The Flavor Apprentice Flavoring Thread

[Bill's Magic Vapor]

Hi everyone! Just got my DIY kit from heartland vapes last week so I'm really new to this stuff! What I've found is that I really can't get any flavor out of my Peach or Mango TFA flavors.Tried a test batch (first batch ever) at 20%, 15% peach 5%mango and it tasted like plain VG! No decernable flavors at all! So I went for a full 30 ml 50/50 6mg batch with 30% flavor, 20% peach 10% mango. Heat steeped at about 135deg. for 2 hrs shaking every 15 mins.. let cool capped off and let set in dark box for 4 days opening, airing, and shaking every day. Still very little joy at all. My other three (blueberry, black cherry, & graham cheesecake) seem to have really good flavor with the black cherry being the strongest.
I love peach mango! The girl at the B&M I go to couldn't or wouldn't tell me anything about their recipe! HELP ME!

P.S. I bought some VZ concentrate flavors to see if they help.

Check out Jo's Juicy Peach in the dropbox. You'll learn that you have to add supporting flavorings like vanilla, cream and sweeteners to all your mixes to bring out the primary flavorings. Single flavorings will NOT WORK in DIY, 99% of the time! Read through this thread, check the blogs, follow other recipes, study their construction, and you'll be making great juice soon enough. The dropbox can be accessed in my signature below. Keep asking questions and good luck!

 

[deityvape]

just out of curiosity what is everyone's take on dx peanut butter, and dx vanilla cupcake. i really want to like them, but just cant seem to get to. butric acid replaces dikatones and to me is awful in tfa flavour concentrates.
What i dont understand is comparing them to fa with butric acid i find all the fa flavours to be good and true, and without the plasticy note i get on tfa dx versions.
Keen to see if anyone else feels the same, or if not how you tame them and get them in bed with you?

 

[Robert Cromwell]

just out of curiosity what is everyone's take on dx peanut butter, and dx vanilla cupcake. i really want to like them, but just cant seem to get to. butric acid replaces dikatones and to me is awful in tfa flavour concentrates.
What i dont understand is comparing them to fa with butric acid i find all the fa flavours to be good and true, and without the plasticy note i get on tfa dx versions.
Keen to see if anyone else feels the same, or if not how you tame them and get them in bed with you?

I have been afraid to try any of the DX flavorings....
I have so much trouble with most flavorings anyway.

 

[Simply Red]

Using a scale to make E-liquid for the scientifically impaired:

How to use an eJuice calculator and mix with a scale – DIY or DIE

Interesting vid! Think I'll stick to volume measuring, though. If I'm off 1 drop when measuring down to .01, no biggie. Plus, I know the individual volume measurements of each ingredient equals the volume I'm mixing. Call me old fashioned.

 

[Capt.shay]

I appreciate the mixing by weight thing. Especially in larger volumes, but I mix as low as .1 ml of some flavorings in a 30 ml batch.
Nothing against those who use weight but for the foreseeable future I will mix by volume. I will be moving up to 120 ml batches on my ADV types but for now it will be by volume.
Bottles on order, along with some unicorn bottles.

I feel like I'm getting in to a boxing match every time I mention weight based measuring and that's not what I'm trying to do here but I'm just going to throw this out there just so you and others realize. You say you measure down to one .1ml which for many flavors is .1g . With the scale we measure down to .01g (although, realistically a drop at ~.03g is as small as one can easily dispense). Therefore, the scale is much more accurate even at smaller weights.

I'm going to say this again just so in the future I'll be able to say I said it a hundred times. Some day we are going to look back and say "Remember when we used to use syringes to measure DIY!"

 

[Robert Cromwell]

I can say that at almost 62 yrs old I will likely not change. But anything is possible. If I ever get into mixing large batches I will likely use scales, but otherwise not probable.
But everyone is free to do as they like in DIY.

You do not need to feel like a boxing match just because others disagree with you on how THEY want to do something vs how YOU want to do things.
Relax and have a more harmonious life. Enjoy your way and let others enjoy theirs. As long as good tasting safe juice is the result all ways are correct.

