Isolation has given many of us extra time indoors to learn new skills, or dive deeper into hobbies. DIY e-liquid has been steadily growing in popularity for the last few years but now it’s seeing a huge burst of new users.
DIY e-liquid is a broad topic, so we can’t explore everything in one post but today we aim to set you up with a range of versatile, tasty flavours to consider for your first order. To keep things simple, we’ll be separating flavours by brand, rather than flavour category.
Flavour Art (FA):
Flavour Art are one of the world’s premier flavouring manufacturers and they have a great reputation for authenticity and potency. Most FA flavourings are best used between 1-5%, though there are some exceptions to the rule.
Custard Premium: A silky smooth, rich custard base, with a bright vanilla top note. This is a relatively new release and it’s already become the go to custard for lots of mixers. Nice on its own but really starts to shine when paired with fruit and bakery flavours.
Fuji: The industry standard authentic apple. Bright, tart and a little sweet, this can be used in virtually any mix that calls for apple.
Pear: What Fuji does for apples, Pear does for pears. Simple as that!
Indian Special Mango: Our top pick of FA’s current mango offerings. This is a soda style mango, which can easily be used in any fruity or dessert mix.
Soho: One of many tobacco offerings from FA. Soho is our pick for new mixers though, since it’s not too heavy and has light nut accents which pair with plenty of fruit and dessert flavourings.
Cream Fresh: Probably the most authentic cream flavouring on the market, great for adding a dairy body without additional sweetness.
Meringue: Used in countless dessert mixes, meringue adds a good level of sweetness and can be combined with Cream Fresh for a sweet milky base.
Forest Mix: An authentic berry medley flavour that’s highly versatile.
Polar Blast: A proprietary mix of cooling agents, with a touch of mint. Great for freshening up your mix.
Capella (CAP):
US based Capella are a cornerstone of the e-liquid industry and the size of their range rivals Flavour Art. In general, their flavourings are a little less concentrated but this is not always the case.
Vanilla Custard V1: This concentrate is likely responsible for making custard e-liquids so popular. It is a heavy custard, with rich egg notes and a moderate vanilla, though it doesn’t always have to be the star of the show and can be used at lower percentages as an accent.
Sweet Strawberry: A versatile strawberry that has both candy and jam like notes. This can be used in virtually any fruit or dessert mix.
French Vanilla V1: If you’re looking to add a rich confectionary vanilla note to your mix, with some creamy body, this is the concentrate we recommend.
Sugar Cookie: A sweet American style sugar cookie that is seen as a bakery building block by many mixers.
Sweet Guava: One of the best guava concentrates on the market. Great for adding a splash of tropical sweetness to any mix.
Green Apple Hard Candy: In some ways this is the polar opposite of FA Fuji but it’s every bit as tasty. A sweet, super tart sour candy apple that’s great for candy mixes. Adds a sticky texture, too.
Lemon Lime: A candy like combination of lemon and lime that tastes very similar to a certain beverage. Great in fruit mixes, or for creating lemonade style profiles.
Super Sweet: One of the industry standard sweeteners for e-liquid. Some may prefer to avoid this entirely but those who enjoy that commercial level of sweetness may require it. Start at 0.25% and add more if necessary. This is strong stuff and it will gunk coils!
Inawera (INW)
Inawera are based in Poland and have become a staple of the DIY community with their potent, sometimes unusual, flavours.
Cactus: A divisive but interesting flavour. Cactus can be used at very low percentages to add a “juicy” mouthfeel, or turned up higher to add a distinctive flavour, that presumably tastes like cactus. Who knows.
Biscuit: In our view, the most versatile biscuit flavouring on the market. Buttery, with a mild dark sweetness that can be dropped into almost any dessert mix.
Custard: Very different from Capella’s offerings. This is more of a vanilla pudding to us and is a great way of thickening dessert mixes without adding too much weight.
Shisha Strawberry: A syrupy, jam like strawberry that’s fantastic in desserts.
Yes We Cheesecake: A brilliant cheesecake base.
Even if you order just half of these flavourings, we’re confident that you’ll have the tools at your disposal to create countless great mixes. There are too many great flavourings to put in one blog post, so we’ll be covering more in the future!
