Ugh, flavourless Flavourart

[epices]

Hi everybody,
I've been reading a lot but failed to find a workable solution on my problem. It is not a huge problem, but still, it would be nice to have a nice flavourful vape. I started recently and bought some flavors and base liquids from Flavourart. It is the company that I trust most as far as liquid purity is concerned. Also, apparently its flavours are concentrated, so not much is needed, which can only be good, health-wise. I am not willing to use 15-20% flavor proportions, that seems to be necessary with other companies. Also, being in Europe, it is cheaper for me to get FA than flavors from other companies.

I am slightly disappointed. My liquids are almost flavorless, despite steeping (one week) and experimenting with different percentages. None are tobacco flavors. Only the strong flavor, hazelnut, came out ok, the rest is more "bleh". Two were really disgusting (coconut is one of these), but after diluting them with no-flavor liquid they lost their bad taste. All of them smell very nice, but vaping is really bland and only on exhalation I feel any (slight) aroma at all. The base is 4 mg nicotine, 50% VG and 50% PG, no additions (sweeteners etc).

I have this:
- hazelnut 5% - is ok
- oakwood 5% - almost imperceptible
- clove 5% - big disappointment, tastes bland
- coconut - 10% yielded a strong disgusting taste, yet very little flavor; 5% is better, yet equally flavorless
- almonds - no almond taste at 5%
- mandarin - meh, at 10%, but smells divine

I am vaping on ego twist, with t2 clearomizers. Long or short wick, high or low voltage, no vapor's tongue, steeping times of different lenghts - all these factors do not seem to improve the flavor.

If need be, I'll just go into unflavoured liquid, because my priority is to minimize potential harm to lungs. Yet it would be nice to know if there is anything else that I could do before giving up on flavor pleasure.

 

[Jonathan Tittle]

FlavourArt flavors are pretty bold/strong and can come off a bit chemically at first, though I've never had an issue with taste; they're one vendor I can always taste, even when I can't taste anything else. How long are you letting them steep/age?

 

[epices]

FlavourArt flavors are pretty bold/strong and can come off a bit chemically at first, though I've never had an issue with taste; they're one vendor I can always taste, even when I can't taste anything else. How long are you letting them steep/age?

Hi Tactical. They've been steeping a week now. All simple flavors, no tobaccos, no combinations of flavors. Maybe if I had better equipment, the taste would be better. What do you vape with?

 

[Jimi D.]

I've spent many months bashing my brains trying to get Flavour Art to taste good.

Here is a company in Poland that impressed me. In fact I had thrown out all my previous flavors.

These flavors are stronger than FA. The taste is just incredible. Try the clove. It's spot on !

Inawera Shop, The Best E-Liquids, Flavours, Bases And Many More!

 

[HeadInClouds]

Be sure to shake the bottle of flavoring before you measure any out! FA Mandarin tasted horrible when I forgot to do that. I shake them all vigorously now, right before measuring.

You might still have too high a percentage. I've found FA mixed too high for me begins to lose flavor, then even higher starts to taste horrible. I mixed my first FA flavors at 10-15%, they were not even vapeable. Now I start much lower and have more success.

Since I was just singing the praises of FA Coconut, maybe start with that one. Shake the bottle and mix a small batch at just 2%. You might also try mixing down the Hazelnut to 3%. When I use Hazelnut in recipes with other flavors, even 1% stands out as a primary flavor.
Mandarin is one of their best and should taste like it smells. I use either 3% or 5%. Definitely shake that bottle first - Mandarin does tend to separate before it's mixed. I just got Almond yesterday and used it in a recipe; it seems less strong than some others, but I wouldn't think it would take much more than 5%. I would (actually, I will) test it as a single flavor at 3%. I haven't tried oakwood or clove. I just tried anise, and if clove is similarly strong, I'd suggest trying just 1%. It's weird how FlavourArt (and some others) actually lose flavor if mixed too strong, but it really does happen.

After mixing, set the sealed bottle in some hot tap water for a few minutes to warm it up and thin the texture, then shake the heck out of the bottle. Shake a few more times as it cools. Then try it right away. Few of their non-tobacco flavors mixed as single flavors need a long steep. Mine rarely get more than an hour or two before I try them, and they don't taste much different after aging.

 

[epices]

Hi HeadInClouds: No, I didn't know that I had to shake the flavor bottle first. I thought it didn't matter. I'll do everything exactly as you suggested and I'll see if it helps. Seems like a really good advice. I'll start with mandarin.

What proportion between VG and PG did you use? Could it help if I used more PG than VG, since in pg, flavor develops quicker?

Thanks!!!!!

 

[HeadInClouds]

What proportion between VG and PG did you use? Could it help if I used more PG than VG, since in pg, flavor develops quicker?

I use about 70/30 PG/VG, sometimes 50/50 when I want more vapor. I've never used more VG than that, so I really don't know!

