Flavor content in DIY mixing..

[Photorise]

Hello everyone!

I have read and watched many e-liquid mixing tutorials and there's one thing that I just can't figure out..

How can we talk about flavors in aspect of percentages when they come in completely different concentrations? For example, 1 drop of LorAnn Oil Key Lime concentrate overwhelms 10ml of unflavored e-juice. That's 0.5% flavoring. This makes me wonder why flavors are even part of the calculation process? I hear people using 10% and even 20% of flavoring in their mixing. How can a calculator possibly know the strength of the concentrate when all you are inputing is percentage? Couldn't 1% of one brand of flavoring be stronger than 20% of another brand's?

Am I missing something?

Thank you!
Gene

 

[FinallyQuit]

No, you're not missing anything. Every flavor manufacturer has their own specifics to make each flavor. The chemists can get technical with you, I can't. A raspberry from company A might work best at 3% like Hangsen; while from company B it could be 8 or 9% like TFA; or company C at 15% like Capella; let's not leave out company D at 20% like FW.

And for what it's worth, all those raspberry flavors might present a little differently on your palate.

Oh, and each flavor is different, there is a TFA flavor that is so strong you can only use 1 drop flavor per 10 mls base, while another is too weak at up to 15%.

That's where experimenting and having fun come into DIY. It's not like a cake mix with instructions on how many eggs and how much water to put in, it's a raw material and you can turn it into something great, or gross, as the case may be.

Start out at low percentages, test vape for flavor, adjust up in tiny increments, until you find the percentage where you like it the best.

 

[Thunderball]

No, you're not missing anything. Every flavor manufacturer has their own specifics to make each flavor. The chemists can get technical with you, I can't. A raspberry from company A might work best at 3% like Hangsen; while from company B it could be 8 or 9% like TFA; or company C at 15% like Capella; let's not leave out company D at 20% like FW.

And for what it's worth, all those raspberry flavors might present a little differently on your palate.

Oh, and each flavor is different, there is a TFA flavor that is so strong you can only use 1 drop flavor per 10 mls base, while another is too weak at up to 15%.

That's where experimenting and having fun come into DIY. It's not like a cake mix with instructions on how many eggs and how much water to put in, it's a raw material and you can turn it into something great, or gross, as the case may be.

Start out at low percentages, test vape for flavor, adjust up in tiny increments, until you find the percentage where you like it the best.

Great post...well said.

 

[dannyv45]

+1 Very well said.

 

[Photorise]

FinallyQuit,

Thank you. It makes perfect sense. What throws me off is that the different e-liquid calculators all have a field for flavor percentage, but I guess it's my job to determine what to input based on the strength. Thank you very much for your explanation!

Gene

 

[Hoosier]

Some think my blog on Flavoring Levels might make your job a bit easier to figure out.

 

[FinallyQuit]

FinallyQuit,

Thank you. It makes perfect sense. What throws me off is that the different e-liquid calculators all have a field for flavor percentage, but I guess it's my job to determine what to input based on the strength. Thank you very much for your explanation!

Gene

You are on the right track, it gets easier to "see" after you start mixing. The calculator is to help you measure your ingredients, you should absolutely be able to do your calculations on paper, but I always double check with the calculator because sometimes I can't brain.

 

[BigDaddio]

I am surprised no one linked to any of those recommended flavor percentage lists. Oh here is one, TFA Flavor Percentages

Why are these lists not like stickied or are they?