New enthusiastic DIY'er confused...

[rvbarton]

Thanks Big Jim. I have been using a calculator, hence my calculations I've shown previously, but as mentioned before, I think I was getting millilitiers and percentages mixed, hence my many questions.

I do appreciate everyone's comments and suggestions. I'm sure you have answered all of this previously, but your support is greatly appreciated!

 

[dannyv45]

Okay... so if I'm making a 10ml bottle, and the flavor I'm using has a recommended usage of 20%, then 20% of 10ml is 2ml of flavoring? so I should use 2ml of flavor? that's what I've been doing I thought...

That is correct for 20% but as we pointed out that is to much flavor to start off with. Go back to my first post to see what I recommended and try that.

 

[rvbarton]

That is correct for 20% but as we pointed out that is to much flavor to start off with. Go back to my first post to see what I recommended and try that.

understood. thanks again.

I've ordered 25 10ml bottles to do that, each with minimal (5%) to maximam (20%), incrementally speaking. and I'll start with single flavors to wrap my head around this. we'll see what happens.

 

[Crunktanium]

20% as a total with various flavors is not so much of an issue as 20% of a single flavor. It all depends on which flavors and what you aim to achieve. There are mixes that stay under 5% and there are some that can go over 20% if balanced properly. However when you add to much flavor many of those flavors may contain alcohol which needs time to dissipate. When cooked the alcohol would naturally dissipate but you are not cooking ejuice.

 

[dannyv45]

20% as a total with various flavors is not so much of an issue as 20% of a single flavor. It all depends on which flavors and what you aim to achieve. There are mixes that stay under 5% and there are some that can go over 20% if balanced properly. However when you add to much flavor many of those flavors may contain alcohol which needs time to dissipate. When cooked the alcohol would naturally dissipate but you are not cooking ejuice.

The problem is that in his original mix he added 20% of a single flavor when he should have started at 4-5 percent. He was getting ML's mixed up with percentage so when it was suggested to add 2% he was adding 2ml's to a 10ml mix. This is what I pointed out to him.

 

[rvbarton]

Okay guys, so here we go.

First thing I've figured out is that the first juice out of the box that I've been trying is the one that is tasting like an old ladies perfume bottle. The Flavor West Bourbon isn't working for me.

So, taking the advice from the many wonderful contributors thus far, I've made 6 bottles of 3ml juice, single flavor each. I'm not using nicotine at this time, just PG/VG mix in the following ratio:
1 – PG: .9m. / VG 1.5ml / Waffle .5ml - tastes like fresh waffles. pretty tasty
2 – PG: .9m. / VG 1.5ml / Bavarian Cream - kind of weak. probably needs a bit more flavor, but I can taste a hint of sweetness
3 – PG: .9m. / VG 1.5ml / Peach Tobacco - very light flavor, but I can taste a hint of tobacco flavoring with a touch of sweetness.
4 – PG: .9m. / VG 1.5ml / Strawberry .5ml - kind of weak. probably needs a bit more flavor, but I can taste a hint of sweetness
5 – PG: .9m. / VG 1.5ml / Cheesecake .5ml - tasts semi sweet, will be a good base. doesn't suck.
6 – PG: .9m. / VG 1.5ml / Graham cracker - tastes pretty sweet, and kind of nutty. Pretty tasty!

so, now I think I'm going to let these steep overnight and try them again tomorrow. We'll see how that goes.

Next step is adding/subtracting flavor, and adding nicotine.

I'd also like to add that I'm vaping this on Brass Monkey RDA, on a Magneto mod, using organic cotton at .3 ohms. I'm not changing the cotton between each flavor test, but I'm trying to burn it off as I go.

Any other advice from the senior members here?

 

[williebb123]

good job , now tweek the single flavs till they are what you want then you can mix a couple together like 100% of your strawberry and add 25% of your cheesecake and go from there , in no time you will be getting down like jackie brown lol , heck i still have alot of single flav mixes i use on a regular basis , i find no need to get complicated with 4-6 flavs if it taste good then vape it

 

[rvbarton]

Just a quick update for everyone... Here is my review of the flavors I've purchased:
Flavor West flavors:
Strawberry - Yummy! Best at 10-12%
Black cherry - crap. Complete crap. tasts like flowery old lady perfume at 1% through 20%. Not sure what to do with it other than pour down drain.
Peach Tobacco - smooth and nice at around 11%. very subtle hint of peach, but nice.
Cheesecake - smooth and yummy. I use it around 6% with 8% strawberry.
Bavarian cream - haven't figured this one out yet, but it's very creamy and subtle at 5%
bourbon - complete crap again.
graham cracker - very real graham cracker taste. Use sparingly as it will overpower your mixes. I keep it at 1% - 2%
sweetener - haven't figured this one out yet either. but 1% seems to add a touch of sweetness

Hope this helps everyone!

 

[Skunk!]

I had quite a few problems when I first started mixing. One of the worst was whiskey. I tried making a Godfather flavored juice, with amaretto and whiskey, and used 1 ml each in a 10 ml batch. It was so bad, I have never used either of those flavors again. I like to use vanilla and Bavarian cream as a base with fruit flavored juices. Maybe try that with a tiny bit of the black cherry. It might take the edge off the black cherry, and sounds like a good combo. Different flavors have different strengths. Some you will only need a couple of drops, some tobaccos you will need 10%. There is a lot of great advice in this forum. I read a lot of the discussions and asked questions and got a lot of help here. Have fun with it and experiment. Good Luck

 

[rvbarton]

Thanks Skunk!

 

[williebb123]

seems like your making good headway , never tried the burbon but never wanted to either but i have tried most cherries , red, black, you name it and that is one flav that seems to elude me but im not ready to give up but then again not willing to go buy every cherry ever listed either , as far as sweetener i only use stevia some like EM but i never cared for it and others like sucralose but that scares the heck out of me there are plenty of threads on that so i wont open that can of worms , now the bavarian cream should be really good around 10% +or-2% depends on how strong you like it or as an accent to other flavs , good luck with your mixing theres plenty more new discoveries waiting for ya

 

[rvbarton]

okay, another question guys...

Just got my 2d order in, and these bottles are WAY smaller than the flavor west bottles. i.e. Cinnamon Roll Flavor Concentrate (LA)

Do I measure this in the same capacity as I do my flavor west? As these are concentrated, should I cut them down? Please advise...

 

[Heabob]

okay, another question guys...

Just got my 2d order in, and these bottles are WAY smaller than the flavor west bottles. i.e. Cinnamon Roll Flavor Concentrate (LA)

Do I measure this in the same capacity as I do my flavor west? As these are concentrated, should I cut them down? Please advise...

Most flavor brands require different percents, thinking, use less of LA vs. FW to start with.