DIY E Juice flavor fail no matter what technique I use

[Racehorse]

I would try the unflavored w/just a hint of the koolada as was suggested, maybe get your taste buds back on track.

But my first thought, even before your most recent post:

Have you tried mixing anything WITHOUT nicotine base? Just using PG/VG? It is very possible that you either do not like the nic base you are using, or it is just not "right".

I "never" used nicotine when I first started mxing til I got my recipe right. too expensive.

It could be your VG as you mentioned. Just for an experiment, you could hop over to local walmart or drugstore and get some new fresh USP VG.

 

[Robert Cromwell]

Thanks brotha!
So I guess all those mixers are kind of the base and all others are just added to the base. Am I right? If I am can you please list me all of the mixers? Also its kind of weird that I can make single fruit flavor juice that taste good. That should be easy right?

This is one of the recipes that I found for 555 tobacco flavor. Its steeped for 11 days now and its kind of interesting. Still something is missing but its addictive.
It tastes like Davidoff cigarettes ejuice or to me something like tobacco flavor with hazelnut when you exhale but again its not that full something is missing, the flavor is kind of behind the vapor thats how I describe it , muted, hidden, on a weak side like covered the same as you would eat pizza and mostly taste flour and feel a littlebit of cheese and pizza sauce as aftertaste. No they should be the main taste not aftertaste.

You like Blueberry? If so you can use Flavorconcentrates.com blueberry flavoring and make a good blueberry. Add flavor to taste, it is all natural and just gets stronger the more flavoring you add. A bit of sweetner and a good blueberry vape. Add some custard for a creamy blueberry if you like it is good too.

Very little to no steeping needed for the straight blueberry.

 

[Robert Cromwell]

I would try the unflavored w/just a hint of the koolada as was suggested, maybe get your taste buds back on track.

But my first thought, even before your most recent post:

Have you tried mixing anything WITHOUT nicotine base? Just using PG/VG? It is very possible that you either do not like the nic base you are using, or it is just not "right".

I "never" used nicotine when I first started mxing til I got my recipe right. too expensive.

It could be your VG as you mentioned. Just for an experiment, you could hop over to local walmart or drugstore and get some new fresh USP VG.

Not all Walmarts and drug stores have VG. None near me do.
Health food stores often have food grade VG.

 

[MC Vape]

I would try the unflavored w/just a hint of the koolada as was suggested, maybe get your taste buds back on track.

But my first thought, even before your most recent post:

Have you tried mixing anything WITHOUT nicotine base? Just using PG/VG? It is very possible that you either do not like the nic base you are using, or it is just not "right".

I "never" used nicotine when I first started mxing til I got my recipe right. too expensive.

Nope I never mixed without nicotine. The reason why is because I was a heavy smoker and if the juice is low or without nicotine it doesnt give me lung satisfaction. I am still craving for nicotine. Ejuice under 8mg is like nothing to me. Even 8mg I can literally vape all day long without even breathing the air.

Since I dont have Koolada in my arsenal I just mixed 40PG/60VG mix with 15mg of nicotine and Im gonna vape that tomorrow morning.
Yeah it could be my nicotine which is killing my flavor. I ordered that nicotine from myfreedomsmokes and its 25PG/75VG 24mg. Who knows maybe they didnt mix it well. Probably next time I'll buy 100% PG nicotine or maybe even 100% VG Nic.

 

[Racehorse]

The other thing i wanted to say which wheelie and JD1 sort of hinted at: once you get nic base you like try to get used to your DIY a little. Vape it and don't be "too picky" at first. If you habituate yourself to a certain vendor juice, you will always be comparing your creation to that. The thing is, you can get used to vaping your "beginner stuff" as you move toward making better.

There is still a vendor juice I have to have as I have never been able to make it. However now that I can't order juice online because I live in AR, I have a friend who gifts me some every so often.

I KNOW there are nic bases and VG that I can't vape, becuase there is one company, HHV, that I can't vape. It was my very first order as a newbie, 3+ years ago. So here it is 3+ years later and I got some and I still hate the taste. And it doesn't matter what flavor it is, for ME, it's just a taste that I ccan't get past.

That doesn't mean it isn't great ejuice. Just that for whatever reason, that vendor uses a base that tastes funky to my taste buds.

So yes,, it is very possible that your nic base or VG isn't tantalizing to your particular taste buds. And it won't matter what flavors you mix into it if that is the case!

 

[wheelie]

Some flavors go down over time as others over power them. I highly doubt the nic is muting the flavor.

Thanks brotha!
So I guess all those mixers are kind of the base and all others are just added to the base. Am I right? If I am can you please list me all of the mixers? Also its kind of weird that I can make single fruit flavor juice that taste good. That should be easy right?

