Need help before i give up on this DIY

[OldCoot]

I have PA Strawberry flavoring and Lorann's Natural Strawberry flavoring, i can't get this stuff to give me any flavor,,already been thru 6 ml of flavoring trying to get a simple
Strawberry mix, i'm using 50/50 base. Any help will be appreciated. also I haven't seen any recipes on the forum for Simple Single flavors of Fruit..
Thanks in advance for help.

 

[Nikhil]

What have you made so far? LorAnn's Strawberry should be tastable at 10-15%, but I'm not sure about PA's. If you can't taste anything at all, try putting a drop of the flavoring on your atomizer to test.

Neither of those are particularly great solo flavors, although decent in combination with others. Might want to try a good single flavor before giving up. Capella's might work for you.

 

[kushka]

You say you are an old coot - so am I - 47 years of smoking, drinking, and eating spicy food have killed my sense of taste. I kept buying e-juice, and except for some tobacco flavorings I did not like, I could not taste a thing.

I started buying flavorings and adding to bought juices to get some flavor and by the time I got enough flavor to taste, they were so watered down there was hardly any nic left. I started DIY about a month ago. I now buy flavorings and 60mg/ml nic juice. By the time I get enough flavor to taste I have 1/2 to 3/4th flavorings and ez-sweetz (a sweetener liquid that works with e-juice) and no added vg or pg.

Look on PA's web site, pick flavorings that she said are extra strong. Some I have had that work for me are granny smith apple, cinnamon red hots, and peach. I tried plum and watermelon and caramel candy and could not taste them even when at 2/3 rds of my mix being flavorings. English Toffee and bittersweet chocolate I have got some taste from also.

I can't hardly talk to most DIYers because they use 15% flavorings and thinks it is too much - but I can't even start to detect flavor before 50% - and since it has been months now since I quite smoking, I do not expect my taste to come back.

I have not tried much with Loranns flavorings, except when I was adding flavorings to bought e-juices - I plan to next when I run out of what I got - but will not buy from their natural line when I do since they say on there website that their natural flavorings are much weaker then there others. I did buy Flavorarts Pomegranate - 5ml, mixed it with 3ml 60mg/ml nic and could not taste a thing - but I have heard their tobacco flavors are strong. BTW - if you want sweetener buy ez-sweetz (or go to there website and they will send a free sample) - it is very concentrated. I bought sweetener from PA and from Tasty Vapor and both were so weak I could not taste it.

Hope this helps you -

 

[MaxUT]

Bookmarked for later reply.

 

[SimpleSins]

Even though I doubted it the first time they told me, it is true that there is a fine line where you have "heavy" flavor and push it just a little bit more, at which time the taste goes away. I, too, have the dead taste buds, and 18-20% seems to be the sweet spot for me as far as getting pretty intense flavorings. My first couple of batches I started at 25% and couldn't taste anything and kept adding more and more and still never got any flavor. There is a certain truism to 'less is more', and so when I finally accepted that a lot of the people in here had gone through the same dead taste buds and know what they're talking about, I was finally able to produce a juice that I could taste and enjoy.

 

[GoodDog]

I agree with Nikhil, for new DIYers I would also recommend Capella. Their flavors, pretty much across the board, take the same % and is fairly goof-proof. I also like flavoring strong - another "old coot" here - and often use 30% total flavoring. That's one reason I like DIY as all vendor juice is too weak for me.

 

[PoliticallyIncorrect]

As irony would have it, I've just mixed up a 3ml bottle of LorAnn's strawberry, 15%, PG & 48mg nic base. It's my second DIY creation. Haven't aged it, but it vapes well and has decent flavor. I don't think strawberry ever gets very strong; I've tried a few pre-mixed, and I suppose it's meant to be a subtle flavor.

 

[DaDuke]

I'm a strawberry lover... ok that sounded weird. Anyways, i'm aging 3 test tubes at 5, 10 & 20 percent of loranns but they dont smell very strong. So, what's the general consensus on who has the strongest most concentrated strawberry out there?

