Sweet flavors - Are my tastebuds broken?

[Trollkin]

Hi all - This is my first post, so be gentle. I've been vaping "recreationally" for almost 3 years, but didn't get serious about it until I decided to quit smoking
in December. I am now at a point where throat hit and tobacco flavor aren't terribly important to me. In fact, I've been searching for good 'dessert' flavors.
And therein lies my problem: I recently discovered cinnamon, and found that it actually tastes sweet on the tongue. Absolutely loved it. And immediately
went on a juice binge, trying out several 'sweet' flavors - not *one* struck me as sweet, at all.
So far, I've tried (most of these I have tried both from Dekang and from a local juice outfit) Vanilla, Cotton Candy, Coconut, Watermelon, Cherry, Mango,
Green Apple and RY4. I am told that all of these flavors are generally considered sweet, but I don't taste a thing. They (generally) SMELL sweet, but taste?
Not so much. I have gone so far as to buy Ethyl Maltol crystals, and TFA's sweetener*, and had absolutely no luck.
*Disclaimer: I have nothing but good things to say about TPA/TFA - they are a pleasure to work with, and their sweetener is crazy sweet - but I can't taste it
when I vape it, unless I use about 30% sweetener in my juice - and then, after several power-hits, I might get a fleeting sweet taste on my lips. And that's
it.
So - Any thoughts? Have any of you had a similar experience? Are my tastebuds hopelessly defective? Is there something I'm missing?

 

[OneDayIllQuit]

This is a fascinating topic! Taste is, of course, subjective so what you call sweet I might not. Also, smell plays a big part in what we describe as 'taste'. That's why kids are told to hold their noses when taking medicine and wine experts sniff the boquet. When you vape do you exhale though your nose? I'm very new to vaping but find that if I exhale through the nose it intensifies the taste of the vapour.
I could go on and on, but I don't think your taste buds are broken

 

[Beans]

Wow, that's a lot of sweetener. my first thought is....Are you getting sick, a cold or are allergies starting to wake up. it is that time of year. The only time I haven't been able to taste my sweetener is when I was sick and DIYing. The result, when my taste buds finally woke up I had very sweet lung goo coming up for a week. Not fun. I'd be hesitant about vaping super high sweetener %.

BTW, welcome to the forum neighbor.

 

[Trollkin]

Thanks for the responses - Good food for thought. I wondered about the smell vs. taste thing myself, although I will confirm that the sweet flavors do, without exception, smell wonderful to me - which is probably a big factor in my disappointment with their taste(s?). Also, now that you mention it, I often inhale, then 'second-inhale' through the nose - unless I'm smoking a cinnamon juice, because when I try that trick with cinnamon, it feels like I just singed my nose-hairs. Nice visual, huh?

Moving right along...the allergy thought is a distinct possibility - We *have* had a freakishly wimpy winter, so maybe my sinuses are just .......

But no worries about the oversweetened juice - I was just experimenting, on a flavor that I really hated (Cotton Candy) - and now my wife thinks it's so sweet that it's cloying, and I think it still tastes like asphalt. So it will probably sit on a shelf until I break down and toss it.

Oh - and thanks for the welcome - from Spokane, no less - GO CHIEFS!

 

[dlsw]

Hi and welcome! Everyone tastes things differently, especially when inhaling. BTW, I do the double inhale sometimes, too.

 

[Benzin]

Welcome!
I found that to fully "taste" the liquid im vaping, its good to first take a small short puff, and let that smoke go from my mouth to my nose, as i take the "real" long puff. That way you get both flavor and smell at the same time.
Give it a try!

 

[harleydiva]

Yeah.....I do that too. The short hit, then the longer one.....

 

[Bradder]

Welcome to the forums and thanks for sharing about the sweet lung phlegm . I am curious, though, about the "second inhale." Is that what we (used to ?) call French smoking? Maybe I am showing my age.

 

[Benzin]

Welcome to the forums and thanks for sharing about the sweet lung phlegm . I am curious, though, about the "second inhale." Is that what we (used to ?) call French smoking? Maybe I am showing my age.

As far as i know, French smoking is when you pass the smoke in your mouth to your nose, but externaly (you let the smoke come out your mouth as you inhale thru your nose). The way i sugested implies passing the smoke from mouth to nose too, but "internally" thru your throat/nasal conduits.

