Desert Ship

[fat1]

Back again with questions about desert ship and other tobaccos

brief history:
We quit smoking tobacco over 3 years ago and have always purchased Dekang Desert Ship. Our first order ever was from madvapes and we ordered USA Red, 555, RY4 and desert ship. DS was the clear winner for us and we never really tried anything else without always coming back to dk ds. We started on cartridges, then went to cartos, stacked batts and now on dna 30s with kayfun lite+ V2 devices. The dekang Desert ship has hung tough with us through it all.

We never thought we had the adventurous nature required for DIY but alas, it was too alluring. We have tried several different Desert Ship and turkish concentrates but they seem completely different from what we are currently using. We are not trying to form an exact copy in any way but we are now starting to question whether the Dekang Desert Ship we currently enjoy should even be classified as a tobacco liquid.

To note, the desert ship by dekang has almost no flavor on the inhale and creates quite a sensation on the tip of the tongue, the flavor on exhale is also quite muted nearly non-existent (this is 8mg nic btw). Of all the concentrates we have tried so far they all have significant flavor on the inhale and exhale and the sensation on the tongue is felt near the back of the mouth as opposed to the tip of the tongue. Not to say they are bad or overpowering but just not what we are looking for. I have been mixing them at .05%. In fact, I don't know that I could use any less, the last test batch was 10ml of base, then i took a 1ml syringe and drew up .1ml and squeezed a single drop from that into the 10ml base. It was still kind of strong. I am letting them steep and trying them every day but the sensations on the tongue and lips are still different regardless of our thoughts on the flavor or the strength. I mean they taste just like they smeel so its subjective. Put it this way, unflavored 70/30 @8mg has been the best thing we have made so far. so that leads me to believe we might just not like tobacco flavors



For context here concentrates tried so far:

Desert Ship (HS)
Desert Ship (FA)
Desert Ship TDM (INW)
Desert Voyager (INW)
Camel Tobacco (INW)
Virginia (FA) - current leader
Honeydew Melon (CAP) - good but no ADV for us
Standard RV (INW) - good but no ADV for us

Additives:
AP
EM
Bitter Wizard
Vape Wizard
Smooth (FA)


On order:
USA Mix Light (HS)
Smooth (HS)
RY1 (HS)
7 leaves (FA)
melons/cherries for other people on this order as well

Any advice to get to the sensation aspect rather than the trying to replicate the flavor? I am not a connoisseur so it is difficult to try to dissect what I am tasting in this but any thoughts will be appreciated. I see alot of people messing with vanilla, caramel, additives etc but it seems to me adding flavor won't really help when I think I want to erase the flavor.

I've only been at this 10 days or so but even those that have steeped from the beginning haven't changed dramatically, maybe smoother with less chemical/perfum as expected but the flavor/sensations haven't change. I think we just don't like them lol

 

[dannyv45]

Not sure how we can help because everyone taste it differently. I am particular to hangsens DS and use it at 7% and that would likely blow your head off seeing that you start your mixes at less then a percent. The inawera DS tasted completely different to the hangsen and need far less flavoring and was just OK. The FA DS I liked the least of all the others which I found odd as I like most of the FA tobaccos. So I do see where you are coming from but I'm afraid that the only one that's going to be able to answer your question is your taste buds.

 

[fat1]

That makes sense but in my limited experience I didn't know if I should expect any type of major change with steeping or if the missing "ingredient" would some type of other flavor (vanilla,caramel,peanut,etc). God knows I have read many threads of people praising different tobacco flavors but then I also see them discuss how addition of certain flavors can erase elements of other flavors. I can see how it would really just be a guessing game. I think i will try the VZ desert ship variant and order in some additional additives to see what I can come up with. The kitchen is currently lined with 10ml test batches about 30 deep....Thank you

 

[dannyv45]

Steeping tobaccos will always help and is recommended. I speed steep but natural steeping for DS can take 3 weeks. As far as additives I've added some AP also some chocolate. I also make a mean honey tobacco with it, I've made a cooler vape by adding koolata. Again it's up to the individuals taste.

 

[jrick53]

The first flavor I purchased was with starter kit from Vapor King, June this year,Turkish Blended sample. Have tried several different vendors and no luck finding the same. Have DIY flavors different recipes close but not the same. The old saying try,try again!!! Good luck with your quest, trial and error for me.

 

[fat1]

Good news! Apparently we absolutely despise turkish blends. I found another post by DannyV where he suggested to another user that they may just dislike turkish blends and to try an american blend. Based on that we ordered and We like RY1 and Smooth by HS. We also are somewhat pleased with FA 7 leaves. We tried USA Mix lights but it seems to have a menthol element to it, other than that we like it so I will look into this menthol sensation and see if they offer a version without it. We also ordered several types of vanilla and caramel to try out along with some RY4 but they have not arrived yet. I feel more confident today that I can make make a usable eliquid. This is also good news since I have 3 gallons of 70/30 mix 1.5 liters of 100mg/ml nicotine...Thank you for the replies and the moral support.

 

[dannyv45]

It all boils down to individual taste preferences. I don't like turkish and others love it. I like DS and others don't, I think ry4D is to sweet and prefer RY1 with a little caramel or vanilla and yet it's one of the most popular vapes around. Some like a certain flavor at 2% others like it at 25%. So who's right and who's wrong.

The answer: No one is right or wrong its all a matter of personal taste preference.

 

[fat1]

Yes, I mainly picked up RY4 to save me the hassle of blending a bunch of mixes to see if I like something sweeter or not. We seem to have similar tastes (other than DS lol) so I do appreciate all of your replies (to my posts as well as others) alot of good information and ideas in your post history. I am still going back and forth between mixing by weight or volume, they both have merits. Right now, by weight, I can just weigh something and add 1% without dirtying any dishes but I could see a similar ability if all of my storage containers were graduated. The downside to weight, is in some cases, you waste some supplies on "transfer residue" if you have to step from really large 1 gallon container down to 120 or 250ml. I think I can eliminate that by finding better squeeze bottles of all sizes that have a wide mouth and a drip tip. I can see how there is more than one "right" way to do this its whatever works for me.

 

[Boletus]

As danny says, everyone's tastes are different, and there are many correct ways to do the same thing, with the "best" method being the one that works best for you.

However, IMO, there are three essential tools no mater how you do it or what you like: patience, persistence, and paying attention (including taking notes). Oh, and read ECF till your eyes fall out.