How much does nicotine affect juice flavour?

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DeloresRose

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I'm having trouble figuring out why my flavor would be diluted if I add the nic later. For example: I mix a 30 ml bottle of my favorite recipe. I use 3% PG based nic (0.9 mls). I add everything but the 0.9 mls of nic, which I'll add right before vaping. You mean to tell me I'll be diluting the flavor with that? I just don't see it. I'm only adding a portion of the recipe already calculated to be added.

It wouldn’t, if you do it like that. I do the opposite, I make the nic base allowing for flavor to be added later. I just note what percentage of flavors to add.
 

Frenchfry1942

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I do the same. I have been using the same brand of PG, VG, and Nic for the base. Then I add flavors for steeping and testing. However it turns out, I adjust the flavor, taking away or adding more, to get where my tastebuds say to go.

I start with 5ml samples, then 10ml, then farther up the size making minor corrections.
 

ScottP

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I'm having trouble figuring out why my flavor would be diluted if I add the nic later. For example: I mix a 30 ml bottle of my favorite recipe. I use 3% PG based nic (0.9 mls). I add everything but the 0.9 mls of nic, which I'll add right before vaping. You mean to tell me I'll be diluting the flavor with that? I just don't see it. I'm only adding a portion of the recipe already calculated to be added.

I was responding to the OP who was wanting to perfect recipes without wasting nic. My point was, if he gets a sample bottle of 0 nic tasting how he wants it to, THEN adds nic it will dilute it. So I suggested to make a new bottle and replace some of the PG OR VG with the nic to keep the concentration the same as the sample bottle.

Now, in your case if you pre-make calculated recipes and leave out the nic (without replacing it with something else) for the purpose of steeping, then no it will not be a dilution since it was a technically a calculated ingredient that had yet to be added. However, if do this and vape it before you add the nic then in this case the flavors will be more concentrated, because you haven't added all the ingredients yet. Although at 3% it probably won't be a huge difference.
 

ppeeble

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This thread is a sign of the times in the UK.
A lot of liquids are NOW sold with seperate nicotine shots but the reason behind it is nothing to do with taste...
Commercial e-liquid has been sold in various strengths from 0MG to 36MG since the dawn of the e-cigarette and i strongly suspect that the flavourings used are the same for each of the strengths.
So, logically, the answer to the question of how much nicotine changes the flavour should be 'not all all'.
The reality is that it probably does but to a point that is pretty much negligible to the average taste buds.
In my experience the higher the level of nicotine used in a mix, the quicker the liquid matures (or steeps, discolours, whatever). So maybe adding the nicotine afterwards would be helpful for lighter, fruitier vapes and perhaps a hindrance for more bakery type vapes...
 
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Frenchfry1942

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No, once mixed with PG and VG it just sits in a cabinet. I have two 500ml Brown bottles and I use them. When I empty one and switch to the second, I remake the base in the first. It steeps and I make juice for others in a pinch or if they are just starting. I don't mind making little 10ml bottles-worth so people can try flavors. I have a lot of little bottles of flavorings that I no longer use. Anyway, the main Nic bottle stays in the freezer.
 
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muth

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I was responding to the OP who was wanting to perfect recipes without wasting nic. My point was, if he gets a sample bottle of 0 nic tasting how he wants it to, THEN adds nic it will dilute it. So I suggested to make a new bottle and replace some of the PG OR VG with the nic to keep the concentration the same as the sample bottle.

Now, in your case if you pre-make calculated recipes and leave out the nic (without replacing it with something else) for the purpose of steeping, then no it will not be a dilution since it was a technically a calculated ingredient that had yet to be added. However, if do this and vape it before you add the nic then in this case the flavors will be more concentrated, because you haven't added all the ingredients yet. Although at 3% it probably won't be a huge difference.
Thanks for taking the time to clarify. It could also be that I didn't backread enough:rolleyes:. I'm always told that 3% nic is a drop in the vast ocean.....somehow, I notice it but it may be a psychosis:laugh:
 
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ScottP

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Thanks for taking the time to clarify. It could also be that I didn't backread enough:rolleyes:. I'm always told that 3% nic is a drop in the vast ocean.....somehow, I notice it but it may be a psychosis:laugh:

Just curious but are you one of those people that can go to a restaurant and try a new dish and just by taste can start naming off the ingredients and spices in the dish? I ask b/c I am that way (helps when I try to reverse engineer these dishes at home) and I can taste a difference with a 3% dilution as well. Actually with eating or drinking and depending on the ingredient, I can tell a difference at far less than 3%. Neither my wife nor my kid can tell at low % though. What other flavors are present may also play a part. For instance I may not notice a big drop in parsley content in a dish that is heavy with garlic.
 
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muth

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Just curious but are you one of those people that can go to a restaurant and try a new dish and just by taste can start naming off the ingredients and spices in the dish? I ask b/c I am that way (helps when I try to reverse engineer these dishes at home) and I can taste a difference with a 3% dilution as well. Actually with eating or drinking and depending on the ingredient, I can tell a difference at far less than 3%. Neither my wife nor my kid can tell at low % though. What other flavors are present may also play a part. For instance I may not notice a big drop in parsley content in a dish that is heavy with garlic.
I can not name off all the ingredients because I'm not familiar with all the names but I can taste the nuances of spices and herbs. I just added 0.2% Cardamom (FA) to a coconut vanilla custard recipe and believe me, I'll never forget the name of that one! :p
 

amoret

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I can not name off all the ingredients because I'm not familiar with all the names but I can taste the nuances of spices and herbs. I just added 0.2% Cardamom (FA) to a coconut vanilla custard recipe and believe me, I'll never forget the name of that one! :p

MMMH, cardamom. My only attempt at a bakery flavor so far has been using a FA Panettone I got on sale (I'm sure it's got a ton of diacetyl, but at 67, after smoking for 42 years, I don't much care) adding cardamom trying for Yulekaga, the Norwegian fruit bread I grew up around. So far, close but not quite. I think I need a little more fruit flavor, but candy type, not fresh. It's still a solid third or fourth in my all day array of liquids.
 
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muth

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MMMH, cardamom. My only attempt at a bakery flavor so far has been using a FA Panettone I got on sale (I'm sure it's got a ton of diacetyl, but at 67, after smoking for 42 years, I don't much care) adding cardamom trying for Yulekaga, the Norwegian fruit bread I grew up around. So far, close but not quite. I think I need a little more fruit flavor, but candy type, not fresh. It's still a solid third or fourth in my all day array of liquids.
Cardamon (FA) is great with bakery vapes but my only advice would be to go with tiny percentages. I added the recommended .25% and it was overpowering. If I did it again I would add 2 drops to a 100ml bottle! Better safe than sorry. The frustrating part is that I can tell it would be a terrific enhancer to my coconut custard cookie recipe but, instead, I ruined it.
 
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IDJoel

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Cardamon (FA) is great with bakery vapes but my only advice would be to go with tiny percentages. I added the recommended .25% and it was overpowering.
An easy way to use really potent concentrates; is to make a 10% dilution (1 part concentrate + 9 parts PG or VG), and use that dilution as my concentrate. That reduces the need to experiment with larger batch sizes. :)
 
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