Hullo Everyone!

[Alex-J-C]

Hello everyone! This is my first time writing in a forum of any kind so my apologies if I am being either impolite or asking questions in the wrong area. I have recently gotten into mods and RTAs, my current set up being a Geekvape Griffin 25 (dual clapton 32/26ga at 0.4ohms) on a Snow Wolf v1.5 200w. I am loving vaping and cannot get enough of the Laffy e juice made by Clown. However, as much as I love it, my poor wallet has been taking the strain. So, I decided to get my hands dirty with DIY juice making. I found a clone with good reviews online and decided to try it out. Unfortunately, no matter how I adjust the flavour ratios, or adjust how I steep and breathe my juice it always has a weird, heavy, perfume-like, herby, flowery, bicarbonate of soda-ish note. I will type out my current recipe below. If anyone would be able to help me with either my flavour choices or exactly how, and for how long, they would recommend I steep my Juice I would really appreciate it. Many thanks in advance for reading this.

Nicotine (48mg) 100%VG - 1.88ml - 6.27%
VG - 22.12ml- 73.73%
The Perfumers Apprentice (TPA) Blueberry (wild)- 1.5ml - 5%
(TPA) Grape Juice 1.5ml - 5%
Lorann's - Saltwater Taffy- 2.1ml - 7%
(TPA) Smooth- 0.6ml - 2%
(TPA) Cotton Candy (not Circus)- 0.6ml - 2%

I understand my percentage ratios don't add up properly but this was because I only had VG nicotine base to hand. Thank you again, I look forward to contributing in the future!

 

[retired1]

Normally we leave stuff in the New Member's forum, but this one requires more attention from the DIY folks. Therefore, moved to DIY E-Liquid

 

[Alex-J-C]

Normally we leave stuff in the New Member's forum, but this one requires more attention from the DIY folks. Therefore, moved to DIY E-Liquid

Thank you For your help and support. I really appreciate it.

 

[Forkeh]

Okay, some flavorings are really perfumey. You can try airing your juice out with the cap off, and seeing if that helps. But if you've tried steeping a long time, I'm not sure this will improve the juice much.

What i think you should do is track down which flavoring/s is causing the bad taste. Try smelling them. If you can't tell from that, just mix a little bit up with some vg and vape it (don't even have to add nicotine).

My money is on the LorAnn flavoring. I've found, while not bad flavoring per say, some of them are VERY strong, and will taste like chemicals if you add too much. With a lot of LorAnn flavors, a dab will do you. For example, I have this pistachio flavor from LorAnn, and while other flavorings I'd mix somewhere from 5-10%, this pistachio I measure in a drop or two per 15 ml.

Once you track down the problem flavoring, you can try adding less, or substituting a different brand.

 

[Alex-J-C]

Okay, some flavorings are really perfumey. You can try airing your juice out with the cap off, and seeing if that helps. But if you've tried steeping a long time, I'm not sure this will improve the juice much.

What i think you should do is track down which flavoring/s is causing the bad taste. Try smelling them. If you can't tell from that, just mix a little bit up with some vg and vape it (don't even have to add nicotine).

My money is on the LorAnn flavoring. I've found, while not bad flavoring per say, some of them are VERY strong, and will taste like chemicals if you add too much. With a lot of LorAnn flavors, a dab will do you. For example, I have this pistachio flavor from LorAnn, and while other flavorings I'd mix somewhere from 5-10%, this pistachio I measure in a drop or two per 15 ml.

Once you track down the problem flavoring, you can try adding less, or substituting a different brand.

Thank you for the advice. I will do as you have suggested and try to track down a potential problem flavour. However, I am not entirely certain that it is the LorAnn one because this has happened to all of the juices I have made so far- even ones without LorAnn. Perhaps I am steeping wrong? For these types of flavourings how long would you suggest I steep before labelling this juice for the trash? I have waited on this particular recipe for about a week. I find it a little confusing considering some people say fruity flavours are ready almost immediately, and to top it off, the original recipe that I abstracted this from had many rave reviews.

Thank you again for taking the time to reply.

 

[sketchness]

I agree on the saltwater taffy being suspect.

One trick is tfa raspberry at a low percentage like .5%. It works wonders to cut the perfume taste. Also you could try a vanilla or cream to cut the taste and round out the flavor.

