All my DIY liquid sucks

[sweetniko]

I tried my hand at DIY and everything sucks. It all has a weird chemical taste to it. Then I smelled the PG and it smelled bad so I made up a batch using glycerin instead. It still smelled bad. I then realized it was the nicotine base which was so potent that nothing but spearmint could begin to cover up the taste.
I don't think it matters how much flavor I add b/c my tastebuds cannot overcome the disgusting nicotine base. I read all through this forum and never read about people complaining about this chemical taste and how to overcome it.

The flavors I used were from Perfumer's Apprentice( except Spearmint from Flavourart).
The nicotine was 100 mg. cut down to 24 mg from My Freedom Smokes.

Is it the flavors I bought? Do only certain flavors work?
I tried maple,marshmallow, vanilla, and similar ones.I tried adding vape Wizard and EM but the chemicals are still overwhelming.

Is is my nicotine? I suspect it is but then how do manufacturer's overcome the awful chemical flavor?

 

[Nikhil]

Nicotine has a lightly peppery taste that usually you can't notice once you add some flavoring. If you've changed everything (not just additional PG/VG and flavors but also atomizers/cartridges) except the nicotine base then it's probably a bad batch. All the flavorings you have should be fine, although vape Wizard and Ethyl Maltol can mess up flavors if you don't use them in carefully small proportions. What pre-mixed liquids have you tried and have you ever had problems with any of those?

 

[sweetniko]

I have liked EcoRich but could only taste it through my nose. But no chemical taste at all. I bought all these flavors thinking I could duplicate it but make it stronger. Same with RY4. I would like it much better if it was stonger.
Yes the Vape Wizard sounded like a good idea but wasn't.
I used the liquid in a new cool cart.
But I always tasted the liquid on my hand first and if it tasted bad then it also tasted bad in my cart.
I usually buy V4L Virginia blend and RY4. And the Premium Vanilla is OK also.
I have tried a lot of V4L and didn't get this chemical taste.

I'll try my batch of marshmallow I made with glycerin tomorrow. But I doubt it will be good b/c I can still smell that bad chemical aroma. It is less than with the PG but it is still present. I think I had to dilute it down to 10 mg also...i normally vape at 24-36.
I am probably the only one with this problem.
Everyone else likes what they make.

 

[quasimod]

/.../ Everyone else likes what they make.

Haha! I wish that were true! I've made some awful mistakes.

 

[sweetniko]

OK...it just seems like people are always successful in the DIY venture.

I forgot to ask people if they let their liquid "breath" before vaping?
Like leaving the lid off overnight?

And does is really take a few days? If something tastes bad from the start then it will probably taste bad 3 days from now, right?

I read a post where someone vaped unflavored nicotine. i wish I could do that. it was be soo easy and cheap.

 

[Hoosier]

Heh, yeah, a few things.

Trust me, we tend to only post the "hits" we've come up with and leave off the "misses". I went through my notes, moving to a larger book, and added up over 200ml I've chucked. Most of it non-nic. I usually experiment with non-nic and only add nic when it works. Keeps the $ lower.

Next, you only have 4 crude tastes available on your tongue and one is for salty which leaves 3 for vape tasting. The tongue is a very poor taster. Your nose is where most of your sense of taste comes from. So the resultant vape will be either more or less intense than what you smell the juice to be.

So, if your nic juice smells bad, it will make bad juice. Unflavored nic juice tastes kinda like sucking on a penny to me, but even a bare hint of flavoring covers it up.

I have used MFS nic juice and never had any problem like you're mentioning. Very odd. I would contact the vendor and see if anything can be worked out.

Try some 0-nic batches and see what you can make work. You have discovered more than most. You have discovered a few ways that don't work which is much more than most know and it's a great way to start.

Well, I started that way...

Besides, if a Hoosier can do it, anyone can.

 

[Switched]

Woa! You need to slow down just a tad here.

Trouble shooting 101. You need to isolate the culprit.

• make sure all your attys are clean and do not have a funky taste;
• make small batches e.g 10-20 drops, that's enough for test purposes;
• cut your 100mg to 20 mg by diluting 8 drops distilled water and 2 drops 100mg nic liquid. Distilled water has no taste and should isolate the nic liquid well;
• vape that on a clean atty. If all is well, you have eliminated the nic liqui. Blow out your atomiser;
• next test your PG just add a couple of drops on the atomiser. If all is well it's not your PG. Blow it out again; and
• next test your VG, cut it 8 drops VG 2 drops distilled water. If all is well, it's not your VG. You have now eliminated the base ingredients as culprits.