This is one of the recipes that I found for 555 tobacco flavor. Its steeped for 11 days now and its kind of interesting. Still something is missing but its addictive.
It tastes like Davidoff cigarettes ejuice or to me something like tobacco flavor with hazelnut when you exhale but again its not that full something is missing, the flavor is kind of behind the vapor thats how I describe it , muted, hidden, on a weak side like covered the same as you would eat pizza and mostly taste flour and feel a littlebit of cheese and pizza sauce as aftertaste. No they should be the main taste not aftertaste.

Thanks brotha!
So I guess all those mixers are kind of the base and all others are just added to the base. Am I right? If I am can you please list me all of the mixers? Also its kind of weird that I can make single fruit flavor juice that taste good. That should be easy right?

This is one of the recipes that I found for 555 tobacco flavor. Its steeped for 11 days now and its kind of interesting. Still something is missing but its addictive.
It tastes like Davidoff cigarettes ejuice or to me something like tobacco flavor with hazelnut when you exhale but again its not that full something is missing, the flavor is kind of behind the vapor thats how I describe it , muted, hidden, on a weak side like covered the same as you would eat pizza and mostly taste flour and feel a littlebit of cheese and pizza sauce as aftertaste. No they should be the main taste not aftertaste.

Now you are getting it my friend. I have never had a single fruit that was good on its own. Why have peach if you can have a peach pie with Ice Cream? <------- Example. graham crust for the pie crust and Dulce De Leche for your HaagenDaaz ice cream.

 

[AzPlumber]

How are you measuring out your flavoring?

 

[MC Vape]

How are you measuring out your flavoring?

Syringe for everything, PG/VG/NIC/Flavor

 

[Robert Cromwell]

How are you measuring out your flavoring?

Good point. If using drops. 20 drops does not = 1 ml. for me out of the flavoring bottles it is more like 60 drops= 1 ml.

 

[wheelie]

Then to above peach pie and Ice cream you may want to add some sweetener to your pie. A lot of people including my self use cotton candy as a sweetener as well. How sweet would you like it. Make a small jug vape some then add a bit of sweetener try it again and keep adding till you like it. lost the peach flavor up the peach in recipe and down the pie crust or ice cream till you get it how you like it. This is just a rough example of the works to keep your recipe getting better.

 

[MC Vape]

Then to above peach pie and Ice cream you may want to add some sweetener to your pie. A lot of people including my self use cotton candy as a sweetener as well. How sweet would you like it. Make a small jug vape some then add a bit of sweetener try it again and keep adding till you like it. lost the peach flavor up the peach in recipe and down the pie crust or ice cream till you get it how you like it. This is just a rough example of the works to keep your recipe getting better.

Ok here's what I've been vape testing right now. Made a week ago.
TH and vapor great! Nicotine satisfying, great. Sweetness about right not to sweet now without sweetness. Flavor almost none. There is something I can barely feel it. If I could feel that watermelon more this would be ideal!

 

[AndriaD]

Thanks brotha!
So I guess all those mixers are kind of the base and all others are just added to the base. Am I right? If I am can you please list me all of the mixers? Also its kind of weird that I can make single fruit flavor juice that taste good. That should be easy right?

This is one of the recipes that I found for 555 tobacco flavor. Its steeped for 11 days now and its kind of interesting. Still something is missing but its addictive.
It tastes like Davidoff cigarettes ejuice or to me something like tobacco flavor with hazelnut when you exhale but again its not that full something is missing, the flavor is kind of behind the vapor thats how I describe it , muted, hidden, on a weak side like covered the same as you would eat pizza and mostly taste flour and feel a littlebit of cheese and pizza sauce as aftertaste. No they should be the main taste not aftertaste.

The problem is a) not enough flavor, and b) not enough of a "base" flavor and sweetener. When you taste anything, you don't just taste one thing -- even something simple like fruit -- you taste the fruit, and it tastes sweet, maybe sometimes also tart... that's 3 different flavor experiences right there. Something like custard... well lessee, there's vanilla, egg, cream, sweetener... lots of different flavors in that. Baked goods, even more different flavors. These flavors aren't like, "the real thing, liquified" -- they're building blocks to put together with other building blocks to create the flavor you want.

A good guideline is that of the total flavoring, the main flavor, the main fruit or whatever, should be 50% of the total flavoring; the other 50% should be creams, vanilla, and sweetener. And if you mix it between 20%-30% flavoring, you likely won't have to steep it either, or not for very long -- maybe a day -- but you should be able to tell right away at least if it's worth waiting that day. Once you do get a good flavor that you really like, you can work on reducing the flavor, work out how long it needs to steep with less flavoring -- but it'll be worth it, because you already know you like it.

