Ratios for Recipes with Multiple Flavors

[jimbothigpen]

REPOST FROM NEW MEMBERS FORUM -- I tried this in the New Members Forum first -- but now my post count is high enough to put it where it belongs, and I'd like to see what the DIYers who frequent this sub-forum think.


I'm new to DIY juice mixing (and vaping in general), and I'm trying to formulate a couple of starter recipes to try out once my deliveries arrive. What I'm concerned about is how I'm going to calculate the ratios of flavorings that have different concentration recommendations. My question is probably easiest to communicate by using a couple examples.


FIRST EXAMPLE:


Here's a hypothetical recipe (leaving out nicotine and pg/vg ratios, as I'm only asking about flavor here) -- I'll call it "Coffee & Cigarettes". Flavor percentages listed are the percentage of the total flavor profile I'd like to achieve, not a percentage of the total volume of the juice. Also, this may or may not be a crappy recipe -- I'll figure that out on my own; I'm most interested in how to calculate appropriate volumes.


Flavor 1: Hangsen RY1 (50%)
Flavor 2: Mom & Pop's RYO (20%)
Flavor 3: TFA Espresso (20%)
Flavor 4: TFA Bourbon Vanilla (10%)


Now, my issue: what percentage of the total volume of finished juice should I be using for each flavor, if each has a different recommended percentage if it's the only ingredient? Here's what I'm getting at:


Hangsen's tobacco flavors are recommended at 5% of total volume, Mom & Pop's flavors all say 20% of total volume, and the TFAs -- I've seen varying estimates -- around 10% for those particular flavors. The formula I'd instinctively use would go like so:


Total Juice Volume x Recommended Percentage x Desired Percentage of Flavor Profile


So, in the case of a 10ml finished product:


Hangsen RY1 - 10 x .05 x .5 = .25ml
Mom & Pop's RYO - 10 x .2 x .2 = .4ml
TFA Espresso - 10 x .1 x .2 = .2ml
TFA Bourbon Vanilla - 10 x .1 x .1 = .1ml


SECOND EXAMPLE:


The values required as input to the flavor percentage fields in the ejuicemeup application are percentages of total volume. If I were making a juice with 1 flavor, whose recommended total value were 20%, I'd use 20% and go. If I were making a juice with 1 flavor, whose recommended total value were 5%, I'd use 5% and go. Suppose I'm searching for a flavor profile that's 50% bratwurst and 50% sauerkraut, but my bratwurst flavor recommends 20% when using it alone, and my sauerkraut flavor recommends 5% when using it alone -- my assumption would be to use 10% of total volume with brat and 2.5% of total volume with kraut; those 10% and 2.5% numbers would then be what I'd input in the ejuicemeup calculator to generate my volumes for a specific sized recipe.


Is this the right way to go about this, or am I thinking about this the wrong way?






Thanks!

 

[Aheadatime]

I wouldn't be doing "flavor bundles" (40% flavor A, 60% flavor B = 100% flavor) unless you're at the point where you have a recipe you absolutely love and want to keep a large amount of the flavoring on hand. Instead, I would be jotting ideas on a notepad and improv mixing until you get a good idea of what the final recipe will look like. In your specific example, I would try out

4% Hangsen RY1 4ml
4% RYO 4ml
.5% Espresso .5ml
1.5% Vanillin 1ml

I substituted out the Bourbon because trust me, it kills your coils hard and fast even at 1%. The espresso is very strong I've heard, so I've recommended a small % to start with. The two tobaccos can be adjusted depending on taste in future batches. Notice the recommendations stem from each individual flavor having particular aspects about them that need studying. This is why I advise getting a notepad and just jotting down ideas/suggestions and building off of that. 10% of this since it's a weak flavoring, and .5% of this super concentrate, and now I have a mix where they're both equally powerful in the end result, despite having vastly different %'s.

Once you've tinkered a bit and have a mix you know you love, you can mix your "flavor bundle" by doing some simple math. Lets say you decide on the recipe I posted above. This would equate to 10% flavoring total. 40% RY1, 40% RYO, 5% Espresso, and 15% Vanillin. Mix the flavorings alone in a 30ml bottle in the listed proportions, and simply add this final mix at 10% whenever you want a batch of this.

 

[dannyv45]

Post above is absolutly correct. Your going to confuse readers with flavor vs total volume.

Use exact flavor concentration measurements EG:

Per 30ml
base 70pg/25vg/18mg NIC
vanilla 2%
tobacco 7%
Sweetener 1%

Use an e-juice calculatorr such as the e-juice me up calculator.
http://ejuice.breaktru.com/

And read this
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...w-use-enter-info-ejuice-me-up-calculator.html

 

[jimbothigpen]

Thanks, guys. Will take your advice and make adjustments as I go. Coming at DIY juicing from a homebrewing perspective, where I can't go back and add more malt to a 15 gallon batch if I decide it needs an adjustment. Need to shift gears here and not over-prepare, I suppose.

 

[lasttango]

Jim, awesome mustache -

 

[Train2]

I highly recommend the eJuiceMeUp calculator linked above too.
I'm a new DIY-er, and that thing makes it EASY to "fiddle" with different percentages.
:
What it takes into account that really prevents a lot of math (and possible math errors) is the way the numbers are inter-related
(for example: add .5 ml of flavor, and you're altering the PG/VG/Nic levels, too).

 

[Leothwyn]

Personally, I don't have a problem with flavor bundles (or whatever you want to call them), as long as it's clear that it's not a final recipe that you're talking about.
Anyway, your math looks right. I do the same sort of thing all the time. I have most of my flavors mixed up alone at a percentage that works for me for each one, and I mix those in my tank to do experiments. If I mix (in my tank) 3 parts tobacco (originally mixed at 5%), 1 part espresso (at 3%), and 1 part vanilla (at 10%), then I have to do the same math that you show in your original post if I want to recreate that mix as official recipe.

 

[jimbothigpen]

I have to do the same math that you show in your original post if I want to recreate that mix as official recipe.

Glad to hear someone else gets OCD about the calculation. It's odd, 'cuz I consider myself a decent cook (and my family keeps telling me I am, but I suspect they just want someone to make dinner), but I rarely measure anything when I whip up a meal. However, my beer recipes -- and soon my juice recipes -- are all about the numbers.

 

[jimbothigpen]

Jim, awesome mustache -

Thanks... It always held the flavor of my cigarettes, but not so much the vapor.