If any of the base liquids are foul, this process of elimination should bring the culprit to the surface.

If it doesn't then it is either your flavouring that may be bad, or your mixing technique.

When I run test samples, I use only PG and flavouring. It saves on nic and the only real thing we loose is TH.

9 drops of PG to 1 drops flavouring = flavouring at 10%. That is a good starting point, let it sit for an hour or so and then drip it on a clean atty. If that is too weak, make another batch using 8 drops of PG and 2 drops of flavouring = 20% flavouring. Let that sit an hour or so. Blow out you atty and try it. If it is too strong, then your target is between the 2 samples. If you were to mix the 2 samples together, you would have flavouring at 15%. Now leave that alone until the next day. It should be stronger as the liquids have thoroughly mixed.

If it is too strong then your starting point will probably be 10%, but no greater than 15%. That is your starting point for that flavour. It can then be adjusted in subsequent recipes. Many recipes do not come into their own until a couple of weeks down the road where they had a chance to age. I mix my juices fresh, a week or 2 ahead of time.

Who makes the flavouring that you are using?

Flavouring have shelf lives, contrary to popular opinion. 1.5-2 years.

VG and PG have a shelf life as well 1.5-2 years and 2 years respectively.

Nicotine on its own is pretty stable and although it does have a life expectancy, it is pretty moot to this particular discussion (keeping it simple). Your nic liquid will have the shelf life of the base liquid, either PG or VG.

DIY can be very rewarding, but it is not for everyone. It takes time and patience. It takes weeks, even months to come up with a recipe. If all this sounds too intimidating, there is always vendor purchased liquids. You will only get out of DIY what you put in. Time and patience will render dividends that often exceed store bought liquids.

 

[Orion]

Hey Switched,just wanted to let you know that's an extremely informative tip. I would have never thought of that.

And Hoosier,I always lump you into the group that I consider know what they're doing! Is this a deception, lol

And to the OP, not everyone loves what they do! I'm sure even the ones who have been around for a while may have a post of shame buried somewhere around here

I screwed up plenty, but try not to toot my horn about it too much. But I've mentioned before that I named my first DIY juice Bus Tail Pipe. I've been doing for nearly 3 months and I'm still learning.

 

[zoiDman]

... Trust me, we tend to only post the "hits" we've come up with and leave off the "misses". ...

This is so true.

I have a 30ml bottle of DIY Cherry. It tastes pretty good. But what nobody knows is it started as a 5ml bottle that tasted horrible. I had to mix it 5ml of New Cherry and add it to the old Cherry 5 times before I could get something that was vape-able.

I think the most common mistake people make when they start DIY mixing is they use Too Much flavoring to start.

Why don't you post some of the recipes you used that didn't turn out good so people can see how much of this and how much of that you used?

Another thing to consider is if Everthing taste bad, what do they all have in common?

When I got into DIY, I got a bottle of Cheap Nicotine base. It tatsed like boiled Brown Sharpie Markers filtered thru old Gym Socks. I didn't know if that was the way Nicotine base was supposed to taste, because of the Nicotine, or if it was just bad. Couldn't make a mix that tasted decent.

Then I read a post about how good XtremeVaping's base was supposed to be. I picked up a bottle and it was clear as water and had allmost no real taste. All my recipes started to work because the flavoring wasn't trying to mask the nicotine juice.

I would mix an unflavored batch in the mg you want to vape at. If the unflavored mix doesn't taste right, then the nicotine juice you are using is the cause.

 

[the86d]

Distilled water has no taste and should isolate

I infact prefer the taste of distilled water for drinking... clean metallic taste.

...Unflavored nic juice tastes kinda like sucking on a penny to me, but even a bare hint of flavoring covers it up.

...not like that of the PG penny taste, as stated...

 

[Switched]

We have skeletons in our closet? Nooooo.

Yup! I have made a couple of batches I just tossed. I have also made several batches of blah, from other folks recipes. Taste is very subjective.

