OH MY!!!!! 30% spearmint????? You'll never have to worry about bad breath again!! I can't stand to go over 2%! And I like my CC about 7-8%!
Least you got a good attitude about it! Give it a couple of months and you will be a PRO!!
Not pleased with TFA
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OH MY!!!!! 30% spearmint????? You'll never have to worry about bad breath again!! I can't stand to go over 2%! And I like my CC about 7-8%!
Least you got a good attitude about it! Give it a couple of months and you will be a PRO!!
Reading through this thread...just thinking to myself... You need to read..then read some more...then read again. There are thyreads in here that are absolutely priceless and recipies to boot !!
The TFA recipies thread is great if you want some instant success. I have around 120 TFA flavors and very few are not to my liking. They are premier flavorings. I do use the best flavors from other companies as well, as you will find out about with many hours of reading through these forums, but TFA is my staple.
Go read through the TFA recipie thread and make a few of those so your confidence will come back strong, after a while, you will get the feel for it........dont give up...stick with it and it will come.
PS...Spearmint at 30% !!! AHHH !! 1% to 2% for me as well. Good to use in rootbeer at 1%....gives you that suds on top of the mug.....1% of spearmint will also change a milk chocolate or double chocolate into an Oreo cookie. These are some of the funny nuances of flavorings just to name a couple.
Dont feel bad..Gordon Ramsey couldnt do this in a day either withpout the help of other ECF members...
Good luck sir !!
The TFA recipies thread is great if you want some instant success. I have around 120 TFA flavors and very few are not to my liking. They are premier flavorings. I do use the best flavors from other companies as well, as you will find out about with many hours of reading through these forums, but TFA is my staple.
Go read through the TFA recipie thread and make a few of those so your confidence will come back strong, after a while, you will get the feel for it........dont give up...stick with it and it will come.
PS...Spearmint at 30% !!! AHHH !! 1% to 2% for me as well. Good to use in rootbeer at 1%....gives you that suds on top of the mug.....1% of spearmint will also change a milk chocolate or double chocolate into an Oreo cookie. These are some of the funny nuances of flavorings just to name a couple.
Dont feel bad..Gordon Ramsey couldnt do this in a day either withpout the help of other ECF members...
Good luck sir !!
Ok so how do you guys go about mixing and testing. I am meticulous now about keeping notes in E Juice Me Up. I edit the notes section every time I add a few more drops of flavor, but this waiting you have to do kills me. Are all flavors like that? Do you have to wait a week with all of them? I'd kinda like at least 1 or 2 flavor that I can just mix on the spot and have them to vape the same day. I can't believe these are sold so cheap in stores. Just a week ago I thought they were ridiculously expensive. lol What is your thoughts on properly infusing the flavor. Is this a must all the time? I know ppl say it is, but ppl also say to boil cotton as if there were some logical reason to do that which there is not.
I don't know. I am just very used to ppl around me being overly cautious about everything. You know like the "nicotine is dangerous" crowd. Of course it is, but so is cooking on a stove. You don't hear Martha Stewart warning ppl how terribly dangerous it is to heat oil in a pan do you? I think I just figured more is always better. lol Learned my lesson there. I just had no idea what I was doing. I'm wondering if on these stronger flavors if it might not be a better idea to go heavy VG since VG doesn't hold the flavor all that well. Now I'm reading that I shouldn't use distilled water in my mixes because the nicotine bonds with it and creates uneven nicotine levels. I wonder if mixing in a vacuum would hasten infusion.
Most of the fruits will be good to go right off. Spearmint should be ready pretty quick at low percentage. Tobacco flavors take a while to develop. While most of the flavors benefit from aging some, they should still be vapeable as soon as you mix them. If a flavor taste lousy from the get-go, it's probably not going to improve much (with some exceptions).
I want a flavor to taste good right after I mix it and for it to improve after aging. I suggest you just try some of the simple flavor ratios in the TFA link I posted earlier to get you started. You'll get better pretty quickly after that.
I want a flavor to taste good right after I mix it and for it to improve after aging. I suggest you just try some of the simple flavor ratios in the TFA link I posted earlier to get you started. You'll get better pretty quickly after that.
Don't use VG as a crutch. Learn to adjust the flavorings in your current desired mix or your just going to be fighting yourself for a long time.