I hope your new attempts are a lot more successful for you. Please post how it goes.

 

[jgoss]

I start out at 3-4% with FA flavors. Usually that is pretty close. I use 100% vg for my mixes and this seems good to me. 2-3% might be good if you are using pg in your mixes.

 

[Jonathan Tittle]

Hi Tactical. They've been steeping a week now. All simple flavors, no tobaccos, no combinations of flavors. Maybe if I had better equipment, the taste would be better. What do you vape with?

I primary vape on a Nemesis (mechanical mod) with an RSST, IGO-L, Kayfun 3.1 Clone or a Protank 2 if I have a coil rebuilt for it. If I don't, I'll sometimes use my SVD, but I really only use it for 1.3-1.5 ohm coils. My others are always .5-1.0 ohms and I tend to vape pretty much all flavors at 3.8-4.2v or at 10-12 watts, depending on the mod.

That said, cotton exclusively. I stopped using silica a while back after seeing that cotton tends to bring out more flavor and it does, IMO.

 

[cessnapix]

HeadInClouds; has some good advice. And so doesn't Jimi D. When I used FA I was using 100% vg. Your percentages are at least double and some are triple the dose. 2%-3% should be a good starting place. You are muting two of your flavors up at 10%. The only FA flavor I had to use that high was whipped cream, and Oba-Oba at 7%.

I will also echo the shake your bottles every time before you use them. Sometimes the vendors don't do this either with their bulk bottles and I have gotten weak flavors before, but I suspect you are muting them with high concentrations, and not enough steep time.

pg-vg ratios you are using doesn't make a noticeable difference in the long run after the flavors have steeped. Early on in the steeping process, high vg is a bit muted but will come around in about the same amount of time as pg does when fully steeped.

If you want to stop messing around and playing chemist, get some Inawera flavors at the link Jimi D. gave and you will not look back!

Good luck

 

[epices]

I've spent many months bashing my brains trying to get Flavour Art to taste good.

Here is a company in Poland that impressed me. In fact I had thrown out all my previous flavors.

These flavors are stronger than FA. The taste is just incredible. Try the clove. It's spot on !

Inawera Shop, The Best E-Liquids, Flavours, Bases And Many More!

Thanks Jimi D. I might order some Inawera flavors next time. Pink Mule has them, so that will be handy.

 

[epices]

Thanks to all for your suggestions. So, I learned that:
- I need to shake the bottle before mixing and before using
- that cotton is better than silica
- longer steeping times
- higher voltage or lower ohm wicks might be better (I've always vaped on 2,4 ohm wicks and lowest possible voltage on my ego twist, upping the voltage seems better, but am afraid to burn the wick as I vape with very short pauses)
- lower percentage of flavor

I was also thinking that my sinuses and taste buds are not completely healed from the years of heavy smoking. I think I also have a deviated septum and have been since always a little congested. On the other hand, ready made e-liquids (italian Dea) had a much stronger aroma, so I don't know.

Also, the gear I'm using is for beginners, which I am. Whereas people report that dripping is better for flavor (and other things). Besides T2 cartomizers I also have a kanger protank II, but I hate it, and it does not make the flavor any better.

I'll keep experimenting. Thanks again to all.

 

[Jonathan Tittle]

With Silica, you're not going to burn the wick, trust me . It may turn a little black, but that'll be from burn juice/gunk. Even with a 10 sec vape, the heat isn't going to get up to the 1,000+ F that it's going to take to burn it up. Cotton, on the other hand, once dry, will burn in less than a second. Just something to keep in mind if you do go the cotton route. Cotton must be wet 100% of the time else you risk that dreaded "taste" of burn plant material.

That said, higher voltage isn't always the answer, but if you're vaping on an eGO battery, you're never going to see as much voltage as it advertises when it's under load. Last I recall, they drop down to ~3.3v which is quite a drop from 3.6-3.7v and there is a pretty significant difference there. The Twists, IIRC, suffer the same fate.

You may want to look into a iTaste VV/VW 3.0 - they're relatively cheap, don't require batteries (like the eGO's) and charge via USB. They allow you to swap between Variable Voltage and Wattage, so you can take your pick. I have one of those as a backup and they work just fine without any issues. You just need to make sure you charge it 100% before using it (a full charge means the green light will turn off - if it's still lighting up, it's not 100%).


As for lower ohms, lower ohms work for me. They may not work for you. The lower you go, the warmer the vape. The higher you go, the cooler the vape. If I'm on a regulated device (eGO, VV/VW, SVD, Vamo, etc), I try to stay at the limit of the device, which is 1.3 ohms. In most cases, that requires that you rebuild coils, so the next logical step up is 1.5 ohms for prebuilt coils that are readily available.

As far as warm vapes go, 1.5 ohms isn't too warm. It's not cold like I would get from a 2-2.5 ohm, but it's not warm like a .5 ohm.