 

[the86d]

Hell, about 50% of my final mixes of 1 60ml bottle of 100mg were pitched.

 

[sweetniko]

I agree it would be economical to leave out the nicotine at first but my issue is with the nicotine. I smell the bottle of nicotine and am pretty sure that is the problem. I now realized that I ordered my nicotine in a PG base so perhaps that is how the problem originated. If nicotine has a peppery taste that is not what I smell or taste. I wouldn't mind that.
Although I buy my pre-made juice with a PG base so it doesn't really make sense.

Maybe nicotine in a glycerin base is totally different.
Has anyone tried both?
I don't have the money to purchase this kind right now but might in the future if it was a "totally different animal."

Also- I don't have an atty. I have a 2 piece cig so I have to make up more than a few drops in order to soak the cart. I make up 5 mil but I guess I could do half that.

 

[MacDiver]

I suppose you could get an adapter to use an atty.


I got one of the rigs below to run massive amounts of water through attys I test with.

That sucker puts some serious high pressure water through it. I use a peice of 3/8 ID x 1/2 OD hose from the hardware store clamped onto the end of the injector with a small hose clamp. I don't use the needle, not necessary. I reuse the atty immediately if I want because I hook it up to my 5V passthrough and burn the water off enough to get it vaping again.

*burn water?, doh*.

http://www.kmart.com/shc/s/p_10151_...lavor+injector&prdNo=1&blockNo=1&blockType=G1

 

[sweetniko]

UPDATE:
I smelled 3 of the flavors I made with PG. 24 hr's later.
The Almond Vanilla had only a hint of bad smell to it.
I tasted it and could not detect the chemical from either the PG or PG based nicotine.
I vaped it.
While it didn't taste good it didn't taste bad either.
SO overnight the Almond overpowered the bad.
The other 2 still have that bad smell and taste although not AS bad as yesterday.
I left the caps off them. Maybe they need to breathe.

 

[Switched]

I suppose you could get an adapter to use an atty.


I got one of the rigs below to run massive amounts of water through attys I test with.

That sucker puts some serious high pressure water through it. I use a peice of 3/8 ID x 1/2 OD hose from the hardware store clamped onto the end of the injector with a small hose clamp. I don't use the needle, not necessary. I reuse the atty immediately if I want because I hook it up to my 5V passthrough and burn the water off enough to get it vaping again.

*burn water?, doh*.

http://www.kmart.com/shc/s/p_10151_...lavor+injector&prdNo=1&blockNo=1&blockType=G1

Where do you think vapour/steam comes from doh* smoke???

 

[Switched]

UPDATE:
I smelled 3 of the flavors I made with PG. 24 hr's later.
The Almond Vanilla had only a hint of bad smell to it.
I tasted it and could not detect the chemical from either the PG or PG based nicotine.
I vaped it.
While it didn't taste good it didn't taste bad either.
SO overnight the Almond overpowered the bad.
The other 2 still have that bad smell and taste although not AS bad as yesterday.
I left the caps off them. Maybe they need to breathe.

No they don't, it isn't wine. Nicotine exposed to oxygen (air for Mac), starts to oxidise.

 

[Skwerl]

I notice a vile mediciney-chemical-brake fluid taste with some of Lorann's, particularly if I didn't let them breathe for a few days after opening a new bottle. Try Capella's, a few drops at a time- especially the vanilla custard. That one seems to kill a funky taste and replace it with cake battery goodness

 

[sweetniko]

I guess I'll buy some Capella's Vanilla Custard to try and salvage all my unflavored nic.
I almost bought Tasty puff's vanilla yesterday but instead bought 3 other's which I don't care for. I don't even know why I bought cherry and watermelon b/c I don't like fruit.
I remember putting a drop of Juicy Fruit on my RYO tobacco one time and it was pretty potent. SO I'll buy the Tasty Puff vanilla as well. I'm kind of impatient so like to buy retail.
Also- The PA Tobacco smells like roses. I have not tried it yet b/c I would have to overcome the bad taste of the PG nicotine and then the smell of roses as well.

 

[sweetniko]

I think I am going to call it quits.
I'd like to trade the rest of my nic and flavors for a V4L gift certificate but I'm afraid the person who receives it wouldn't like it either.
It doesn't seem to be vapeable.
But I don't know if it is just me.
I guess I could post it with a warning.