The Flavor Apprentice Flavoring Thread

[Bill's Magic Vapor]

A question for Bill....

I'm curious what benefits you see to using the reagent bottles you mentioned a few pages ago as the best way to store juice. I use various size boston round amber bottles with polycone caps that I get for around $1 each, plus about 20% shipping expense depending. The 4 oz reagent bottles you suggest are clear, and around $4 each (shipped free if you have Amazon prime like me, or whatever minimum Amazon needs now for free shipping etc). So they are relatively expensive bottles. The only benefit I see for us is maybe the slightly wider mouth for faster breathing. But if I wanted more open surface area for breathing I would breathe the liquid in a beaker and then put it in a cheap boston round. You always have good reasons for things so thought I'd ask.

In a related question, in usually 50ml, or 125ml boston round bottles, or 15ml plastic bottles, I usually leave my new mixes open overnight in a closed cabinet to breath. So usually 8-18 hours or so depending on when I mix and when I get around to to things in the morning. Never more than 24 hours. I started with a 2 hour breath but increased it for no particular reason other than more is probably better and can't hurt unless I went days and then oxidation might become an issue. So I'm just curious how long other people (not just Bill) breathe new juice and why.

ETA: one benefit I just thought of is that I use a 10ml syringe to load 15ml plastic bottles for dripping. A wider mouth jar would let me get the needle down inside, eliminating the need to do that delicate tilt dance I need to do with a narrow mouth boston round... i often use a 30ml syringe to measure my premixed unflavored base to my final juice mixes and those reagent bottles would probably take that size syringe too. So that might be nice for my standard unflavored base bottle but I would definitely want mabner for that one.

Sure. I like the reagent bottles for several reasons. First, they are wide mouthed enough to mix juice in (like a beaker). Second, they are wide mouthed and so they aerate better and faster than smaller mouthed bottles because of greater surface area. Third, well-made reagent bottles seal better than most other bottles. Finally, it's easier to stir the mix!

Now, I'm referring to larger batches of mixes. Just last night I made 300 mils of Jo's Peach Cobbler, and 500 mils of my Cinnamon Danish. I mixed, aerated, sealed and stored the juices in the single container. If I were to want to transfer them to another container, I would use either the reagent bottles of a beaker for the same reasons. Most of my juices will fully aerate in two hours or less. This is about three or four times faster than in a boston round bottle because of greater surface area. Now, I do move the stored juices to 30 mil plastic containers for daily use.

Bottom line: It's easier and more useful for me. No other containers to wash out, dry and put away. Efficient way to go, as far as I can tell. YMMV!

Actually, allowing our juices to breathe too much will have a dilution effect on the nicotine, and there is also a good chance of flavor loss. I typically use only 250 and 500 mil reagent bottles. Hope this helps! Good luck!

 

[chanelvaps]

How is everyone aerating?

 

[AndriaD]

I don't think I am. The strawberries & cream I vape most often doesn't seem to really need it; it's pretty much shake n vape, though it does seem to get a bit sweeter and stronger after it's been mixed and sitting there for about a week.

Andria

 

[dereko135]

Anyone have a good recipe using TFA Peanut Butter?

 

[Sgt.Rock]

The only air my mixes get is when I shake the heck out of them after mixing...I may do that several times after mixing but that's about it. Shaking them adds air to the mix evident by the bubbles...that's all I need or want in mine.

 

[Bill's Magic Vapor]

Aeration takes place after mixing and involves the removal of those air bubbles. Breathing is what happens after we seal the juice and open it from time to time after sealing. I seal my bottles after the bubbles are all gone, what I call aeration, and with the wide bottles or beakers, usually takes about 2 hours or less. It's a good idea to let those air bubbles dissipate before sealing to avoid oxidation of the juice. I am not a chemist, and have learned these terms from others and on YouTube videos, and use them accordingly. I think any differences may be semantics in our use of these terms. We may all be saying the same thing.

 

[Monotremata]

The only air my mixes get is when I shake the heck out of them after mixing...I may do that several times after mixing but that's about it. Shaking them adds air to the mix evident by the bubbles...that's all I need or want in mine.

Same here. I can only do a 60ml mix at a time as those are the size of my blue dropper bottles but as soon as theyre done being made, shake the crap out of it a few times, wait for the VG to slide back down the bottle into the mix, then drop some in a plastic 15ml dropper and GO!
So far none of Bills mixes Ive made required any aerating or steeping of any kind. I was in awe the first time I mixed up that Pink Starburst and it was just awesome 10 seconds after I had made the mix. Which reminds me, I think Im due to make another batch, only got enough left for a few more dripper fills in my Derringer hehehe..

 

[b.m.]

Anyone have a good recipe using TFA Peanut Butter?