Very few things work for on demand mix and vape. There are a few though.
Single Fruit flavors, in most instances can be Vaped same day. BlueBerry, Strawberry, Juicy peach and most other fruits.
Problem 1 - what % is your good vape? that number should be reduced for minimal time to change(meld)
Problem 2 - only mix enough to last a few days the weaker flavor will go flat faster.
Problem 3 - Baby sitting - you will need to keep the mix in hot(not boiling) water and shake repeatedly over an hour or more to push the blending process. then wait and let it cool to room temp - no Fridge cheating.
With a UltraSonic, you can do simple complex mixes like a fruit punch or pineapple/rum with about 4 hours run time and a day or 2 in storage.
Tobacco Flavors - if you want it now, 2 options - Start last month or go buy a bottle already steeped.
Before DIY I used Backwoods Brew Backo. I quickly learned to keep 1.5 bottles ahead of what I was using. It is best between 30-45 days steeped.
Single Fruit flavors, in most instances can be Vaped same day. BlueBerry, Strawberry, Juicy peach and most other fruits.
Problem 1 - what % is your good vape? that number should be reduced for minimal time to change(meld)
Problem 2 - only mix enough to last a few days the weaker flavor will go flat faster.
Problem 3 - Baby sitting - you will need to keep the mix in hot(not boiling) water and shake repeatedly over an hour or more to push the blending process. then wait and let it cool to room temp - no Fridge cheating.
With a UltraSonic, you can do simple complex mixes like a fruit punch or pineapple/rum with about 4 hours run time and a day or 2 in storage.
Tobacco Flavors - if you want it now, 2 options - Start last month or go buy a bottle already steeped.
Before DIY I used Backwoods Brew Backo. I quickly learned to keep 1.5 bottles ahead of what I was using. It is best between 30-45 days steeped.
Tobacco's are not for the impatient...I learned that the hard way lol
Well I've got 2 flavors working now, banana cream and blueberry. They need some refining, but they are tasty enough to vape on all day. I'm giving the CC some time to chill the F out. I'm on my way. I'm gonna be trying the spearmint again tomorrow. Mixing it anyway. I'm going to take the advice of many here and start at 1% or less then work my way up if need be. I'm a little fuzzy on how much sweetener I should be using. Just playin by ear now. I am looking for a spearmint gun taste. Very sweet. All my flavors are TFA btw.
Sweetener will kill flavors fast, add some Marshmallow for sweetener instead (like 1-2%).
For creamy-ness, add FA Fresh Cream, TFA Vanilla Swirl, etc, (2-4%).
Exactly what I was looking for just now, info about sweeteners. That's probably why my blueberry went flat. I added too much sweetener. I'm going to start mixing only one flavor in a mix until I get it tasting good then add to it. This business of hail Mary mixing is not working out so well.
@heabob, whats the difference between french vanilla & vanilla swirl from TFA? Ihave them on my wishlist as I need a good strong vanilla that doesn't taste 'fake'. Help?
as far as mixing and sample vaping i use just a plain old 510 atty that i debridged , so when changing flavs i put several drops of vg and blow it thru to remove previous juice , my sense of smell and taste is very acute and sometimes i get overwhelmed when mixing and just have to put it away for a day , i generally mix for a month for 2 people and make around 9-10 different recipes which is simple but when creating new stuff i like to have a clear mind and a good mood i have found when inventing new recipes my environment plays a big part , most people cant cook well if their ...... off makes sense
as far as artificial sweetners thats another controversial subject you will have to decide for yourself which to use sucralose or stevia for me i use stevia at 1/2%-1% per 30ml
Okay. You are almost where you need to be.
Waiting - Once you have a couple of mixes you like, make up enough of them to last 4 days to a week. Then, mix up some that you can let set for a week. Next week, break open that batch, and make more. The idea is to always have some waiting in the wings, steeping.
"Working flavors" - Try the TFA Vendor's Recipes document on the Google shared drive. There are plenty of recipes in there that will get you started. I haven't found any of them to be bad. I still mix a few of mine exactly as they are in the document. There are some that I have tweaked to my own liking.
