Tutorial Tuesday - Interview with RainbowDragon

by /u/isuamadog

Hi Everyone,

This was supposed to come out next week, but I didn't get this week's done in time! Luckily I got a chance to speak with u/glasschalice468 and chatted for nearly three hours. You may not believe it, but this is the truncated version of an excellent conversation with a fantastic mixer and just an overall positive and genuine person. Her atf recipes can be found here and you can always find her in the discord. I recommend you strike up a conversation. I guarantee you learn some new fact, have a good laugh, and receive some nugget of wisdom. Here's our conversation:

i: First off, let me start by saying i'm super excited. And secondly, you know looking over your recipes, I realized I've tried a bunch of them, but not nearly enough.
D: Oh, thank you. I'm excited too. I hope that you enjoyed some of them.
i: [I generally love them] So, I looked them over and there were a few that I have been interested in trying but were missing ingredients and then I saw one that I have been wanting to mix for ages and never got around to, so im going to mix your rainbow snozzberry custard for nostalgia's sake

Can you tell me about that experience and why you tinkered with that recipe while i look for flavors?

Rainbow Snozzberry Custard

D: Yea, so, I made that at the beginning of my mixing journey. I was still at the stage where I was basically taking other people's recipes and tweaking them here and there. The original recipe was actually something that I had a hand in making. Back in the spring of 2018 there was a showdown that I was convinced to join the blue team as the noobie member. I was assured that I'd have plenty of help from my more experienced team members u/AlfredPudding and u/staybert.

I'll tell you, that was a lot of fun even though it was a bit overwhelming for someone who only had 1 public recipe and it was trash. Golden Snozzberry Custard was the result of the showdown but, after it was all said and done, there are some things that my palate preferred over some of my teammates. I played with the recipe a little more and posted my alternate version as Rainbow Snozzberry Custard. I traded JF strawberry sweet for CAP and a few other things. I figured that if the Golden wasn't quite to someone's taste then they might like the Rainbow version more, like me. Taking me way back here, dog.
i: I know, right? Those were the wild times of the early discord. I'd say it was a lot of late nights, but you are generally on in the night!
The best answer to a question you could have would be if you could answer, where in the hell is my milk and honey?
D: hahaha, I'm definitely a proud night crew member. It's funny that you mention the flv milk and honey because that was basically my main contribution to the original recipe. They were like, "cactus and milk & honey? Why not? Lets try it." and that's just how the magic happened. However, I can't help you find yours, sorry.
i: I'll mix this as we go. I remember the excitement of the showdowns at the time and that they weren't exactly supposed to be 'finished' recipes in the sense that they couldn't be played with. Yet, I only remember you playing with that one and u/ID10-T saying it was great if not better.
D: I think he said the original was his favorite maybe because of the novelty of the original idea and that it was so different but that my remix was probably his second favorite mix he had tried that year. I'll take that any day.
i: He says that to all the mixers. So, really though, I have to gush about a few of your recipes, if i can change the subject
D: Sure, I'd like to hear what you think of them!

Dismal Pie

i: Even though it's not really a change because I remember ID gushing over this one too: Dismal Pie You know i was going to bring up the paw paw.
D: Ah, yes, the Paw Paw Pie
i: It was like nothing i'd ever tasted, which is really, I think, characteristic of all your vapes i've tried.
D: Have you ever had an Appalachian Banana? Even those who have had them raw haven't tried them actually cooked into a dish so I imagine that it would be very different and new for most people.
i: No, and you know i wont rest until I do now
D: My grandfather kept a Paw Paw tree in his backyard for many years, to my grandma's behest. haha.
i: you put paw paw on the map in my world. That recipe is so good, unusual fruit within a familiar bakery vibe that melds together into something new...
D: It's a lovely fruit. Actually it was George Washington's favorite frozen treat. I was given a bottle of VT Paw Paw and I just knew that I could make something sweet, thick, and delicious with it. The issue was that it didn't have the complete profile of the paw paw even though it had most of it there. FLV Mango brought the lower notes and that coconutty funkiness while WF Cherimoya filled in the sweeter high notes. This combo really filled it out but to put it in a pie it needed the creamy thickness of FLV Vanilla Pudding.
i: How'd you even think to do that? im just such a plug and play guy. i like bacco blends and all, but one flavor is complex enough to generally ride. How do you think, "oh lemme try this?" that's a serious question on my part. Sometimes I feel flavor stupid.
D: it's kind of like painting a picture. You need light and you need shadows otherwise it just feels flat. i: so... i lack culture? thanks
D: I wouldnt say that you lack culture. Sometimes people just need help to see things the same way as someone else.

All My Sanity

i: i loved your notes for All My Sanity, that is so much of how I mix in a paragraph. Can you talk about how that mix happened?
D: Most of it is really right there. It's a story of how one thing lead to another just adding a little of this and a little of that based one what seems to be missing. I basically mix like that every time too. Just start with one flavor. you don't need to have a whole plan laid out at the beginning. Let the flavors guide you. That sounds kind of new age-y but it's true.
i: I'm with you on that. Except the off ones are a lot of meh until you strike gold.
D: Yea, sometimes you have to start over or make a few testers with a few different graham crackers to find the right one but it's all part of the fun. You learn your flavors better that way too
i: Definitely a "the journey is the destination" style of mixing.
D: You could say that, yeah.

