Link to ATF: https://alltheflavors.com/recipes/201799
To say this was a struggle is an understatement.
This all started way back in August 2018, with my first post on this subreddit.
I've gone through untold numbers of awful iterations, but the journey really did end up teaching me the depth of DIY.
So, why?
About 8 or 9 years ago, when I first got into vaping, one of the first flavor manufacturers I started ordering from was Mt Baker Vapor. They had some solid winners, but I was a huge fan of Dream Tea (when it wasn't sold out of course).
The description read: "Dream Tea is a blend of subtle green tea, with a fruit medley. With a touch of hibiscus, for a light, refreshing vape!"
This turned out to be a lie.
Around a month ago I checked MtBakerVapor to see if they still sold it, but I learned from their chat support that it was discontinued. I ended up sending an email per their advice asking if it was possible to get the recipe, and got this response:
> You have been on quite an adventure working on replicating this flavor. I was able to find the recipe but it is on a document from 2013 when we were not the most scientific group of guys. So things were measured in units of the tools we used back then. All the sheet showed me was a 2 next to each flavor name. So equal parts of each flavor. Flavorwest flavorings you typically want to go 15-20% flavoring to base ratio. > You are going to want equal parts of: Dragon Fruit, Mango, and White Tea. https://www.flavorwest.com/water-soluble-flavoring/dragon-fruit.html https://www.flavorwest.com/mango-natural.html https://www.flavorwest.com/white-tea.html
> This should get you close. I know later in history we recreated it with another flavor manufacturer. I do not remember if we made any tweaks at that time or not. This should get you off to a close start in recreating that old favorite of yours.
> We appreciate all the support. We have been exploring doing limited runs of some of the old favorites but nothing is concrete yet.
> I hope I was able to help a bit.
There were next to no reviews to see for FW White Tea, surprisingly. It had been around this long and no reviews?
I did a few experiments with FW White Tea, and I felt it was much closer to the clone than anything else I'd tried. I ended up settling on 1%.
Next was the Dragonfruit. FW Dragonfruit contains a hefty amount of fructose, which explains the coil-gunking I was used to from the original Dream Tea, so I needed a similar substitution. I learned TFA Dragonfruit doesn't lend actual dragonfruit flavor, mostly emulsion, so that was out of the question. INW Dragonfruit was perfect. Ended up on 1.5%.
Finally, the mango. Based off their description, it would've been hard to even know that mango was a key component. Only with the email did that shine some light, here. I'd tried FLV Mango and CAP Sweet Mango in the recipe, but they both ruined it.
Here's where /u/minusjoy comes in. He started messaging me after I posted the FW White Tea review and was also a Dream Tea fan trying to craft a clone. We start collaborating and sharing notes. He's adamant that FW Mango (Natural) is the key. He also sent me a 30ml of it along with a bottle of original Dream Tea to compare, so huge thanks to this guy.
I plugged in the numbers, mixed it up, and filled my almost-empty tank of Dream Tea with my clone. When the clone took over, I only noticed a few subtle differences:
- It's juicier
- It's less harsh
- It's sweeter
Overall a near 100% clone with slightly better flavors or even percentages, and that's after a SNV. Past experiments showed some improvement with White Tea and Dragonfruit after 2 days.
Anyways, here it is.
- INW Dragonfruit 1.5%
- FW Mango (Natural) 1%
- FW White Tea 1%
Yup, only 3.5% flavor.
/u/minusjoy sees this being potentially better with 0.5% CAP Hibiscus, or a dash of 0.25% WS-23. Otherwise it does taste exactly like the original.
you're an absolute legend, my friend. delighted and honored to be part of the journey.
say what you will about MBV, Dream Tea has been my ADV for years. cobbling together asst'd strengths and pg/vg ratios of whatever i could obtain while they cleared out stock, my stash is nearly gone and this couldn't come at a better time.
if there's anyone else out there that might miss dream tea, this clone is on point, tbh an improvement, and doesn't have that funky hint of wet dog when it gets on your hands (wtf is that?). can't wait to get hold of some INW Dragonfruit, but even with TFA/CAP it's close enough to replace what's no more.
blessed we can call this complete. i might tinker with some CAP hibiscus, but i'm good right here.
what's next /u/heimsins_konungr?
Recipes in progress include:
Yoshi - sweet and tart melon-heavy and berry mix (getting close, it's not a difficult profile)
Red Bull recipes - trying for Red, Blue, Yellow, and Green editions (not sure which energy flavor is the holy grail)
Ramune - lychee-flavored Japanese soda (balancing the correct soda with the correct ratios of lychees is a bitch)
White Chocolate Coffee Biscuit - will likely be the most difficult, with white chocolate being super weak, vs. coffee which is usually very strong
Very interesting read my friend. I just recently dipped my toes into mixing my own liquid, since SnV will be removed from B&M in my town near in the future. This plus a lot of barely used liquids standing around led me down this road. I never heard of Mt Baker nor did I ever find a fruit tea liquid I really enjoyed but I'll throw the missing concentrate into my next order to give it a try. It does sounds interesting and quiet delicious and I'm eager to give it a shot.
Sorry for non existent formatting, I'm on mobile :(
I commend your efforts.
I started vaping in 2017 and mt. Baker was where I started, I read these stellar reviews, and I bought their eliquids. Never satisfied with any of their house blends (I threw out most of what bought), I was almost turned off vaping, but I bought a few premium eliquids that they stocked and quickly realised it got much, much better. I've been vaping since.
In short I realised that taste is subjective (sensitivities and blinds) and mt. Baker is over hyped bullshit, as is most othe eliquids.
But what is cool here, it is very rare that a company would help someone trying to recreate their favourite blend, and I am impressed with that.
Oh boy, do I like it when someone get‘s passionate about cloning a recipe!
Fantastic write up, thank you very much for sharing your journey with us.
Gonna try the recipe, even though it’s not my usual flavor pallet :).
do you think the FW white tea needs a steep or its good to off the mix? thanks for the great info i have FW white tea but havent used it now I will sft at the ranges you used
Just curious if you've tried using the regular FW Mango, instead of the natural? The FW natural flavors contain fructose and are on the avoid list. But I'd imagine that using it at only 1% probably doesn't pose much of a risk.
Edit: FW Mango (Natural) is not on the Avoid list, but I do recall seeing somewhere that the FW natural flavors contain fructose.
Can you show me where you found that FW natural flavors contain fructose? I searched on the safety compendium and other various websites but didn't see anywhere that mentioned fructose as a component anywhere.
You're right, there are no specific warnings that I can find for that flavor. But I do recall someone telling me that the FW natural flavors do contain fructose. So maybe I was given misinformation and now am guilty of spreading that misinformation to others.
Edit: As I do more research, it appears that only some of the FW natural flavors contain fructose, and not all of them.
I haven't in my experiments; I'll have to pick up a bottle to check it out. That said, the FW mango natural is unlike all the other mango I've tried from other vendors, which surprisingly are more like a real mango to me.
FW mango guava is similar-ish to their mango natural (again, miles from CAP, TFA, etc), at least for the purposes of the clone. Assuming this isn't a FW natural, this is certainly worth a try!
Some how I managed to stumble on to this post last week, I use to absolutely loved Dream Tea and a few other flavors MBV use to offer. Long story short I placed and order with FW over the weekend for the White Tea and Mango Natural. I mixed a 30ml this morning and it smells 100% like what I remember, I will allow it to set the two days you recommend and give it a taste Sunday. Thanks for all the work you put in to making a clone of this juice.