Cloning is hard. For lotsa reasons. I'm going to rehash some stuff today that's already been said best in the FAQ Friday: Clone Requests post by u/Apexified explaining how to get the most out of a Clone Request. In that post, you can find a bit of r/DIY_ejuice history on the Monthly Clone Challenge. The idea was to take one recipe from the previous month and to work on cloning it together as a community. The first in the series was in March 2017. This month we are bringing back an old idea with a new twist. Let's have a look at last month's thread before we begin, shall we?

Clone Request Thread

In the interest of gift giving and holiday sharing, I'd like to take a moment this week to highlight a particular corner of our subreddit, the oft-forgotten Recipe Clone Thread. Many of our visitors who stop in are looking to replace that juice that has kept them from smoking for so long. They don't want to deep dive, they have no problem vaping the same thing forever and, now, it's gone. And, nobody's got time for that. So, a few new members will pop in, drop a clone request on the front page and get deleted/redirected to the Recipe Clone thread, or actually post there correctly in the first place (gasp!). Then, the poor indigent requests die an unhappy lonesome death for a few reasons:

• many of us have little experience with those particular juices (or haven't vaped commercial in years) so it's hard to guess what they actually taste like since descriptions are mostly made up piles of crapola marketing.
• many of us have no idea of what flavors were available at the time those juices were made making guessing flavors to even start with more difficult.
• even if we did know, there's still no telling what they put in there to make that mix. It literally could be anything.
• the post gets buried, not stickied and loses visibility.
• posters often leave out any details about the juice (linking is usually not allowed since links to nicotine sales are prohibited by Reddit policy and Reddit has threatened the sub with closure over it)
• offers from experienced mixers suggesting a remix are sometimes not received well. most queries are truly for 1:1 clones and people don't want to hear about a suggested 'remix' (or how a remix one could shoot off the top of one's head is even likely to be better than any clone attempt).

That last one is the sticking point that holds me back often from commenting. I can possibly offer a remix using the flavors I actually am familiar with instead of guessing what all the TPA, FW, and FA flavors are that I never tried. Well, that and not really knowing much outside of tobaccos. :) Let's have a loot at last month's thread, shall we?

November Requests

14 separate requests (one mixer asked twice) and 10 got at least some kind of response. Let's all take a moment to thank u/NuttyNana1 for patiently providing links to point these ejuice seekers closer to getting their flavor needs met. Your efforts don't go unnoticed or unappreciated! That said, out of those 15 clone requests only 1 lucky poster was delivered an actual recipe built on whichever flavors were likely used at that time to make a recipe that could possibly be a considered a clone and not a remix or a link to atf to do more searching. There were a few suggestions for known existing recipes that may fit the bill or scratch that flavor itch. Those requesters willing to try those may get lucky and start appreciating the complexity of the mixes that DIYers have enjoyed now for some time.

Remix Challenge

Here they are, all of November's requests. For better or for worse, these are what the people want. Let's take a stab at theory crafting these profiles and see what the community can come up with. Here's plenty of options to choose from. Let's see how differently everyone would approach it and what we would come up with, yeah? An opportunity to test your theory crafting skills, like we used to do here.

| No. | username |Request | Profile | |--|--|--|--| | 1 | ajohndoe17 | The Voyage by Coastal Clouds | a chewy, creamy and sticky cereal bar... combining those gooey melted marshmallows with ... berry crunch cereal | | 2 | aintnoplanetx | Villain vapors: Pair of Deuces | Ripe, crisp pears blend with sweet, juicy honeydew melon | | 3 | Chandler-Biing | IVG Tropical Ice blast | kiwi, ripe-tasting watermelon and crisp apple, a chilled ice exhale | | 4 | illogik76 | IVG Cinnamon Blaze | Sugary chewing gum is complemented by aromatic cinnamon | | 5 | Krayfish404 | Purple Alien by Rocket Sheep | sweet and sour and tarty cream, with a fizz, maybe a tinge of Fanta grape | | 6 | ajohndoe17 | second request for #1 | see above | | 7 | HH_LL | Snozzberry Juice by USA Vape Lab | "the original, signature flavor of freshly picked ripe magical berries previously undiscovered in nature, indigenous only in Murica" (from a website) | | 8 | Otherwise_Fennel104 | Frozen. yohguryt:Forest fruit -Blackberry |This hot mess of a request I assume is for a Frozen Black/berry Yogurt | | 9 | lastnoirking87 | Pink Spot's Honey Cured Tobacco | "smoky tobacco ... like Uncle Herb’s afternoon cigarette with just a touch of real honey" (reviews say it's mostly 'honey' with a little tobacco) | 10 | lastnoirking87 | Bootleg Vapors True Smoke | "stood out for its similarity to cigarette smoke" | | 11 | beckonator | Vape Pink's Cookie Butter | "an oatmeal cookie dipped in milk and topped with brown sugar. I believe it tastes just like the cookie butter spread you can buy in grocery stores" | | 12 | synphul1 | it's so fluffy by vapewild | "just straight up cotton candy. That sweet spun sugar taste with a caramelized cooked sugar flavor on the exhale. Almost buttery/cooked like the kind of cotton candy or fairy floss you get at a fair or carnival made on the spot"* (actually answered by u/FomentLife in the thread) | | 13 | DeezNazty | I Love Cookies too by mad hatter | Infused with caramel and strawberry flavor profiles, just like home baked cookies | | 14 | Striking_Tomato8689 | 7Daze- reds apple | Red apple? | | 15 | awfulJohn | Dekang Portal Blend | Dekang style bacco? |

There you have it. 15(ish) requests for you to test your theory crafting skills. Let's see what you are made of! Comment below with your remix ideas:

1. How would YOU approach any of these profiles if you weren't limited to a clone attempt?
2. Which recipes do you already know of that might fit the bill?
3. Which flavors do you think would be most useful in getting started on these?
4. Do you know of any existing recipes that are close to these profiles?
5. Most importantly, can YOU theory craft a recipe that fits the profile?

I do think that tethering yourself to using flavors that were available then, trying to make the exact right mix of flavors for a clone isn't worth the effort. What does seem fun to me is riffing on the profile and seeing the ways we all might approach the same thing from very different directions based on our mixing styles and experiences.

> ## Drop your recipes or thoughts in the comments

And/or get a head start on December's Clone Request Thread! Let the remixes begin!!!

Happy mixin, i

PS if you don't want to play, make sure to check back and upvote the recipes that you think look like they might be good/close/informative or whatever.