Hi, new DIY'er.

[Dkamikaze]

Howdy folks, new member here.

I've made the leap from store bought juice to optomistio brewer! However my results are causing me concerns.

I purchaeed a premix base, 70vg/30pg and x2Xflavour concentrates (Black Astaire and black jack) which should equate to the flavouring in my shop bought stuff.

However, the concentrate bottle says use between 15% and 20%, which I did. The smell in the bottle once mixed is similar to what I use to purchase, but the vape is completely weird, and very dry to vape.

I've now made up a 5%, a 10%, 15% and a 20% and all taste weird. I've been steeping in a dark place after letting them breath for a few hours, and every day I give them a violent shake and sniff and a little vape.

The flavouring just isn't there. Also tried without nicotine.

Steeping so far is on day 6 .

I use a Clieto exo sub ohm and have tried at various wattages. Coil has been changed.

Crap concentrates or crap chemist(me!)

Any advice is appreciated .

Cheers

 

[Dkamikaze]

Also, I used an ejuice calculator, not guess work!!!

 

[bombastinator]

“Should” And “does” are different things. Shop flavors can be quite complex. Also 6 days of steeping isn’t much for some flavors. Imitating another flavor by trial and error can be quite difficult. I would suggest checking out the https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forums/e-liquid-recipes.349/ section and finding a known recipie that sounds good and trying that.
Myself I just buy shake and vape one shot flavors and use those. I get decent in not astounding results for minimal effort. I was never much of a cook though.

 

[Ablonz]

@Dkamikaze Hello and Welcome to the forums!!! I have not used those flavors but some may need time up to but not limited to 4-6 weeks time to age. I have some that are shake and vape, some take 2 weeks, some that take 6 weeks to come to a great taste. Taste is VERY subjective. Also, you need to know the exact way they made your juice before as if anything is off, it will not taste exactly the same. You did the best thing by making it at different percentages. Now is the waiting game for you. Test all of them weekly and take lots of notes. In the time being, you could also make Unflavored and just vape that while you wait. I have 178 different flavors and still have not used all of them in the last 2-3 years. Hope this helps.

 

[Letitia]

Howdy folks, new member here.

I've made the leap from store bought juice to optomistio brewer! However my results are causing me concerns.

I purchaeed a premix base, 70vg/30pg and x2Xflavour concentrates (Black Astaire and black jack) which should equate to the flavouring in my shop bought stuff.

However, the concentrate bottle says use between 15% and 20%, which I did. The smell in the bottle once mixed is similar to what I use to purchase, but the vape is completely weird, and very dry to vape.

I've now made up a 5%, a 10%, 15% and a 20% and all taste weird. I've been steeping in a dark place after letting them breath for a few hours, and every day I give them a violent shake and sniff and a little vape.

The flavouring just isn't there. Also tried without nicotine.

Steeping so far is on day 6 .

I use a Clieto exo sub ohm and have tried at various wattages. Coil has been changed.

Crap concentrates or crap chemist(me!)

Any advice is appreciated .

Cheers

Not familiar with these concentrates but some take weeks to steep, tobaccos and custards especially. Fruits generally steep much faster. Maybe pick up a couple fruit flavors and let the other two go for a couple weeks. Breathing is not usually necessary and just lets flavor molecules escape.

Welcome to ECF.

 

[Dkamikaze]

Cheers for the quick replies!

I think because in my head before going into home brewing, I figured it would be a a case of a dash of this and a splash of that and boom! A legendary vape. What I got instead was a taste that I'd expect from vaping the contents of a medical bin.

Black Astaire is a fruity mix, a hint of liquorice behind it and black jack is an old sweet from my childhood. So not complex flavouring. Is a steep beyond 2 weeks going to wash those flavours through? Do a lot of new mixes taste so crap upon first taste/week of testing?

Thanks again.

 

[Dkamikaze]

Do you think it's the VG/pg premix? It was my lazy move to get off the starting blocks.... A mistake?

 

[Topwater Elvis]

Depending on the manufacturer of the flavorings the strength can be vastly different & names don't really mean much.

