Hey guys trying to do a absinthe vape for a buddy. He's vaping Mbv right now about 236 ml a month. Trying to get him to start dyi to cut some cost. Even tho Mbv is cheap enough . My problem is that is one flavor I absolutely can not stand. I mixed one up using tfa absinthe10% And tfa sweetener 1%. Steeped it about a week. Tried it yuck lol. He liked it said it but was light on flavor less sweet and missing something. Any advise on making this better to bring a friend into the dyi community ? I can't sit and vape this like other stuff to get it right just to much for me lol Thanks !
TFA Absinthe doesn't taste like much of anything but Anise (in fact, that may be all it is). Anytime we add sucralose/sweetener to a mix, it ultimately lessens the flavor of the mix* (and many say sucralose adds a yukky-chemical taste, too). 10% should be more than enough to create a
very intense TFA Absinthe base. However, there will always be those that prefer otherwise (or think they prefer otherwise because they've always overflavored and have no idea that "too much = less flavor") - and then, there's the Pluid-heads.
Hands down, the best Absinthe flavor is by Decadent Vapour, and is available in the USA at Liberty-Flights...you'll find "DV is the best Absinthe" posted all over ECF & the net. Here's a link:
D.I.Y & Mixing - Decadent Vapours Flavourings (we just ordered 30ml so we'd have a nice stash. It comes in a nice, heavy glass green bottle with a funky dropper-thingy).
People commonly overflavor with this and use crazy-high percentages. We mixed it at 5% and 7.5% and found each percentage was amply strong/good in it's own way (and that certain flavors intensified/lessened at different voltages). One can 'spike & pop' it beautifully by adding .5% - 1% FA Anise.
With the TFA Absinthe you have, I'd try it again at 8-10% with a splash of FA Anise and no additives...he'll likely be very impressed at the increase in flavor intensity (or maybe not with the "ymmv thing").
Agree with HeadInClouds - Horehound and licorice might be 'just the thing'.
Of course :::grinning & winking::: , if you really want to pop flavors and make them come *alive*, then the addition of saline solution .9% is the winning ticket! And we're not the only one that knows so...
...
BTW, your base recipe rocks!. While I was waiting on my saline to arrive I mixed a couple 80/20 - 70/30 and they are pale in comparison.
Our base recipe (that we mix in large amounts and plug into the calculator as VG) is 80% VG; 9% distilled water; 9% sterile saline solution (.9%) and 2% PGA (pure grain alcohol). But the alcohol isn't much of player in 'flavor popping' that we can tell (so it can be left out, switching the base recipe to a simple 80% VG, 10% distilled water and 10% sterile saline solution. If folks don't want to use primarily VG, they can just mix this up and use it as VG in their formulas...and perhaps add a bit more saline if wanted/needed.
'Hope you turn out with a winner!
* Regarding the addition of sucralose (and other additives that diminish flavor), from here, Post #413:
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/diy-e-liquid/268760-diy-master-techniques-flavor-add-ons-em-vw-bw-mts-acv-ect-11.html
As far as I can recall, I was the one who tested lemon juice and the effects it had on fruit flavors. At the time I was also using sucralose (ezsweets) in fruit/bakery flavors. I also tested distilled vinegar (not acv, I dont use it) on tobaccos.
What I found with fruit and bakery vapes is they were great initally with the additives, for about two days. Then on day 3 like clockwork the sharpness/crispness of the flavor was just... plain... gone. It never rebounded either. It just continued decline. So I started testing the same juices with lemon juice and sucralose separately. Trying to find the culprit. The result in my tests was that they BOTH decrease flavor output of ejuice. While they help initally boost and sweeten flavor, within a few days, they both cause ejuice to simply go flat. While its a more dramatic example, I feel the same way about ejuice with lemon or sucralose as I do about flat soda pop. Its just lackluster.
This occured in both high VG bases at 80% and high PG bases at 80%. I tested both because I didnt want people calling me out saying VG mutes flavor, which to this day I refute as utter nonsense.
I no longer use either in any of my mixing. I have found that using fruit flavors with alcohol bases provide more than enuff sweetening o. their own if they are steeped for 48-72 hours, and it helps that I use 80%VG in my juice.
As far as tobaccos go I also agree vinegar that after a few days it can flatten flavors over time. However!!! As I vape mostly tobacco ejuices I still add 1 drop/5ml of distilled white vinegar to my vapes. To counter the flattening I adjust by adding slightly more flavoring. About .5% to 1% more flavoring in a final mix. In my experience this counters the effect of flavor flattening with DV and allows mostly all tobacco vapes to round out immediately. (note: i also heat steep my juices at a constant 150° in a water bath in a crock pot for four hours after mixing and have found it it adds about 2 weeks to the aging process of ejuice). At the 2 weeks mark (in my case then this is 4 hours after mixing), all of your tobacco flavors will have a spike in flavor and will stay there, but only round more given time. Giving you a spiked up flavor but still rounded body to your vape. I found apple cider vinegar made bad and good juuces worse with no spike at all, but to be fair I barely ever tested acv.
All of my vapes... yes read that as ALL... are primed and full bodied in four hours. Period. Ultrasonic isnt the answer either. Hand shaking is enuff for juice. Heat allows flavor dissipation and release FAR FAR better.
Alot of what I do flys in the face of common and well "documented" processes others use like ultrasonic steeping tho. (if it works for ya, great. I know what I know and heat is the key, not vibration. And yeah, I tested that too about three months ago so I stand behind it).
People just pretty much ignored my testing. I took painstaking measures to control the samples and.prove to myself the results. Today when people say they use lemon juice, or sucralose and RAVE about the results.... I know they are NOT vaping stellar juice. They are absolutely, positively, better off without both. Unless they are going to vape what they make in under two days.
Note: I did not bother testing the effects of citric acid powder in juice, but I assume it has the same effect as lemon juice and mutes flavors.
ha. I have been reading on it. Ive had the same experience with sweetener. tried it with my first few i made and never used it again. never cared for it and to me it just tasted weird. cant remember where i seen 10% AND 1% mix but thats why i finally broke it out again. i think you are right, Ill try it again with no sweetener and try the saline. QUOTE=we2rcool;12526115]
