How do starting percentages help with mixing?

[Sgt.Rock]

The whole idea of the 100 DT is that you are only making about 3 ml total and can easily flush it if you don't like it and it only will cost you about 7 to 10 cents...

A dime per attempt should not break the bank!

 

[Just Me]

@Sir2fyablyNutz I guess I didnt think about all the different possible combinations. I will give the 100 drop test a try. Question, when doing the drop test or testing flavors in general. How do you add back the quanitity you took out to keep things exact? say I made a test batch with 3ml of pg/vg base and used 2ml total flavor and I used 5 drops to test in my atty. Do I need to add back flavor too or just pg/vg? and how does that affect the flavor percentages

I haven't tried this, but it may help you. Apparently, he isn't here any longer, but he used to make and post all kinds of concoctions. Hopefully, it will answer how to "add back" what you took out.

Str8V8ping
DIY tips from Str8

by Str8V8ping , 04-21-2012 at 10:26 AM (3318 Views)

Quick TIPS and TRICKS in making ejuice recipes.

Most important first step after buying your supplies to start DIY .Testing and getting a feel for your flavors and flavor
notes. If you dont know what your flavors taste like at various percentages its like trying to mix blindfolded.Test your
flavors indivudually so you know how each one can work in a recipe.This will also give you a general idea of how
concentrated each flavoring is.

Heres how i test each flavor.
Fill a 3ml bottle with 20 drops of pg with dropper .The bottle is marked off for the 20 drop level. Then i add one drop of
flavoring with the same dropper. Shake the bottle and put 3 drops in a atty and vape it. I then add 2 drops pg and
another drop flavoring to keep the bottle at the marked level . Next i drop 3 drops and vape (10%) . Then repeat until
20-25% just to be sure i dont undershoot my sweet spot and to know what it tastes like when it reaches a over flavored
percentage . On flavors i think are going to be stronger i will start with a 40 drop base so i can start at 2.5% . Its not
100% accurate but its pretty close . I have done this on about 90 out of the 100+ flavorings i have .Its works really well
to improve your diying . I dont know how id diy without doing it now . On each flavor i take notes and right down the
sweet spot percentage and then taste notes on the flavor and over flavor etc . I also let them steep when im done and try
it the next day and write notes on the taste after steeping .You will find the standalone percentage(sweet spot for every
juice) .Dont be too concerned with the standalone number because that just shows a general concentration and the
number you will use it at in recipes will be much lower. Numbers do vary a lot with other vendors. HealthCabin is one
that iv found almost all to be under 5% . Some like cereal sweetcorn was best at .75% . I had to dilute it in pg
.[/QUOTE]

How to use the flavors after learning how each one works above.
You really need to think of these flavors as a base note to work off of .They dont really give you the can of icing they
give you the ingredients to make icing .Thinking this way will bring lots of flavor in your juice out. What i mean by that
is say you want to make a chocolate juice .Just using chocolate flavoring will be decent but not anything real special .
You gotta make the notes of that chocolate. Say you want it nice and creamy add some vanilla ,tweak the chocolate
taste add something like cinnamon .Your not trying to make it taste like cinnamon your just trying to alter the note of
the base flavor. Those are just examples . Use what you learned in the first paragraph.When making a juice you will
know what flavor will alter the flavor note to give you what your looking for . When doing this the finished flavor also
becomes more pronounced . If you look at my recipes youll see i never do like 15% of any flavor . Its all low
percentages of a few flavors. The amount of different juices you can make are almost endless as well instead of just
making whats on the bottle. Some will take time to create but it gets fun especially when you nail one. Dont just stick
with Capellas either . There are other flavors from other companies which i call my tweakers or spices that make a big
difference in my DIYing. Capellas is great for that base to start from while others help achieve the finished juice your
looking for. There are the occasional capella flavor that could be used by itself with great results like CDS ,new Sugar
cookie, lemon merange. Dont be scared to experiment .The more you play with them the better youll get at making great
stuff . Just like a cook you gotta be aware of how to use flavor notes together and the only way to get there is to try it.
You learn just as much from doing it wrong then doing it right. Hope that helps a little bit.

Watch out for building recipes backwards
One thing that i do on occasion that made my juices lack was knowing which flavor should be your base . This is
important . Try using the opposite base/dominant flavor in your juice as see how it comes out .

