The Flavor Apprentice Flavoring Thread

[Bill's Magic Vapor]

Bill's Magic Vapor:

Using Absinthe to make licorice from scratch is outright genius. I've just been using premade licorice flavors. I feel a bit slow in the head now.

Wanna ask: Looking at some of your flavors in your blog posts/in this thread, they often go above 20%, sometimes up to 30%. Are you mixing these into VG ahead of time, and then adding that VG to the final mix later? Or is it actually 20-30% of the final mix?

Just curious because currently I'm mixing between 15-20% flavoring but always attributed that to cheap lower quality flavorings. From lurking the DIY section I had come under the assumption that once you start using quality flavors and making more complex blends that percentages tend to go down to 8-12%.

Made me wonder because higher PG irritates my throat. I'm constantly trying to push past 80% VG.

Also, sorry if it comes off like I'm harassing you. It's just that I manage to learn more in a few posts picking someone's brain than I do reading tutorials and just guessing. I tend to springboard off other's experience. That and you always seem happy to respond. I know you can't possible know everything for certain and I won't have definitive answers until I make a plunge and get a good selection of flavors for myself.

If you want to make great single flavorings with TFA, try adding them to different mixes. They all seemingly improve with supporting flavors. Here's a couple of examples:

Custards

Cotton Candy - 7%
Vanilla Custard - 6%
Bavarian Cream - 6%

Add any single flavoring to this mix for a great custard. You just have to work out the total single flavoring you need, and it's generally going to fall in the 7 - 13% range. I would start at 10% and adjust up or down as required to match taste. I make this with Mango....YUMMY!

Chocolates

Milk Chocolate - 5%
Double Chocolate - 5%
Bavarian Cream - 4%
Vanilla Swirl - 6%
Cotton Candy - 6%
Butter - 2%

Add fruits like cherries or strawberries. Mix in peanut butter, etc. Sky's the limit. But chocolates are tough and require a lot of supporting flavorings to pull off, imho. Also, by adjusting the double and milk, you can change the type of chocolate from milk chocolate to dark chocolate. I make this with Cherries.

Danish

Vanilla Custard - 4%
Brown Sugar - 2%
Butter - 2%
Sweetener - 2%
Waffle - 1%
Sweet Cream - 1-2%

Add almost any fruit to this one for a great Danish. I like it with Peach, but works with apple, lemon, cherry, etc.

Creams

Sweet Cream - 5%
Vanilla Swirl - 5%
Hazelnut - 2-3%
Honey - 3%
Sweetener - 2-3%

This cream recipe is great with fruits and just about anything else. Add single ingredients to this in the 10 - 15% range. I would start at 10% and increase until you find the sweet spot. I use this with strawberry and banana.

Pies

French Vanilla - 4%
Sweetener - 4%
Pie Crust - 4%
Graham Cracker - 3%
Brown Sugar - 2%
Butter - 1%
Cinnamon - .5% (OPTIONAL)

Add your fruit (10-15%) or nut (5-10%) to this recipe for a wonderful pie flavoring. I use this with peach, apple, pecan, etc.

Tarts

Sweet Cream - 4%
Vanilla Swirl - 4%
Cotton Candy - 2%
Sweet and Tart - 2%

Wonderful starburst flavoring and great with cherry, lemon, strawberry, grape (with raspberry or strawberry), orange, etc.

Complex Creams

Add strong flavorings of almost anything to Cream Fantastico to make a delicious Complex Cream. This works particularly good with strong cinnamon's, tarts, etc.

Cream Fantastico

Blueberry Extra - 8%
Strawberries and Cream - 7%
Vanilla Swirl - 5%
Bavarian Cream - 4%
Cotton Candy - 4%
Sweetener - 2%

This cream mixture mixes surprisingly well with everything I've tried so far. In this way, it can "rescue" a bad mix along the way. So, adding this to other mixes can produce some remarkable results. Try adding this to my Red Vines recipe for example. Had one vendor say that mix was the best juice they had ever tasted. I mixed those two specially for her as she wanted a creamy red licorice juice. She claimed she could taste about 8 different flavorings and was blown away. Glad you liked it miss!

