DIY Adirondack - Saratoga (clone) ejuice recipe

I'll start by saying this was my first attempt at this juice and I'm so utterly pleased with it I had to share it. It might benefit from some adjustment to the graham cracker flavor but frankly I've been vaping this as-is for 2 days and it's outstanding. Incredibly sweet but not overwhelming. It's been a while since I vaped Saratoga but from what I remember this flavor is shockingly close. Please try it and let me know how you like it!

Mixed at 75/25 VG/PG. Steeped for only 48 hours and tastes fantastic.

INW Strawberry: The description for Saratoga starts with ripened strawberries, and personally INW Strawberry is the only strawberry flavor I've tried that actually tastes like strawberry. Everything else I've tried (TFA Strawberry, CAP SS, FA Red Touch among others) all taste "good" but mostly taste like candy. I do enjoy them in other strawberry juices but IMO they are better suited for flavor modifiers or enhancers.

TFA Strawberry Ripe: Even TFA Strawberry Ripe barely tastes like an actual strawberry but here it serves to take the legit strawberry flavor of INW and add a touch of, well, ripe strawberry, freshly picked.

CAP Graham Cracker: When doing standalone flavor testing this was the only graham cracker flavor I had that tastes like straight-up graham cracker. It's sweet and airy but still with a bold, robust flavor. Wasn't a fan of TFA Cheescake Graham Crust or TFA Graham Cracker Clear when I did standalone flavor testing and since then I simply haven't ever tried working them into a juice. They might work as complements though.

TFA Vanilla Swirl, FA Vienna Cream, FA Cream Fresh: Adirondack describes Saratoga as having "a variety of creams and a touch of vanilla" and "no eggy custard base". I have used this particular combo of vanilla/creams in some of my fruit mixes and I love it. It's not heavy or necesarily syrupy, it works very well to complement the sweetness of the graham cracker and strawberries. In fact it's quite light IMO.

Comments

#1 by psyki, Dec 19. 2015, 12:24

Edited to add TFA Graham Cracker Clear. It definitely complements CAP Graham Cracker here.

#2 by Timmis, Jul 19. 2016, 02:15

Thank you for sharing this recipe. Saratoga by Adirondack is one of my favorite premium juices. I made 25mls of this 70/30 VG/PG 3mg. It's very tasty as a shake n' vape. A little more graham crackery than i remember Saratoga to be but it's very good. I'm sure it will get even better after a week or more. I didnt have INW strawberry so I just used 5% TFA Ripe Strawberry. I will make it next time with INW to compare.

#3 by TheMonstaWansta, Sep 8. 2016, 04:31

I made this today, It tastes good but I feel like it's missing something! I hope your still around because i want to know if you've improved this recipe! I've been DYING for a spot on saratoga clone!

#4 by Timmis, Sep 18. 2016, 02:23

Which Inawera strawberry? They make several. Shisha, Wild, Kiss, and strawberry "concentrate". thanks

#5 by psyki, Sep 18. 2016, 12:15

@Timmis: You're welcome! The graham cracker was tricky with this version, if you made one little change elsewhere then it tended to steep out so I was constantly tweaking the grahams. Oh and it's just straight INW Strawberry. At the time the other strawberry flavors either didn't exist or weren't widely used.

That being said, I more or less abandoned that recipe framework altogether and started fresh. Ultimately I discovered that INW Strawberry and Biscuit were muting just about everything else. Lesson learned on that one, I'd been relying on those for a few decent recipes and when I just dove into using them here they did things I didn't expect.

Ultimately it's been so long since I've had the real Saratoga that I don't really remember any specific nuances. But if there was one thing I did remember it's that it was much sweeter than what I posted here.

Try this as a starting point:

CAP Sweet Strawberry 4-6%
TFA Strawberry Ripe 1-2%
CAP Graham Cracker 1.5%
TFA Graham Cracker Clear 1%
TFA Vanilla Swirl 0.5%
FA Vienna Cream 1.5%

I tend to overlook CAP SS even though I have 4oz sitting on my desk. It's reliable yet versatile and really quite flavorful. Best of all it plays very well with the graham cracker flavors so you don't have to overdo anything. TFA Strawberry Ripe adds a real authenticity to the strawberry.

Playing with the percentages is very forgiving in this mix, it's great. Add FA Marshmallow for a thick creamy mouthfeel, or FA Cream Fresh for legit cream. I haven't tried it yet but I have a feeling that TFA VBIC could very well with that base.

#6 by Timmis, Sep 18. 2016, 13:57

Thanks for all that knowledge. I'll try your suggestions.

#7 by amouthforwar, Dec 27. 2016, 21:49

Not quite Saratoga, but probably my own fault (don't have CAP/INW flavors yet so used what I had). But still a really tasty vape! After 4 day steep, tasted to take notes and it's smooth, creamy, subtle strawberry. Does CAP or INW strawberry add a bit more of a sweeter/candyish strawberry flavor compared to say TFA strawberry? Regardless, it's a good mix. Nothing seems to be off and it's already really tasty! will let it steep a bit more and see where it goes

#8 by Timmis, Dec 27. 2016, 23:06

I'm revisiting this recipe...what's the difference between the main recipe and the one in the comments? Is one closer to Saratoga than the other or better in general?

#9 by DarkJester89, Apr 29. 2017, 21:54

Timmis has a point, is the recipe updated?