What am I doing wrong

[cloudkat]

I have started getting into DIY juices and I just can not seem to get any recipe to work for me.
As an example, I just made the Yellow Cake Batter listed here:
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/e-liquid-recipes/59517-yellow-cake-batter.html

Now, like Janet said in the second post, I like mine strong and sweet. So I followed her advice and doubled the flavors and added one drop of EM.

So, I used 60 drops of an 80/20 18mg base, added 10 drops Cappela's Vanilla Custard and 6 drops Cappela's Caramel, then topped it off with one drop of EM.

Now, granted, I only let it sit about 2 hours before trying it, but I can't taste anything. It is like vapeing air. It has just the very faintest hint of a flavor, but it is so soft i can not even tell what it is.

This happens to just about every flavor I try.

Am I expecting too much?? I want flavors to be very noticeable. Like the Atomic Cinnacide, Amareto Stone Sour, or Strawberry or Blueberry Cheesecake from TV.
I have bought a few pre-made flavors that were good, but I'll be damned if I can make a good strong flavor on my own.

I am so frustrated that I am seriously on the verge of just giving up the whole DIY stuff and just settle for pre-made flavors. But I HAT to give up, especially since I have invested alot of time and money into this already.

I don't care if it hair-lips Hell, I want to make my own unique flavors.
Anyone have a clue as to what I may be doing wrong??
PLEASE help me !!!!

BTW: I am using a stock Tornado in case you want to know. I am thinking about getting a couple of LV attys for it if it would help.

 

[Hoosier]

Here's one. Drops.

Think about it... If a drop out of a Capella bottle is between 33-36 drops per ml (my measurements) and if you are using a good pipette that meters out water around 20-22 drops per ml (again measuring from pipettes I have) your flavor percentage is way under the 22% you were shooting for.

Now, PG/VG mix will produce a larger drop than water unless it is quite thin, so you are further off.

Also note that those of us doing these things on the DIY Liquid thread are used to tweaking the recipes posted by others.

Simply, you quit and that results in a failed juice. If you were to change your measuring equipment, or be willing to try adding more flavor, in the same ratio, you might still come out with a hit.

Drops are a horrible way to measure things, but I do it all the time. I just compensate for my equipment and my liquid. (Drip the liquid under test into a graduated cylinder and count what it takes to get to each ml mark then take an average and pour the cylinder back into the bottle)

Gotta' know what a drop means before it is close to useful.

Try some more flavor & taste again. Bet you get closer. Repeat as needed.

 

[cloudkat]

That made sense so I did some testing.
My nic juice dropper is at approximately 30 drops/ml.
My Capella's are the same as yours, just on the high end because mine average about 36-40.

So even though the drops looked the same size, there is enough of a difference that over the course of a couple of mils I am throwing my flavor percentages way out.

So after recalculating my original cake batter juice I came up with this:
I used 60 drops of nic which actually equals 2 ml for my dropper.
Since I know that my Capellas drop at about 40 per ml and i want a 25% flavor I would have to use a total of 20 drops of flavor total.
2ml nic = 80 drops flavor at 40 drops per ml, thus 25% of the 80 means I would need 20 drops of flavor total to get the 25%.

Am I figuring this correctly?

 

[cloudkat]

Can having too much flavor actually kill the taste to where it doesn't have a taste at all?

 

[Hoosier]

0.5ml of flavor + 2ml of base = 0.5/2.5*100% = 20%.

Work for you? Remember the percentage is based off of total volume.

And, yes, oddly too much flavor can kill the taste, so finding that balance can be tricky. Some flavors are less forgiving than others, but I am unsure about this recipe as I have never tried it.

 

[leannebug]

Hey CK. Have you read through Pure's post on DIY? It's very very good. There are also several other threads that address various topics. I posted some here.

It's a lot of trial and error. I have tried making some juices and just get poo, and then others and come out with better than I can buy. My best advice? Work with small quantities, so if you do mess up, it won't be so hard to toss it

 

[GoodDog]

Two hours isn't long enough to let it sit for some flavors. I have found a couple of days changes some, like chocolate, dramatically.

 

[PaulCincy]

Hello, and of course, you can always do what I do....Just add all the bad tasting juice together and hope for the best.....6 different flavors in one bottle....Don't know what it tastes like exactly, but at least I can vape it now....and it is better then the six ones I had that were just collecting dust... Enjoy...

 

[cloudkat]

Just add all the bad tasting juice together and hope for the best.....6 different flavors in one bottle

LMAO.. Actually I did that with a couple of coffee mixes I was working with. The end result turned out pretty good. The only problem with it is that I can't reproduce it now because of the 3 different mixes. Bummer.

 

[leannebug]

LMAO.. Actually I did that with a couple of coffee mixes I was working with. The end result turned out pretty good. The only problem with it is that I can't reproduce it now because of the 3 different mixes. Bummer.

Some of my favorite flavors are mixes like that, that people have sent me