Andria

 

[Robert Cromwell]

Ok here's what I've been vape testing right now. Made a week ago.
TH and vapor great! Nicotine satisfying, great. Sweetness about right not to sweet now without sweetness. Flavor almost none. There is something I can barely feel it. If I could feel that watermelon more this would be ideal!

Watermelon is a very subtle flavor. Might try mixing in some of the CAP Double Watermelon too. Flavorconcentrates.com has a very nice watermelon too.

 

[MC Vape]

The problem is a) not enough flavor, and b) not enough of a "base" flavor and sweetener. When you taste anything, you don't just taste one thing -- even something simple like fruit -- you taste the fruit, and it tastes sweet, maybe sometimes also tart... that's 3 different flavor experiences right there. Something like custard... well lessee, there's vanilla, egg, cream, sweetener... lots of different flavors in that. Baked goods, even more different flavors. These flavors aren't like, "the real thing, liquified" -- they're building blocks to put together with other building blocks to create the flavor you want.

A good guideline is that of the total flavoring, the main flavor, the main fruit or whatever, should be 50% of the total flavoring; the other 50% should be creams, vanilla, and sweetener. And if you mix it between 20%-30% flavoring, you likely won't have to steep it either, or not for very long -- maybe a day -- but you should be able to tell right away at least if it's worth waiting that day. Once you do get a good flavor that you really like, you can work on reducing the flavor, work out how long it needs to steep with less flavoring -- but it'll be worth it, because you already know you like it.

Andria

Any recommendations that I can mix with the flavors I already have and get something decent?

Strawberry Ripe TFA
Pear LA
Mocha TFA
Vanilla Custard CAP
Virginia FA
Cantaloupe TFA
Strawberry and Cream TFA
Apricot CAP
Raspberry CAP
Sweet Watermelon CAP
Kentucky Bourbon TFA
Hazelnut CAP
Red Type Blend TFA
Am4A INA
3 Five INA
Marshmallow CAP
Ethyl Maltol TFA
Sweetener TFA

 

[dannyv45]

At the risk of sounding mean, let me be blunt. Shouldn't your question be 'Am I gonna be a happy diy'er or am I going to be unhappy buying that high priced vendor juice'??? Because surely the vendor juice is still less expensive than ciggies, plus ciggies don't taste all that great anymore either, what with all the junk that's added to them. All I'm saying is, don't scuttle yourself too quickly here. Sometimes things take a fair amount of time to accomplish.

Anyways, I'd recommend giving this a try for at least 3 weeks or so.
1. Mix some unflavored at a slightly higher percent nic for your morning vape and for the first couple of hours don't vape anything else. tip: a couple drops of Koolada per 5ml is great for a "mostly unflavored" vape.
2. Next up would be one of your own mixes. Re-read Danny's post above about the different flavor companies. Some good info there imo.
3. Reward time. Get two or three of your favorite vendor juices for the evening. Hey, it's still cheaper than ciggies, right?

Don't be surprised when you start turning on your vendor juices. You'll probably start liking your own mixes better.

Anyways, best of luck to you.

That is some great sound advice.

 

[AndriaD]

Any recommendations that I can mix with the flavors I already have and get something decent?

Strawberry Ripe TFA
Pear LA
Mocha TFA
Vanilla Custard CAP
Virginia FA
Cantaloupe TFA
Strawberry and Cream TFA
Apricot CAP
Raspberry CAP
Sweet Watermelon CAP
Kentucky Bourbon TFA
Hazelnut CAP
Red Type Blend TFA
Am4A INA
3 Five INA
Marshmallow CAP
Ethyl Maltol TFA
Sweetener TFA

I can't recommend anything with those particular flavors, though I see you do have the TFA Sweetener, which is good; all the other brands of sucralose I tried have that nasty artificial whang, but TFA's just tastes sweet. You could try using a combo of the strawberry ripe and strawberry and cream, with some CAP vanilla custard and maybe a touch of the marshmallow, plus about 1%-2% sweetener -- start low on the sweetener, you can always add more if you need to. I have a massive sweet tooth, and I don't think I've gone higher than 3.2% sweetener on anything; that stuff is REALLY sweet.

You really need a plain Cream flavor -- I highly recommend Capella's Sweet Cream; it tastes like the real deal, I even use it in some foods that need a cream flavor, and as far as I know, it's diketone-free. Also -- you need TFA's Vanilla Swirl, it's a terrific flavor for the base, and unlike the CAP Vanilla Custard, it's diketone-free; and TFA's DX Bavarian Cream is also a great one for the background flavors, used at no more than 5%-6%. The ratio of the cream/vanilla background I worked out for my strawberry & cream works well, but might not work just the same for every fruit -- 6% DX Bavarian, 4.5% Vanilla Swirl, 2% CAP Sweet Cream -- that ratio makes it very custardy-rich; if you wanted to lessen the custardy taste, even them up a bit -- maybe 4% for each.