Ps- anyone else seeing weird symbols for the percent sign in posts?

 

[GoodDog]

I've tried the 5 main flavoring companies and the best strawberry I've tasted is FlavourArt's. Capella Strawberry Cream is a close second.

 

[MaxUT]

I would try Capella Vanilla Custard at 20% to start. You can go up to 50% and beyond with this flavor and it still tastes good... one member even vaped it straight when it first came out!

If you like tobacco flavors, try FlavourArt Virginia at 5% to start. You can go up to about 12% with this flavor if you want a stronger taste.

If nothing else works, try PA Cinnamon Red Hots at about 15% or higher. However, after you vape strong cinnamon for awhile, anything else will be pretty much tasteless.

Here's a good place to buy flavoring from different manufacturers:
Flavoring | ecigExpress

(sorry, they're out of Vanilla Custard at the moment)

 

[DaDuke]

Just ordered a bunch of capellas, FF and loranns. Took your advice gooddog and ordered the strawberry cream. Also the custard everyones raving about, cant wait to try that. Ordered the virgina from FA (along with others) but man it is taking forever to get here from italy. I think they strapped it on a sea turtle.

 

[Heatherport]

I have only tried one brand of juice, premixed, tus far, but this is what I am afriad of too....since I have noticedvery little differences in flavor from the 6 I have. I'm only on my 4th day smoke-free...but I did smoke for 30+ years and am nervous taste might be shot.

 

[MaxUT]

Most of the vapor's 'taste' comes through our sense of smell, and that usually begins to recover pretty quickly from the effects of smoking. Have you been able to smell the odor of cigarettes on people in public yet?

 

[cjf1961]

How long do you let you juices sit, sometimes it takes a few days to get the flavor to come through. Somewhere on here somebody made the suggestions to put it warm water for a bit or in the microwave for like 8-10 seconds, the warmth helps the flavors mesh together. Hope this helps

 

[kushka]

How long do you let you juices sit, sometimes it takes a few days to get the flavor to come through. Somewhere on here somebody made the suggestions to put it warm water for a bit or in the microwave for like 8-10 seconds, the warmth helps the flavors mesh together. Hope this helps

This is not a good idea unless you want 0 nic juice. Nicotine will keep a long time if it is kept tightly sealed in low light in temperatures below 86F. I will dissipate rapidly if exposed to the air and light or high temps. Nicotine itself is bitter, so, of course it will improve the taste if you get rid of the nicotine, but, just be aware that it is happening.

 

[Heatherport]

I HAVE noticed my sense of smell improving...actually sort of whammying (sp?) me because certain smells (like dog pee) can drive me around the bend right now!! I haven't dared gt that close to any smokers...I'm only on my 5th day here...still trying to keep it real, lol.

 

[Sainted_S]

I posted a review on Health Cabin recently about the flavorings. If you are looking for a good strawberry, definitely try the flavoring from HC. It is so good, just like fresh picked strawberries. I mixed up a batch with the milk egg from HC, ethyl maltol from PA and the strawberry from HC; tasted just like strawberry shortcake or strawberry pie. I just got my sis-in-law into vaping yesterday and she wanted a batch with only the HC strawberry flavoring. Compared to the Lorann's it wins hands down. HC really does have some good flavorings. I also agree on the cinnamon red hots from PA! Another flavor I can't seem to go wrong with is rootbeer.

 

[Hoosier]

This is not a good idea unless you want 0 nic juice. Nicotine will keep a long time if it is kept tightly sealed in low light in temperatures below 86F. I will dissipate rapidly if exposed to the air and light or high temps. Nicotine itself is bitter, so, of course it will improve the taste if you get rid of the nicotine, but, just be aware that it is happening.

I'd like to see this data you refer to. I cannot taste nicotine at 3%, nor have I been able to tell the difference, by taste alone of various strength mixes. I do notice a difference in TH, but not taste.

I also don't see how nicotine is reacting to temp. I can see heat being a catalyst, but that's the point of a hot water bath.