The black astaire I'm familure with is a heavy black cherry minty eucalyptus fairly sweet with a strange slight bitter bite to it.
On its own 7% is as high as I went, above that it lost everything but sweet eucalyptus & bitter. I have some at 5% that has been sitting for about 6 months, nothing about it has improved.
I found no % that I cared for.

The blackjack a rich deep fine cigar with a hint of pecan or oak wood, non sweet to dry.

I mix blackjack on its own at 3.5%, 5% is quite the punch in the face, 7% would be very sharp, 10% would be unvapable IMO. It would turn to a charred cardboard taste.
For me blackjack is a shake & vape that needs no steeping and only very slightly mellows with time.

For my preferences the two are far too far apart in taste tones & each too strong on their own to be mixed together.

The only suggestion I have is to use 3.5% of each flavor to give 7% total flavoring a try.

 

[Letitia]

Many mixes will not taste "right" for a week or two. Since you are just coming off of commercial juice you may be missing the sweetener. I would say don't make any judgement calls before the testers reach the 6 week mark. You can't judge the complexity to the real thing, best to get that notion out of your head now. For clones I shoot for as good as or better, never for an exact copy.

 

[stols001]

Steep. Wait. Try different percentages.

Many sweeteners are shake and vape, so you can experiment with how much you need. Etc.
Anna

 

[Dkamikaze]

Cheers all. I shall report back with my findings!

Are there any particular vendors in the UK that you'd recommend for concentrates? I got mine from an eBay shop called "make your vape". They seem to have sold a lot so I went on the logic that they must be reasonably good at what they do.

 

[DeloresRose]

Personally, and I love eBay, but I wouldn’t buy flavors there. E liquid express is one of my faves. Nice variety, great service. And you can look through the Great Deals thread at the top of the DIY forum for links to a lot of sites. Also look through the recipes and you’ll get an idea of the popular brands.

 

[BrotherBob]

Cheers all. I shall report back with my findings!
Are there any particular vendors in the UK that you'd recommend for concentrates? I got mine from an eBay shop called "make your vape". They seem to have sold a lot so I went on the logic that they must be reasonably good at what they do.

Welcome and glad you joined.
I'm lucky if I get a mix to work after testing 50 or so flavors. Standalone singles are even harder to find.
Could fill in your location, it may help you in obtaining location specific information to your question(s).
On the top right hand corner of this post you will find --"your name" next to "Inbox and Alerts"
Place the mouse pointer on your name. You will get a drop down and on the left hand side of this drop down you will find "Personal Details". Click Personal Details.
In Personal Details, in middle of screen in gray, you will find "Location" Could fill that box line in.
re: New users - Put your location in your Profile...
Some UK flavor suppliers:
Vapour Depot
DarkStar Vapour
BargainVapour.com
The E-cig Shop
Chef's Flavours
Decadent Vapours
Wizard Vapes
JustVape247
Nom Nomz
After reading the information above, and if you have additional questions, you could post in: DIY E-Liquid

 

[ShamrockPat]

chefs flavours in the UK

 

[ranjen617]

I'm new to DIY as well, by about a month. Some of my mixes are just now coming alive in the flavor area. They smell awesome to begin with but just don't have the vape as the recipe title says. Wait over a week or two or three and vape a little more. You will see the flavors start coming through.
At first you want to vape it, this I know, but waiting is where it is. My chocolate concoction that I made three bottles of us just now really beginning to taste right. Well one bottle is gone but it did not taste like the ones that are still steeping. They are pretty good vs a short steep.

The only one that is almost true to flavor starting out of mine was the spearmint blend. Even that one is getting better.

"Thank you goes to @Letitia here for helping me comprehend this!"

 

[greek mule]

Welcome aboard

 

[TheTinMan]

been steeping in a dark place

This is good!

letting them breath for a few hours,

While breathing off volatiles helps, you are also breathing off flavoring. Leave room at the top of the bottle and all volatiles should steep off.

every day I give them a violent shake

In my experience this isn’t necessary. Shake after mixing and put in a dark place to steep.

very dry to vape

A little Pear by TFA or some Cactus by Inawera should help with dryness. About 0.25% in the mix.