I'm not really sure what to write about today. I said I'd try to post once per day about my vaping adventures, content and circumstances permitting, so I'm officially choosing "whatever", or possibly "meta-bloggery" as the topic, or at least the jumping-off point today.
Seems like I'm gravitating a lot to my DIY experiments for these blog posts. I don't know if this is just because it's new and exciting for me, or if it's my way of keeping notes on what works and what doesn't for me. I suppose that writing down one's experiences is one way of working things out.
Plus, this is technically open to anyone to read, so it could potentially be a sounding board if someone offers feedback on an idea or problem I'm having.
Take, for example, my new experiment. I love a good key lime pie, and so am working on a key lime pie vape. I've got it about 90% to where I want it, but am not sure where that extra 10% is, or what it should be. Basically, I'm using graham cracker and marshmallow to give it crust and sweetness, and then adding key lime on top of that for, well, the key lime.
I mixed up 5 ml, and my first tweak was to put in a drop of 20% malic acid solution to stabilize the juice and add a bit of tartness to it, after finding it a bit too sweet for my tastes. Afterwards, I found something really astringent about the throat-hit, so I dripped in about half a ml of Ethyl Maltol solution (premixed; no idea of the concentration) to try and soften it out again. I've also read that EM helps integrate the flavours. This mostly worked. I'm loath to add too much, in case the juice becomes unvapeable, but the astringency has been cut back a lot.
It's better, and as I said, the flavour is almost where I want it. I'm getting crust (I loooove graham cracker crust), sweet and lime like I wanted, but it lacks that final finesse that would turn this into a really good juice. I have no idea where to go from here. Perhaps more EM is the key. Maybe I'm missing some other ingredient.
Maybe all I need to do is let it steep. I think that's the best idea for now. I'm going to be sampling it every day to see how it evolves, and maybe think about doing other things if it doesn't improve after a week or two.
So, anyway, yeah. I suppose this blog is mostly my DIY notebook, open for anyone to annotate as they see fit. I'll still be posting other things as well, but those entries will probably be few and far between. Maybe I'll do a few reviews in here.
Back to DIY:
Quick updates:
RY4: Still really good. Doesn't taste anything like any other RY4s I've tried. Very sweet. Some tobacco in the background; still not sure what kind it is.
Dunhill: Also good. I find the chocolate notes are kind of like guests at a party that need to warm up to the crowd. You know, at first they sort of stand over by the punch bowl, not really interacting with anyone else. They're pretty conspicuous. After a while, the maltiness decides to strike up a conversation. So, all of a sudden, you notice the maltiness in with the chocolate. The earthy tones are nearby, refilling their cup. The other tobacco flavours are kind of nearby because their drinks are getting low. Soon, the earthy notes jump in on the conversation, and then some of the caramel notes join in with a well-timed zinger. This draws in the tobacco as well. The chocolate's interacting a lot more with the other flavours now, and everyone's getting along.
I think I stretched that simile a little too far.
Peach-Raspberry: Still really good. The peach is moving more towards a nice ripe peach, losing some of those tinned qualities. It's definitely taken the lead in this e-liquid. The raspberry is in more of a supporting role right now, but the chemistry between the two flavours is good. They play off each other nicely; providing nice, snappy point-counterpoint dialogue, like an intelligently-written 1930s comedy.
Boy, do I ever know how to lay it on with a trowel.
That's all for today.
MisterMike out.
Seems like I'm gravitating a lot to my DIY experiments for these blog posts. I don't know if this is just because it's new and exciting for me, or if it's my way of keeping notes on what works and what doesn't for me. I suppose that writing down one's experiences is one way of working things out.
Plus, this is technically open to anyone to read, so it could potentially be a sounding board if someone offers feedback on an idea or problem I'm having.
Take, for example, my new experiment. I love a good key lime pie, and so am working on a key lime pie vape. I've got it about 90% to where I want it, but am not sure where that extra 10% is, or what it should be. Basically, I'm using graham cracker and marshmallow to give it crust and sweetness, and then adding key lime on top of that for, well, the key lime.
I mixed up 5 ml, and my first tweak was to put in a drop of 20% malic acid solution to stabilize the juice and add a bit of tartness to it, after finding it a bit too sweet for my tastes. Afterwards, I found something really astringent about the throat-hit, so I dripped in about half a ml of Ethyl Maltol solution (premixed; no idea of the concentration) to try and soften it out again. I've also read that EM helps integrate the flavours. This mostly worked. I'm loath to add too much, in case the juice becomes unvapeable, but the astringency has been cut back a lot.
It's better, and as I said, the flavour is almost where I want it. I'm getting crust (I loooove graham cracker crust), sweet and lime like I wanted, but it lacks that final finesse that would turn this into a really good juice. I have no idea where to go from here. Perhaps more EM is the key. Maybe I'm missing some other ingredient.
Maybe all I need to do is let it steep. I think that's the best idea for now. I'm going to be sampling it every day to see how it evolves, and maybe think about doing other things if it doesn't improve after a week or two.
So, anyway, yeah. I suppose this blog is mostly my DIY notebook, open for anyone to annotate as they see fit. I'll still be posting other things as well, but those entries will probably be few and far between. Maybe I'll do a few reviews in here.
Back to DIY:
Quick updates:
RY4: Still really good. Doesn't taste anything like any other RY4s I've tried. Very sweet. Some tobacco in the background; still not sure what kind it is.
Dunhill: Also good. I find the chocolate notes are kind of like guests at a party that need to warm up to the crowd. You know, at first they sort of stand over by the punch bowl, not really interacting with anyone else. They're pretty conspicuous. After a while, the maltiness decides to strike up a conversation. So, all of a sudden, you notice the maltiness in with the chocolate. The earthy tones are nearby, refilling their cup. The other tobacco flavours are kind of nearby because their drinks are getting low. Soon, the earthy notes jump in on the conversation, and then some of the caramel notes join in with a well-timed zinger. This draws in the tobacco as well. The chocolate's interacting a lot more with the other flavours now, and everyone's getting along.
I think I stretched that simile a little too far.
Peach-Raspberry: Still really good. The peach is moving more towards a nice ripe peach, losing some of those tinned qualities. It's definitely taken the lead in this e-liquid. The raspberry is in more of a supporting role right now, but the chemistry between the two flavours is good. They play off each other nicely; providing nice, snappy point-counterpoint dialogue, like an intelligently-written 1930s comedy.
Boy, do I ever know how to lay it on with a trowel.
That's all for today.
MisterMike out.
