Not getting any flavor from my diy juice

[Ruben41771]

Hi guys and girls.
I need a little help and maybe some direction in my diy mixing or recipes.
Gear : voopoo drag 2 with Zeus X rta 45-50w.
Flavoring : All my flavors are from TFA, flavoring is very scares in SA, FTA have about 82 flavors, CAP only 4, FA only 10 and FW only 4 different flavors so i am very limited in options. Nic i do 9mg.
So my problem is i just don't get any flavor from my mixes. Did a smores recipe and it tasted like nothing, i had it steep for more than 3 weeks. Then thought let me try something easier so just went for a caramel and marshmallow ( 10% caramel 5% marshmallow 2% sweetener ), about 2 weeks steeping and no flavor. I go for a standard 70/30 mix but have also tried 60/40. I try for a 15% mix on the flavoring and about 1 or 2% sweetener. Am i not steeping long enough or are TFA crap, i thought with the plain caramel and marshmallow it wouldn't have to steep so long...
Pg, vg and nic is good no funny taste or colour.
I just want to taste my juice so i know i am going in the write direction, fiy this is my first time in diy.
Any help and advise will be much appreciated.

 

[MartinD]

I'm sure that 30(at least) of your flavors can be vaped(and taste good) standalone at 2-8% in your base.Also, I think that 9mg is too much for dtl.Unless you are vaping mtl 9mg on dtl device?Maybe is something wrong with your rta setup.Have you tried commercial eliquid on your atomizer?

 

[Ruben41771]

I'm sure that 30(at least) of your flavors can be vaped(and taste good) standalone at 2-8% in your base.Also, I think that 9mg is too much for dtl.Unless you are vaping mtl 9mg on dtl device?Maybe is something wrong with your rta setup.Have you tried commercial eliquid on your atomizer?

Yes smoking loaded smores and zonk cotton candy commercial juice now they taste perfect, 9mg is a little bit light for me i usually buy 12mg juice for dtl in my rta and use 30mg in my pod.
So you think i need to drop my flavor % to 8% ?

 

[AngeNZ]

Are you mixing by weight or using syringes? Helpful to know this, and what you use for the recipe. Just trying to see if there's an error with how you create the mix, and that it actually is at the percentages you want it to be.

Your flavour percentage sounds pretty good at 15%. Possibly up it to 18% to see if that makes a difference

 

[Ruben41771]

Are you mixing by weight or using syringes? Helpful to know this, and what you use for the recipe. Just trying to see if there's an error with how you create the mix, and that it actually is at the percentages you want it to be.

Your flavour percentage sounds pretty good at 15%. Possibly up it to 18% to see if that makes a difference

I use syringes so %.
Get my recipes from e-liquid recipes, loads of recipes there.
And i use this calculator :
E-Liquid Calculator - Best DIY Vape eJuice Calculator

 

[Vapedog]

Hi guys and girls.
I need a little help and maybe some direction in my diy mixing or recipes.
Gear : Voopoo Drag 2 with Zeus X Rta 45-50w.
Flavoring : All my flavors are from TFA, flavoring is very scares in SA, FTA have about 82 flavors, CAP only 4, FA only 10 and FW only 4 different flavors so i am very limited in options. Nic i do 9mg.
So my problem is i just don't get any flavor from my mixes. Did a smores recipe and it tasted like nothing, i had it steep for more than 3 weeks. Then thought let me try something easier so just went for a caramel and marshmallow ( 10% caramel 5% marshmallow 2% sweetener ), about 2 weeks steeping and no flavor. I go for a standard 70/30 mix but have also tried 60/40. I try for a 15% mix on the flavoring and about 1 or 2% sweetener. Am i not steeping long enough or are TFA crap, i thought with the plain caramel and marshmallow it wouldn't have to steep so long...
Pg, vg and nic is good no funny taste or colour.
I just want to taste my juice so i know i am going in the write direction, fiy this is my first time in diy.
Any help and advise will be much appreciated.

