Is it just me?

[Southpaw22]

Is it just me, or are there a lot of terrible eliquid descriptions? I've been so let down by ones that say "tastes exactly like x" only to get them and find they taste nothing like the description says.

The B&M I go to has 3 different watermelon flavors: a regular watermelon, watermelon jolly rancher and watermelon bubble gum. The problem is the watermelon bubblegum tastes like medicine, the regular watermelon tastes like bubblegum and the jolly rancher tastes like...well I can't put my finger on it, but definitely doesn't taste like a jolly rancher. A separate vendor who claims to make the best damn eliquid has one named after a jolly rancher, but was the complete opposite (IMO, when I think of watermelon jolly ranchers, I think of a light, sweet, juicy flavor. This one tasted like an overripe fruit with no candy taste at all).

I thought I just had a terrible palate until I tried Carnage and Looper from AMNL. They actually taste exactly like their description.

So are there just a lot of people making liquids with bad tastebuds? Is it a bait and switch? Have the makers never tried the things they're trying to replicate?

 

[Mellowbuzz]

Are you breathing any of the juices or letting them steep? I find that anytime a juice tastes like medicine of alcohol, it needs to be burped and steeped for a period of time.

 

[Robino1]

I try to keep in mind that vaping is tricking the mind into thinking that what we are vaping tastes like something we remember.

I personally feel like if we know Exactly what something is supposed to taste like, we will never find that in a vape. Coffee aficionados have a hard time finding a coffee flavor they like. Because they Know that flavor so well, there is no way to trick the mind into thinking that is actual coffee.

A section from a blog I wrote a long time ago:

Taste is an elusive and a subjective thing. Think about it. We are getting flavor from wet AIR. We are not chewing something that is filling your mouth with a tangible food that gives your senses the texture, the wetness the flavor as you bite down on something. The flavor in the juices are trying to trick your mind into remembering those feelings of that certain food it is trying to mimic. When the taste buds go wonky, they can no longer make the mind remember what it is supposed to remember about that flavor since the taste buds can no longer send the flavor signal to the brain. It is just WET AIR at that point.

The blog then goes into vapers tongue, aging etc.

 

[DoubleEwe]

So are there just a lot of people making liquids with bad tastebuds

I think you've hit the nail on the head with this!
The juice can only taste as accurate as the maker's tastebuds allow.

I have tried my fair share of juices and half of them taste nothing like their description, maybe we need to do the tasting equivalent of eye squinting or something, I really don't know.
I swear the majority of the reviewers have no taste buds either, you could give them nicotine infused cat's piss, tell them it is Mandarin Marshmallow Mix and they would rate it 5 Stars and tell you it tastes exactly like it.

 

[Frenchfry1942]

We have different tastebuds than the person who came up with the names.

I have to say that I am finding patterns. Like fruits, to get that sparkly, citris flavor, I think menthol gets involed. Just like candy can be a bit to sweet. Any pastry will have a heavy base flavor like a dough.

 

[gpjoe]

With e-juice I know I'm rolling the dice going in, which is why I like to test first. And your never going to find an e-juice maker stating:

"Tastes just like rootbeer, except for the intolerable chemical after taste"

Ooooh, I gotta get me some of that!

 

[KattMamma]

The few premium juices I've tried seem to be a little better at describing the taste, but even those I take with a grain of salt and use as a general guide. I know the types of flavors I like, and the types I don't like (can't handle most fruity flavors - too overwhelming for my taste buds, and usually doesn't taste much like the fruit)

It's hard to taste something then describe the taste to someone else. Saying it tastes like X helps. Try to describe the flavor of starbucks coffee to someone who has never tasted coffee. That's part of the problem. The other part may be that your taste buds are very different than someone elses, or you may have MORE tastebuds (like me) which can be frustrating at times.

 

[Wolfenstark]

Taste is subjective in that I may like strawberry and you may not.
It does not mean however that you don't recognise strawberry when you taste it.

These companies need to make their juices the same way all the time and test them to maintain consistency. Also people are vaping them in different devices with different build and watts and such.

 

[DoubleEwe]

Taste is subjective in that I may like strawberry and you may not.
It does not mean however that you don't recognise strawberry when you taste it.

These companies need to make their juices the same way all the time and test them to maintain consistency. Also people are vaping them in different devices with different build and watts and such.

Totally agree with this!
However, it could be argued that due to the maker and the reviewer both having zero taste buds, it does taste like what strawberry tastes like TO THEM, but would not taste like strawberry for anyone that has more tastebuds (or more perceptive palate) than them.
So, in theory the maker can only make juice good enough for their level of taste and below.

But yes, I would like to also see some kind of standard test for how accurate the flavour is, maybe have all manufacturers take a published taste test so that we can all see the ones that are 'blindly' making their juices.

 

[jnslprd]

So much of it seems to be marketing these days. If you can get a cool buzz going in the community you can basically sell anything to the sheep. One trip to your local vape shop and listening to the chatter amongst the cool bearded and tattooed crowd tells the whole story.

 

[DoubleEwe]

So much of it seems to be marketing these days. If you can get a cool buzz going in the community you can basically sell anything to the sheep. One trip to your local vape shop and listening to the chatter amongst the cool bearded and tattooed crowd tells the whole story.

Agreed! If the packaging looks good and the name is something edgy then people will buy it regardless of it tasting like Sasquatch Sweat (possible name for my brand...).
The same thing happens with RDAs, release something the same as all the other stuff on the market, but give it a 'cool' logo and some slightly different shaped airholes and you have the most awesome, innovative device in the world.

