Mixing is Bananas

Mixing with banana is both a simple process if you want it to be, or a very difficult one. Banana is a very top heavy flavor profile with notes that are wildly unique to its profile. Meaning you can identify a banana flavor a mile away. This is what makes banana easy…if you’re going for a banana flavor. But anytime you want to incorporate any banana essence or accents, things get much more difficult. Balance is key to the banana and that’s what usually stumps many. The video above, I address all these concerns.

Another thing that makes your DIY E-liquids difficult to produce is the lack of great banana flavorings. Many are just far too forward on their banana notes. Leaving them tasting artificial and strong. That Laffy Taffy like flavor that often comes from potent banana’s like LA Banana Cream, makes blending them into your recipes much more interesting. Balance is key and pay attention to your mixes and what they do in conjunction with other flavors will help you.

TFA Banana Cream

This is my go-to for banana’s. It’s got a nice authentic, yet vivid, banana profile on the top, and follows through with a creamy banana body. That creaminess on the end is what helps bring the authenticity to the flavoring. What I noticed is that if a banana doesn’t contain any of that body, its far too fragrant and linear and doesn’t create the best experience. Luckily, that’s all done for you with TFA Banana Cream. It is a bit soft, and there does need to be a bit of fiddiling around to get the best experience. But once you’ve figured it out, it’s great. It’s also one of the easiest to work into your recipes. I generally like it at 1 – 3% on the low end or in a mix, or 3 – 5% if I want a stronger banana profile.

TFA Ripe Banana

This is much like taking the banana profile from TFA banana cream, and taking away the cream. It has a very authentic ripe banana flavor on the top, but lacks in the body. This is great if you need a pure banana essence. One thing to note is that it’s extremely potent. I mean, some just use a drop or two to get the full experience. So that makes blending with this extremely difficult. I generally only use this if I’m going for a pure banana recipe. Anything else, Banana Cream seem to fit much better. 0.5-1% max

TFA Banana Fosters

This is a great banana flavoring if you want to blend it into dessert, bakeries, or tobaccos. It’s a banana flavor on the top, that’s a bit lighter, and bit more “baked” in its flavor. And it follows that up with a caramel, brown sugar, and light rum flavor. It’s got a great solo flavor and in that case I’m using it at 5%, but if I want to mix it generally 2 – 3#% is great. The banana is a bit light, but this makes it great for using in a recipe where you don’t want the banana to take all the attention.

TFA Banana Nut Bread

One of my favorite banana flavorings. This stuff packs an incredibly delicious and authentic flavor within it and works beautifully on its own. Its got a perfect baked banana flavor on top and follows through with a sweet nut bread that has a nice mouthfeel and a touch of texture. The star of this flavoring is its flavor. It’s extremely close to the real thing, only needing a bit more texture to pull it all together. The only issue I have with this flavoring is that its quite niche. Only really works in some desserts, bakeries, and tobaccos. So it limits the use of this flavoring, but nonetheless when I do use it, it’s a treat. I like it at 8% on its own, or 5% in a mix.