Never Lift

i: So how do you explain my new favorite: Never Lift, because that shit is hot fire.
D: There was no plan for that one either. I just kind of threw some yummy stuff together to see if something stuck. Rice, almond milk, cake, nougat-y custard all sitting under my favorite dragonfruit. That's kind of why I named it Never Lift. It sounded good in my head and all I could do was hope that I wouldnt have to mix 30 versions of it before it was good. Between you and me, I actually managed that on the first try and it was awesome.
i: hahaha, this is going on Reddit but fine, fuck yeah! That's actually happened to me before. I was as amazed as anyone. It's so stupid good though. I really truly and utterly feel like you have similar tastes to me, but you approach everything with an unusual assortment of flavors/angles (compared to what im used to or starting with). Meanwhile, im vaping this snozz right now and holy moly
D: I really just look at the flavor combos like food but I can miss some of the more interesting options that way. I'm interested to hear your thoughts on the fictional berry custard.
i: truth? it's just bouncing around in my mouth It's a few different things at the same time and the finish isnt even steady one thing. like it could easily be a heavy custard finish but the fruits pop red or funky at different times
D: the cactus with the milk and honey is to blame for some of that bounciness, I think.
i: i could see that actually
D: It's strange and fruity and creamy but not too heavy. definitely a weird one and something that I wouldn't have thought of completely on my own.
i: it's like that conflict makes it flip flop on what you are associating the flavor with at that moment
D: exactly!

WCSB

i: it's super good as is WCSB
D: I have 2 small shelves of sfts and recipe testers and although, i'd say that i'm getting better, most of them arent winners.
i: they can't all be shakespeare. You saved me from the torture of watching people try prickly victory as a first mix until the end of time with that one.
D: Prickly victory was good and simple and that's why we all tried it.
i: True, and those are both good flavors so i'd never talk anyone out of it
D: I'm suprised that there arent more recipes out there that expand on it in some way.
i: Frankly speaking, with yours on the table, i dont see why there would be
D: Well, thank you. I'm glad that you and others enjoy it. It actually didnt start as something that was supposed to be good. Someone was joking about making something terrible for their friend to try and this was my off-the-cuff suggestion. that is, until I mixed it and tried it myself. Then it begged to be posted publicly. I had actually forgotten all about Prickly Victory and how that combo was so good
i: Yours completes it in my book, but i'm kinda realizing I just like to taste things you like. Do me a favor, explain your love for NF Almond. Of your 19 recipes, only two use it so I don't know why i think you're obsessed with it, when it's actually me that is obsessed [This fucken snozz is great btw] I feel like it's a 'weird' mix but this isnt even weird for weird's sake. it's weird for good's sake.
D: I have yet to find another flavor that is actually 2 different things at different percentages and yet is still delicious at both levels. It's the most interesting flavor in my opinion. I tried all those almonds for noted and found this little gem but I have yet to really play with it more. I hope to inspire others to experience it too. I dont want to take up all of the good profiles before others get to play too. When used down low, it's a wonderful amaretto flavor with cherry, almond, and vanilla notes. Take it higher and the cherry really starts to take over until it's completely a realistic cooked black cherry. It's also one of the most forgiving flavors that I have found yet. you can overdrip and it doesnt get harsh or weird.
D: That's awesome. I'm glad that even someone who proclaims to have an affinity for tobaccos can enjoy something as off the wall as that one.

The Kitchen Sink

i: at the risk of sounding circle jerky, i have loved everything you've done. I dug Green Blood Soda, Dismal Pie, WCSB, Never Lift, Snozz, and just wish I had the fire for F'n Ice and the variety of the profiles always startle me. They're all pretty different, but use contrasts and supports superbly, in my humble opinion.
D: hahaha, it's alright. I've liked most of yours that I've tried as well except for that one that had peanut butter and that's simply because I dont like peanut butter in vapes. F'n Ice tastes like Big Red Gum, imo. I don't see a point in doing the same thing over and over, that isnt challenging or new. I want to try my hand at a bunch of different things. I've kind of always been that way. I like to explore.
i: I love that you are so modest and I hope that you dont get overlooked because of it. I also love that you have so much great information and are just a great person. One last question: I know you make your own coils (and all kinds of sick crafty things), how much do you think gear plays into the experience of vaping and how deep into it do you get?
D: Well, I have been on a completely separate journey in vaping with my hardware. I started with disposables and then when I got a mod and sub ohm tank it changed my world. My world was again shaken when I got my first RDA. The range of flavor that could be portrayed from one to the other was night and day. As I get further into finding what can give me the best flavor and feel, I have been finding that gear plays a huge part. Everything from the device to the coils to the wicking can all be a factor in what you taste from the same exact juice. I have found a few wicks that I like but I'm always up for trying something new to see if I like it better.

As for coils, I am making them and trying new things there too. A plain wire might get the job done but you're missing out on the bright bits of the flavor. Sometimes really complicated coils arent better though and may just gunk up with bakeries and low notes disappear. It takes a bit of luck and trail and error to find what really gives you the true expression of a recipe, imo. My suggestion to newbies is to just keep trying different things. One day that flavor is going to smack you in the face just how you've been hoping for.
i: Perfect ending! You are such a gem in this community, dragon
D: Aww, thank you. This was fun

When it came time to edit this, I just couldn't. So, there it (mostly) is. If I think about it, it took a few hours to write, but it didn't feel that way. (Formatting was a bit of a nightmare though!) I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did, and maybe even possibly got a little dragon egg of wisdom...

- i