I've got 7 big bottles of subpar ejuice and 1 without...Odd DIY advice needed

[Violetti Usva]

As stated in the title, I have 7 200ml bottles of subpar ejuice. I'm worried about wasting money I guess...

I have been experimenting with flavourings for a while but feel like I never get anything right. I've had a few concoctions go well but I never recreate them correct because they've been serendipitous, usually after steeping a while, diluting the hell out of then adding some other flavourings a little to "fix" them. Currently there's a particularly bad lot.


1) There's the kinda hazelnut chocolate that's missing something and feels like there's something too much. Down to one bottle!
2-4) Various strawberry concoctions after trying to add a bit of blackcurrent to a cheesecake recipe and finding it so horrible I had to dilute it into 3 bottles, add nicotine and varying flavourings to try fix it thinking I'd learn something but not writing down anything helpful beyond strawberry+/-kiwi is great.
5+6) RYODear-GodY4, similiar sitch
7) Vanilla that's almost there but never quite there - sometimes it gets further away in fact.

I also have an empty bottle and obviously none of these are full bottles - I think there's about 400mls of 1star ejuice, 300mls of 2star, 200mls of 3star worthy juice.

I have researched a little ontop of my various failures and think I've learned a lot but this empty bottle poses a difficult question. Do I a) try to make a nice recipe in this bottle now and leave it to steep until I've finished all the bad ejuices with constant tinkering? b) dilute 5+6 to 3 bottles and tinker further rather than risk trying a truly good flavour before finishing the worst I have and ending up throwing any away, wasting money


I posted too early so will update again soon...

 

[bombastinator]

The problem is juice taste is fairly individual. What sucks to you may be awesome to someone else’s and visa versa. I for example hate ry4. No rhyme or logic to it.

 

[Violetti Usva]

Honestly, I looked up a recipe a long time ago (before realising that 200ml bottles as a beginner was a mistake) for caramel, nothing in what I searched said tobacco but I followed the recipe blindly, not remotely realising what ry4 is. I've been trying to dilute it to something managable ever since in all honesty!

I somehow accidentally hit enter on the OP before getting halfway through! I have finished now (sort of, that did send me off balance a bit) though

 

[NatashaTMT]

I recommend not making a decision atm as to what to do with all of these mixes. If you have any idea at all how much of what any of them have in it, I’d start with that one. Pour off a few 5-10ml maybe. Do something different to all of these and note exactly what you do to each as you do it each step of the way. (flavor, brand, amount, steep time, etc) If needed, try this a few times until you A) You find it! B) You’ve learned all you can learn and call it or C) You don’t want to sink anymore product into these you feel may never be anything worth vaping. Even a wrong turn can help you learn your way around! Put away these other mixes to decide what to do with them after you have a bit better handle. I’ve heard of very few mixers having success from the get go. You’re not alone & it does get easier

 

[dc99]

Maybe if you could post the recipes and what you are getting from them we might be able to help save some of it
Actually, do them one at a time. Start with the chocolate.

 

[denali_41]

here's something you can do to salvage some of the juice ,when i started diy'ing i had some complete and utter failures !! so i'd just started pouring those in a bottle,the same bottle and just keep adding the failures ,sometimes i got lucky and ended up with a fabulous juice and other times ?? well i think you know where that stuff ended up
be warned tho,you can never recreate a fabulous potluck juice

for your situation i'd start with 10mls of each,not the entire bottle

 

[smacuser]

I agree with putting them on the shelf for a while. They could become great bases.

 

[Letitia]

Well for one thing I would not do 200ml testers. Did you do any single flavor testers to get familiar with your flavors? I would recommend you keep it simple for awhile, stick to to 2-4 flavor recipes.

 

[Frenchfry1942]

Yeah, 200ml "testers" is not the way to go. I use 5ml testers. 100 to the bag. I don't feel bad when I toss.

 

[Violetti Usva]

200ml testers is what happens when someone overconfident starts to DIY...i.e. myself. I didn't really believe in steeping at first either and I just wanted large amounts of juice I could forget about. I honestly couldn't tell you the recipes of any bottle at this point as it basically went 1)Vanilla 2)Hazelnut 3)Strawberry and then on a strange mission of diluting, tinkering, accidentally ruining and attempting to salvage by repeating those, using the 8 large bottles I had available.