Pretty much the only loranns anyone ever talks about is cream cheese icing. Frequently new mixers referring to perfume taste or funky burnt taste are using loranns.

Your percentages seem solid. The smooth in this recipe is a little odd. I would sub marshmallow instead. Also the cotton candy doesn't really add much sweetness in many cases. You might be better off with a regular sweetener.

Edit- I made a bunch of swill when I first started mixing. I have 150 flavors and basically make 1 recipe most of the time. Everyone loves my mixes. But me not so much

 

[Alex-J-C]

I agree on the saltwater taffy being suspect.

One trick is tfa raspberry at a low percentage like .5%. It works wonders to cut the perfume taste. Also you could try a vanilla or cream to cut the taste and round out the flavor.

Pretty much the only loranns anyone ever talks about is cream cheese icing. Frequently new mixers referring to perfume taste or funky burnt taste are using loranns.

Your percentages seem solid. The smooth in this recipe is a little odd. I would sub marshmallow instead. Also the cotton candy doesn't really add much sweetness in many cases. You might be better off with a regular sweetener.

Thank you sketchness, I'll wait a little longer to see if it changes with further steeping. However, I will be sure to give the raspberry a go and try cutting out the smooth. I have another test batch with cappella super sweet so that might be a better sweetener. I'm not sure what to do about the LorAnn's though because its very hard to get my hands on a saltwater taffy flavour here in the UK and the recipe definitely needs it.

Thanks again for helping!

 

[Forkeh]

Thank you for the advice. I will do as you have suggested and try to track down a potential problem flavour. However, I am not entirely certain that it is the LorAnn one because this has happened to all of the juices I have made so far- even ones without LorAnn. Perhaps I am steeping wrong? For these types of flavourings how long would you suggest I steep before labelling this juice for the trash? I have waited on this particular recipe for about a week. I find it a little confusing considering some people say fruity flavours are ready almost immediately, and to top it off, the original recipe that I abstracted this from had many rave reviews.

Thank you again for taking the time to reply.

I'd give it a few weeks, before you trash the juice for sure. But if you're not noticing any improvement over time, it's probably not going to improve that much with a long steep. You should be noticing and improvement over time.

If it's happening with all your juices, take a look at your vg (and pg if you use it, but I don't see it in your recipe), and nicotine base. Mix up some unflavored with nicotine and see if you have the same problem. If so, leave out the nicotine and just vape vg. This will help you determine if it's something about/ the vg or nicotine base. If this is the case, try a different brand.

Also, how well do you wash your mix equipment and bottles? It may be the case that a really strong, nasty flavoring early on may have contaminated your mix ware. Make sure you're washing everything well. And look for other contamination potentials. Is it possible some soap may have made it through the rinse and gotten into your juice?

It also may be the case that you've just had really bad luck with flavoring. Some flavorings can be pretty bad. I've gotten nasty flavorings a time or two from every brand I've tried.

 

[Alex-J-C]

I'd give it a few weeks, before you trash the juice for sure. But if you're not noticing any improvement over time, it's probably not going to improve that much with a long steep. You should be noticing and improvement over time.

If it's happening with all your juices, take a look at your vg (and pg if you use it, but I don't see it in your recipe), and nicotine base. Mix up some unflavored with nicotine and see if you have the same problem. If so, leave out the nicotine and just vape vg. This will help you determine if it's something about/ the vg or nicotine base. If this is the case, try a different brand.

Also, how well do you wash your mix equipment and bottles? It may be the case that a really strong, nasty flavoring early on may have contaminated your mix ware. Make sure you're washing everything well. And look for other contamination potentials. Is it possible some soap may have made it through the rinse and gotten into your juice?

It also may be the case that you've just had really bad luck with flavoring. Some flavorings can be pretty bad. I've gotten nasty flavorings a time or two from every brand I've tried.

Thanks again for getting back to me. Ill check the liquids again after another few days/a week. I will make sure to check the VG next time before I use it (ran out and need more). I never even thought that this could be a potential issue so thanks for pointing it out.

I do wash them quite well and rinse throughly so I can't imagine it would be that. In fact, I think I wash them a little too thoroughly as the measurement lines are disappearing...

As for the possibility of an unlucky batch, I am not too sure how to get around that lol. Considering things haven't gone too well so far, I'm a little hesitant to go out and buy loads more incase I just continue to fail.