There is a very good one posted farther back in this thread called peanut brittle it is
6% peanut butter
6% Ry4 double
1% sweetener
I have been using that as my adv since the member first posted it,only difference is I bumped the pb to 6.5% to bring it forward a bit more.I have several others as peanut butter is by far one of my favorite flavors,but I'm on my phone so I'll put some more on when I get back to my computer.

 

[AndriaD]

I now have firm data about my flavor-reduction experiment; as noted, I decreased all my flavoring by 5% in my ADV Strawberries & Cream, *except* the sweetener, which I left at its 2% level -- reinforcing that it was the ECX sweetener that caused such a funky taste -- but I do add about .3% of TFA Sour, which keeps a bit of "tang" or "bite" in the strawberry taste, without actually making it sour.

Anyway, the experiment is a huge success; what I'm vaping today, I mixed Saturday at the 5%-reduction, with the usual level of sweetener, and it's fantastic. So my next experiment will reduce those levels another 5%, which will bring the flavoring much closer to 25% than 30%.

Andria

 

[Bill's Magic Vapor]

To continue this discussion, I believe that there's a rather large distinction between mixing, blending and aerating, steeping, and breathing. Allowing our juices to blend over an hour or two while the bubbles in the mix dissipate is good practice, imho. Long term steeping of high flavor mixes is not required. Breathing from time to time is also good practices. Mixing is what we do at the time we make the juice, or what I call ATM (at the time of mix). But, I do whole heartedly believe that my juice benefits from time to blend and aerate before I seal the bottle. I do not shake my juices. Rather, I stir them. This is another important reason I recommend wide mouth reagent bottles and beakers for mixing. Stirring the mix does not introduce as much air into the juice as shaking. The extra air, particularly if the juice is not allowed to blend and aerate will cause unnecessary oxidation, which will affect the flavor, the color and the nicotine. Not trying to be picky here, but these methods have long been tried and true, and are well known, at least since I started vaping in 2009. YMMV.....and that's alright too!

 

[Papillon61]

Aeration takes place after mixing and involves the removal of those air bubbles.

Yep that is how long I aerate too. Generally around a couple of hours, sometimes even less.

 

[capthook]

Finally tried Ripe Strawberry. Previously only had the Strawberries & Cream.
The Ripe is very much more like... ripe strawberries - ha!
It's a fuller, sweeter (not candyish) more authentic flavor imo.
Mixed it up for Strawberry Ripe & Cream.
Prefer it now over the less authentic tasting S&C flavor.

Strawberry Ripe & Cream
Nicotine Strength 12.00 mg
PG Level 60.00%
VG Level 40.00%
Strawberry Ripe - TFA, 9.00%
Sweet Cream - CAP, 3.00%
Sweetner - TFA, 3.00%
Vanilla Swirl - TFA, 1.00%
Cotton Candy - TFA, 1.00%

 

[chanelvaps]

Oh Alright. Got nervous for a minute because I thought I missed the part somewhere that told of the aeration machine I was supposed to buy. Aerating means to add air right? So as long as I am shaking in a jar that has room for air I am doing it, I believe..right?
I shake shake shake with a jar with room for air and then cap off for 2-3 hours.
I am also learning how to extract tobacco these days so I found some stuff (amazing the timing) at a yard sale, mini mason jars and some beakers

 

[Bill's Magic Vapor]

Oh Alright. Got nervous for a minute because I thought I missed the part somewhere that told of the aeration machine I was supposed to buy. Aerating means to add air right? So as long as I am shaking in a jar that has room for air I am doing it, I believe..right?
I shake shake shake with a jar with room for air and then cap off for 2-3 hours.
I am also learning how to extract tobacco these days so I found some stuff (amazing the timing) at a yard sale, mini mason jars and some beakers

Try stirring the mixture, instead of shaking. Aeration in vaping terms means allowing the air bubbles in the mix to circulate the mixture which helps greatly with blending, and then to dissipate the air in the mixture. In other words, in vaping we want the air to circulate and leave/escape the mixture. Once the visible air bubbles are no longer present, it is appropriate to seal the mix, as it is now blended and aerated. Many folks will then unseal the mixture from time to time (say 24 hours) to allow the mixture to "breathe." I remember way back when a video that Rip Trippers did on this very subject. If this is still confusing, find the YouTube video by RT, and see if he can make sense of this to anyone interested. The actual definition of aerate/aeration, I just looked up:

verb (used with object), aerated, aerating.
1. to expose to the action or effect of air or to cause air to circulate through:
to aerate milk in order to remove odors.
2. to change or treat with air or a gas, especially with carbon dioxide.
3. Physiology. to expose (a medium or tissue) to air, as in the oxygenation of the blood in respiration.