Anyway, if you are just starting out, get the flavorings in the recipes above from TFA. Add your favorite fruits, tobaccos, etc. to them and you'll be making great juice in no time. Of course, all recipes must be flavored to individual taste, but these will get you close, and most folks will like them just as they are.

Also, combine fruits too. Add pear and peach, or any other pairings together in the strengths suggested and make up your own magical juice that no one else has. Put your name on your new creation!

Also, you need a good juice mixing calculator:

eJuice Me Up - Best eJuice Calculator

Good luck!

These are some good basics to try and make some juices. I use flavorings between 20% and 30%, all PG based. If PG irritates your throat, you can try and buy flavorings made with VG bases, and use those instead. There are at least two philosophies in juice making, reduced simply to vape and steep (lower flavoring percentages), and mix and vape (high flavor mixes). If you want to try and make good juices that you can taste, adjust, then vape, try the mix and vape method with high flavoring percentages. This is the easiest way for new mixers.

The other way, i.e., mix and steep, requires waiting, sometimes weeks, for the flavors to fully form, presuming you don't use additives that prevents the flavors from changing along the way (citric acid, for example). I use citric acid at .1 - .2%, so the flavors don't change significantly over time, which provides for the mix and vape method to work. Many experienced vapers use the mix and steep method, and feel this brings out certain flavorings that they cannot get with high flavor mixes. My experience has been that I can copy virtually any flavoring, other than tobaccos, with high flavor mixes and no steeping. I just don't have the time to play around with a flavoring for a few months, and have made 150 ADV's over the last two years. I would probably have about 10- ADV's if I mixed and steeped. So, for me, I prefer the high flavor mixes, little to no steeping, and can then mix, adjust the mix using the 100DT taste test adjustment method, and make great juice quickly. Too often the longer steeping method left me not only with juice that was not vapable, but tooks weeks and months to find out it wasn't any good. Lower flavor mixing applies to the vape and steep method. My mixes are higher flavorings, delicious out of the can, don't require steeping, are easily adjusted, and ready to vape soon after mixing.

Really two schools of thought, both work, both reliable, with different advantages and disadvantages to both. it's easier to learn DIY using the mix and vape method. There are many DIY'ers though who don't use this method, and don't look kindly on the method. Rather than acknowledge the two, or more, different methods, they do tend to look down their nose at the mix and vape method. To each their own, but there is more than one way to DIY, and that's just a fact.

I know a lot of DIY'ers who quit trying to make juice because of the long steep method, so I do advocate for m ix and vape for new DiY'ers, while recognizing that both methods have merit.

 

[Bill's Magic Vapor]

So Bill I should ask you what you recommend I try out first with the flavors I have ordered. I am very into the Fruit flavors, and as I mentioned before I would really like to make a raspberry lemonade as well (been craving this one). So here is the flavors I have ordered:
Strawberry
Blueberry(Extra)
Watermelon
Raspberry(Sweet)
Lemon
Hawaiian Drink
Cheesecake(Graham Crust)
French Vanilla Cream
Vanilla Swirl
Sweet Cream
Cotton Candy

I already have a few recipes saved to try, but I would love your (and anyone elses) input on what would be some good mixes to get started on. Ordered up some droppers as well (although in retrospect I should have gotten a few more) and will be doing some 100 drop tests the day it comes in the mail . If there are any flavors that I should have for my next order let me know and I will add it to the list, I had to keep this order somewhat small flavor wise due to the costs of the other pieces of equipment needed to get started. Thank you!

If you want to make great single flavorings with TFA, try adding them to different mixes. They all seemingly improve with supporting flavors. Here's a couple of examples:

Custards

Cotton Candy - 7%
Vanilla Custard - 6%
Bavarian Cream - 6%

Add any single flavoring to this mix for a great custard. You just have to work out the total single flavoring you need, and it's generally going to fall in the 7 - 13% range. I would start at 10% and adjust up or down as required to match taste. I make this with Mango....YUMMY!

