Strawberry flavors taste like wood chips, maybe burning?

[professor_bill]

Hi guys, I just ordered from ECBlends for the first time and was pleasantly surprised with the blueberry flavor, so I was stoked to try some others.

Well, it turns out my Strawberry Malt (50/50) tastes like wood chips and a hint of burning wood, as does the Dragon's Tear flavor sample I received. I'm using a Cloupor mini and running at 8 watts and 0.52 ohm in my Aspire Atlantis tank. I tried the flavors in a Kanger Subtank Mini as well and they tasted the same. At first I thought it was just my atomizer dry-hitting, but I've let these saturate on both for a few minutes, after even dripping 2-3 drops right into the cotton like (the atomizer directions say to do).

Has anyone else encountered this? It's rather disheartening, especially since the flavors *smell* great in the bottle... until vaped. My coffee flavor (my own mix, granted) tastes pretty similar as well. I'm about to try the Lavender I ordered, but hopefully that doesn't taste bad.

Could the package have gotten too hot in the mail and the contents turned?

Or maybe it's a bad batch? This stinks

Edit: I should note that I've replaced the cotton/coil inserts to rule out dry-hitting. I thought the coils were just bunk, but it's doing this for tried-and-true coils as well.

 

[Angus T Rat]

Up your wattage, if you're really only running .52 ohms at 8w. I usually vape .5 ohms anywhere from 20-30w. Lots of flavors are dependent on power you just need to hunt around for the power that tastes best to you.

 

[professor_bill]

Maybe they were out of shelf time

Do you mean it may have been an older batch?

Up your wattage, if you're really only running .52 ohms at 8w. I usually vape .5 ohms anywhere from 20-30w. Lots of flavors are dependent on power you just need to hunt around for the power that tastes best to you.

I forgot to mention that I did push it up to 22 watts, but it didn't make the taste better, it actually made it taste a bit worse and more like burning.

 

[Angus T Rat]

How old is the coil? Maybe time for a fresh one. Or could be just bad juice.

 

[Angus T Rat]

Hold up. Looks like ECblends makes the for you fresh. They need to steep for a while. Leave the bottle open in a cool dark place for a while. What's a while? Don't know, could be a week could be a month just depends on the juice. One of my favs from mount baker vapor, blue drake, really needs to sit for a couple of weeks before its any good.

Steeping and Other Helpful Tips

 

[professor_bill]

Hold up. Looks like ECblends makes the for you fresh. They need to steep for a while. Leave the bottle open in a cool dark place for a while. What's a while? Don't know, could be a week could be a month just depends on the juice. One of my favs from mount baker vapor, blue drake, really needs to sit for a couple of weeks before its any good.

Steeping and Other Helpful Tips

I'm fairly certain the packaging (edit: on the Dragon's Tear sample) said it came pre-steeped, because some flavors need steeping. It also said that the ones that needed steeping would be marked.

But if it comes down to throwing it out or trying to steep it, it's worth steeping it. You said I should leave the cap off and in a cool dark place? I'd think the cap should be on, but I could be wrong!

Edit 2: Angus, I read the guide, and while informative, it gives the impression that the flavors should, at the very least, be palatable right away. The flavor I'm tasting doesn't come anywhere close to strawberry. It's just wood chips, or kinda like sitting downwind from a wood-burning fire. But it's clear that the cottons themselves aren't burning... so could it be that the e-liquid is burning?

 

[Robert Cromwell]

Remove the cap periodically for a few hours every few days and shake every day. Some juices need to age some are just junk with or without aging.

Tastes vary what may be good for someone else is pretty bad for you.
Blueberry is a flavor which needs little aging unless in a complex blend. The simpler the juice the less aging time required.

I have found that straight Banana flavor seems to benefit from aging. Strawberry is a bit of a difficult flavor and why most put in a bit of sweet cream to mute the slight raspy aspect of most strawberry flavorings.

