DIY sweeteners? Sour? Other flavor enhancers?

[my4jewels]

I have read tons of posts from over the years, and we touched upon it briefly in another thread. I've spent hours researching this, so I'm not asking for a free ride here without looking myself. This info is all over the place, and I'd like it to be all together for diy noobies like me so I can buy the right stuff.

I like my dessert and bakery juices really, really sweet. I have EZ-Sweetz(sucrose), but I think it's messing up my atties(I used quite a bit, didn't even count drops). I am having a very hard time because I'm talking really sweet here. I am on the verge of ordering some liquid stevia that boasts no bitter aftertaste.

I also like a touch of sour to my fruit flavors, eg. I prefer green apple to apple. I am thinking of trying malic acid.

This is what I want to know. Let's make this as comprehensive as possible, and maybe we can make it a sticky!!

1. What is your favorite sweetener?

2. What is your experience with flavored liquid stevia?

3. Which sweeteners gunk up atties the most?

4. What is your experience with malic acid?

5. Where do you buy your sweeteners or "sourers"?

6. Are there any other flavor enhancers you recommend? Please be specific as to their effect?

7. Also, when adding flavor enhancers, do they need to steep a while to be fully present, or are they fully apparent to taste right away?

 

[my4jewels]

Another thing I have noticed with Ez-sweetz. I put a few drops in my menthol last week. It seems to have "sweet spots", meaning some drags are sweeter then others. Does that happen to anyone else? BTW, I use cartos.

 

[Stownz]

1. What is your favorite sweetener? EM from Perfumer's apprentice

2. What is your experience with flavored liquid stevia? It has a goofy zing too it

3. Which sweeteners gunk up atties the most? Ones that contain actual sugar

4. What is your experience with malic acid? Thats the "sour" I put in my jolly rancher flavors. Little bit goes a long way.

5. Where do you buy your sweeteners or "sourers"? perfumer's apprentice

6. Are there any other flavor enhancers you recommend? Please be specific as to their effect? Vapewizard, adds "body" to the vape. PGA (pure grain alch) to thin down VG heavy stuff and offset the muting effect of VG. VG is horrible flavor carrier, needs help. Caffeine from Vaporenu for my morning mix that is at 36mg.

7. Also, when adding flavor enhancers, do they need to steep a while to be fully present, or are they fully apparent to taste right away? Depends how well you mix. I'll throw a 30 ml bottle in the microwave for 8 seconds, then shake the hell out of it then let it sit long enough for the bubbles to dissapate. Normaly mix 2x as strong if i'm going to vape immediately, or mix weak if I have time to let it sit a week or not. This is the general rule I use for flavoring, not just the adds. DK tab is my normal flavoring of choice, and I never let it steep.

 

[donnah]

I ordered a little bottle of sweetener from bluemist that I like.. no after taste to me. I don't know what it is though.

 

[zoiDman]

Just a note on Malic Acid: This is known to Crack plastics in things like Clearomizers and G4/G5 cartos. Use with caution around ANY plastic containers.

 

[my4jewels]

Thanks everyone so much for your input so far. In my search for THE perfect sweetener, I just got 20g of ethyl maltol powder in the mail this morning from Ecigexpress. I have ethyl maltol in the form of cotton candy flavoring from TPA , and I like it. I thought this would be more cost efficient and concentrated. I can't help it, I really like my juice sweet!

Suggested use: Dissolve 1/4 teaspoon of Ethyl Maltol in 10ml of PGA (Pure Grain Alcohol). Diluted mixture can then be added to your liquid. Start with one or two drops per 6ml of liquid. Add more or less to suit your taste.

Any stories to share about using this?

 

[Apocalypse*Meow]

You can dissolve the ethyl maltol in PG too- don't know about VG, haven't tried using that- but PG works fine. I used around 1/2 tsp in 10mL of PG, nuked it for about 8 seconds and shook it. Dissolved just fine. I doubt it's going to be sweet enough for your taste if you're planning to try using it alone as a sweetener though- it's not really a sweetener IMO. It just adds a certain something to liquid. I use it in most of my DIY experiments, but I use sucralose too. I like the super sweet / super intense flavored stuff as well, but I'm trying to use a *bit* less than I would like since I'm a bit leery of vaping wayyyy too much flavor. (I do like the FlavourArts flavors at 30% though, which is a lot more than most people use I think...)

 

[Stownz]

Can mix it in PG, but PG won't hold the em in suspension as well as ever clear does. It does take quite a lot to put a truelly sweet kick to a jucie so the more concentrated you can mix it the better. Even using 100mg nic base its cutting it close to go 50/50 PG/vg @ 36 mg and 8% em. If I had stronger nic or some 50/50 PG/vg 100mg base I coulg go like 30/70.

On a side note, when I did use PG tp dilute em, I quit nuking it. If you nuke it, you can hold more em in solution but when it cools down the em re-crystalizes

 

[my4jewels]

4. What is your experience with malic acid? Thats the "sour" I put in my jolly rancher flavors. Little bit goes a long way.

How much malic acid do you add to create "Jolly Rancher" fruits? Let's say I had 10ml of perfect fruit flavor. How much would I add?

 

[Stownz]

3-4% is what I use.

 

[Boodle]

3-4% is what I use.

Really great info. Thank you for this thread.

 

[meems]

is there a difference between LorAnns tart & sour & TPA's sour?

 

[nastos.]

Hmmm, I've been thinking about a sour vape for awhile now, something like crybabies or warheads would be amazing.

 

[Stownz]

Just remember about malic acid, it has been reported to crack plastic failomizers, and some of the tanks out there.

to get something as shour as a warhead, your talkin about mixing it 40% +. If you had pure malic acid crystals, could definatley use less, but the stuff I have is not really that strong.