Chocolates

Milk Chocolate - 5%
Double Chocolate - 5%
Bavarian Cream - 4%
Vanilla Swirl - 6%
Cotton Candy - 6%
Butter - 2%

Add fruits like cherries or strawberries. Mix in peanut butter, etc. Sky's the limit. But chocolates are tough and require a lot of supporting flavorings to pull off, imho. Also, by adjusting the double and milk, you can change the type of chocolate from milk chocolate to dark chocolate. I make this with Cherries.

Danish

Vanilla Custard - 4%
Brown Sugar - 2%
Butter - 2%
Sweetener - 2%
Waffle - 1%
Sweet Cream - 1-2%

Add almost any fruit to this one for a great Danish. I like it with Peach, but works with apple, lemon, cherry, etc.

Creams

Sweet Cream - 5%
Vanilla Swirl - 5%
Hazelnut - 2-3%
Honey - 3%
Sweetener - 2-3%

This cream recipe is great with fruits and just about anything else. Add single ingredients to this in the 10 - 15% range. I would start at 10% and increase until you find the sweet spot. I use this with strawberry and banana.

Pies

French Vanilla - 4%
Sweetener - 4%
Pie Crust - 4%
Graham Cracker - 3%
Brown Sugar - 2%
Butter - 1%
Cinnamon - .5% (OPTIONAL)

Add your fruit (10-15%) or nut (5-10%) to this recipe for a wonderful pie flavoring. I use this with peach, apple, pecan, etc.

Tarts

Sweet Cream - 4%
Vanilla Swirl - 4%
Cotton Candy - 2%
Sweet and Tart - 2%

Wonderful starburst flavoring and great with cherry, lemon, strawberry, grape (with raspberry or strawberry), orange, etc.

Complex Creams

Add strong flavorings of almost anything to Cream Fantastico to make a delicious Complex Cream. This works particularly good with strong cinnamon's, tarts, etc.

Cream Fantastico

Blueberry Extra - 8%
Strawberries and Cream - 7%
Vanilla Swirl - 5%
Bavarian Cream - 4%
Cotton Candy - 4%
Sweetener - 2%

This cream mixture mixes surprisingly well with everything I've tried so far. In this way, it can "rescue" a bad mix along the way. So, adding this to other mixes can produce some remarkable results. Try adding this to my Red Vines recipe for example. Had one vendor say that mix was the best juice they had ever tasted. I mixed those two specially for her as she wanted a creamy red licorice juice. She claimed she could taste about 8 different flavorings and was blown away. Glad you liked it miss!

Anyway, if you are just starting out, get the flavorings in the recipes above from TFA. Add your favorite fruits, tobaccos, etc. to them and you'll be making great juice in no time. Of course, all recipes must be flavored to individual taste, but these will get you close, and most folks will like them just as they are.

Also, combine fruits too. Add pear and peach, or any other pairings together in the strengths suggested and make up your own magical juice that no one else has. Put your name on your new creation!

Also, you need a good juice mixing calculator:

eJuice Me Up - Best eJuice Calculator

Good luck!

Any of these recipes are great to start with, use fruits and other flavorings on your list. You can review my blogs for more recipes. I like pies, Danish, chocolates, shakes, candy bars, cereals, creams, etc. and have more then 50 recipes in the blogs, all TFA. I have another 100 recipes or so spread throughout this thread, so plenty to work with, or just ask specific questions. Hope this helps!

 

[CampbellMC]

Thank you for your reply. I already have the eJuice calc ready to go with a couple recipes punched in to be ready to go. I will be going for mix and vape, from the reading I have done on it, it seems that the juices that benefit most from steeping are tobaccos, chocolates and other dark flavors which I do not like. So I think mix and vape will serve my purposes well. I have no problems with PG, and I will be running it lower than I am now anyways. Currently I am finishing off my store bought stockpile that was all 50/50, I plan on going to 70/30 VG/PG with my own mixes. The citric acid you mentioned is interesting to me, makes sense, I just didn't realize its alternate purpose. Once I get a couple ADVs I could possibly look towards mixing up some batches i've seen on here that require steep, try to compare, but starting out I need to get straight to some juice I can vape, the stores aren't getting any more of my money

 

[MasteroftheVape]

10% blueberry
4% Cheesecake graham crust
4% strawberry
4% Vanilla swirl
6% Sweet cream
4% em

 

[artv61]

This was something else that interested me. I plan on buying a handful of TFA flavors around the end of January, managed to budget them in. Been thinking of what I need to buy at the same time to round out whatever I do.