I used to try t make say a cookie juice . I would always do say 10% cookie and 4% vanilla custard . It would always be
lacking . I then thought maybe its backwards . I then tried 10% vanilla and 4% cookie and its much better . Sometime
what you think should be your base flavor is the opposite .

Standalone juices.
There is the occasional flavor that works great by itself but for the most part they will be decent at best . Im sure decent
isn't what your looking for. We want great daily vapes that can compete among the best vendors juice and standalone
juices just wont do that most of the time. When making a great recipe(not standalone) it often will not even need
enhancers or sweeteners. I find that when cirtain flavor notes are achieved it gives the juice a natural sweetness and
richness. Also dont judge a flavor by its name. Being racist against flavorings can limit what can be achieved. What i
mean by that is sometimes you can use a flavor that has nothing to do with the juice your making just to alter a flavor
note. You wont taste that flavor at a low percent but it will tweak the flavor note your working with. Popcorn in a
strawberry juice sounds weird but stuff like that can work wonders sometimes.

DONT BE AFRAID TO EXPERIMENT << The more weird stuff to do the more you will learn the little tricks to
making the holy grail of ejuices.

 

[Alien Traveler]

I am not too much into flavors, but I do use them.
I prepare single-flavor batches of the strength I like, steep them if needed.
Then I mix these butches. For example, today I want orange and cream, but more orange. Then I take, say, 3 ml from "orange" bottle and 1 ml from "cream" bottle. When I am really lazy, I can put these milliliters directly into my tank and let them to mix while I vape them.

 

[dannyv45]

You need to learn to use ML's and percentages and not drops. Then use a calculator like the ejuice me up calculator which will convert percents into exact ml's. It makes things much simpler. You can use percentages as follows.

flavor 1 = 10% Ah that's to much lets try 8% ah still to much and so on.

Flavor 2 = 10% but that would be 20% total flavor and I really did'nt want to go that high so let try

flavor 1 = 5% flavor 2 = 5% wow that's 10% total flavor which is closer to where I wanted to be.

See you start thinking in percentages and it makes it a lot easier to envision the total mixture.


Also here's a simple walk through that uses this approch on a RY4 recipe but you can substitute any flavors you wish.

Mixing 101, The Basics - A simple walk through on mixing a favorate standard... RY4 | E-Cigarette Forum

 

[ellejewell]

You need to learn to use ML's and percentages and not drops. Then use a calculator like the ejuice me up calculator which will convert percents into exact ml's. It makes things much simpler. You can use percentages as follows.

flavor 1 = 10% Ah that's to much lets try 8% ah still to much and so on.

Flavor 2 = 10% but that would be 20% total flavor and I really did'nt want to go that high so let try

flavor 1 = 5% flavor 2 = 5% wow that's 10% total flavor which is closer to where I wanted to be.

See you start thinking in percentages and it makes it a lot easier to envision the total mixture.


Also here's a simple walk through that uses this approch on a RY4 recipe but you can substitute any flavors you wish.

Mixing 101, The Basics - A simple walk through on mixing a favorate standard... RY4 | E-Cigarette Forum

@dannyv45 yep I did read your article when I first started this endevour and I do use ML and % but I end up working in 10ml batches because if I try doing a 5ml and I have more than a few flavors I want to blend the mls get extremely off and if it is horrible I have to throw away the whole 10ml I realize it is only about 1 dollar for a 10ml bottle but that is more than what I want to waste. This is why I am considering working in drops. Not for large batches, just for tester batches just so I can have a ratio. Like 1 part cherry 2 parts cheesecake and I figured I could do that with drops and justify dumping 3mls instead of 10ml. My goal here is to save as much product and money as possible while I figure out what flavor combinations turn out better. I also know that drops are very inaccurate but if I can take the time to find at least 5 droppers that drop at the same amount to the 1ml mark then I would say that that would be pretty accurate correct?

I am not too much into flavors, but I do use them.
I prepare single-flavor batches of the strength I like, steep them if needed.
Then I mix these butches. For example, today I want orange and cream, but more orange. Then I take, say, 3 ml from "orange" bottle and 1 ml from "cream" bottle. When I am really lazy, I can put these milliliters directly into my tank and let them to mix while I vape them.

This might be a way that is more up my ally! thanks for replying. I will try this with a couple of flavors and use the same flavors using the 100 drop method and see which one yeilds the best results

 

[ellejewell]

I haven't tried this, but it may help you. Apparently, he isn't here any longer, but he used to make and post all kinds of concoctions. Hopefully, it will answer how to "add back" what you took out.

