Recipes for Dummies

I always forget that.

 

Well, I finally did it! Ordered my stuff and mixed 3 30mls tonight.

The first was:
5% Strawberry Ripe (TFA)
5% Natural Kiwi (FW)
Initially pretty good. Could use a touch of some kind of sweetener. I ordered Cotton Candy for the next recipe, next bottle I'll add 1% and see how that rolls.) The Kiwi is spot on, but I think I might be part of that minority that can't taste Strawberry ripe I also found the kiwi a bit "drying" if that's a thing (?) after 6 ml.

I tried the "nannerberry" from earlier in the thread:
TFA Strawberry Ripe - 9%
TFA DX Banana Cream - 6%
TFA Cotton Candy - 2%
SOOOOOOOOOO good! Even as a shake and vape! Could be a little sweeter, but that could just be that my palate has been tainted by store bought juices.

Last was a mustard milk:
6% strawberry ripe
8% VBIC
all TFA
It tastes like vanilla, and cream... definitely needs steeping. Also definitely needs sweetening. I wish I could taste Strawberry. I might buy some sweet strawberry and try that though.

All in all, I'm already happy I made this move! Thank you all SO MUCH for your work here!

 

I hope your not on the list of people that cant taste SB. In general people that cant taste it cant taste any SB not just SB ripe. Cotton candy is EM and SB ripe is loaded with maltol to start with so when you combine the two they can cancel each other or mute as we call it. Nothing wrong with using a sweetener. You can also use something like pear in small percentages to sweeten your juice. INW cactus can help with the "dry". Just add small amounts like .25-.5% and it instantly seems wetter. Fa dragonfruit can do the same thing.
Try mixing a small bottle of just SB to see if you can taste it. If you happen to be on the list you can substitute another fruit in place of SB in a lot of these recipes.

 

DIY is fun, isn't it? It's nice to have success with it right off the bat, too. Also, the longer you do it, the more you'll be able to recognize flavorings that work well for your own tastes. How to "tweak" recipes that may be slightly "off" from what you'd want them to taste like...will also be something you'll learn by practicing.

I'm glad you're happy with my NannerBerry recipe above that you made. It's been "a keeper" for quite a few people on here so far and for several people I make it for locally.

As far as not tasting Strawberry Ripe ...could you taste it in my NannerBerry? If you could, but not in the other 2...maybe you just need to raise the % of it in the other 2 recipes. The Kiwi is quite strong, IMO, and the VBIC used @ 8% in the other would be, too. You might want to try Kiwi @ 4% + SR @ 7% in the first one, and SR @ 7% + VBIC @ 5-6% in the other. To me, VBIC also seems to get a little milder after it sits for 2-3 days in a mix. Maybe make some little 10mL batches at those % to see what you think.

By the way, TFA Cotton Candy isn't really a sweetener per se. It's more of a flavoring used to help make others a little milder, with an added slight touch of sweetness. If you want a true sweetener, get some TFA Sweetener, or Sugar Daddy Sweetener, or Capella Super Sweet...or similar other ones. I personally use the TFA Sweetener more often than others, which I also have. To me, it doesn't have a chemical-like taste to it and it's not as concentrated. Other people have their own preferred ones, too.

 

One of my favorites is Strawberry Jam Monster, so maybe it is a percentage issue like JCinFLA mentioned. All that other stuff you said is great info! Looks like my second order will be bigger than my first! lol Thank you!

I expected mixing to be "neat". Something to fiddle with here and there and bring my vape budget down. But it really is fun! Once I tasted those three mixes, I immediately came up with three more recipes to try... all I need is another addiction... lol

I am going to play with the percentages I think. I can taste strawberry in other liquids on the market, but I can not taste it in the Nannerberry (It tastes like banana laffy taffy, not a bad thing imo). I'm also going to get some TFA sweetener. I've read other places that sometimes it can bring out certain flavors that tend to blend in too well.

I'm also going to let these steep like you said. I can't expect everything to be perfect the first try and within the first hour, right? lol

 

Since you CAN taste Strawberry in eliquids sold by commercial makers...my guess is it's definitely a flavoring % difference, that's causing you to NOT taste it in the DIY you've tried so far. Commercially made eliquids are known for being high in total flavoring % used in them, because most people who buy them are still also smoking and/or are just recently coming off of smoking...and their taste buds are dulled.

One of the best known ECF members who used to make eliquids commercially is Bill's Magic Vapors. His DIY recipes that many of us have made, and still make...were all made with at least 17% total flavoring, up to as much as 30% total flavoring. When I first started making some of his recipes, I made them using his %, and they were great. About a year later, I started cutting his % in half when I made his recipes, and they were still just as great tasting, to me. The only thing that changed during that time...was it had been longer since I'd smoked.