I guess the reason I find the vanilla/creams/custards to be awkward is because I tend to prefer cool, wet, refreshing flavors. The idea of an apple pie flavor, or something similar, sounds so overwhelming. I'm far more into lemon, lime, melons, and occasionally sodas and spices.

I have a plan for a flavor in mind, a marshmallow/lemon/ice flavor. I can imagine the refreshing tuft of lemon cloud it should taste like. However I have a feeling it will need more than lemon, ice, and marshmallow. Deciding what all to buy with it is being difficult. However I'm reading your blog posts and I'm getting a bit of an idea of what you're driving at.



I actually imagine a banana flavor would require some sort of cream added to give the thickness/texture you'd want with a banana.



I wonder why/how it does that.
.


I actually thought of this. I love sassafras candy. Problem I ran into was that the only Sassafras flavor I can find is Lorann, and it isn't water soluble according to these forums. I've dealt with oil based citrus flavors before, it isn't pretty. I can't find a water soluble one. Still trying to figure out the carbonated component. I've heard champagne, but that sounds like it would add a weird flavor.



Seriously? Like, the sweetener makes sense, but vanillas and cream with licorice? Brings an image to mind of eating good'n'plenties and drinking half and half. I'll give it a shot though.

Question about sweeteners: Cotton Candy Flavoring is essentially EM, right? At low percentages you can use it for a sweetener if I recall correctly? I ask because Sucralose seems to burn and gunk up coils real easily in my experience, as well as destroy flavors by muting them to death, so I try to avoid it. Haven't tried EM yet though.

I was actually thinking Anise for my licorice flavor, since I hear they have a similar flavor profile.



This is actually brilliant. One of my biggest issues has been doing small batches. When I'm making 4ml's of juice to test, and I want to put 0.25% of a flavor in, how do I measure that? You just answered it for me. Do it by drops, and then make the base amount high enough that 1 drop is the lowest amount of flavor I want to add. Brilliant. Now I have to figure out how to standardize drop sizes. Honestly been considering getting a jeweler's scale and doing it by mass instead of volume....

i got sassafras from FW

 

[baseballmom]

Good morning! Got my citric acid in the other day, can't wait to try it out in future mixes, I'm actually excited to see what it does....feeling stuck right now without blueberry wild, my fault for not ordering before holiday break, I hope they(tfa) are having some nice well deserved time off, I am chomping at bit to order more 4oz sizes though.....looks like we've been keeping Bill busy lately, all I can say is wow, he never stops helping, offering advice. I think I have to reorganize my flavor box today, might provide inspiration checking what I have on hand, and probably ought to order nic soon too. Was in KOP yesterday, so Reni, if you are reading....hi!!!! Come back soon....please??? You still are soooo missed! Tried my sherbert mix, just think I don't like sherbert blends either, just not something for my tastes after all, I've found things I like in foods, I sometimes don't like to vape and vice versa, things I don't like to eat, I do like in a vape(ex. Kiwi), I am so weird, I know. Amazing how when I step out of my self induced "comfort zone", I find some amazing tastes..Lol. Yes Andria, I too am waiting for BCV to get biscuit back in stock....taking forever....sigh.

 

[Bill's Magic Vapor]

Good morning! Got my citric acid in the other day, can't wait to try it out in future mixes, I'm actually excited to see what it does....feeling stuck right now without blueberry wild, my fault for not ordering before holiday break, I hope they(tfa) are having some nice well deserved time off, I am chomping at bit to order more 4oz sizes though.....looks like we've been keeping Bill busy lately, all I can say is wow, he never stops helping, offering advice. I think I have to reorganize my flavor box today, might provide inspiration checking what I have on hand, and probably ought to order nic soon too. Was in KOP yesterday, so Reni, if you are reading....hi!!!! Come back soon....please??? You still are soooo missed! Tried my sherbert mix, just think I don't like sherbert blends either, just not something for my tastes after all, I've found things I like in foods, I sometimes don't like to vape and vice versa, things I don't like to eat, I do like in a vape(ex. Kiwi), I am so weird, I know. Amazing how when I step out of my self induced "comfort zone", I find some amazing tastes..Lol. Yes Andria, I too am waiting for BCV to get biscuit back in stock....taking forever....sigh.

