Getting consistent flavour

[Old Greybeard]

I've got a dozen DIY juices on the go, some are better than others, and I've been keeping extensive notes on aroma, steep time, taste after a week etc.

Some nights a juice can taste really good, and others, sometimes disappointing. For example a custard I made was really quite good the first time I tried dripping it after a week, but tonight 12 days in it was really a let down, dripped and both in my Cleito with fresh coils and cotton etc..

I have noticed that you need to let the cotton bed in, and wattage will have a huge impact on flavour, as well as the conditions of the coils and cotton, but what other factors will have a major impact on flavour other than steeping time? I like very airy DTL vapes, but I've noticed most of the taste I get is at the front top of the roof of my mouth. Could my vaping technique be playing a part here?

So what testing strategies do folks use, setting a base standard so they can gauge how good a juice is over time?

 

[sonicbomb]

I cannot really answer the last question, but here the thing -
Over the nearly 9 years of vaping and DIYing I've found that the main inconsistency is you not the juice. What I mean is that taste is highly subjective, and that your perception of a taste can shift. I've found that a juice can taste significantly different from one day to the next. I don't know if it's a physiological thing or if it's psychological or both, but I experience it all the time.
You probably know this already, but also a juice will taste significantly different in one atomizer to another.
Obviously the taste of a juice will also change over time as it steeps. I intentionally avoid this by making small shake-and-vape batches and vaping them within a few days to keep things simple.

I'm sure others will be along shortly on this thread with some more advice. Good luck.

 

[JCinFLA]

I like very airy DTL vapes, but I've noticed most of the taste I get is at the front top of the roof of my mouth. Could my vaping technique be playing a part here?

IDK...maybe because of your technique (very airy + DTL), your "buds" don't get much of a chance to sense the flavor?? The vapor just zooms right over them.

I've personally always vaped MTN (inhale to hold in mouth only for a second or 2, then exhale through mouth and/or nose). I have no problem getting great flavor and my "nic hit", with any clearomizers or tanks. Been vaping that way since I started vaping. On my Berserkers though, the flavor is the best and is truly amazing, to me.

 

[BrotherBob]

I've got a dozen DIY juices on the go, some are better than others, and I've been keeping extensive notes on aroma, steep time, taste after a week etc.
Some nights a juice can taste really good, and others, sometimes disappointing. For example a custard I made was really quite good the first time I tried dripping it after a week, but tonight 12 days in it was really a let down, dripped and both in my Cleito with fresh coils and cotton etc..
I have noticed that you need to let the cotton bed in, and wattage will have a huge impact on flavour, as well as the conditions of the coils and cotton, but what other factors will have a major impact on flavour other than steeping time? I like very airy DTL vapes, but I've noticed most of the taste I get is at the front top of the roof of my mouth. Could my vaping technique be playing a part here?
So what testing strategies do folks use, setting a base standard so they can gauge how good a juice is over time?

Best test that I have found is to vape unflavored (all unflavored has some sort of taste) VG and establish the taste of that within that particular RDA with clean coil(s) and wick(s). If the RDA does not deliver the taste, try another. I try to establish a taste baseline and adjust accordingly the best I can.
Have to agree with @ sonicbomb, taste change is more often in the hands of the vapers state of physical and mental health.
Only when I feel my tastes are on track and every thing I try, are on the mark, will I make decisions regarding the rating/value of a particular mix.
"An All-Day Vape is a flavor that a vaper is happy to use all day. The term doesn't refer to the amount of time you vape for, but instead an All Day Vape will be a flavor and nicotine strength that you are comfortable using throughout the day. ... One of the benefits of vaping is the choice it offers."
re: google.
An ADV is a great flavor (known great flavor) to me and can help reset my taste buds. Very few of my mixes are ADV's (two or three?).

 

[Beamslider]

Best shot at consistency of flavor is to use same coils and tanks for the juice. Different ohm coils and tanks will taste different.

That said your taste changes as well. Sometime from overload, sometimes because you ate or drank something.

 

[Letitia]

This is why I don’t taste much before a mix is fully steeped. The end product is what I want to reproduce regularly. Also caramelized coils affect flavor.

 

[Zaryk]

I find that eating and drinking certain things skews the ability to taste certain flavors, at least for me. I have not taken note of what flavors were effected by what types of food or drink, but I do notice a difference sometimes.

I also noticed that throughout the day i will pick up on some flavor notes I didn't notice earlier in the day. Not sure why. For example, today when I got up and took a vape, I tasted more blueberry in my blueberry custard juice. Right now I am getting more custard and vanilla and the blueberry is less noticeable (but still clearly there). I feel it has to do with the way we perceive taste, but I have no way of confirming that theory.

 

[Letitia]

My juices seem better as the day wears on. Think that's just the way our taste buds work.

 

[Old Greybeard]

Thanks folks, some very constructive points here.

I was thinking of trying out temperature control mode, that way I would be removing at least one variable from the equation.

How does 20W at 240C sound for a SS coil (twisted pair, 8T on 3.5mm dual coils)?

 

[IDJoel]

Is that your "routine" coil?

All I can advise is; find a "normal/best" coil for your hardware, and personal preference, and then leave it alone.

Whenever your are evaluating anything (vaping) it is best to change only one thing at a time. The more variables you introduce; the more difficult it is to isolate the affecting influence (coil, power, temperature, e-liquid recipe, hardware, even airflow, etc.).

 

[stols001]

EVERYTHING can change flavor. Steeping (positive and negative, depending on flavor) and well, some days I just LOVE a few juices all day long where I may have ignored them for the most part, etc.

Where you get your consistency is exactly what you are doing, taking notes. However the confounding factors can be so many and so varied, it's not at all unusual for a juice to taste great one day and not another.

By definition if you are using a dripper for tasting (which is certainly commonplace enough) you are going to have a different experience than if you are using your regular tanks.

As far as things that I find can affect flavor: tank type, wattage, age of coil, type of coil, airflow, the phase of the moon, my mood, time of day, my attitude, chain vaping or not chain vaping, getting sick, an argument with the husband etc.

I would think over time you will get a general sense of what mixes work right for you in specific setups but it can be so subjective it can be somewhat difficult at times.

Anna