The suggestion of using the bottles for making bases is great - I've read about a couple recipes for "stones" that you just dilute with VG and maybe nicotine shortly before use. If anyone has any experience on those and knows whether to steep bases/stones with or without nicotine that would be great

 

[Letitia]

I do 15ml testers so I have enough to check for long term fade.

 

[Letitia]

200ml testers is what happens when someone overconfident starts to DIY...i.e. myself. I didn't really believe in steeping at first either and I just wanted large amounts of juice I could forget about. I honestly couldn't tell you the recipes of any bottle at this point as it basically went 1)Vanilla 2)Hazelnut 3)Strawberry and then on a strange mission of diluting, tinkering, accidentally ruining and attempting to salvage by repeating those, using the 8 large bottles I had available.


The suggestion of using the bottles for making bases is great - I've read about a couple recipes for "stones" that you just dilute with VG and maybe nicotine shortly before use. If anyone has any experience on those and knows whether to steep bases/stones with or without nicotine that would be great

Stones are basically one shots, you don't add nic and they usually need the average steep time. Premix flavor bases have the nic & vg added, good for custards, creams, cheesecakes, etc that need a longer steep. You just pull off a few mls and add the fruits as needed.

 

[DeloresRose]

I recommend not making a decision atm as to what to do with all of these mixes. If you have any idea at all how much of what any of them have in it, I’d start with that one. Pour off a few 5-10ml maybe. Do something different to all of these and note exactly what you do to each as you do it each step of the way. (flavor, brand, amount, steep time, etc) If needed, try this a few times until you A) You find it! B) You’ve learned all you can learn and call it or C) You don’t want to sink anymore product into these you feel may never be anything worth vaping. Even a wrong turn can help you learn your way around! Put away these other mixes to decide what to do with them after you have a bit better handle. I’ve heard of very few mixers having success from the get go. You’re not alone & it does get easier

Agree 100%.


Take a few mls of one of those, test it, add one thing at a time, wait and see how it changes. Take notes. You can always ask here for fix suggestions, but you’ll need some idea of what’s in it, and what it’s lacking so we know how to advise.

I’ve been mixing about 4.5 years. I always test a new flavor solo. Always.

I test recipes at 10 mls. I take notes, start with half as much flavor as I think it needs, and allow time for steeping. Test them frequently, adjust as needed.

I have several good recipes ( well, good to me) and all the info is written down so they can be replicated. Not just the flavors, but the brands, the base.

There’s no point in slap dash mixing where you likely won’t end up with something vape-able, and if you did, you could not repeat it.

There’s a lot of trial and error, and some waste in diy. But I try to keep it to a minimum.

 

[NatashaTMT]

Did you do any single flavor testers to get familiar with your flavors?

I’ve been mixing about 4.5 years. I always test a new flavor solo. Always.

Single flavor testing (SFT), I think it was @stols001 who said this when I first started mixing a few months ago... "You’ll either do them now or later.” It’s one of those unsurpassable things we have to do as a mixer to understand the profiles. Without doing SFT, it’s comparable to baking a cake or something without knowing if your ingredients will work well together, have the right or wrong flavor balance or completely fall apart and be undesirable. If you’d like some direction on doing SFT, I don’t mind. Either ask here or PM me. I’m a firm believer that we get out what we put in, in all things. A bit of passion can make all the difference!
So I know you said it’s impossible to figure out exactly whats in your mixes but I’m willing to help you try. I know your beginning volume was 200mls for each bottle. If you know how much flavoring (and brands) you initially started with, how much dilutant was added and how much more flavor was added... Let me know and I’ll have some answers. If you really have no idea, don’t worry about it! And try some of the suggestions in the replies. If you no longer feel you want to try to save any atm, I’d put them away for now. Then start with smaller volume testing, learning as much as possible. I also remember (when new) @stols001 saying she almost always saved her undesirable mixes by playing with them. So it can be done.
I’ve probably rambled enough while sipping coffee and getting woke up late (for me.) I hope at least something I’ve said might help you with some aspect

 

[DeloresRose]

Exactly.