 

[chopdoc]

They way a favor is vaped is what dictates how it taste. For instance ITCVapes monkey bread. Vaping it in a carto like a G5-H2 has to me a good donut taste thats very pleasant. Drip it in a Patriot or a TOBH and the maple syrup flavor just unloads on it and it is a completely different vape flavor. What we the consumer dont know is what they used for taste testing when they was developing the flavor and all we have to go on is their description and from there its a throw of the dice if we will like it the way we use it or not.
Us as DIYer's should put in the recipes we share with others what we used to vape test when developing a flavor.

 

[eLefAdEr]

One of my pet peeves is companies that try to get too creative with their descriptions and end up leaving out important info. E-liquid isn't conducive to the J. Peterman catalog treatment.

 

[AquaJoe]

They way a favor is vaped is what dictates how it taste. For instance ITCVapes monkey bread. Vaping it in a carto like a G5-H2 has to me a good donut taste thats very pleasant. Drip it in a Patriot or a TOBH and the maple syrup flavor just unloads on it and it is a completely different vape flavor. What we the consumer dont know is what they used for taste testing when they was developing the flavor and all we have to go on is their description and from there its a throw of the dice if we will like it the way we use it or not.
Us as DIYer's should put in the recipes we share with others what we used to vape test when developing a flavor.

Exactly!
What your vaping with can change a juice flavor dramatically!! I vape a vanilla custard all the time with a nautilus mini and I get more vanilla and less custard. But when I drip the same juice on a .6Ω rda, I get no vanilla and all custard.

There are some juices I can only vape while dripping. I don't like the flavor if I put it in a tank.

With that being said, taste is still subjective and most of us have messed up taste buds from years of smoking. The juice is only as good as the makers taste buds.

 

[DoubleEwe]

I am on the fence on the whole 'device makes a difference to taste', personally I think it is all about muting flavours, some juices just don't taste good when you can detect the full flavour, so they require muting (using a less flavour enhancing device) to get rid of (or tone down) the nasty notes and allow it to taste 'good'.

In my experience a decent e-juice will taste good no matter what device you are using it in, it is the ones that are not quite up to scratch that seem to differ greatly depending on the device.

For example, Five Pawns Grandmaster, tasting it in an RDA for me was like sucking in the fumes from a fresh cow pat, it tasted awful, so many notes that came through that were disgusting. I tired it in a Kayfun and it actually tasted alright, with the flavours slightly muted it was vapeable.
Boosted by Boosted on the other hand tasted superb in any device that I tried it in, no notes were off, just a well blended delight. It was just stronger tasting in an RDA.

 

[Davect06607]

I have several bottles steeping for a few weeks, hoping the taste improves dramatically. Definetily doesn't tast as it was desribed.

 

[KattMamma]

In my experience a decent e-juice will taste good no matter what device you are using it in, it is the ones that are not quite up to scratch that seem to differ greatly depending on the device.

That has been my experience as well. I have a few premium juices that I really like, and they taste the same in all my devices, they just have more flavor in the higher wattage devices.

 

[Enoch777]

Agreed, the only thing that pushes flavor is wattage and airflow in my opinion. It's like turning the faucet on trickle, ah... just right. But when you need to get down to business you can bet it's on full-blast

I've tried various RDAs, dozens of different coils and wattages and none of my juice truly changes in flavor profile. It's either more, or it's less. Perhaps "more" means your tastebuds get overwhelmed by a certain caramel flavoring, whereas before it just wasn't enough to truly register and you were mostly getting vanilla & tobacco. Classic RY4-syndrome. The last one I tried tasted like nothing but maple syrup, go figure.

The remedy has always remained the same: Stick with what you know you like and rotate on a daily/weekly basis. As far as vendor descriptions go, I try to remain objective and use it as a guideline. I know I'm not going to like Razzberry Xplosion as much as I'm going to like Burley Brew. But who knows, maybe they use a base that just tastes God awful to me, won't know until I try.

What it really comes down to is, if you're going to try new vendors/flavors, be prepared to spend some (hopefully) disposable income in your quest. Not always satisfying but when you find "THE ONE" it's well worth the effort.

 

[jnslprd]

I am on the fence on the whole 'device makes a difference to taste', personally I think it is all about muting flavours, some juices just don't taste good when you can detect the full flavour, so they require muting (using a less flavour enhancing device) to get rid of (or tone down) the nasty notes and allow it to taste 'good'.

In my experience a decent e-juice will taste good no matter what device you are using it in, it is the ones that are not quite up to scratch that seem to differ greatly depending on the device.

For example, Five Pawns Grandmaster, tasting it in an RDA for me was like sucking in the fumes from a fresh cow pat, it tasted awful, so many notes that came through that were disgusting. I tired it in a Kayfun and it actually tasted alright, with the flavours slightly muted it was vapeable.
Boosted by Boosted on the other hand tasted superb in any device that I tried it in, no notes were off, just a well blended delight. It was just stronger tasting in an RDA.

Boosted is quickly becoming my favorite, Wastegate is really tasty as well. Like you said it tastes great regardless what its being vaped in. It always tastes the same from batch to batch and isn't super expensive to boot. At least with his catchy marketing the product matches the hype.

 

[DoubleEwe]

Boosted is quickly becoming my favorite, Wastegate is really tasty as well. Like you said it tastes great regardless what its being vaped in. It always tastes the same from batch to batch and isn't super expensive to boot. At least with his catchy marketing the product matches the hype.

Yeah, Boosted is the best Strawberry Custard/Cream that I have tried.
I have not had the pleasure of trying Wastegate, but it sounds pretty good, it has been added to my 'to buy' list, along with Rear-Diff from Boosted (some kind of pumpkin thing???).