DIY in Japan

[Old Goat]

Hello friends,

I live in Japan and I want to share little about DIY mixing here. In Japan, DIY is not so popular like in Europe or USA. Many people just buy juice from shop and don’t try to mix by themselves. Information in Japanese is also very small, so many DIY mixers here look to English forums and websites.

But in Japan we have many interesting flavor houses. They are not made special for vape, they are for food industry, but they use PG base and can work for mixing. Some examples:

T. Hasegawa (長谷川香料) – very big company. They make matcha, yuzu, red bean, sesame… many flavors you see in Japanese sweets.

Ogawa (小川香料) – old company also. Strong with wagashi type taste, like azuki, chestnut, sweet potato.

San-Ei Gen – they make tea flavors, milk, creamy type, and some umami taste also.

Glico group – same company who make Pocky! They also have flavor/aroma business.

With these flavors it is possible to make very Japanese style juice, like matcha custard with red bean or sesame. It taste same like dessert you can eat in Kyoto café.

Problem is, many times you can only buy big size, like for factory, not for small DIY. So it is not always easy. But if you can find them, they are very high quality and special.

I am curious if anyone here also try Japanese flavor, or maybe use food extract like matcha powder, azuki, sesame. I think Japanese taste can give something new for DIY.

Thank you for reading.

 

[Old Goat]

In my last post I write about DIY culture in Japan and some Japanese flavor houses. This time I want to talk about China. For vaping, China is very big source of flavor concentrate. Many juice company in the West also use China base, even if people don’t know.

Some example companies:

Xian Taima (西安泰玛香精香料) – they are very famous for strong concentrate for e-liquid. They have many taste like matcha, oolong tea, lychee, red bean. Big range, some taste very natural.

FLORA Flavouring / Inawera Asia – Chinese maker with dessert taste, like matcha ice cream, mango sticky rice, milk tea. Many flavor from Asian sweet.

Jiangsu Yawei / Oriental Flavours – they are strong for fruit and tea, also some bakery taste.

TPA China distributor – many Perfumer’s Apprentice flavors also come in bottle from China, sometimes with local-only taste.

These companies often sell for factory size, big liter or more, not so easy for small DIY. But sometimes you can find rebottle or reseller who sell small size, then it is good.

I think Chinese flavor are interesting because they have many Asian profile – like oolong tea, sesame, sticky rice, tropical fruit – not always easy to find from USA or Europe company.

Do any of you here try Xian Taima or FLORA before? I want to hear how you use them in mix.

 

[Old Goat]

Sorry.
I try to use ChatGPT to write for me in English, but I don't like how it make me sound like Manga.
I now try to write myself, I hope you understand better.

 

[Old Goat]

Samurai, you’ve just given the herd a whole new field to graze in. Those Japanese flavor houses sound incredible — matcha, sesame, azuki, chestnut — that’s not something we see on our shelves here in South Africa. We’re mostly stuck with the usual suspects: Flavorah, Capella, FlavorArt, TFA, and whatever BLCK can herd into the country. No wagashi magic for us.

I respect how you’re bringing in that local flavor wisdom, though. Even if most of us can’t get T. Hasegawa or Ogawa in little DIY bottles, hearing about them gets the herd thinking outside the usual strawberry-cream pasture.

And don’t worry about the English. The Goat understands you loud and clear. Better to sound like you than some AI with manga sparkle in its eyes. Keep sharing, Samurai — the barn is better for it.