheFriendlyCactus1over 5 years ago

Right on i guess it'll just be another post of mine that gets deleted cuz I'm not actually contributing anything 😅
Just trying to get a conversation going about complicated recipes and see if anyone else has any fun overcomplicated recipes

1 points
 
by TheFriendlyCactus1over 5 years ago

I could certainly make more notes if that makes you feel better but it wasn't the purpose of this post, as you might see from the title

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