Hi, tell us what flavours are available by which manufacturers. And which actual flavours you have. I mix by syringe and some say oh no weigh it, but if thats so bad then people using syringes for exact medication doses would be in trouble wouldn't they! What flavours would you like to diy? Are you not able to order from overseas due to restrictions?

 

[Ruben41771]

Hi, tell us what flavours are available by which manufacturers. And which actual flavours you have. I mix by syringe and some say oh no weigh it, but if thats so bad then people using syringes for exact medication doses would be in trouble wouldn't they! What flavours would you like to diy? Are you not able to order from overseas due to restrictions?

Hi

No restrictions it's just here is a couple of flavors available this side so just works out cheaper in the end, i bought about 6 flavors to make my smores so i have them to play with for now, want to get some flavor out of what i have before purchasing more.

The flavors i am looking for is smores and cotton candy, will try fruits bit later if i get something right, but if i cant even get a plain caramel to taste like anything then i don't know.
TFA has 82 flavors here so going to be a small mission naming them all, is TFA good for flavor mixing ?

What i have now :
All from TFA
Graham cracker clear
Caramel original
Vanilla Swirl
Marshmallow
Sweetener
CAP = Double Chocolate v2

 

[Letitia]

Personally I think your flavor % is too high and you're getting muting. I'd drop the caramel down to 7 and marshmallow to 2 and add a couple drops sweetener per 10ml. Always start low just like with wattage.

 

[Ruben41771]

Personally I think your flavor % is too high and you're getting muting. I'd drop the caramel down to 7 and marshmallow to 2 and add a couple drops sweetener per 10ml. Always start low just like with wattage.

Cool will have a go at this, willing to try any thing at this point, thanks for the tip

 

[BrotherBob]

willing to try any thing at this point

Welcome and glad you joined.
There are way too many possible causes for lack of taste. Could let us know the answer to these questions:
1. Have you had anyone confirm lack of any taste with your mix(s) ?
2."Yes smoking loaded smores and zonk cotton candy commercial juice now they taste perfect" Does this mean you can taste all available commercial e liquid at the time of this posting?
In the mean time:
Could eliminate the "too much flavor" added to your mixes by just adding drops of flavor to plain PG/VG base in different strengthens without nic. Then try the same experiment with nic.
re:
Using Bill's 100DT Taste Test Method:
Using Bill's 100DT Taste Test Method | E-Cigarette Forum
Can't find Bill's Magic Vapor 100 DT for testing flavors Help

 

[Ruben41771]

Welcome and glad you joined.
There are way too many possible causes for lack of taste. Could let us know the answer to these questions:
1. Have you had anyone confirm lack of any taste with your mix(s) ?
2."Yes smoking loaded smores and zonk cotton candy commercial juice now they taste perfect" Does this mean you can taste all available commercial e liquid at the time of this posting?
In the mean time:
Could eliminate the "too much flavor" added to your mixes by just adding drops of flavor to plain PG/VG base in different strengthens without nic. Then try the same experiment with nic.
re:
Using Bill's 100DT Taste Test Method:
Using Bill's 100DT Taste Test Method | E-Cigarette Forum
Can't find Bill's Magic Vapor 100 DT for testing flavors Help

Hi

1. I am more or less the only person that vapes, my nephew also vapes but i see him maybe once in 3 months or so, so sry i don't have anybody that can confirm the taste for me.
2. Yes i also have fresh pressed honeycomb berry 12mg salts and the bazooka green apple sour straws 6mg, in my pod is vgod lush ice. All the commercial juice tastes perfect for me and on point, just listed smores and cotton candy as they are my favorite.
Going to make a batch with less flavoring like 8% and will also try adding vg or pg to my current juice and let it steep for a day or 2 and give it a try.

The thing that gets me is not that my juice don't turn out for what i aimed for, it's my juice has no flavor at all, but have 2 things i can look into now.

Is TFA a good brand to mix with ?