So, I would bet that your taste buds are still at the point of needing a higher total flavoring % in your DIY...for them to be "tasty" to you right now, too. Maybe 6 months or more from now, you'll be able to lower them some.

ETA: Since you said you know you'll be ordering more flavorings...you might want to give OneStopDIYShop a try. Lots of us order from them, and they're having a 20% sale for their anniversary...for the whole month of September. The Chef's Flavours flavorings aren't included in the sale, but everything else on their site is. Just use the code ECF or JFK on your shopping cart page to receive the 20% off.

 

You will not find nicer people to order from. There CS is second to none. There succulent SB is pretty darn good, a little sweet but good.
On the recipe with SB and cotton candy maybe cut the CC or EM(same thing) to .5-1% and up the SB ripe to 8%. I think they may be muting because of the maltol

 

The SB Ripe is already @ 9% in my NannerBerry recipe he made. IMO, he probably just needs to raise all the % in every recipe he tries for awhile. I haven't seen anywhere how long he's been vaping, but...since he tastes the SB in commercial eliquids (most made at much higher % than DIY), it ought to work for him.

 

My bad, I was looking at the SB/kiwi percentage. Sorry

 

No problem.

I agree, it should be higher in the SB/Kiwi one and in the one with the VBIC.

 

Nannerberry???? Where have I heard that before? I thought that you had originally made this. Now I know I did not imagine it.......... seems your memory is as bad as mine.....LOL j/k.

 

I did! I posted my recipe for it back on page 2 of this thread, and in several other threads on ECF. That's why I told TONEmastaG, in my first post after his,..."I'm glad you're happy with my NannerBerry recipe above that you made."

I used to buy a NannerBerry from a fairly local vape shop when I first started vaping in Nov. 2013. Once I began DIY, the first thing I wanted to make was a clone of it, if I could. I wanted to stop paying a much higher price for it from the shop. It's not an exact clone though, because the neighbor that I also got hooked on the shops' NannerBerry...said he also liked mine better than the shop's!

 

I was just joking around with you. LOL..... And you do make a very excellent Nannerberry ejuice....

 

I don't want to hijack this thread, I want it to be as much help to others as it was me, but a quick follow up: I put blackberry Jam monster in my squonker after my trials and the flavor was REALLY muted. Almost couldn't taste the Blackberry. Turns out I made a bad set of coils to test with (first bad set in 3 years lol) With a single fused clapton at 50w, all these taste amazing. No sweetener needed. I don't know what I did wrong, but I did it REALLY wrong. I taste the strawberry in everything. Keep in mind, this also probably has to do with some steeping as well.

I've been vaping for about 5 years, so something didn't register that people who had been vaping for the same amount of time, often on the same liquids, would have such different experiences. Glad I figured it out! Just whipped up some Nannerberry, but used kiwi instead of strawberry. I'll post again after I finalize the tweaking.

 

Decided to post this here, in case others may want to try it, too, since it's so simple. I posted it in another thread, a week or so ago, but that thread's humongous and many probably don't wade through all the pages.

It's 2 versions of Bill's Magic Vapor's recipe for Root Beer Float. His original one is from several years ago. I just got around to making a version of it about a month ago, and I'm loving it. I made some revisions to suit my own tastes and to use just 1/2 of the original % of each flavoring. All are TFA, except the tiny amount of WS-23 in mine.

Root Beer Float (Bill's)
Root Beer Float - 10%
Vanilla Bean Ice Cream - 5%
Koolada - 1%
Sweetener - 4%

Root Beer Float (My version)
Root Beer Float - 5%
Vanilla Bean Ice Cream - 2.5%
WS-23 - 3 drops (in my original 30mL mix)
Sweetener - 2%

Because the RBF flavoring has Ethanol in it (which was harsh to me like ethyl alcohol is), I let it breathe for about 18 hours-2 days with the cap off after I gave it a really good shaking. It also gave the VBIC a little time to become creamier tasting, IMO. I like it so much that my next batch will be 100mL or 120mL size.

 

The Root Beer Float was very harsh on my throat too. I assumed it was because they were attempting to simulate carbonation.

Either way, I just reduced flavoring to 5% and voila!

I treat it as a one-shot flavoring. I don't think it needs anything else. It's become one of my favorites.

 

Does anyone have an idea which flavor should i use to make the taste of bourbon (without alcohol)? My seller has these two - Bourbon - Flavorah and TFA Kentucky Burbon. What would you recommend? Can I use it solo or mix it with another flavor, maybe some wood or something?

 

Aged Bourbon Cream (also known as simply ABC) is very popular on the Random DIY Mixing and More thread.

 

Both are pretty well likes. I fount the TFA KB hard to find a sweet spot with, it's heavy on the malt imo. Haven't tried FLV myself but have read up on it. @fran can probably tell you more, or @PJReid .

 

@MartinD - out of the two, FLV would probably be your best choice. JMHO