 

[Bill's Magic Vapor]

just out of curiosity what is everyone's take on dx peanut butter, and dx vanilla cupcake. i really want to like them, but just cant seem to get to. butric acid replaces dikatones and to me is awful in tfa flavour concentrates.
What i dont understand is comparing them to fa with butric acid i find all the fa flavours to be good and true, and without the plasticy note i get on tfa dx versions.
Keen to see if anyone else feels the same, or if not how you tame them and get them in bed with you?

I'm smoke free now. I'm keeping my diketones. After 35 years of 3 PAD AS Blacks, I have little fear, and like breathing again. Now that I can taste again, I'm not going for the DX flavorings. That being said, there are many that feel differently. Do your homework, and decide for yourself. People get a little testy on this one. I like my juice to taste GREAT, so I prefer the original flavorings, which are still used in all our foods today. Vape FREE and Strong!

 

[Robert Cromwell]

I am with ya Bill. I like my tasty DAP stuff.
And since I mix at very low percentages I am likely getting far less than I was in cigs anyway.
And I did not start vaping for reasons of health anyway. I vape because it is cheaper and MUCH more enjoyable and has become somewhat of a hobby.
I do smell better too

 

[haleysdadda]

I feel like I'm getting in to a boxing match every time I mention weight based measuring and that's not what I'm trying to do here but I'm just going to throw this out there just so you and others realize. You say you measure down to one .1ml which for many flavors is .1g . With the scale we measure down to .01g (although, realistically a drop at ~.03g is as small as one can easily dispense). Therefore, the scale is much more accurate even at smaller weights.

I'm going to say this again just so in the future I'll be able to say I said it a hundred times. Some day we are going to look back and say "Remember when we used to use syringes to measure DIY!"

See that's the beautiful thing about this whole VAPING thing. Other than the basic safety rules you can vape how you want what you want with any device you want! With stinky sticks our choices were some what limited! Let's enjoy this freedom & and know that the only definate rights and wrongs are the ones that have to do with safety!

 

[Capt.shay]

You do not need to feel like a boxing match just because others disagree with you on how THEY want to do something vs how YOU want to do things.

I really, really don't care how any one else does it. That was exactly my point. I wasn't trying to slug it out, just pointing it out.

I'm smoke free now. I'm keeping my diketones.

Can I get a "Hell Yea !"

Until I can see conclusively that there is a direct correlation between vaping these molecules and detrimental health effect, I'm going to keep vaping these yummy things that got me off of the smokes.

 

[Robert Cromwell]

I really, really don't care how any one else does it. That was exactly my point. I wasn't trying to slug it out, just pointing it out.



Can I get a "Hell Yea !"

Until I can see conclusively that there is a direct correlation between vaping these molecules and detrimental health effect, I'm going to keep vaping these yummy things that got me off of the smokes.

For me personally. Unless they prove that the DAP stuff is far worse for me than smoking I will keep using them. But that is just me.
I have a good stockpile of V1 flavorings just in case they pull them from the market.

As I said for me personally I understand and support those who are far more cautious than I am about vaping bad stuff.
I support full labeling on all juice and flavorings.
And any juice maker who lies about their juice contents does not deserve to be in business.
Just me though, your opinion may and will likely vary.

 

[Bill's Magic Vapor]

Some spirit on the thread today.

Nice to see.
Maybe we can get the herd to make a great cheesecake?

 

[Girod]

I'm late to the latest "volume-weight" discussion, but the whole reason I went to weight was because when I make 50-120 ml batches, I found that measuring with a graduated cylinder was a PITA (IMHO), especially with VG. If you have a 1-3 ml syringe, yeah it's pretty accurate. A 10 ml syringe, less so and VG is harder to suck up and dispense. A 25 ml graduated cylinder for VG was for me a) not that accurate, b) took awhile to pour out without spilling and some was left over, c) took at least two fills to get more than 25 ml of VG, and d) I then had to go clean it and a funnel.

And diluting 100mg nic to 30mg in 250 ml bottles is really easy too.

Just like everyone prefers different equipment, coils, wick, flavors, etc., do what works and makes sense to you. I don't think you are likely to be able to tell the difference if you tried the same juice made by volume or weight. I wouldn't recommend mixing 120 ml of your ADV by drops though, unless you are nuts.