Yes, Reni, please come back soon! You are missed! Don't worry about the past posts, just jump in here!

 

[Bill's Magic Vapor]

So Bill I should ask you what you recommend I try out first with the flavors I have ordered. I am very into the Fruit flavors, and as I mentioned before I would really like to make a raspberry lemonade as well (been craving this one). So here is the flavors I have ordered:
Strawberry
Blueberry(Extra)
Watermelon
Raspberry(Sweet)
Lemon
Hawaiian Drink
Cheesecake(Graham Crust)
French Vanilla Cream
Vanilla Swirl
Sweet Cream
Cotton Candy

I already have a few recipes saved to try, but I would love your (and anyone elses) input on what would be some good mixes to get started on. Ordered up some droppers as well (although in retrospect I should have gotten a few more) and will be doing some 100 drop tests the day it comes in the mail . If there are any flavors that I should have for my next order let me know and I will add it to the list, I had to keep this order somewhat small flavor wise due to the costs of the other pieces of equipment needed to get started. Thank you!

Lemonade is a tough one. Can't really make it using only TFA flavorings, as you can't get that citrus/sour bite into the juice. So, you can try FW or LorAnn. LorAnn probably tastes the best, but like battery acid, this stuff eats right through plastic. It is good. I have a recipe:

Lemonade

FW/LA Lemonade - 14%
Cotton Candy - 10%
Honey - 1%
Tart and Sour - 5%

This is good stuff. Use glass or metal tanks, though, no plastic syringes, etc. Store in Glass. You can probably skip brushing your teeth with this vape too.

For a raspberry lemonade, I think I would start here:

Raspberry Lemonade

Raspberry - 7%
FW/LA Lemonade - 10%
Tart and Sour - 4% (LA?)
Cotton Candy - 8%
Honey - 1%

Haven't made this but I would start close to here, use the 100DT taste test method to adjust ingredients up or down, you'll have you mix in 30 minutes or less. Sounds good too! Good luck!

 

[AndriaD]

Good morning! Got my citric acid in the other day, can't wait to try it out in future mixes, I'm actually excited to see what it does....feeling stuck right now without blueberry wild, my fault for not ordering before holiday break, I hope they(tfa) are having some nice well deserved time off, I am chomping at bit to order more 4oz sizes though.....looks like we've been keeping Bill busy lately, all I can say is wow, he never stops helping, offering advice. I think I have to reorganize my flavor box today, might provide inspiration checking what I have on hand, and probably ought to order nic soon too. Was in KOP yesterday, so Reni, if you are reading....hi!!!! Come back soon....please??? You still are soooo missed! Tried my sherbert mix, just think I don't like sherbert blends either, just not something for my tastes after all, I've found things I like in foods, I sometimes don't like to vape and vice versa, things I don't like to eat, I do like in a vape(ex. Kiwi), I am so weird, I know. Amazing how when I step out of my self induced "comfort zone", I find some amazing tastes..Lol. Yes Andria, I too am waiting for BCV to get biscuit back in stock....taking forever....sigh.

Yeah, and they're out of the DX Bavarian Cream too! By the time they get those two back in stock, I'm definitely going to need more of the TFA Blueberry Wild *and* Extra, and Shisha Strawberry, and those dang Inawera flavors are expensive! But I haven't seen anywhere to get the DX BC *except* bullcity, and a UK place that would cost a lot more to ship.

I'm going to be trying out that blueberries n cream recipe I mixed up yesterday in a little while; I'll let you know how it turned out (that's my take on the steeping thing... if overnight isn't long enough, fuhgeddaboutit!!).

