(FLV) Grape

This is for the year in mixing candy challenge. No frills here. A straight forward grape pixie sticks. Get your sugar rush!

This was a recipe I mixed up for a friend of mine craving some grape Dubble Bubble gumballs. I figured I would share it with the world since it came out delicious.

FW Grape and LA Grape, two of the best artificial grape flavors come together to make the perfect grape candy combo. I also added a touch of FLV Grape, which is by far one of the greatest yet most powerful candy grape flavors I’ve ever tried. It really makes the whole grape aspect pop.
FW Bubblegum, one of my favorite bubblegum flavors. Basically, pink Dubble Bubble. This flavor can be a little weird. There isn't much texture nor is there enough mouthfeel imo. People used to mix this flavor at absurd percentages for the full on gumball flavor. IDK how they did 10-12%. The gum flavor is super strong to me. I added the ethyl maltol to soften the edges along with adding that natural sweetness and also added FA Oba Oba to punch up the overall candy profile of the entire mix. It also adds some extra mouth feel so you're almost chewing on some delicious bubblegum.
This stuff is good right out of the gate, but I just suggest giving it a few days to become one with the VG and mellow out a bit. ENJOY!
This is a super simple mix and I know for sure you can take the gumball half and add different fruits to it to makes some other gums. Give that a try sometime, I make a watermelon gum this way too.

So i think I've finished creating my grape candy stone, if you could call it that. It's just a very sweet candied artificial grape, which is what i was going for.

Then the bubblegum... Another pain in arse. Bubble gum concentrates are generally very dry and powdery, so a gain just the one wasn't enough. Fw jawbreaker really helps bring it all together.

I can't recommend or vouch for any substitutions in this recipe, as I've probably tried them all anyway.

If you like any kind of bubble gum, especially grape. You'll love this. Enjoy!

What does Blue taste like? Not an easy question to answer. In fact, impossible to answer. We live in a sensory world that limits us to only see color. However, just because our gustation and olfaction can not sense color doesn't mean it don't exist. For instance, color has wavelengths, just as sound has wavelengths. We have auditory sensors (ears)to pick up these wavelengths. Our brain processes these signals and tells us that it is music, or what ever. Different colors could also give off a certain sound. If we had a receptor to pick up these "color sounds" what would they sound like? What if we had sensory organs to taste the wavelengths of color? What would color taste like? Well, we will probably never know but, we can imagine.

Blue Ice. My take on what the color BLUE tastes like. I imagine blue has a frosty feel(FA Polar Blast). Like a clear blue sky on a chilly Fall morning. Blue, I imagine, would be linear in taste as it's a primary color, which means, you can't take 2 or more colors to make blue. Blue is just blue! It would not be sour or bitter like green, but mildly sweet(TPA Raspberry) and dense in texture(FLV Grape).

With all of this conjecture of "What Blue Tastes Like", everyone will have their own opinion. But, it is an interesting experiment that will challenge all mixers. Enjoy. :)

My final piece working with the Flavor Monks Gin line this year, but with many more expected after new years is over!

I started with a grape base using both INW Grapes and FLV Grape. INW has a slightly candied finish, where FLV comes closer to grape juice. I wanted both of those qualities to show, so we started at equal parts both at 2.5% allows them both to shine without overpowering the other. Earlier versions I went lower and higher with the other but they just balance better at even ratios.

FLV Elderflower, if you've ever had a cocktail with St Germaine in it, you'll know this flavor straight away. A niche floral for most, but it's ideal for these sort of bright, herbal gin flavors. Brightly floral with a distinct elderflower flavor that you can't miss. A bit potent fresh, but just fine after 2-3 days steep.

FM OMGin: Hands down my favorite gin from their line. It's simply super versatile. At 3% it stands out just enough to cut through some of the thicker sweet notes in the grape base and support those light floral notes in the FLV Elderflower. FM OMGin has lovely bright juniper flavor, without the nasty cheap gin flavor I sometimes get from FA Gin. There's a dash of bitters/vermouth in the background, which makes it ideal for complex cocktail flavors.

Being a fan of sweet cocktails I added 2% Erythritol (5% in VG) in my final recipe, but it's super optional if you're into a more bitter/less sweet cocktail. In closing, here's