 

[Kaezziel]

I'm late to the latest "volume-weight" discussion, but the whole reason I went to weight was because when I make 50-120 ml batches, I found that measuring with a graduated cylinder was a PITA (IMHO), especially with VG. If you have a 1-3 ml syringe, yeah it's pretty accurate. A 10 ml syringe, less so and VG is harder to suck up and dispense. A 25 ml graduated cylinder for VG was for me a) not that accurate, b) took awhile to pour out without spilling and some was left over, c) took at least two fills to get more than 25 ml of VG, and d) I then had to go clean it and a funnel.

And diluting 100mg nic to 30mg in 250 ml bottles is really easy too.

Just like everyone prefers different equipment, coils, wick, flavors, etc., do what works and makes sense to you. I don't think you are likely to be able to tell the difference if you tried the same juice made by volume or weight. I wouldn't recommend mixing 120 ml of your ADV by drops though, unless you are nuts.

I'm the opposite camp. I mix about 900 ml batches and I measure by volume. That's just what works for me. In my mind, the world has measured liquids by volume for eons... I see no reason to fix what ain't broke. By the same token, I'm not gonna stand over you 'weight-mixers' and threaten ya with a ruler either... do what works for you, make juice and vape it...

... and that's pretty much all I got to say about that...

 

[Robert Cromwell]

I'm late to the latest "volume-weight" discussion, but the whole reason I went to weight was because when I make 50-120 ml batches, I found that measuring with a graduated cylinder was a PITA (IMHO), especially with VG. If you have a 1-3 ml syringe, yeah it's pretty accurate. A 10 ml syringe, less so and VG is harder to suck up and dispense. A 25 ml graduated cylinder for VG was for me a) not that accurate, b) took awhile to pour out without spilling and some was left over, c) took at least two fills to get more than 25 ml of VG, and d) I then had to go clean it and a funnel.

And diluting 100mg nic to 30mg in 250 ml bottles is really easy too.

Just like everyone prefers different equipment, coils, wick, flavors, etc., do what works and makes sense to you. I don't think you are likely to be able to tell the difference if you tried the same juice made by volume or weight. I wouldn't recommend mixing 120 ml of your ADV by drops though, unless you are nuts.

Naah, gave up on drops unless it is 2 drops of sweetner to a 30 ml bottle or somesuch.
All drops are not created equal. 20 drops/ml is garbage. Depends on both the liquid being dropped and the dropper being used. I measured mine and converted to ml some time ago.

I use 1 ml syringes for my flavorings and nic and 10ml to measure out my premixed 50/50 with either a wide bore needle or a Korc type setup in the bottle with matching syringe. Those are nice for small batches and I got several for 1.97 at Krogers pharmacy.
PG/VG and PG based flavorings are too viscous to measure properly in a graduated cylinder and such.

 

[hittman]

I think that all techniques are good to hear about. I don't vape large quantities of liquid so I make small batches. I use the 100DT a lot and just write down how many drops I use of each to get the flavor where I want it. It's very basic but it works for me.

 

[Robert Cromwell]

I think that all techniques are good to hear about. I don't vape large quantities of liquid so I make small batches. I use the 100DT a lot and just write down how many drops I use of each to get the flavor where I want it. It's very basic but it works for me.

No problem with the drop method if your flavoring keeps coming in the same bottles. If the bottle changes so does the drop volume.

 

[Girod]

I've used 100DT too, but thought it was kind of funny when I imagined someone trying to do a 120 ml batch by drops. Don't tell any of my weighty cohorts, but if I am going make a 5 or 10 ml sample, I have been known to use syringes. But keep it on the DL, I don't want to have my membership in the weight club revoked.

Some liquids are measured by weight. Fuel for airplanes, for example. That nic in your freezer is slightly more concentrated per ml at -5C than it is at 22C, about 1-2% difference. I don't know the exact volumetric thermal expansion of PG and VG off the top of my head.

 

[Girod]

Oh yes, I forgot about this Internet thingy. Found a calculator and the info for glycerine. 100 ml at -5C is 101.35 ml at 22C.

 

[haleysdadda]

Oh yes, I forgot about this Internet thingy. Found a calculator and the info for glycerine. 100 ml at -5C is 101.35 ml at 22C.

So what you're saying is to measure accurately we should also be in a temp controlled room with with instruments and fluids that are at that room temp. Sounds like precision metrology to me which they use in rocket production.
I KNEW THIS S***F WAS ROCKET SCIENCE! LOL!