Has anyone ever experienced a flavor tasting better *after* the wick is gunked up? This strawberries n cream recipe *really* gunks the wick, probably the "organic" bits of the shisha strawberry PLUS sweetener PLUS WTA... but after the wick is gunked enough to darken the color of the ejuice in the whole tank... it actually tastes better! Sweeter, anyway. It's the oddest thing. But I know now that I don't really need as much sweetener in that recipe as I first thought, because it seems to get sweeter and sweeter, the darker it gets.

Andria

 

[baseballmom]

Do you have a wholesale/bulk account with tfa? She sells the dx BC, 4oz a great price...I order a lot from BCV too, but my frequently used, tfa direct for the great pricing and quick shipping, they should be back 1/2 or 1/3 in case you'd be interested. Feeling cranky not being able to work on blueberry stuff...So frustrated....gah. So many ideas, thwarted...I like the 2 blueberries together and want to work on ratios, waffles, vanilla swirl...can't, stuck waiting....sorry whining, it's my own fault..trying get sympathy from someone, anyone..lol


No, I don't like gunked coils, the decrease in vapor production, nah...I like them fresh myself. But if you do, that's cool, to each their own right?

 

[AndriaD]

Do you have a wholesale/bulk account with tfa? She sells the dx BC, 4oz a great price...I order a lot from BCV too, but my frequently used, tfa direct for the great pricing and quick shipping, they should be back 1/2 or 1/3 in case you'd be interested. Feeling cranky not being able to work on blueberry stuff...So frustrated....gah. So many ideas, thwarted...I like the 2 blueberries together and want to work on ratios, waffles, vanilla swirl...can't, stuck waiting....sorry whining, it's my own fault..trying get sympathy from someone, anyone..lol


No, I don't like gunked coils, the decrease in vapor production, nah...I like them fresh myself. But if you do, that's cool, to each their own right?

I may go ahead and get one of those accts at tfa, once they're back -- bullcity is out for the whole holiday too. But I can see that I'm going to be using a lot of the DX BC.

The vapor production really doesn't fall off, with this particular gunking, and the taste gets more intense and MUCH sweeter -- that's why I said it's really odd. I have a bottle going that's the strawberry cream flavor that I've taken out of the tank, and I just mixed up some fresh to add to it, with ZERO sweetener, to kinda offset that intense sweetness that it develops. In the Inawera thread, someone warned me that with this shisha strawberry being an organic flavor, it would cause major gunking, if I was planning to use it in my cartotank; I guess it's a good thing I used the kayfun instead, where wicks cost pennies instead of going thru the $1.35 cartos licketysplit. I do see some gunking from the blueberry muffin/banana nut bread that I've been vaping lately, but judging from the kayfun wicks, not NEARLY as bad as what this strawberry does. I think the strawberry mix gets a triple whammy, with the organic strawberry, the WTA, AND the sweetener, so it's good that I learned this about not needing so much sweetener in that mix.

Andria

 

[Bill's Magic Vapor]

I may go ahead and get one of those accts at tfa, once they're back -- bullcity is out for the whole holiday too. But I can see that I'm going to be using a lot of the DX BC.

The vapor production really doesn't fall off, with this particular gunking, and the taste gets more intense and MUCH sweeter -- that's why I said it's really odd. I have a bottle going that's the strawberry cream flavor that I've taken out of the tank, and I just mixed up some fresh to add to it, with ZERO sweetener, to kinda offset that intense sweetness that it develops. In the Inawera thread, someone warned me that with this shisha strawberry being an organic flavor, it would cause major gunking, if I was planning to use it in my cartotank; I guess it's a good thing I used the kayfun instead, where wicks cost pennies instead of going thru the $1.35 cartos licketysplit. I do see some gunking from the blueberry muffin/banana nut bread that I've been vaping lately, but judging from the kayfun wicks, not NEARLY as bad as what this strawberry does. I think the strawberry mix gets a triple whammy, with the organic strawberry, the WTA, AND the sweetener, so it's good that I learned this about not needing so much sweetener in that mix.