Will have a look at your links thanks

 

[BrotherBob]

Is TFA a good brand to mix with ?

Yes, one of the best.

Will have a look at your links thanks

Good luck

 

[DeloresRose]

Hi

No restrictions it's just here is a couple of flavors available this side so just works out cheaper in the end, i bought about 6 flavors to make my smores so i have them to play with for now, want to get some flavor out of what i have before purchasing more.

The flavors i am looking for is smores and cotton candy, will try fruits bit later if i get something right, but if i cant even get a plain caramel to taste like anything then i don't know.
TFA has 82 flavors here so going to be a small mission naming them all, is TFA good for flavor mixing ?

What i have now :
All from TFA
Graham cracker clear
Caramel original
Vanilla Swirl
Marshmallow
Sweetener
CAP = Double Chocolate v2

Marshmallow does nothing but mute imho. Try that caramel solo, or with a bit of the vanilla.

If you want a vanilla flavor, maybe up to as much as the caramel. To fake a marshmallow flavor/mouthfeel, maybe half as much plus a touch of sweetener.
I do use Marshmallow once in a rare while, but never more than 1%, and only if the other flavors could use a little softening.

 

[stols001]

Anything with ethyl maltol in it will sweeten, but also mute. The above info is correct. Prime offenders include marshmallow, merengue and cotton candy which is pretty much ALL EM. Seriously use at 0.5% or below. They can make things softer. They can also make things suck.

Nothing wrong with TFA it's just going to take some practice and adjustment.

I started with single flavors and steeping them and testing them and then mixing stuff in my tank. IMHO it is not the same as making a "mix" but it is a quick and dirty way to get a sense of what goes together, and what most emphatically does NOT.

Etc.

Anna

 

[Ruben41771]

Marshmallow does nothing but mute imho. Try that caramel solo, or with a bit of the vanilla.

If you want a vanilla flavor, maybe up to as much as the caramel. To fake a marshmallow flavor/mouthfeel, maybe half as much plus a touch of sweetener.
I do use Marshmallow once in a rare while, but never more than 1%, and only if the other flavors could use a little softening.

Thanks a lot for the marshmallow tip, didn't know it will mute the flavor, will try caramel only then . Only got marshmallow because the smores recipe called for it and thought it will add a bit of sweetness to the caramel but will take it out and just try a plain caramel.

Just a question, must i steep n week or 3 before i test it ? I do understand the longer i steep the "smoother" the flavor will be eventually, but can i maybe taste an hour after mixing and then get some taste to know it is working ? Don't want to steep for 2 weeks and then it turned out muted ..

 

[Ruben41771]

Anything with ethyl maltol in it will sweeten, but also mute. The above info is correct. Prime offenders include marshmallow, merengue and cotton candy which is pretty much ALL EM. Seriously use at 0.5% or below. They can make things softer. They can also make things suck.

Nothing wrong with TFA it's just going to take some practice and adjustment.

I started with single flavors and steeping them and testing them and then mixing stuff in my tank. IMHO it is not the same as making a "mix" but it is a quick and dirty way to get a sense of what goes together, and what most emphatically does NOT.

Etc.

Anna

Thanks for the info will look into this, seems diy mixing is not as easy as i hoped it would be.
Will try just one flavor and work from there.

 

[IDJoel]

Just a question, must i steep n week or 3 before i test it ? I do understand the longer i steep the "smoother" the flavor will be eventually, but can i maybe taste an hour after mixing and then get some taste to know it is working ? Don't want to steep for 2 weeks and then it turned out muted ..

There is absolutely no reason you can't vape a freshly made recipe. Just keep in mind; it isn't necessarily a finished product. My only caution: resist the urge to start making adjustments for at least a couple of weeks. If you can't resist the temptation, I would suggest mixing a second tester, with the changes you think need to be made, and let them age side by side. You may well find you like the original version better.

