hello! i've been vaping for about 6 months for now, have tried many different concentrates but i'm curious to make my own, and looking for help and recommendations.
can you please help me any insights on how to make a Kofola tasting mix?
it's a popular fizzy drink in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. very similar to cola products but it also has fruity notes (apple, cherry, currant) and herbs. (also tastes a bit like orange-ish too imo.) and it's significantly less sweet than Pepsi and Coca-Cola.
my main problem is the herbs part.
found something like SA Herbe des Druides.. i'm not sure if that's good or good enough? where should i start? do you have any ideas where can i find a decent variety of herb flavors?
thank you!
(some background info if necessary: i'm from Hungary where flavored e-liquids must not contain nicotine so i'm already into some basic DIY - adding flavorless nic liquids to premade or custom made VG/PG bases and concentrates. i know some basics - yet i'm eager to learn much more!)
It is funny how every now and then someone comes up looking for a recipe and yet there is no publicly available recipe around yet.
To my flavorbuds, starting out from cola is settled.
Whenever I try mixing Cola with Coffee I burn myself, but maybe some Tiramisu or other light booster could work better.
The sad part is that many herbs are not available, even basic floral flavors such as Rose and Lavender is a pain to get your hands on, but I haven't seen any Lemon Balm flavoring, to just mention one ingredient that is missing for the Kofola recipe.
Maybe it is only a matter of proper extraction, but I would not advise you to try extracting flavorings from real herbs wihout reading and learning about all the dangers to avoid.
Probably distillation could work, or a very long, low-concentrated bath of the herbs in PG.. Definitely should look up experts in the field about this if you are that engaged.
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Anyway, below are my basic thoughts to tinker with. Try avoiding nausea ;)
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Fruity notes:
- Cider
- or Green Apple
- Cranberry and Blackberry
- or some other tart Forest Fruit
- Bergamot
- Orange-peel without the soft-drink flavor
- No need for extra pepper if you can taste it from this one
Herby notes:
- Sage
- FA have it but I don't know...
- Hibiscus
- Lemon Balm
- *NOT Lemon Grass!
- Probably noone makes it
Spicy notes:
- Cinnamon
- Cardamom
- Anise
- Touch of pepper
- Only if you need over Bergamot
- A little Saline to empower that soda-feel
I have made a recipe to start with here: https://e-liquid-recipes.com/recipe/3809374/FA+Kofola+%255BTEST-BEWARE%255D+0.1
Lemon Balm = Minty-ish Lemon
Probably letting 1% FA Peppermint sit for 1mo+ with Lemon would work out fine.
For the next time I try this again, I think I will steep the spice-herb batch for some weeks and then add the fruits and cola for another round. That should do the trick.
thank you all for the detailed replies and insights!
i've ordered the flavors you recommended, though here and there i had to pick different manufacturers because of availability. i hope it's not that bad. (i'll get some TPA, INW, SA and AL - Atmos Lab aroma too, the latter has of anise and cranberry.) seems like it's more difficult to obtain flavors because of shipping price and such.
this "blend the herbs first" pre-steeping method seems to be great solution, thank you!