Guide to DIY Flavoring

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Mikenet

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Someone recommended this thread to me from another forum, I read through most of it but haven't seen much on flavor percentages for Flavor Apprentice flavors. My first mix was with chocolate from FA, and it taste very weak.

It's at about 14% flavor now, with 60pg/40vg, and 24mg of nicotine.

Im hoping to hear from anyone who has used this, or has any percentage recommendations for the following flavors from TFA....

tobacco Flavor
tobacco Blend
Root Beer
Dew Drops
Menthol Liquid
Coffee
Cinnamon Redhots
Cappuccino
Chocolate

Thanks in Advance
 
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GoodDog

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Mikenet, I believe your flavors are from TFA not FA, right? FA stands for FlavourArt and TFA or TPA stands for The Flavor Apprentice or The Perfumer's Apprentice. She recently changed the name from The Perfumer's Apprentice to The Flavor Apprentice and it has become confusing. Just wanted you to get the correct answer to your question. :)
 

Mikenet

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Mikenet, I believe your flavors are from TFA not FA, right? FA stands for FlavourArt and TFA or TPA stands for The Flavor Apprentice or The Perfumer's Apprentice. She recently changed the name from The Perfumer's Apprentice to The Flavor Apprentice and it has become confusing. Just wanted you to get the correct answer to your question. :)

Ahh, your right. I just shortened The Flavor Apprentice down to FA forgetting completely about FlavorArt. Thanks for the heads up, I'll correct it. :)
 

Mikenet

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Mike, I use root beer, dew drops, and coffee from TFA and mix at a consistent 20% with a 50/50 ratio at 8-10 mg. But then I'm a flavor ..... :blush:

Very helpful, thats the kind of info Im looking for. I may end up liking strong flavor mixes myself. Turns out I might not have much choice though. I just ran three seperate test on my nicotine and found that the nic Im using has an unpleasent taste without flavor.

The first test was 100PG / 26 mg PGnic (this was very harsh and unpleasent tasting)

The second test was in a 60pg/40vg base with 26 mg PGnic (less harsh, but still tasted funny)

The last test was VG, with 26mg PGnic (this was the smoothest of the three test but I could still taste the nicotine)


Im figuring with this new information that my mixes will probably take more flavor than I had originally thought, some of which will go to masking the flavor of the nicotine. I don't know if this is common with mixed batches contining stronger nicotine levels, Im hoping it's just my nicotine so I can try something else and not end up using 30% flavor in every batch. :p
 
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Matt-Tucson

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Anyone have a SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) for testing new flavors? I use FA and I'm pretty sure that many flavors need at least a bit of sweetner to really taste the flavor. Experience here? I don't like too much sweetner, and a I hear it takes away from flavors too ( I use splendex\sucralose from splendex.net straight outta the bottle at .25-.5% so far) Anyone always add sweetner when testing new stuff or do you add after you test it. I also have vapewizard and magic mask and don't really know how to use those, anyone add vapewizard to most of their mixes or ? Thanks
 

Mikenet

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I'm pretty new to DIY mixing myself but I can tell you what Ive learned.

Attys -

Most mixers will tell you to use an atty and drip for testing flavors instead of a carto. This makes sense since you don't have to fill a cartomizer with a mix that might not taste good. One tip I learned while using an atty is that you can drip and vape straight PG in between flavors to help flush out an old flavor if your switching between two of your mixes.

Also dewicked attys retain less liquid and are better for testing different mixes.

Amount of flavor -

Im still struggling with this myself, but what you'll generally hear is between 5 and 25 % total flavor in a mix. In some cases perhaps higher or lower. In the last month the highest Ive heard someone mixing at was 25 %, but Im sure some mixers go higher. Flavor Art advertises that their flavors are more concentrated, and to start at 1% for their mixes.

The only thing I have from FA is the Vape Wizard, so Im not sure yet about what flavor percentages work best with those but I can tell you that my experience thus far with The Flavor Appretice is that my first two flavors were weak. The chocolate I mixed at 10%, then at 14% and it was weak at both percentages. The Cappachino Ive mixed at 18%, its much better but still a tad bit weak. TFA is advertised at 10-20% flavor BTW, for me I'm thinking I'll be mixing strong on most batches if this pattern continues.

Each flavor will probably be different though so finding a good percentage for each will take some trial and error.

Steeping -

Many mixers say that steeping your mix by letting it sit for a few days changes the flavor a great deal, others say thats bull.
In my experience so far Ive noticed that steeping darkens the color of the liquid, but in my first mix I didn't notice any change in flavor after a week of steeping. This opinion could change, since Ive only done a week long steep once, and I plan to try it again.

MTS Vape Wizard -

Ive only tried this once so I really don't have an opinion on it, I did use it on my first mix at .5% but it didn't save my chocolate which was simply lacking in flavor. I heard one person say they don't really use this on creamy flavors like chocolate so I may have tried that for nothing.

Sweatener -

This is something Im in the process of getting right now. I need something that works great as a sweetener. After a couple of forums and several questions Ive heard about ethyl maltol being great for sweetening. You can buy this already diluted in PG from The Flavor Apprentice, look for (Cotton Candy).....

flavorapprentice.com
The Flavor Apprentice Professional Flavors - One Stop DIY Shop Store

It's used as a mild sweetener or to smooth out a harsh tasting liquids. I haven't tried it yet but many people have recommended it to me so I'll probably get it. :)

Hope this helps a little, I'm still learning myself.
 
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Rimau

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Just to add: I have found that fruit flavors can be vaped after a few hours, if not right away. I never add anything like vape wizard to fruits, but I do to tobacco based liquids. I have also found that it is imperative to let tobacco flavors settle before they are vapable, usually due to the flowery and high concentration.
 

Hoosier

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Martinc, if you are getting strong flavor from 3 drops of Lorann's in a 5ml batch, I will not be of much help. Most of my Lorann's stuff ends up closer to 30% than it does your level, so I suspect that anything I find slightly sweet would just gag you.

My first suggestion would be a 10% EM solution, like Cotton Candy flavoring, but you may have to dilute it before even adding a drop.
 
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