I used TFA Black Cherry as the one that I could mix "spot on" while figuring out some other flavors that worked for me. I mix it at 6% with 3% distilled water. It tastes great right from the start. It will get a little stronger as it ages, so if give it at least 3 days before changing the percentage of flavoring in the mix. I used to make it at 8%, but after a couple of days, it would get stronger and turn into a cough drop. Yuck. At 6%, it doesn't do that for me. TFA Orange Cream at 6% with .5% to 1% TFA Vanilla Swirl makes a tasty Orange Creamsicle that is pretty good right away, and awesome after 4 days. Again, I use 3% distilled water in the mix. It seems to "pop" the flavors, and helps keep my sinuses from drying out.
Good luck!
Not sure how you can be Wrong if you try something and Don't Like it? If you Don't Like it, You Don't Like it.
But there is a say'n in the Restaurant when Someone Doesn't like a meal... "Was it the Cook? Or Was it the Ingredients?"
Not Sure how long you have been Doing DIY? Or how many Successful Recipes you have made? Or how many Attempts you have Made using those 5 TFA Flavors you have?
One thing you can Try is to buy those Exact Same Flavors in another Brand. Then Remake your Recipes using the New Flavors.
If you still Don't Like it, I would lean more Towards the Cook than to the Ingredients in this case.
If you need a non-fake vanilla I would suggest FA Vanilla Bourbon, FA Classic Vanilla, CAP French Vanilla v2 (custard notes removed).
TFA Vanilla Swirl, FA Vanilla Tahiti, CAP Vanilla Custard, FA Fresh Cream (not vanilla I know), but these are good too IMO.
DIY Flavorshack Holy Vanilla is supposed to be the best but I've never tried it yet...
TFA Vanilla Swirl is kinda like a Vanilla Custard with "custard notes removed".
You can also make your own Vanillin from crystals, but I've never really gave it much thought.
Blueberry Swirl
TFA Blueberry Wild 10%
TFA Vanilla Swirl 3%
TFA Sweet Cream 2%
I found the Blueberry Wild (as a single flavor) had kind of a bitter aftertaste.
The mixers help to give it a creamy sweetness.
Kind of a "fits all" basic recipe that can be used with just about any fruit.
Then you can add 1% CAP NY Cheesecake and be in heaven
TFA Blueberry Wild 10%
TFA Vanilla Swirl 3%
TFA Sweet Cream 2%
I found the Blueberry Wild (as a single flavor) had kind of a bitter aftertaste.
The mixers help to give it a creamy sweetness.
Kind of a "fits all" basic recipe that can be used with just about any fruit.
Then you can add 1% CAP NY Cheesecake and be in heaven
I have both Blueberry Wild and Blueberry Extra. I am not sure which one I was playing with, but at 5%, it tasted just like real blueberries right out of the field. When I mixed it at 8%, it tasted awful. The moral of the story, percentages matter.
If it tastes that bad, you have to ask yourself, "Would <insert flavoring company name here> really sell a flavor that tastes this bad?". Probably not. Try making 2 more batches. One 2% stronger, and one 2% weaker. One of the two should be better, and will help you figure it out.
One other point. I have ordered a flavor that tasted awful, and ran out of it trying to figure out the correct percentage. When I ordered it the second time, it tasted great at a percentage that I had already tried. I believe that these flavorings can be "damaged" by heat, cold, light, or age. If you get one that isn't close to what it should be, call the vendor. Most will replace a bad bottle / vial.
If it tastes that bad, you have to ask yourself, "Would <insert flavoring company name here> really sell a flavor that tastes this bad?". Probably not. Try making 2 more batches. One 2% stronger, and one 2% weaker. One of the two should be better, and will help you figure it out.
One other point. I have ordered a flavor that tasted awful, and ran out of it trying to figure out the correct percentage. When I ordered it the second time, it tasted great at a percentage that I had already tried. I believe that these flavorings can be "damaged" by heat, cold, light, or age. If you get one that isn't close to what it should be, call the vendor. Most will replace a bad bottle / vial.
Excellent reply. I am doing it that way now. I am very impatient, but I try not to let that affect my actual behavior too much. I will try some of those recipes. I distill my own water. I'd prefer to only drink that, but I misjudged pipe diameter so it only put out about 1 gallon a day safely, but that's more than enough for e juice mixin. What is your normal pg/vg ratio?
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