If you don’t know the ingredients, just say what it tastes like and what direction you want to go.

If it tastes like caramel and swamp water, and you’d like it to be more caramel and less swampy, we can toss around ideas to mute the undesirable flavor and boost the good one. Sound good?

There are only a few flavors I have never been able to fix, like anything with nutmeg. Most stuff can be muted, boosted, or covered lol.

 

[Violetti Usva]

I wish I hadn't got so cocky - I had definitely got well ahead of myself! I do have a number of 10-30ml bottles for single-flavour-tests (SFTs) - I only fill them by 5-10ml though so I have space to shake - and wish I had done so much, much sooner. I'd love to invest in getting a huge test tube rack/set up for testing everything far more carefully. I do think I've learned a fair bit from the trial and error I have been using to try fix the earlier mistake of doing far too large a batch.

 

[NatashaTMT]

I wish I hadn't got so cocky - I had definitely got well ahead of myself! I do have a number of 10-30ml bottles for single-flavour-tests (SFTs) - I only fill them by 5-10ml though so I have space to shake - and wish I had done so much, much sooner. I'd love to invest in getting a huge test tube rack/set up for testing everything far more carefully. I do think I've learned a fair bit from the trial and error I have been using to try fix the earlier mistake of doing far too large a batch.

Don’t think your alone! I was quite cocky in intricately writing and mixing a larger bottle of cheesecake base fairly new to mixing. I don’t know how it came out as well as it did, but it was a great base (for a newb)... only I used LorAnn’s hazelnut oil in it without knowing better Yeah, that was definitely a learning experience

 

[DeloresRose]

Hey, we all make mistakes. I still do. I still get cocky and mix up 120 mls of my favorites, only to decide I need that recipe in a lower nic, different pg/vg, or whatever lol. I still have WAY more juice made up than I need because of that. Every time I meet a vaper, I ask You need any juice? Lol

Oh well, it keeps me out of worse trouble.

 

[stols001]

There's no "wrong" way to approach DIY, although I personally found it useful to get to know my flavors. But, equally starting with one shots can be great, or even trying to follow a recipe.

I do think most successful DIY folks do a few things: do a lot of background reading of recipes, flavor descriptions, and tasting storebought to get a sense of what they will and will not like. Keep notes. Be willing to steep. Mix in small volume to start (whatever you wind up mixing). Keep notes. Try to fix failed mixes (you can learn so much that way). Be creative! I don't test EVERY last flavor I buy (once getting a sense of a flavor maker and percentages, can make things easier) but I do mix a single flavor if it's completely new to my palate, or a new manufacturer and etc.

Most of my failed mixes can be rehabilitated, or used somehow. I made a blue rasberry that was pretty balanced, but just way too strong. I diluted it a bit and it COMBINES really well with another flavor I have that is mango/apricot but kind of subtle and I use it with the blue rasberry at a 1:2 ratio (with the mango flavor) and it's a better combination than either single flavor on its own, for example. That is the beauty of DIY, kind of endless variation.

Really great diy makers wind up getting a sense of what "goes" together (for them) and I feel like I'm pretty near that point, but I've been DIY for a while. I'll probably do some mixing tomorrow, to include some smaller testers of new flavors I haven't tried, etc.

Best of luck. Above all, keep notes. LOL. It will stand you in good stead, however you decide to begin.

Anna

 

[Violetti Usva]

I agree so much with everything you said Anna, except for not testing each flavour in isolation first.
In addition to making massive failures the I have had small drops of unexpectedly potent flavour destroy batches instantly. The worst culprits were dragonfruit or maybe peppermint.

The peppermint was fine but I hated menthol anything so I don't know why I added it to a chocolate recipe that was nearly okay...

The dragonfruit on the other hand spilled out - maybe 5ml into a 200ml batch - the taste reminded me of petrol and took months of steeping/diluting/tinkering/diluting/steeping/etc to become bearable, I finished the last of the tropical/cheesecake thing that it turned into a few weeks ago, it must have begun nearly a year ago but by the end it was a serendipitous masterpiece that will never be created again!