Need some Tart/Bitter tips

[ZenCloud79]

I'm looking for some recipes for tart and bitter tastes. I'm trying to help my Mom get into vaping and off regular cigs but she says the vape tastes too sweet. She has no sweet tooth at all and prefers tart and bitter. I have a huge sweet tooth so inventing a tart/bitter vape is really hard for me. When I say tart I mean like rhubarb tart, not sour so much. Lol hard for me to describe because I usually avoid this taste. What have you all found to be a tart tasting vape? Things that come to mind for tart are
Raspberry
Pear
Grapefruit
cranberry
yogurt
dark chocolate (bitter)

 

[bombastinator]

Iirc tart generally means sour and sour is easy: add citric acid

 

[IDJoel]

FlavourArt's (FA) Bitter Wizard is a good candidate here. It is designed specifically to add a bitter note.

FA Lime Tahity (both Cold Pressed, and Distilled) offer a distinct peel-like "bite," that is good for citrus mixes. The Distilled version has more bite than the Cold Pressed. Both are extremely potent and do provide a distinct "lime" flavor note... may not be appropriate for all mixes.

TFA, and Wizard Labs both offer a "sour" additive that uses malic acid as the active ingredient. TFA-Sour is 20% malic acid; while Wizard Labs (WL-SuperSour) is 40% malic acid. The malic provides a good "sour" note without altering the overall flavor profile.

There is also TFA-TartandSour; which is a combination of both citric and malic acids, to provide both sour and tartness/bite.

 

[AzPlumber]

Along with the great suggestions above by @IDJoel , I would stick with a very high PG ratio.

 

[ZenCloud79]

would this Sour by FLavorWest work too? I usually buy from them. Very high PG ratio being like 60pg/40vg?

 

[CagedSpam]

I'm thinking some green/black tea flavors or anise might work. I'd say cardamom but I don't exactly know what it tastes like.

Wikipedia says"Cardamom has a strong, unique taste, with an intensely aromatic, resinous fragrance. Black cardamom has a distinctly more smokey, though not bitter, aroma, with a coolness some consider similar to mint."

 

[IDJoel]

would this Sour by FLavorWest work too?

Might be worth a try; I haven't used it, so I can't offer a first-hand opinion. It, like TFA and WL sour offerings, uses malic acid. The only thing I am not sure of is the "Natural and Artificial Flavoring" part of the ingredients list. Just start with a small sized bottle until you know if it is going to do the job.

 

[Letitia]

FA sicilian mix adds a bit of tongue bite to a fruit. 1 or 2 drops per 10ml is enough.

 

[FranC]

None of the additives has ever worked for me. Just don't like the taste of them and I can always taste the sweet over the sour of the additive. Therefore I mix with the least sweet flavors.

 

[Equality 7-2521]

I'm thinking some green/black tea flavors or anise might work. I'd say cardamom but I don't exactly know what it tastes like.

Wikipedia says"Cardamom has a strong, unique taste, with an intensely aromatic, resinous fragrance. Black cardamom has a distinctly more smokey, though not bitter, aroma, with a coolness some consider similar to mint."

cardamon I would describe as astringent.

 

[Equality 7-2521]

FlavourArt's (FA) Bitter Wizard is a good candidate here. It is designed specifically to add a bitter note.

FA Lime Tahity (both Cold Pressed, and Distilled) offer a distinct peel-like "bite," that is good for citrus mixes. The Distilled version has more bite than the Cold Pressed. Both are extremely potent and do provide a distinct "lime" flavor note... may not be appropriate for all mixes.

TFA, and Wizard Labs both offer a "sour" additive that uses malic acid as the active ingredient. TFA-Sour is 20% malic acid; while Wizard Labs (WL-SuperSour) is 40% malic acid. The malic provides a good "sour" note without altering the overall flavor profile.

There is also TFA-TartandSour; which is a combination of both citric and malic acids, to provide both sour and tartness/bite.

I wonder if you could use these to make nic salts with.

 

[ckquatt]

I'm a big fan of Lorann's Tart and Sour. I use it in a lot of my fruit flavors.

Tart & Sour Flavor Boost By LorAnn Oils 1oz
http://www.ecigexpress.com/shop/diy...-dram/tart-sour-flavor-boost-lorann-oils.html
(It's not an oil BTW) Just the name of the company.

 

[IDJoel]

I wonder if you could use these to make nic salts with.

Citric acid is a common choice for DIY nic salts. I have seen the question asked regarding malic acid; but haven't heard any outcomes.

Using these flavor concentrates, to make nic salts, is usually much more expensive than buying the raw food-grade crystals. Keep in mind too; the concentrates are normally pre-diluted to 5-20%; while crystals are routinely 98% pure or higher.

We have moved off-topic for this thread; so I will stop now. I suggest, if you have further interest, that you search ECF's DIY E-Liquid sub-forum for "nic salts." There are several threads already dedicated to the topic.