I recall when I first read about INW Rhubarb and its authenticity. I had to try it, only to sample it and throw it in the bottom of the box. I was recently discussing baking things like apple crisp and rhubarb crisp at work, when someone asked if I could make a rhubarb custard vape. It got my creative gears turning, trying to figure out ways to impart INW Rhubarb into that type of recipe without it being overly tart and also without just dumping sweetener in to mask what might otherwise be an undesirable flavor in a vape. I've always thought that proper pairings and the right additives should eliminate any need to pour diluted sucralose into a mix unless you're trying to clone a commercial juice.
What I came up with is shake and vapable and carries plenty of sweetness without the gunk. It isn't exactly a "custard" in my opinion, but it isn't exactly a "crisp" either. It is however, delightful and very tasty.
Those of you that have a bottle of INW Rhubarb already understand the potency and subjective "vile tartness" of the flavor. It can be too sour, tart, vegetal, whatever sensitivities it hits your palate with. That being said, it is very true to it's name and Inawera did a great job as far as authenticity with this one. Readers who have had the pleasure of gnawing on freshly picked rhubarb from the garden will know exactly what I'm talking about. If you don't like it and you have a bottle, it is workable, the key is pairing it with a supporting cast of fruits that can accent it without taking over.
This flavor reminds me of a strong white wine. It carries a fermented note and does wonders with wetness in a recipe without adding the aloe funk INW Cactus would. I used it (ages ago) in my Grape Ice Cream Cone to add a little jazz and beef up the main fruit note. I still make it fairly regularly to this day, Koolada and all, although some prefer it without the chill factor. I've tried many other fruit combos on this base, but I've found the ones I like best kept the Liquid Amber. Without it, the fruit note gets lost in the mix and fades into the backgrund. But back those creams off, and we lose that thick ice cream volume and mouthfeel. It took a lot of trial and error to conclude that I needed FA Liquid Amber in this recipe, and I carried that experience to the recipe below.
Not an earthy green pear like TFA Pear. This one is more of a candied pear with its bright juiciness. It almost comes off as "crisp", and carries a lingering sweetness on the tongue. It does have a relatively authentic pear taste, but there is definitely some extra sweetness to go along with it. I tend use it at lower percentages to brighten up fruit recipes rather than cheating in a sweetener. It blends well with the green note of the rhubarb and helps ease the tartness into something much more palatable.
As a standalone strawberry, it holds its own, but it does benefit from being put with other strawberry flavors if you're after a full on strawberry taste. It has jammy properties, comes off a bit candied, and lends some soft creaminess, almost a puree if you will. It works well with every strawberry I've tried it with. Here, it serves as a great addition to the fruit portion of the recipe, mellowing out the rhubarb a bit further while giving the mix a bright hint of strawberry without coming to the front.
CAP definitely hit the cinnamon with this one, but some say the bakery "danish" portion got left out along with the "swirl". It doesn't have the thick breadiness you would expect, and that's fine for this recipe. I started out trying for a rhubarb crisp, but tabled the idea and decided to make the mix a bit more gooey, bringing the next two flavors to the party. This could probably be backed down to the 1.5-2% range for the cinnamon sensitive. As far as using v2 here, just don't, you will be disappointed. I've subbed CDS v2 in other recipes, and it doesn't do the wonderful things v1 does.
This is one ingredient I find to be a bit under-rated and under-utilized. All opinions aside, I find this a much more valuable ingredient than CAP Vanilla Custard. It doesn't take much to get the job done, and it's much thicker and egg-ier as a custard should be. Some say it has a vanilla note, others claim there to be none. I personally don't pick up vanilla from this one, maybe more of a heavy milk/cream sort of thing that would definitely play into a cereal recipe a lot better than actual dairy/milk offerings out there. At 1.5%, it serves as part of a thick and solid base for the fruits to sit on without turning the recipe into an eggy fruit + cream sort of thing.
This is not a strong or dark vanilla flavoring. At 1%, it provides a quite bit of body without bullying out other ingredients. I find it incredibly versatile, much like TFA Vanilla Swirl, yet I find this to be a little thicker and more concentrated. It's a great booster for the Custard, and adds another layer of depth to the gooey base. If you don't have this, TFA Vanilla Swirl at 2% should be an OK sub, but order yourself some of this because you're missing out on a fantastic ingredient.
I've been playing with this recipe for about 6 months, and I've finally got it tasting like I envisioned. It becomes a rather luxurious vape after a minimum 3 week steep. After that, it really showcases the rich taste of INW for pipe flavors. If you're a tobacco head, plan on making double what you're already considering, as you'll notice it goes quick,
If you don't have the original version of INW Gold Ducat, Gold for Pipe is a decent sub, however if you have something smokier and less sweet, give it a try at the same percentage.
So, I wanted this to be tobacco forward, and I ended up bringing the Black for Pipe a LOT from where I originally had it. The for pipe combo here really sets the tone of the mix. I also had originally used Gold for Pipe, but decided Ducat made it a little smokier and dirtier. Gold for Pipe was almost too sweet for the tobacco profile I wanted. FA Oakwood added another level of depth to the already dark and rich tobacco with it's subtle woodsy notes.
The custard part had always been CAP VC, but no matter the percentage, it just needed something else. That's where CAP Butter Cream came in. It was neutral tasting enough, and gave the custard base a bit more volume.
Fruit Loops with a twist of dragon fruit in a bed of thick milky cream.
I played around with a bunch of different creams and custards before landing on 2% FA Fresh Cream here. It provides a nice dense mouth feel and a sweet milky base for the cereal to sit in. After a couple weeks, the fruit and cereal flavors still hold strong, making for a nice sweet cereal vape.
Give it a few days for the fruitiness to calm down, after that it just gets thicker. The fruit is fairly intense here, feel free to back it down if preferred, but at these percentages, it really makes for a nice ADV with full flavor every time, even through a steep.
ONLY FOR THE OLDER VERSION OF INW GOLD DUCAT!
INW is changing their formulation for Gold Ducat. Shame. I've had this one locked up for a while longer than I should have.
The FA Caramel and TFA Brown Sugar are just added little bonuses for this recipe. Leave them out if you prefer and enjoy a solid pipe tobacco taste with notes of honey and syrup. Steep time based on your preference. To me, its OK overnight, but it does get better after a week, two weeks, and so on.
More on INW formulation changes here: https://www.reddit.com/r/DIY_eJuice/comments/61mszy/inw_leaked_reformulations/?st=j0rda07p&sh=c08555ad
Tobacco heads love it. Tobacco haters say "Wow, that's tasty!"
A delicate balance with just enough sweetness to keep you dripping until the bottle's gone.
All Flavour Art, no substitutes.
FA 7 Leaves Ultimate serves as the tobacco base with slightly dry woodsy tobacco notes and hints of licorice, molasses, and spice. I had to really push this percentage to bring out the sweeter spice notes.
FA Desert Ship provides a touch of sweetness and adds depth to the tobacco base, almost fooling you into thinking you're vaping fresh moist pipe tobacco.
FA Fuji we all know about the wonderful FA Fuji. At 1 %, it adds a nice apple back note to the tobacco without taking over the mix.
FA Blackcurrant compliments the FA Fuji, brightening up the apple taste by adding some darkness and a whole lot of depth. If this was a a commercial juice, I think this ingredient would be tough to figure out. It blends so nicely with the apple, you'd think I used a special 1-off type of ingredient.
Interesting and somewhat mysterious blend of dark red berries and a thick, sweet cream. Notes, comments, and flogging available here