Please point me to the data.

 

[kushka]

I'd like to see this data you refer to. I cannot taste nicotine at 3%, nor have I been able to tell the difference, by taste alone of various strength mixes. I do notice a difference in TH, but not taste.

I also don't see how nicotine is reacting to temp. I can see heat being a catalyst, but that's the point of a hot water bath.

Please point me to the data.

My experience with liquid nic comes from the '70 when I did organic farming. Nicotine is one of the very few pesticides allowed in organic farming. The reason is that it dissipates quickly. You can spray you plants today and it will kill insects by the droves on contact. Tomorrow you can pick the plants and eat them and there will be no trace of nicotine left.

I kind of wish I didn't post what I did - since smoking 0 nic is better for you - I really should encourage people to destroy the nic in their juices.

Anyway since you asked are some quotes from googling "nicotine temperature":

Nicotine (PIM)

3.3 Physical properties
Molecular weight: 162.26

Nicotine is a liquid alkaloid. It is water soluble and
has a pKa of 8.5. It is a bitter-tasting liquid which is
strongly alkaline in reaction and forms salts with acids.
3.4 Other characteristics
Store at room temperature, below 86 F (30°C). Protect from
light and air.

Nicotine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

As shown by the physical data, free base nicotine will burn at a temperature below its boiling point, and its vapors will combust at 308 K (35 °C; 95 °F) in air despite a low vapor pressure.

http://members.medscape.com/druginf...(Polacrilex)+Bucl&monotype=monograph&secid=10

Nicotine is a pyridine alkaloid; the nicotine present in transdermal systems or oral inhaler or in the cation-exchange resin is a highly purified extract obtained from the dried leaves of the tobacco plant (Nicotiana tabacum [Fam. Solanaceae]). The drug occurs as a basic, colorless to pale yellow, very hygroscopic, oily, volatile liquid and has an unpleasant, pungent odor and a sharp, burning, persistent taste. Nicotine is soluble in water and in alcohol. The drug has a pKa1 of about 7.8–7.9 and a pKa2 of about 3 at 15°C.E

Commercially available transdermal systems of nicotine should be stored unopened (in their protective pouches) at a temperature less than 30°C because the systems (i.e., nicotine) are sensitive to heat. A nicotine transdermal system should be applied promptly after removal from its protective pouch because nicotine is volatile and may evaporate from the system. Slight discoloration of the systems does not appreciably affect their potency or efficacy.

Nicotine - LoveToKnow 1911

It has a sharp burning taste, and is very poisonous. It is very hygroscopic, dissolves readily in water, and rapidly undergoes oxidation on exposure to air. The free alkaloid is strongly laevo-rotatory. F. Ratz (Monats., 1905, 26, p. 1241) obtained the value [a] D = - 16 9.54° at 20°; its salts are dextro-rotatory. It behaves as a di-acid as well as a di-tertiary base.

e-liquid nicotine direct from China (Mainland), Shaanxi

Nicotine is Colorless to light yellow greasy liquid at room temperature It will escape with steam in alkaline solution,

Nicotine packaging materials - Patent 5077104

Nicotine (beta-pyridyl-alpha-N-methylpyrrolidine) is a colorless liquid alkaloid derived from tobacco or by synthetic manufacture. It is a strongly alkaline, hygroscopic liquid which decomposes upon exposure to air (oxygen) or light.

 

[Hoosier]

Ok, oxidation, yes, heat is a good catalyst for oxidation, but we have suspended nic in a sealed container.
So giving it a hot water bath is more like a few days sitting in a sealed bottle. I do not see that as significant oxidation threat.

PG will ...... some oxidation by its nature.

I did like that bit about the burn point. That is very interesting! Could be part of the puzzle on why nic levels don't always match up, intake to blood that is. There may be something more than the slow-release effect from the PG at work.

I still don't taste the bitterness that is noted throughout your sources. Maybe that part of the tongue is still not healed yet?

Thanks for the reply.