Ok, we're definitely beating the dead horse now.
I'm moving on....may not come back!

 

[Bill's Magic Vapor]

Anyone have a good recipe using TFA Peanut Butter?

What kind of peanut butter mix are you looking for? Peanut butter and what?

I love peanut butter and use it all the time in several choco mixes, such as Peanut Butter Cup, Butterfinger, and Creamy Peanut Butter. What did you have in mind? I'm sure we can whip something up for you. Since peanut butter goes so well with chocolate, that's what I primarily use it for, but its a great flavor and relatively easy to work with. Here's a couple of finished recipes for you to review:


Butterfinger

Caramel - 8%
Peanut Butter - 6%
Cotton Candy - 2%
Double Chocolate - 1.5%
Milk Chocolate - 1.5%
Vanilla Swirl - 1%
Sweetener - 1%

Peanut Butter Cup

Dark double Chocolate - 2%
Milk Chocolate - 4%
Peanut Butter - 4%
Caramel - 4%
Sweet Cream - 2%
Vanilla Swirl - 2%
Sweetener - 2%

Peanut Butter Cookie

FA Cookie - 10%
Peanut Butter - 5%
Cotton Candy - 4%
Vanilla Swirl - 3%
Bavarian Cream - 2%

Peanut Butter Surprise

Peanut Butter - 8%
Caramel - 5%
Double Chocolate - 3%
Milk Chocolate - 3%
Marshmallow - 3%
Sweetener - 2%

Creamy Peanut Butter Crunch

Peanut Butter - 8%
Hazelnut Praline/Pecan - 4%
Cotton Candy - 4%
Bavarian Cream - 4%
Vanilla Custard - 4%
Graham Cracker - 3%
Sweetener - 2%

Hopefully, this will get you started. Best of luck in your DIY adventure!

 

[shreduhsoreus]

Well, my WL order came in today and I more than doubled my flavor supply. Gonna have to start skimming this thread again to find some good recipes.

So far today though I've made a blueberry waffle I've yet to taste(6% blueberry extra, 6% waffle) and my own blueberry cheesecake recipe that I'm very proud of...but tweaked it again a little. Oh, and a Cereal Killer clone recipe that I found.

 

[chanelvaps]

Try stirring the mixture, instead of shaking. Aeration in vaping terms means allowing the air bubbles in the mix to circulate the mixture which helps greatly with blending, and then to dissipate the air in the mixture. In other words, in vaping we want the air to circulate and leave/escape the mixture. Once the visible air bubbles are no longer present, it is appropriate to seal the mix, as it is now blended and aerated. Many folks will then unseal the mixture from time to time (say 24 hours) to allow the mixture to "breathe." I remember way back when a video that Rip Trippers did on this very subject. If this is still confusing, find the YouTube video by RT, and see if he can make sense of this to anyone interested. The actual definition of aerate/aeration, I just looked up:

verb (used with object), aerated, aerating.
1. to expose to the action or effect of air or to cause air to circulate through:
to aerate milk in order to remove odors.
2. to change or treat with air or a gas, especially with carbon dioxide.
3. Physiology. to expose (a medium or tissue) to air, as in the oxygenation of the blood in respiration.

Ok, we're definitely beating the dead horse now.
I'm moving on....may not come back!

what do you recommend stirring with Bill? I guess you probably have a glass stir rod? Can I use metal?

 

[chanelvaps]

Creamy Peanut Butter Crunch

Peanut Butter - 8%
Hazelnut Praline/Pecan - 4%
Cotton Candy - 4%
Bavarian Cream - 4%
Vanilla Custard - 4%
Graham Cracker - 3%
Sweetener - 2%

OH WOW this sounds like Heaven!

 

[Bill's Magic Vapor]

what do you recommend stirring with Bill? I guess you probably have a glass stir rod? Can I use metal?

Stir with what ever you have on hand. Yes I do have glass stir rods, etc. Good luck, my friend!

 

[Caro123]

I just mixed a little 10 ml of a custard I believe it was Capella vanilla custard v2 at 8 % and TPA Dulce de leche 2% I vaped it using a little rda called a plume veil clone it smells nice and has a little flavour but I would like the flavour to be quite a bit stronger will the flavour become stronger if I let it sit a week or can and should I double the flavour additives. I have been reading quite a bit about different folks suggesting reducing flavour percentages to barest minimums etc. I have only been vaping a couple of months but am enjoying trying to get a nice taste the dripper does make flavours stronger so I need to keep the nic lower for the dripper than for the nautilaus mini. I am not planning on selling any of this stuff but I have been toying with the idea of giving a talk to my church group and would like to have my facts somewhat straight. incidentally I went from pad for forty years to vaping very painlessly. Any thoughts are appreciated - Carolyn