Testing flavors without the waste

[Notwell25]

I am not sure if this has already been said, or if it is just common sense for the typical "DIY juice mixer-upper", but I've had a revelation as how to mix flavors easier for testing without wasting a lot of liquids. The problem I was running into with making my own liquids was in keeping a target nic rating while wanting to add a "touch" more of a specific flavor or three. With the guide that came with my FlavorShack DIY kit for example, it would say "7 drops/parts nic, 1 drops/parts PG/VG, and 2 drops/parts flavor". If I wanted to add a 3rd or 4th flavor, I had to make 3 or 4 times the juice just to see if I even liked the result. Kind of a waste right? And if I wanted to tinker with the flavor even more, the original batch was pretty much wasted OR my nic count would end up getting skewed a bit. What finally donned on me and I am surprised I hadn't read about it before (though maybe I just didn't look hard enough), was to pre mix ONLY the flavoring before I added the rest of my ingredients. That way, I could still use only 2 drops/parts of MIXED flavoring to keep my testing in small quantities without much waste if I didn't care for the result.

Sorry if there is already a post on this somewhere... I just haven't seen it.

 

[JebGipson]

I'll have to keep that in mind! thanks!

 

[martha1014]

I know its very early in the morning and my brain has not woke up yet but I don't quite understand what you are saying. What do you mean just adding the flavoring before adding the rest of the mix. How would you get a taste without adding the rest of the ingredients.

 

[gr8dane]

What is very common, is to mix a 0 nic batch, using plain (cheap) VG/PG to get the flavoring right, and then mix a batch replacing part of the plain VG/PG with unflavored nic to get your desired nic level

 

[Scottes]

Measure 2ml PG into a 3ml bottle.

Drip out 4 drops.

Add 4 drops of flavoring to bring it back to 2ml again.

Shake well.

Drip 2 drops onto an almost-dry atomizer. Vape until the atomizer is almost dry again. Do not stop early - you need to be sure that you're vaping this flavor, not the previous one, and you need to get it dry again for the next round of vaping.

If you can taste some flavor, but not enough, add 1 drop of flavoring to the 3ml bottle, and 1 drop of PG. If you can't taste any flavor, add 2 drops of flavoring to the bottle.

Shake well, and vape 2 drops until the atomizer's almost dry again.

Repeat until you find the taste satisfying.

You now know how many drops of that flavor to add for every 2ml of e-juice. With minimal costs and waste. But at the cost of time.

 

[Luv2CUSmile]

Ditto to what Scottes said! LOL Best way and remember that PG_VG base has to be added to the flavor first because that is what you are "cutting" with to get the target strength ...

& don't get caught up vaping only base & flavor... Unless you are targetting to get 0 mg strength - & then congrats for getting off the nic too!

 

[desrtrat]

Great ideas!

 

[TWISTED VICTOR]

Thanks, Scottes. I don't waste anything, but alot of times I end up vaping something nasty because I added too much of this or that. This makes good sense and makes me feel alot more at ease about my inept mixing abilities.

 

[Scottes]

I have to add a couple things to possibly make your lives easier...


This process sucks.
It's time-consuming, and you can vape a lot of nearly-flavorless PG before you get anything out of it. So you might be able to jump-start a few ways:

Check out this thread: http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/diy-e-liquid/12259-loranns-strength-o-meter.html
Someone started listing how strong each LorAnn flavor was, from Very Weak to Insanely Strong. Near the end of the thread I compiled all the votes into a chart.

The opinions are still very subjective to you and your taste buds, so it's a guide, not law. But rather then starting with 4 drops of flavoring, you might want to start at 2 drops for any listed as Insanely Strong, and 10 or 12 drops for any listed as Very Weak.

Just remember to drip out the same number of drops of PG before adding the flavoring. The idea is to have exactly 2ml of fluid so that you know how many drops of flavoring are in every 2ml of e-juice. NOT how many drops to add to 2ml.


I do this while watching TV, and I keep some real juice nearby. I might spend 2 hours testing a flavor, but I do it casually. Just keep track of the number of drops of flavoring, and vape the real juice occasionally.


Scubabatdan recommends making a little sugar water, and adding flavoring to very small (1ml?) portions, and tossing that mixture into your mouth. It will give you an idea of how strong the flavoring is, and if it's any good.

Archer74 just posted http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/diy-e-liquid/46167-less-waste-diy.html
He suggests tasting the juice, mixed the way you'd smoke it.


Both ways are MUCH faster than my way. But they just give me a guideline, quickly. I still have to vape some to nail the correct strength accurately.

 

[NightShadow]

I know its very early in the morning and my brain has not woke up yet but I don't quite understand what you are saying. What do you mean just adding the flavoring before adding the rest of the mix. How would you get a taste without adding the rest of the ingredients.

I believe what the OP meant about adding flavors is that if you want to use 2,3,4 etc combined flavors in a mix, you could mix the flavors together first, then take drops of the mixed flavors and add to your pg/vg/nic. This is best described in the example below:

Totally made up recipe just for description purposes.

Mix the following
10 drops Chocolate
10 drops Cheesecake
10 drops Coffee
1 tiny menthol crystal for brightness

Now you have 30 drops of a mocha (hopefully) type flavor that you could use to mix very small test batches of nic juices withought having to make a larger batch of nic juice.

Ie at this point you could take 1 drop of the mix above, and 4 drops of flavorless nic or just pg or vg and have a flavor strength of 20 percent in the recipie. Ofcourse the ratios and number of drops are simply used as an example here and could be adjusted as desired. Ie if you wanted 10 percent flavoring, use 1 drop of the mixed flavors, and 9 drops of the base liquid.