Andria

You know, Andria, juice getting darker can be a sign that you are burning the juice, meaning you have too high a setting on your voltage/wattage. Try and lower the heat and see if that stops turning it darker over a tank. It will often provide a better vape too, in my experience. I vape my wicks and coils until the wick burns out usually. This happens every day or so, then time for a coil burn and clean, a new wick, and back to business. Maybe it takes two or three minutes a day, or if I'm lazy I have backups upon backups already coiled, wicked and ready to go. Just a thought. That TFA account is a really good deal, and since you are mixing quite a bit these days, that 4 oz price is pretty unbeatable, and all I ever buy, except I do buy the 16 oz for the top 15 or so flavorings I use every day.

All my coils and wicks gunk up. Doesn't bother me a bit. Just part of it. I use a coiler to make my tmc's, generally once a month I'll make about 20 coils, and then coil all my Taifun's up, and then wait till I need to do it again in a month. I use KGD for wicking, and it has been the best wicking material I've used yet. I highly recommend it. Easy to wick (great compression), great juice flow, no leaking, wonderful. My first year I bought everything that came on the scene. When I finally found my Nirvana vape, I've bought only two atomizers all year, and perhaps half a dozen taifun's, and been a happy camper ever since. I vape at 11 watts on a 1.0 - 1.4 tmc (1/16" ID). Works great for me, and took a year to find my Nirvana vape too. Once found, hardware costs plummeted, DIY costs sky-rocketed. I'm pretty much there on all my gear and DIY now, with a order every month or so from TFA for basics mostly.

Anyway, glad you found your way back here, my dear. You are always welcome!



P.S. I like your steeping strategy too!

 

[AndriaD]

Well, I'm glad to be welcomed, since I really am almost at 100% DIY -- other than the WTA of course, and still have a lingering thing for sweet-vapes' Blueberry Muffin, I'm just getting to the point where that $9.95 for 15ml bugs the crap out of me, now that I know how inexpensively I can make my own juice.

I don't think I'm burning it, though -- 10 or 10.5 watts with a 1.9Ω coil -- I'm vaping the blueberry muffin stuff at 12w, but when I checked my wicks sunday, after replacing both wicks on friday, the wick in the strawberry was solid black, and even a bit of gunk on one of the legs on the coil, so I probably need to replace that coil now -- but the blueberry muffin mix, hardly any gunk at all, barely even darkened. And it doesn't taste burned or bad at all, in fact it tastes better as it darkens, until it gets to the point where it's too sweet even for *me* -- which takes some doing, let me tell you. It's gotta be the triple combination of gunking factors in that particular mix that causes such a gunking problem -- I already knew that WTA can cause a problem with that, and particularly with rayon wicks -- the WTA is why I've kinda abandoned rayon. Still using my organic cotton balls, and they work great (and I've finally gotten that "just right amount" down pat, it seems!), but I'm getting more and more curious about the japanese cotton, so I'll probably get some of that pretty soon.

Andria

 

[Friscoweather]

I'm just the opposite,i have never tried the actual cotton candy flavoring,all i have used is the crystals,but if you look on tfa's site at the cc flavor,it says that what it is

Cotton Candy Flavor

Water soluble.


This is made from ethyl maltol, diluted to 10% in PG


So from the way it reads,it sounds like a simple 10% em solution which is what i've always made,there is a definite cotton candy taste there in that solution,at least to me anyway haha,so any recipe i see that calls for cc,i just use the em solution.

So, if you wanted to make 30ml of solution, how much em crystals would you use?

 

[b.m.]

I swear Bill,your costing me a fortune haha.All the times i've seen you mention those Taifuns finally got to me and took me past curiousity to the point that i just ordered one,and now you mention that kgd haha.I've been using rayon for a while,and when you get it right it's fantastic,but i only seem to hit that sweet spot with it about once a month haha,so after seeing you mention that,now i gotta give it a try too.I need to stay away from this thread before i spend my rent money haha.

 

[b.m.]

So, if you wanted to make 30ml of solution, how much em crystals would you use?

I'll look in my notebook here shortly,i've been making it in 30ml so i have it written down,but can't remember off the top of my head.
Ok,i just looked,and the way i mix it is 1/4teaspoon to 10ml of pg,so for a 30ml bottle i did 3/4 teaspoon to 30 ml of pg.This will give you a bit more than 30ml of finished liquid,but the bottle will hold it all,i think a standard 30ml bottle actually holds like 32 or 33ml.

