A NORTH-EAST man has created a McDonald's vape flavour to "scratch the Big Mac itch" after isolating through the pandemic.
David Sykes, who has been self-isolating with his mum in a remote part of the region due to preexisting health conditions, has made his own Big Mac flavoured vape liquid after finding himself 30 miles away from the nearest McDonald's.
The 32-year-old freelance software developer moved from Manchester to Bellingham in Northumberland, which he calls "off-grid", at the start of the pandemic to also be close to him mum, who had no family around her.
Mr Sykes said: "The real test for me turned out to be that we were over 30 miles away from the nearest Mcdonald's.
"I loved to have Mcdonald's as a treat, with the Big Mac always being the number one choice. My dad always used to take us when we went to the cinema or family outings, probably because we begged him.
"Since then it’s been a part of my weekend. But now being in such a remote area, it hasn’t been possible to get it with all the restrictions.
"When I moved up to my mum’s I quit smoking and started vaping and I learned there are lots of different flavours.
"Then when the first lockdown happened, it had been weeks since I’d had a takeaway and I looked around for a burger flavour, but it didn’t exist."
Mr Sykes says that he forgot about his hunger for the famous burger when restrictions eased in summer, but rules tightening again spurred him on to create his own vape flavour.
He added: "I thought, well I’m not much of a chef but I quite like to tinker with things until they are right. So why not have a go at making my own flavour? It’s a bit like programming really, if you wanted to recreate a particular flavour, you test it out in an iterative process of constant development.
"You can get all the bits you need online to do this, and I haven’t had much to do outside of work, so it seemed like a fun challenge.
"I think overall it took me about 30 mixing attempts to get it to where I have got it now.
"But it tastes like the sauce in a big mac with a beefy undertone. Finally, I did it."
Since then, Mr Sykes has been working on a KFC herbs and spices flavour because he "misses that as well".
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel