Can't figure out why my juice is harsh.

[kickflipsnnollies]

Hi there. I've been making DIY juice for a couple months now. I've really only played with a few flavorings so far, all from TFA. Banana Nut Bread, Cheesecake Graham Cracker Crust and RY4 Double. All of them are used from 10-13% by themselves so far. My nic is 100 mg/ml VG-based from RTS. PG from RTS. Humco VG from Walmart.

For some reason everything I make has a lot of throat hit at 5 mg/ml concentration. I can vape stuff I buy at 12 mg/ml with little problem, but my 5 chokes me up.

I measure using syringes or graduated cylinders, depending on the batch size. I always give it a 2 hour hot bath in my crock pot on high, let it cool then leave the cap off for 24 hours. After this, I close it up in amber bottles and leave it for a week or more. I'll buy vendor juice when I have to so it has time to steep without me taking more than a taste.

Any ideas here? I really don't get it at all. I know my measurements are accurate. I'm .... about that.

If you need more info don't hesitate to ask.

 

[Pepperty]

what percentage pg/vg is your end result? I assume you are mixing to a heavily vg based juice by the fact your nicotine base is vg suspension. Normally a vg juice is not harsh so I'm puzzled, but i'm not familiar with the flavours you have listed? TFA concentrates are pg based so I might ask that you have taken that into account when calculating your eliquid recipe?


The only thing I can think is that your chosen concentrates are bakery and tobacco and they often come into their own when steeped for a month...?

 

[froginblender]

perhaps your pg/vg you bought isn't usda grade..kosher...etc..etc.
Also nicotine should be vaperstek....no peppery taste with their nic..it is best of best.
good luck.

Hi there. I've been making DIY juice for a couple months now. I've really only played with a few flavorings so far, all from TFA. Banana Nut Bread, Cheesecake Graham Cracker Crust and RY4 Double. All of them are used from 10-13% by themselves so far. My nic is 100 mg/ml VG-based from RTS. PG from RTS. Humco VG from Walmart.

For some reason everything I make has a lot of throat hit at 5 mg/ml concentration. I can vape stuff I buy at 12 mg/ml with little problem, but my 5 chokes me up.

I measure using syringes or graduated cylinders, depending on the batch size. I always give it a 2 hour hot bath in my crock pot on high, let it cool then leave the cap off for 24 hours. After this, I close it up in amber bottles and leave it for a week or more. I'll buy vendor juice when I have to so it has time to steep without me taking more than a taste.

Any ideas here? I really don't get it at all. I know my measurements are accurate. I'm .... about that.

If you need more info don't hesitate to ask.

 

[kickflipsnnollies]

I've done all kinds of mixes, from 70% PG to max VG (being around 85-90% depending on the flavoring). I know the flavor should come out after more steeping but it shouldn't affect th that much should it? Some of my juices have been steeping for a month or more, a week is just the minimum before I'll fill a small bottle to carry.

As for the nic I'm using, I'm stuck with what I have for now.

My PG is USP grade and kosher. VG is USP grade, but not kosher. I can't imagine that a rabbi blessing my VG is going to make any difference at all.

 

[froginblender]

LOL, i don't have no rabbi blessing my juice mixes....

Perhaps this can help

https://www.youtube.com/watch?x-yt-ts=1422503916&v=m1LUzEo1vHQ&x-yt-cl=85027636

I've done all kinds of mixes, from 70% PG to max VG (being around 85-90% depending on the flavoring). I know the flavor should come out after more steeping but it shouldn't affect th that much should it? Some of my juices have been steeping for a month or more, a week is just the minimum before I'll fill a small bottle to carry.

As for the nic I'm using, I'm stuck with what I have for now.

My PG is USP grade and kosher. VG is USP grade, but not kosher. I can't imagine that a rabbi blessing my VG is going to make any difference at all.

 

[Rat2chat2]

I start well below the recommended percentage of a flavoring and work my way up to what I like. So often the flavorings are just to strong for me. So what is the total of all the flavorings you are mixing in one recipe? You could also mix 5 ml samples without the nic and keep adding the flavorings until you find out what is causing the harshness. It really is all an experiment trying to find what makes your own taste buds happy but so worth it when you do. Let us know what you find out. Good luck to you.

It may also help to leave the lid off and let some of the alcohol evaporate off. I add Everclear to my juices for additional throat hit and flavor.

 

[Rickajho]

Can you give us the specifics/percentages for one recipe only and maybe we can spot something.

Also, I'm beginning to wonder if this is more of a hardware problem. What are you vaping with and at was voltage/wattage?

 

[dannyv45]

You need to get your base formulated correctly before you actually add flavor. I wrote a blog on how to do this please read and follow it and I think that will help you determine whats wrong.

How to adjust your base to reduce that peppery harsh Nicotine taste

 

[kickflipsnnollies]

Kosher just means that a food product contains no pork products and was blessed by a rabbi. So your juice mix has mostly been blessed.

A typical mix would be 13% TFA banana nut bread flavoring, nic up to 5% and a 60% VG final mix. I have a background in chemistry and own measuring syringes, graduated cylinders, beakers, etc, so my percentages are what I'm shooting for every time. I also let the Ejuice Calculator for Android do all my math.

I don't use any alcohol.

I have this problem with any build. I have a Nemesis and a Sigelei 100w+ for power and I have a Plume Veil, Magma, Atlantis and Mutation X V2. I stay around 0.4-0.5 ohms and set my Sigelei between 25 watts for the Atlantis to 50 for the Mutation X. Using 26 awg kanthal a-1, sometimes twisted 28 awg kanthal a-1. Japanese cotton, regular cotton and rayon have all been used for wick.

Your guide to making a base of PG, VG and nic is going to throw off my percentages and make the math hard. I'm willing to make some unflavored mixes and try them but making a base then adding X amount of flavoring will throw off my ratios. I sell a little bit of my stuff here and there and I want to know that the numbers I tell people are accurate +-1%.

 

[dannyv45]

Your guide to making a base of PG, VG and nic is going to throw off my percentages and make the math hard. I'm willing to make some unflavored mixes and try them but making a base then adding X amount of flavoring will throw off my ratios. I sell a little bit of my stuff here and there and I want to know that the numbers I tell people are accurate +-1%.

The blog is a guide to troubleshooting issues with your base. It's used help you determine which component of the base Liquid is causing issues (Peppery harsh taste) and will help you figuring out how to fine tune your base if possible. It is not meant to be a recipe for actually creating your base.
Once you figure out what ratios such as VG/PG concentrations and NIC levels work for you, you simply use that basis in your calculations along with flavor.

 

[kickflipsnnollies]

Ah, I get you now. Yeah I do plan on trying that as soon as I have time. I've got just a little each of PG and VG left, not enough to really make a bottle, so I'll use that.

 

[Jimmyof76]

I'm having the same issues atm. I consider myself really good at mixing juices. My nicotine came in a couple weeks ago and its Harsh. Ive done all the trouble shooting I can on my other base liquids and flavors. I even vaped straight PG yesterday, and it was pleasantly mild. The nicotine I have is so so harsh. I just want to be 100% positive before I ask the company I purchased it from what may have happened. Im only 99% sure its the nicotine atm lol. It may take a month or two to get to the bottom of it but Im ordering up some new nics from two new companies. Im not sure which ones yet. I still some good suggestions.

Like everyone else said though, make sure you troubleshoot all other areas before you single out the nic. I new mine was the nic but I still went threw the motions lol.

 

[dannyv45]

I'm having the same issues atm. I consider myself really good at mixing juices. My nicotine came in a couple weeks ago and its Harsh. Ive done all the trouble shooting I can on my other base liquids and flavors. I even vaped straight PG yesterday, and it was pleasantly mild. The nicotine I have is so so harsh. I just want to be 100% positive before I ask the company I purchased it from what may have happened. Im only 99% sure its the nicotine atm lol. It may take a month or two to get to the bottom of it but Im ordering up some new nics from two new companies. Im not sure which ones yet. I still some good suggestions.

Like everyone else said though, make sure you troubleshoot all other areas before you single out the nic. I new mine was the nic but I still went threw the motions lol.

If you followed my blog and came to that conclusion your hunch is likely correct. So I would inquire to the vender.

 

[Bman123]

I am having the same issue. I bought my stuff from ecigexpress. I got 6mg vg base, a 120ml bottle and everything I have mixed with it tastes like pepper. I'm gonna order vaportek nic today and remake all the stuff I made and see if it is better.

Most of my stuff came out to 4.5mg nicotine and it is harsh like your saying. I can vape 6mg from my local shop and it is no where near this bad. I feel for you

 

[defdock]

i see one of 2 problems - either the nic is bad grade, peppery. or your juice isnt steeped enough.

im going to assume its the first one.

 

[sparkky1]

I've never had that problem : 120 mL U.K. Throat-Hit Nic (100 mg USP/EP) - Vapers Tek

 

[kickflipsnnollies]

I got some Vaperstek nic and my problems have been solved. Yay.