 

[Bradder]

Thanks for clarifying that -- I was confused (that shows my age ).

 

[Benzin]

Heres another cool trick for when youre out having a beer with your friends, its a little OT here, but i figure id share it with you guys at it is my favorite thing to do while vaping & having a drink...

Things you need
1.- A beer, in a half full glass
2.- Your PV with your favorite juice (tobbaco flavors recomended)

What to do
1.- Take a slow, long and deep puff at your PV, hold that smoke in.
2.- Immediately, grab your glass of beer, and start drinking slowly, as you exhale the smoke thru your nose into the glass, and try to inhale that smoke again (its just like youre breathing normally into the glass).

Somehow the flavors & smells of the beer and the juice combine in your mouth & nose, producing a most outstanding flavor (well outstanding for me anyway hehe).

I sugest you only try this with tobacco flavored juices. A friend of mine did it with a "capuccino" flavor juice, and from his expression, i could tell that capuccino & beer dont mix well xD

 

[shmeer]

As already stated, I'm finding vaping technique greatly effects flavor and the overall vaping experience. Sorry if I'm repeating anything already said but a few little tricks that make a big difference in flavor for are:
-Small primer puff through the nose
-inhaling, and exhaling slowly through the nose
-Taking deep drags while making sure to release the button 1-2 seconds to "clear the chamber" apposed to inhaling and only releasing the button on the inhale.

 

[CountSmackula]

Could just be your taste buds coming back online. It took about 2 weeks before my sense of taste got straightened out. I was afraid that I'd lose my desire for REALLY spicy foods, but thankfully that hasn't happened.

 

[nansc]

The juices have to steep for awhile.Plus your tastebud are maybe still dull from smoking?Patience grasshopper.

 

[whaltair]

i am having this experience as well. Lately I cant get into too sweet of flavors, they are lost on me. I am actually really enjoying pure VG blends right nows.

 

[NaturesEncore]

Are you letting your juices steep? I have found, especially with sweet flavors, that letting them steep for a week or two helps the flavors and sweetness meld together. Since I started DIYing, I've also found that two drops max of sweetner is sufficient in 10mls, IF you let them steep. Also, TOO MUCH sweetner can destroy any flavor you have added it to (found that out the hard way).

I made some Strawberry Shortcake a couple of weeks ago, and it smelled wonderful. However, vaping it was just nasty after letting it sit for just a few hours. So up in the closet it went. I loaded up a low res carto tonight, and it's absolute HEAVEN to vape, and the smell has diminished to a dull hint.

I love the cinnamon, too, but have noticed that it spoils the taste of any sweet juice vaped afterwards. It's like drinking orange juice after brushing your teeth. 8-o

 

[Cloud Wizard]

I quested for tobacco flavors until I tasted real flavors. Now I don't order any tobacco, but have found a couple juices that have tons of flavor (vaping Backwoods Brew Malty Toffee 18mg right now - very good sweet flavor). My taste buds get "beat-up" so switching around works for me (e.g. when I don't taste sweet I drip something sour or coffee, then switch back to my tank with sweet). Another place that may have something you like is ECBlends. You can add double XL sweetener to any flavor (01 Create Your Own E-Liquid Wizard by ECBlend - ECBlend)

 

[LadyRev Vaper]

I'm having the same issue - smells great - not so much on the taste... occasionally I'll try something new and it'll be "good tasting" for the first couple of hours... then almost nothing... sigh!

And yes, I'm healthy-no cold, etc.

Sigh!

 

[Ratchet]

I'm finding that with TFA sweetener, I am adding a LOT of sweetener (30 drops per 20 ml!). Yes, I know, it's a lot - but I love sweets and will even add sweetener to most premixed juices to make them sweeter..... Am I doing damage to myself by using that much sweetener? I really don't know nor will anyone be able to tell me for sure since nobody knows the long-term effects of inhaled flavorings and sweeteners... I love strong, sweet fruit flavors and strong, sweet dessert flavors.....

 

[kookycole]

I have the same experience with cinnamon, it completely kills all other tastes for me. I love the cinnamon flavors, but it ruins the taste of anything else.