How much does nicotine affect juice flavour?

[stols001]

I have no idea, because I've never done a nic free DIY experiment. I make nic base at 20 mg/ml because I am used to 18, and I usually add 10% flavor, so I call it good.

I have noticed SOME difference in my more freebased nic juices, but it's more a lack of that "salt" taste, and kinda, well just more normal tasting. IDK. I think nicsalts do taste a bit different than freebase, and it' s not necessarily "bad" it's what I'm used to but I'm okay with the fact that I have cracked out my first liter of freebase. Etc. It just, IDK I guess it could affect some flavors with some mixes and maybe I am not sophisticated enough to tell. But, I do think good nic should be fairly tasteless. Throat hit? Maybe. But tasteless.

Anna

 

[BrotherBob]

Is there any benefit or disadvantage of omitting nicotine when testing/trialing recipes?

Arguable, but for me when I was using nic, essential. No use tasting a small sample and have it change when adding nic.

How much of an effect does nicotine play as part of the steeping process? Is it an essential component, and if so, how do commercial producers compensate for not having nicotine in their juice?

Essential component for me along with a 4 week steep. If the mix and nic are bad after 4 weeks, I have a failed mix.
"how do commercial producers compensate" ?????

Would I be sensible in creating recipes without nicotine, and if they are decent enough to vape add the nicotine afterwards?

It all depends on you, my sample sizes and nic (3mg typical) where almost always 5 ml. for most simple test batches.

 

[SlowTalker]

I always mix new tries with nic. It changes the character of the juice with steeping. Just for full disclosure I mix at 18mg.

 

[glasseye]

Would I be sensible in creating recipes without nicotine, and if they are decent enough to vape add the nicotine afterwards?

Maybe. Possibly. It depends on the strength of your nic, how many mg you use, and the recipe itself. Light fruity flavors might be affected, more so than a tobacco recipe.

 

[muth]

So you keep your nic base in the freezer whilst it awaits it's flavors?

 

[ppeeble]

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...

 

[Frenchfry1942]

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.

 

[muth]

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. I'm always told that 3% nic is a drop in the vast ocean.....somehow, I notice it but it may be a psychosis

 

[ScottP]

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

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.

 

[amoret]

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!

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.

 

[muth]

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.

 

[IDJoel]

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.