Str8V8ping
DIY tips from Str8

by Str8V8ping , 04-21-2012 at 10:26 AM (3318 Views)

Quick TIPS and TRICKS in making ejuice recipes.

Most important first step after buying your supplies to start DIY .Testing and getting a feel for your flavors and flavor
notes. If you dont know what your flavors taste like at various percentages its like trying to mix blindfolded.Test your
flavors indivudually so you know how each one can work in a recipe.This will also give you a general idea of how
concentrated each flavoring is.

Heres how i test each flavor.
Fill a 3ml bottle with 20 drops of pg with dropper .The bottle is marked off for the 20 drop level. Then i add one drop of
flavoring with the same dropper. Shake the bottle and put 3 drops in a atty and vape it. I then add 2 drops pg and
another drop flavoring to keep the bottle at the marked level . Next i drop 3 drops and vape (10%) . Then repeat until
20-25% just to be sure i dont undershoot my sweet spot and to know what it tastes like when it reaches a over flavored
percentage . On flavors i think are going to be stronger i will start with a 40 drop base so i can start at 2.5% . Its not
100% accurate but its pretty close . I have done this on about 90 out of the 100+ flavorings i have .Its works really well
to improve your diying . I dont know how id diy without doing it now . On each flavor i take notes and right down the
sweet spot percentage and then taste notes on the flavor and over flavor etc . I also let them steep when im done and try
it the next day and write notes on the taste after steeping .You will find the standalone percentage(sweet spot for every
juice) .Dont be too concerned with the standalone number because that just shows a general concentration and the
number you will use it at in recipes will be much lower. Numbers do vary a lot with other vendors. HealthCabin is one
that iv found almost all to be under 5% . Some like cereal sweetcorn was best at .75% . I had to dilute it in pg
.

How to use the flavors after learning how each one works above.
You really need to think of these flavors as a base note to work off of .They dont really give you the can of icing they
give you the ingredients to make icing .Thinking this way will bring lots of flavor in your juice out. What i mean by that
is say you want to make a chocolate juice .Just using chocolate flavoring will be decent but not anything real special .
You gotta make the notes of that chocolate. Say you want it nice and creamy add some vanilla ,tweak the chocolate
taste add something like cinnamon .Your not trying to make it taste like cinnamon your just trying to alter the note of
the base flavor. Those are just examples . Use what you learned in the first paragraph.When making a juice you will
know what flavor will alter the flavor note to give you what your looking for . When doing this the finished flavor also
becomes more pronounced . If you look at my recipes youll see i never do like 15% of any flavor . Its all low
percentages of a few flavors. The amount of different juices you can make are almost endless as well instead of just
making whats on the bottle. Some will take time to create but it gets fun especially when you nail one. Dont just stick
with Capellas either . There are other flavors from other companies which i call my tweakers or spices that make a big
difference in my DIYing. Capellas is great for that base to start from while others help achieve the finished juice your
looking for. There are the occasional capella flavor that could be used by itself with great results like CDS ,new Sugar
cookie, lemon merange. Dont be scared to experiment .The more you play with them the better youll get at making great
stuff . Just like a cook you gotta be aware of how to use flavor notes together and the only way to get there is to try it.
You learn just as much from doing it wrong then doing it right. Hope that helps a little bit.

Watch out for building recipes backwards
One thing that i do on occasion that made my juices lack was knowing which flavor should be your base . This is
important . Try using the opposite base/dominant flavor in your juice as see how it comes out .

I used to try t make say a cookie juice . I would always do say 10% cookie and 4% vanilla custard . It would always be
lacking . I then thought maybe its backwards . I then tried 10% vanilla and 4% cookie and its much better . Sometime
what you think should be your base flavor is the opposite .

Standalone juices.
There is the occasional flavor that works great by itself but for the most part they will be decent at best . Im sure decent
isn't what your looking for. We want great daily vapes that can compete among the best vendors juice and standalone
juices just wont do that most of the time. When making a great recipe(not standalone) it often will not even need
enhancers or sweeteners. I find that when cirtain flavor notes are achieved it gives the juice a natural sweetness and
richness. Also dont judge a flavor by its name. Being racist against flavorings can limit what can be achieved. What i
mean by that is sometimes you can use a flavor that has nothing to do with the juice your making just to alter a flavor
note. You wont taste that flavor at a low percent but it will tweak the flavor note your working with. Popcorn in a
strawberry juice sounds weird but stuff like that can work wonders sometimes.