But that FlavourArt Virginia... unless you really like the taste of rotted celery, I can't recommend that for anyone at any time; that's one of the most godawful things I've ever tasted in my life. If you do try it... no more than 1%, or your entire house will smell of rotted celery. A really excellent Virginia flavor is Tobacco Express Virginia -- their Golden Virginia isn't *too* bad, but it has a little of that celery-ish taste; their plain Virginia doesn't. EcigExpress has the FlavorExpress/TobaccoExpress flavors. That hazelnut is a good accent note in tobacco flavors. With tobacco flavors, you really can't mix at high levels, or the taste just goes sideways; those need long steeps, like a month or two. The high-percentage mixing is really for fruits and sweets.

Andria

 

[MC Vape]

I can't recommend anything with those particular flavors, though I see you do have the TFA Sweetener, which is good; all the other brands of sucralose I tried have that nasty artificial whang, but TFA's just tastes sweet. You could try using a combo of the strawberry ripe and strawberry and cream, with some CAP vanilla custard and maybe a touch of the marshmallow, plus about 1%-2% sweetener -- start low on the sweetener, you can always add more if you need to. I have a massive sweet tooth, and I don't think I've gone higher than 3.2% sweetener on anything; that stuff is REALLY sweet.

You really need a plain Cream flavor -- I highly recommend Capella's Sweet Cream; it tastes like the real deal, I even use it in some foods that need a cream flavor, and as far as I know, it's diketone-free. Also -- you need TFA's Vanilla Swirl, it's a terrific flavor for the base, and unlike the CAP Vanilla Custard, it's diketone-free; and TFA's DX Bavarian Cream is also a great one for the background flavors, used at no more than 5%-6%. The ratio of the cream/vanilla background I worked out for my strawberry & cream works well, but might not work just the same for every fruit -- 6% DX Bavarian, 4.5% Vanilla Swirl, 2% CAP Sweet Cream -- that ratio makes it very custardy-rich; if you wanted to lessen the custardy taste, even them up a bit -- maybe 4% for each.

But that FlavourArt Virginia... unless you really like the taste of rotted celery, I can't recommend that for anyone at any time; that's one of the most godawful things I've ever tasted in my life. If you do try it... no more than 1%, or your entire house will smell of rotted celery. A really excellent Virginia flavor is Tobacco Express Virginia -- their Golden Virginia isn't *too* bad, but it has a little of that celery-ish taste; their plain Virginia doesn't. EcigExpress has the FlavorExpress/TobaccoExpress flavors. That hazelnut is a good accent note in tobacco flavors. With tobacco flavors, you really can't mix at high levels, or the taste just goes sideways; those need long steeps, like a month or two. The high-percentage mixing is really for fruits and sweets.

Andria

Thanks for all your advices.
Yeah my first DIY was made of Virginia for my friend. 50PG/50VG
He liked it (or he lied) to me that smells and taste like the ashtray. You smoke and you leave all the cigarette butts in the ashtray. Come tomorrow and smell it. Thats Virginia taste and smell.

 

[Bunnykiller]

Id offer some help, but I do DIYNETs only.... if you want info on real tobacco steeping aging and processing...

 

[k2zs]

Here's my thoughts as a new DIY'er;

1. Try a recipe that others have rated (already mentioned)
2. Too much sweetener will mask a flavor, I generally only go as high as .5%
3. This may be the biggest problem. 20 watts is (IMO) way too high for a Nautilus coil. I generally run mine at between 7-9 watts. Too much power will ruin the flavor. Make a batch, let it steep as you have been, then start out LOW and work your way up. Different flavors will appear at different wattage's.

 

[MC Vape]

Here's my thoughts as a new DIY'er;

1. Try a recipe that others have rated (already mentioned)
2. Too much sweetener will mask a flavor, I generally only go as high as .5%
3. This may be the biggest problem. 20 watts is (IMO) way too high for a Nautilus coil. I generally run mine at between 7-9 watts. Too much power will ruin the flavor. Make a batch, let it steep as you have been, then start out LOW and work your way up. Different flavors will appear at different wattage's.

I vape between 7-8W 3.5-4V
The coil itself is 4.2-5V so if I go more than 4.2V vape is hot, dry and no flavor.
The problem is with my DIY. I feel good flavor from vendors juices but mine never good enough.