As a side note though, I did make a potentially big discovery. After smelling all my liquids, I think that the TFA/TPA Smooth might be the issue. I never smelled it before because I didn't really expect a scent. However, to me, it smells quite fragrant, floral and slightly fizzy/bicarb-ish - which would account for most, if not all, of the issue. Do you or anyone else have any experience with Smooth? Does adding this usually require longer steeping to help balance the other flavours and thus perhaps, as a result, diffusing its own flavour? Maybe I just jumped the gun and should just leave it out completely.

Thanks again, I really appreciate any and all help I can get. Also, sorry for bombarding you with all these questions.

 

[Forkeh]

Sorry I've never used smooth. But give mixing without it a try and see what happens. That may be your problem right there.

 

[Alex-J-C]

Cheers, thanks for replying! I'll see how it goes. After finding out the final outcome I will be sure to post the result on this thread in case anyone is either curious or might find it helpful.

 

[BrotherBob]

Could try this variation:

FW Salt Water Taffy 6%
TFA Blueberry Extra 4%
CA Pomegranate 4%
TFA Sweetener (Sucralose) 0.5%

 

[Alex-J-C]

BrotherBob, thanks for your contribution! I'll try to get my hands on this stuff and give it a go. I did consider FW Salt Water Taffy, however I was a little concerned about the, albeit small, amount of acetoin that it contains. Have you personally tried this mix? Thanks again.

 

[Alex-J-C]

Could try this variation:

FW Salt Water Taffy 6%
TFA Blueberry Extra 4%
CA Pomegranate 4%
TFA Sweetener (Sucralose) 0.5%

BrotherBob, thanks for your contribution! I'll try to get my hands on this stuff and give it a go. I did consider FW Salt Water Taffy, however I was a little concerned about the, albeit small, amount of acetoin that it contains. Have you personally tried this mix? Thanks again.

Sorry for writing the message twice. I forgot to 'reply' to your post and didn't know if you would receive a notification. I would have deleted the old message but I couldn't seem to do it. Thanks again!

 

[BrotherBob]

I was a little concerned about the, albeit small, amount of acetoin that it contains. Have you personally tried this mix?

"It's funny, we're all concerned if flavors have anything bad in them and yet we smoked for years knowing it was all bad. I'm going to be ...... if I get hit by a bus. My last thought is going to be "But God, I only vaped the good flavors"."
http://..................com/threads/sweet-cream-substitute.94241/
Fruits are not my vape, I'm into bakery, desert and nuts. This recipe was reported first rate.

 

[Alex-J-C]

"It's funny, we're all concerned if flavors have anything bad in them and yet we smoked for years knowing it was all bad. I'm going to be ...... if I get hit by a bus. My last thought is going to be "But God, I only vaped the good flavors"."
http://..................com/threads/sweet-cream-substitute.94241/
Fruits are not my vape, I'm into bakery, desert and nuts. This recipe was reported first rate.

Haha, fair enough. I do take all the scare with a pinch of salt, but if i can avoid it without great discomfort then I will. It's good to know that you weren't just theorising a recipe. Thanks again, Ill be sure to give it a shot.

 

[BrotherBob]

theorising a recipe

No, this is a tried and true real recipe. But your right, people who post recipes because they think they can perfect them in their head and pass them off as "genius at work" bother me too.

 

[Hoosier]

Wait...

Did the OP say that "all" attempts have had the funky taste regardless of flavorings?

 

[dannyv45]

Wait...

Did the OP say that "all" attempts have had the funky taste regardless of flavorings?

I think what he said was "has a weird, heavy, perfume-like, herby, flowery, bicarbonate of soda-ish note."

The Perfumers Apprentice (TPA) Blueberry (wild)- 1.5ml - 5%
(TPA) Grape Juice 1.5ml - 5%
Lorann's - Saltwater Taffy- 2.1ml - 7%
(TPA) Smooth- 0.6ml - 2%
(TPA) Cotton Candy (not Circus)- 0.6ml - 2%

Maybe a bit over flavored Maybe a review of butterfly farts effect is in order.

What Else Do I Need? - DIY Mixing staples and misc for blending flavors | E-Cigarette Forum

 

[Hoosier]

Eh, the only flag I got from the recipe was the EM amount. But that taste is typically from over flavoring.

I thought I read in a later post that the same taste came regardless of flavoring used.

Also, as always, I wonder what the OP's flavorless mix tastes like.