 

[Angus T Rat]

Yep. Sometimes you just get a bad batch. steep for a while and if still tastes bad toss and move on

 

[professor_bill]

Btw, I used fresh coils and let them sit, then tried it, which kinda stinks, because now they have this awful flavor in them. Then I used a slightly-old one that I knew wouldn't be dry-firing, but still it tasted bad.

Yep. Sometimes you just get a bad batch. steep for a while and if still tastes bad toss and move on

I mean, I guess. Hopefully it's just a steeping issue, but it would be pretty lame to pay for a bad batch and then just "move on". That feels a bit like being ripped off...

I get that there are differences in taste, but I'd at least expect this to taste *somewhat* like strawberries. I mean, I like the Blueberry flavor, and while it's far from a perfect flavor, it still tastes like blueberries. I'm going to have a buddy of mine taste test it to see, though I expect there's something wrong with the liquid.

 

[Robert Cromwell]

That is part of the game with ejuice. Why it is good to try them out at tasting bars in vape shops.

 

[Rsunderl]

Hi professor_bill and welcome to the forum!

ECBlends, as any vendor, occassionally has a bad batch. Have you contacted them about it? Their customer service is pretty good.

Hope it helps and Happy Vaping!

 

[Keith Lim]

most proabably expired

 

[professor_bill]

Hi professor_bill and welcome to the forum!

ECBlends, as any vendor, occassionally has a bad batch. Have you contacted them about it? Their customer service is pretty good.

Hope it helps and Happy Vaping!

I figured I'd come on here and see what was up first, but you know, I think I will after all I've read here. Thanks

 

[Rsunderl]

You're welcome

 

[Topwater Elvis]

The cloupor mini doesn't down regulate / step down output below 3.5v ~ 3.6ish volts.
So using a .54Ω coil you are actually vaping at quite a bit higher wattage than the display screen shows.
3.6v / .54Ω = 24w 6.6a
3.5v / .54Ω = 22.6w 6.4a
Some flavorings can't take that high of a power without giving a burnt taste.

 

[professor_bill]

The cloupor mini doesn't down regulate / step down output below 3.5v ~ 3.6ish volts.
So using a .54Ω coil you are actually vaping at quite a bit higher wattage than the display screen shows.
3.6v / .54Ω = 24w 6.6a
3.5v / .54Ω = 22.6w 6.4a
Some flavorings can't take that high of a power without giving a burnt taste.

I think that's why I tend to enjoy the lowest wattage in general, which is .5 ohms, ~1.8v, and 7 watts

 

[hashtag]

Also the obvious answer that some flavors just suck. For every juice I like there are 10 I don't like. It may need to steep it may be a bad batch or may just be a flavor your taste buds don't like.

 

[Topwater Elvis]

I think that's why I tend to enjoy the lowest wattage in general, which is .5 ohms, ~1.8v, and 7 watts

The cloupor mini isn't able to out put less than 3.5v - 3.6ish volts, it simply can not down regulate / step down to the 1.87v required to provide 7w using a .5Ω coil.

No matter what your display shows you are vaping at a much higher wattage using the .5.
3.5v / .5 Ω =24.5w
3.6v / .5Ω = 25.92w

 

[EBates]

I personally hate ordering juice on-line. I see it as putting a blindfold on loading my gun and trying to hit a target. But I am an EC Blend customer and have been for over a year. Both of my primary ADV's come from them. And like all juice suppliers they do turn out some 'clinkers' but I will say that I have yet to get a 'bad batch'. I may not like the particular juice but the next order will be the same as the first. I have close to 500ml of their juice sitting in my fridge at this moment.

 

[Frenchfry1942]

When I get a new flavor and I feel it has "steeped" sufficiently long, I try it at different watt levels. I have a spreadsheet with notes of all sorts, too. I have tried 9 "plain" strawberry-flavored juices and I still can't find one that I like.

So far, Prime Vaping's Strawberry is a 8.8/10. Touch sweet though. Just me.