 

[AndriaD]

Well, I tried out that blueberry mix I made last night, and it's a bit disappointing, but it kinda points to where I need to go with it; I went a bit light on some ingredients, since I can always add more, but I think part of the problem is that FW Vanilla Cupcake; the FW flavors seem to need really long steeping to get anything, and I'm just not the patient sort.

This is the recipe I used:

TFA Wild Blueberry 15%
TFA DX Bavarian Cream 6%
Sweet Flash* 5%
FW Vanilla Cupcake 4%
CAP Sweet Cream v2 2%
WTA 9%

* = 6% FA Flash, 6% TFA Sweetener


This is how I've amended the recipe, though I won't mix it till I've got more flavor, I'm running a bit low on some of them:

TFA Wild Blueberry 15%
TFA Blueberry Extra 5%
TFA DX Bavarian Cream 7%
Sweet Flash 7%
CAP Vanilla Custard v2 2%
CAP Sweet Cream v2 2%
CAP Graham Cracker v2 2%
TFA Sweetener 2%
WTA 9%

I scrapped the cupcake and went back to the custard; and added just a bit of more sweetener and some of the graham cracker v2. I seem to have better luck with the Capella flavors than the FW. I like the TFA a lot though, being the kind they are, best when mixed with others -- it's the way I approach cooking too, blending many flavors to create a far more complex taste -- when I start cooking teriyaki chicken, the mix of garlic, ginger, celery, onions, and green pepper sizzling in the skillet with some olive oil, soy sauce, and a dash of teriyaki, drags people into the kitchen like a magnet to see what's cooking to smell like that. My son said that if he wasn't hungry when I first started, he would be after he smelled that!

Andria

 

[purelyscientific]

I would lower the extra and the sweetener. I found extra downplays the wild, which has a better bb flavor imo. Also, most of those are sweet on their own and don't really need the extra bump of the sweetener. Just my

What nic level and pgvg ratio do you plan to mix at?

 

[AndriaD]

10.5mg, 83/17 PG/VG -- the extra is actually an addition, since there really is very little BB flavor from the wild alone. And it's not sweet, either, so it's definitely gotta have sweetener.

What most people consider "sweet," I consider time to get the 5 lb bag of sugar out of the cabinet. So to speak.

Andria

 

[Bill's Magic Vapor]

I swear Bill,your costing me a fortune haha.All the times i've seen you mention those Taifuns finally got to me and took me past curiousity to the point that i just ordered one,and now you mention that kgd haha.I've been using rayon for a while,and when you get it right it's fantastic,but i only seem to hit that sweet spot with it about once a month haha,so after seeing you mention that,now i gotta give it a try too.I need to stay away from this thread before i spend my rent money haha.

A year's supply of Ken Gen Doh (KGD) is about $12, and we can trade rent payments if you like.

The Taifun GT II's are out now, but I'm waiting. I have eleven GT I's, and they work just fine. However, the new ones have air flow control and juice control, so, in the end, they'll probably get me for about ten of them. Sounds like a lot, but remember, the missus uses them as well, and I'm constantly travelling, and you can't get these at the corner store, so I need a supply of them, and backups in case, who knows.....bad stuff happens to vaping. I hope not, but if everything stopped being sold today, I'd be ok on all fronts for several years, gear, eliquid, nicotine, et al. Rule number one: backups to backups......CHECK!

Tell you what, if you don't just love the KGD, I'll happily buy it from you and pay for postage......so, no risk to you, my friend. If you want to try it, pm me the information, and I'll send you some to try. It's that good, and better than Rayon. Check the Busardo unscientific testing YouTube video. Rayon was second, cotton balls last, hemp third, I think. KGD just wicks easier, installs easier, lasts longer, it's organic, unbleached....you know, all around good stuff. Works great in the Taifun, which relies on the wick to create the pressure seal at the slot. Works better than anything else I've tried. You can't go wrong. It's so good, vapers frequently cause a world-wide shortage of the stuff, so get it when you can. I turned some vendors on to it. Now they sell like 4 pads for $6.00, an 800% markup, I think, and they can't keep it in stock. Great for drippers too. It's bad ayass!