The main point of this is for mixing very low quantity batches to test with while using combinations of flavors. It prevents you from having to mix several ml worth at a time just to test but at the potential cost of having a small batch of mixed flavors you dont like, You could simply mix less than the 10 drops above to begin with as well, like 1 or 2 drops each depending on the ratio of flavors you wanted to shoot for.

Actually if you did find yourself having a recipie that does call for a lot of flavors, and once you found the ratio's, you could just premix the flavors in a large batch, and then have it handy when you want to mix another smaller bottle of whatever strength juice you like. This may or may not be advantageous for all ofcourse, just a thought!


Scottes ideas above are great. The more methods we have to choose from, the better chances are that we find one that works well for each of us.

 

[Scottes]

Great stuff Nightshadow.

And this reminds me of some other tips when making multi-flavor ingredients. It sounds weird, but I have used it for many years when cooking and bartending.


When trying a new flavor, grab another flavor that you know. Open both bottles, hold them next to each other, one in each hand but rclose together, and slowly bring them towards your nose. Once you smell one, stop moving that hand. Once you smell the other, stop.

How close together are they? That will give you an idea of their comparitive strengths.


When combining 2 or 3 flavors - like chocolate and peanut butter to make Reese's Cups juice - it's going to be extremely rare to have multiple ingredients in identical amounts. Hold both bottles like above. Move your hands, and move each flavor closer or further to your noose, until the balance smells correct. Now you should have an idea of the ratio between both flavors.

That is, let's say that one flavor is right next to your nose, and the other is a foot away. But the balance is correct and the combination smells right. Then you might have an 8:1 ratio - 8 drops of the flavor close to your nose for every drop of the flavor that you held further away. If the flavors are both about the same distance from your nose, but not exactly, then you might have a 4:3 ratio.

It takes a bit of practice to get it right, but it's a tremendous time saving way of comparing flavors.


And yes, the above sounds weird, but try it.

And if i failed to explain myself well, please let me know.

 

[Notwell25]

Great stuff Nightshadow.

And this reminds me of some other tips when making multi-flavor ingredients. It sounds weird, but I have used it for many years when cooking and bartending.


When trying a new flavor, grab another flavor that you know. Open both bottles, hold them next to each other, one in each hand but rclose together, and slowly bring them towards your nose. Once you smell one, stop moving that hand. Once you smell the other, stop.

How close together are they? That will give you an idea of their comparitive strengths.


When combining 2 or 3 flavors - like chocolate and peanut butter to make Reese's Cups juice - it's going to be extremely rare to have multiple ingredients in identical amounts. Hold both bottles like above. Move your hands, and move each flavor closer or further to your noose, until the balance smells correct. Now you should have an idea of the ratio between both flavors.

That is, let's say that one flavor is right next to your nose, and the other is a foot away. But the balance is correct and the combination smells right. Then you might have an 8:1 ratio - 8 drops of the flavor close to your nose for every drop of the flavor that you held further away. If the flavors are both about the same distance from your nose, but not exactly, then you might have a 4:3 ratio.

It takes a bit of practice to get it right, but it's a tremendous time saving way of comparing flavors.


And yes, the above sounds weird, but try it.

And if i failed to explain myself well, please let me know.

This idea would be absolutely fantastic... if my smeller weren't all jacked up from so many years of smoking! When my senses come back in full (which they're on their way) I will difinately give this a shot!

 

[Notwell25]

I believe what the OP meant about adding flavors is that if you want to use 2,3,4 etc combined flavors in a mix, you could mix the flavors together first, then take drops of the mixed flavors and add to your pg/vg/nic. This is best described in the example below:

Totally made up recipe just for description purposes.

Mix the following
10 drops Chocolate
10 drops Cheesecake
10 drops Coffee
1 tiny menthol crystal for brightness

Now you have 30 drops of a mocha (hopefully) type flavor that you could use to mix very small test batches of nic juices withought having to make a larger batch of nic juice.

Ie at this point you could take 1 drop of the mix above, and 4 drops of flavorless nic or just pg or vg and have a flavor strength of 20 percent in the recipie. Ofcourse the ratios and number of drops are simply used as an example here and could be adjusted as desired. Ie if you wanted 10 percent flavoring, use 1 drop of the mixed flavors, and 9 drops of the base liquid.

The main point of this is for mixing very low quantity batches to test with while using combinations of flavors. It prevents you from having to mix several ml worth at a time just to test but at the potential cost of having a small batch of mixed flavors you dont like, You could simply mix less than the 10 drops above to begin with as well, like 1 or 2 drops each depending on the ratio of flavors you wanted to shoot for.

Actually if you did find yourself having a recipie that does call for a lot of flavors, and once you found the ratio's, you could just premix the flavors in a large batch, and then have it handy when you want to mix another smaller bottle of whatever strength juice you like. This may or may not be advantageous for all ofcourse, just a thought!


Scottes ideas above are great. The more methods we have to choose from, the better chances are that we find one that works well for each of us.

That is exactly what I was trying to say. Thank you for clarifying.

For my own personal use, I use the PG/VG instead of the nic for the initial tasting, and then once Ive found something I really like, I make a small batch with my nic level. From there, I still might have to change the flavorings up just a bit due to the fact that the higher the nic count, the more the flavor seems to weaken. The nic also effects the throat hit as well.

 

[impostor71]

This is a really good thread for those thinking about DIY mixing like myself.