But, doing some test-vaping, as you allow a mixture to age, can often be quite informative. It will first, and foremost, let you know if aging is even required. Some mixes have little to no change... others, change rather dramatically.

It can also tell you when you like it best. I actually have a couple of recipes I prefer younger, rather than older. They taste their best, to me, for only the first couple of weeks. And then, either certain flavors fade (disappear), or other flavors begin to dominate too much, or they just plain change into something I don't like as much. If I hadn't done some early test vaping, I would have discarded recipes, I enjoy quite a bit.


And always remember the DIYer's axiom: "Steeping can make a good recipe better. But, it will never make a bad recipe good."

 

[Ruben41771]

There is absolutely no reason you can't vape a freshly made recipe. Just keep in mind; it isn't necessarily a finished product. My only caution: resist the urge to start making adjustments for at least a couple of weeks. If you can't resist the temptation, I would suggest mixing a second tester, with the changes you think need to be made, and let them age side by side. You may well find you like the original version better.

But, doing some test-vaping, as you allow a mixture to age, can often be quite informative. It will first, and foremost, let you know if aging is even required. Some mixes have little to no change... others, change rather dramatically.

It can also tell you when you like it best. I actually have a couple of recipes I prefer younger, rather than older. They taste their best, to me, for only the first couple of weeks. And then, either certain flavors fade (disappear), or other flavors begin to dominate too much, or they just plain change into something I don't like as much. If I hadn't done some early test vaping, I would have discarded recipes, I enjoy quite a bit.


And always remember the DIYer's axiom: "Steeping can make a good recipe better. But, it will never make a bad recipe good."

Thanks a lot for the info. Just want to make sure before i start steeping i taste something at least.
Trying a 10% flavor mix now down from 15% with no marshmallow to see if it helps.
Think i will also start looking at these shake and vape Concentration's

 

[DeloresRose]

Thanks a lot for the marshmallow tip, didn't know it will mute the flavor, will try caramel only then . Only got marshmallow because the smores recipe called for it and thought it will add a bit of sweetness to the caramel but will take it out and just try a plain caramel.

Just a question, must i steep n week or 3 before i test it ? I do understand the longer i steep the "smoother" the flavor will be eventually, but can i maybe taste an hour after mixing and then get some taste to know it is working ? Don't want to steep for 2 weeks and then it turned out muted ..

When I first started diy, I single flavor tested everything. And I tasted it in a dripper right away, then every couple days. It won’t hurt to try it early, but resist the temptation to fix it. I mean for at least a few weeks.

Some flavors take a long time but just when you’re about to write them off, they bloom.

Take notes on all this too.

It comes in handy when you want to put a vanilla with a fruit to know if the vanilla is going to take so long to steep that the fruit will have faded by then.

Ime caramel is fairly vapeable in a day or two, but really comes around at 2-3 weeks. And most of them are really pretty good alone.

 

[mcclintock]

If I haven't all but finished a mix by 3 weeks after mixing, it's not any good. I haven't seen any flavor that improves after a week, and even that long is rare. Unless that high a % takes longer...
Re:"Shake and Vape" the timer doesn't start until after the bubbles from the shake have risen out.

It was weird when I started DIY, at first it was more having unflavored to mix with the regulars via RDA, then some success and now almost too comfortable making the same stuff over and over. I'm not entirely sure how it happened. It also keeps leaning towards even lower flavor (often <1%) and yet I'm still enjoying one of my first recipes 9% main flavor 22% total -- MTL only though. In a Nautilus <9W and if I go the most open airhole the flavor dies. I find the hardware really changes the kind of juices that work and vice versa, I have some old faves for low power MTL vaping I'll still buy vs. my regular RDA vape is all about DIY and constant shifting flavors. Maybe you're not making anything for devices you actually use, of course along with doing it badly.

As far as getting more flavor, I like a tiny bit of tobacco flavor mixed with something else half of usual, it's like flavor multiplication.

P.S. caramel is weird. Best as an enhancer, very strong really esp. aftertaste and smell.