DONT BE AFRAID TO EXPERIMENT << The more weird stuff to do the more you will learn the little tricks to
making the holy grail of ejuices.[/QUOTE]

This is exactly what I was trying to find early. Thank you for taking the time to post it for me. I thought it somewhere but I wasnt sure.

 

[Sgt.Rock]

You need to learn to use ML's and percentages and not drops.

Maybe you missed it Danny...The suggestion to use drops was to substitute one drop for each percent (the 100 drop test method)...and that way building a test recipe totaling 3 ml to see if your recipe is on track..not as a recipe unto itself. It works for many people.

 

[amoret]

Another method that has worked well for me is once I have mixed single flavors to find the strengths I like, I will try combining those single flavor tests. The total percentage of flavor won't increase, but it gives me an idea of what proportion of each flavor I like. The calculator I use will then let me combine the two single flavor recipes in the proportion that I liked and give me the amounts for the mixture. From there I can make the mixture stronger or weaker if I want to, but I have the proportions I like figured out.

(And then I saw that Alien Traveler had said pretty much the same thing, but more clearly)

 

[Monotremata]

If youve got the time to spend, there is a whole crapload of helpful information all throughout that TFA Recipes thread that was mentioned previously. Bills Magic Vapor has become like my DIY Yoda nowadays.. I was a bit hard headed at first trying to mix single flavor recipes that simply tasted like Jolly Rancher candies and whatnot that always seemed ALMOST there but never quite hit the mark.. People in the TFA thread kept telling me I needed to do this and do that but me, Im an old punk that just said screw that I can do this but nope.. First time I tried one of Bills recipes (his "Pink Starburst") I gave in and it was all over. Theres recently been a Dropbox account setup by forum member IT Techy that he filled up with TONS of recipes collected from the thread, along with alot of Bills notes as Microsoft Word documents you can go through.. To top it off Bill was given upload/editing access and took a bunch of his blogs from here and uploaded them there as well. Youll also find a couple of handy dandy lists of starting percentages for using TFA flavors. Its really the easiest way to jump into it so youre not wasting too much juice while you learn, and you wont get so discouraged and give it up.. In the long run youll be glad you arent paying like $1 a ml for some crappy juice at a B&M (or worse 7-11 or Arco). Yes there is alot to take in, but sit tight and head to the TFA thread and dont be afraid to ask questions, theres plenty of us over there that spend way too much time in the thread yapping and trading recipes and helping new folks along the way. If it werent for 'the crew' over there, I probably wouldve given up awhile ago too.

On a side note, you didnt mention what brands of flavors youre using.. This is important. I went with TFA because alot of people here like it and they seem the most 'user friendly' to start off with. As was mentioned earlier, some brands are more concentrated than others and will require you to work differently. It really helped me alot that the big TFA thread was there with ready to go tried and true recipes I could throw together in about 5 minutes and try. There are TONS of them in there like I said so pick a few that sound like theyre up your alley and try em out. I havent made one recipe out of there yet that I wasnt off and vaping the minute it was done being mixed (another bonus to Bills recipes, theyre made to vape right away, no steeping or anything required).. That Pink Starburst is still one of my ADVs, and after getting my head around it, Im learning how to substitute stuff here and there and Ive got a whole slew of different flavored Starburst and bubble gum flavored mixes in my drawer.

Heres the link to the almighty TFA Dropbox account (itll save you from having to read like 500 pages looking for recipes):
Dropbox - ECF Recipes

 

[Aheadatime]

There is no hard rule concerning how to mix different flavors together. Sometimes 2 flavors that taste great alone don't taste great when mixed together. If they do, it might be hard to find the correct %s. Say they're both good at 10%. This doesn't mean you should add 10% of each, nor does it mean you must only add 5% of each. It can be as awkward as 2% and 9%. This just takes experimenting.

It's worth mentioning that flavors change drastically in taste and strength from vendor to vendor. You might love a blueberry from Inawera, but hate the one that TFA makes. You should let us know which flavors you enjoy as stand-alones, what % you enjoy them at, and which vendor makes them. People might be able to chime in with experience regarding their methods of blending that particular flavor with others.