Obviously, some brands of flavorings are just straight up better than others. And consistency in how they are prepared makes a difference. However... what makes some juice just plain better than others? There are some juices I've tried that are just amazing - Steam Factory and Cosmic Fog are probably my favorites - whereas some brands just aren't as good.
So, besides brand of flavoring - how do I make my juice taste like it's premium juice?
I think it's a good recipe + MARKETING.. Most any DIYer can develop a good recipe... and i stress develop. A ton of proper development went into that juice. Put some money in for marketing (from brand name to juice name to logo to label design to bottle quality to label quality to websites to hype etc) And any great recipe can be turned into "Premium Juice."
i think a lot of these companies have one GREAT recipe.. that recipe may be perfectly complex, or perfectly simple. But they did it just right so that universally, a majority of pallets can enjoy it. That Premium juice, makes them a premium brand. and some people may love some of their other flavors, but in most cases it seems that there is one standout juice. I just think of the juices I used to buy, and now buy on occasion to vape every so often as an ego boost. I liked one juice from those brands.. Cosmic's Milk and Honey... Cuttwoods Unicorn Milk... OMG's WTF... etc. but I don't/didn't like anything else from those companies.. not even enough to buy them.
It's premium cause enough people buy it, the hype is there... so they can charge that premium and they are getting away with it.. We make them premium..
Most of the shit I try at vape shops.. i don't like.. so wtf is premium?
I'm gunna keep derailing. I thought I would be able to explain the way i see it... not so..
one more note... I was told by a reputable bar tender that smirnoff wins every time in a blind taste test... I called bullshit. But I one day my girlfriend wanted vodka, so I picked up some smirnoff out of curiosity.. I am usually of the thought that price indicates quality when it comes to liquor... and it does with things like whiskey that needs proper aging... but vodka should taste like nothing... just the water used to make it. So now i make ppl do the blind test. I always do it with a pricier vodka.. something with a nice label... lots of cool factor.. something from whole foods.
everytime.. smirnoff wins... with a lower price tag... is smirnoff premium? no.. I don't think it is. Is it superior to other vodka.. I sure as hell think so, and will argue the hell outta that one. so again... wtf is premium??
$.02 in, anecdote over. thanks for reading. I enjoy this discussion, because I too am baffled, less by what is in the juice than by how they got such accolade.
You're right, though. They've created a good product, which is exceptionally delicious. The whole point of flavored vapes is to use something that tastes good. It tastes good, so there's more demand. More demand allows the retailer to command a higher price.
I don't think there's anything inherently different about the juice, just like there's nothing different between the top and bottom songs on music charts. Same type ingredients, different mixture.
I am certainly no expert and I don't make juice professionally, but from my time making juice I think what has made a few taste more premium is two things: 1. getting the main flavor percentages just right balancing the main ingredients and 2. getting a number of complimentary accent flavors in very small percentages.
The accent flavors are not detectible as flavors but they make the entire blend more rich, deeper. A great example is this Mother's Milk Clone where the Orange Cream and Pear are small percentage accents and perfectly balance each other. Another is Ultimate Oreo's Custard
EDIT: fix link formatting
The sticker on the bottle and the branding of the company multiplied by the hive mind of consumers
It's not just that though! I've tried juices from mediocre brands and premium brands back to back, and there's a definite difference. The flavors are clearer, more precise, and often have more depth to them (IMO).
> there's a definite difference ... (IMO)
Pretty sure those two statements are mutually exclusive. :P
Please don't take this as me saying you're flat out wrong, it's definitely possible you're right here, I don't know, but I don't see how you can assert "premium" brands are objectively better than "mediocre" brands without taking any steps to rule out cognitive bias.
Best way to do that would be blind testing (ideally double-blind & n>1), but if you've got a couple of friends who'd be game this can give you a good idea if it's just your brain messing with you or not. Method's pretty straightforward if you've studied/done this sort of thing before, but no worries if not & I'd be happy to give ya a good example or even describe step by step how to do that if you want.
Of course if you've already gone this far and your hypothesis held up feel free to tell me to STFU/GTFO. :P
That's not what I meant - I was trying to say that in my opinion, there is a clear difference between lower end juice and premium juice.
I'm probably still dead wrong, but that's ok!
I haven't done anything of the sort, this was just an idea that's been bouncing around in my head the last few days as I wait for my DIY order to come on... There's clearly something that separates fantastic juice from mediocre juice, and I want to know what it is so that I can replicate that. I'm sure a lot of it is marketing and hype, but I don't think it's just that.
A lot of it probably is premium marketing and people talking about it, but still. Maybe it would be interesting to do a blind taste test... the problem is getting two flavors that are the exact same, so you can't tell which is which just based on the flavor.
Well, that's the tricky thing. You kinda have to make educated guesses, figure out what the differences are flavor wise, and just plain try things until you hit something "good". From what I've noticed, it's a juggling act of contrasting flavors, while keeping it from getting too complex or over-flavored.
If you compare a place like MBV and a premium juice, the key difference is MBV will do a more or less straight Flavor West flavor juice, while a premium vendor will take a handful of various flavors at various concentrations that they determined via trial and error while developing the flavor. It's the difference between using flavorings, and making flavorings yourself.
I have found that premium juice is better blended in the flavor department, like everyone else here has said. But...it is also hyped up beyond belief and marketed as the best shit on earth. Do they taste better than cheaper juices...marginally, yes. Are they worth $30 a bottle...certainly not in my book.
$30 a bottle is too much... and a lot of why I pulled the trigger on DIY supplies. I'll pay 19 for a 30ml, 20-22 if it's really good juice. Doing that every week gets expensive.
What I have learned is, when making juice the flavor is the most expensive part of the production. Premium juice producers will use the exact amount of flavoring, while average juice producers will skimp on the flavor to make more money. If you can slightly taste a flavor, then it is low quality. If you get a full robust flavor then you are vaping quality.
I know this is very basic but I think some premium juices simply have more VG than the average person is used to.
I think if you think of the flavor as high notes mid notes and low notes, you can kind of craft a symphony of flavors in the right proportions as well. Also much more R&D going in to developing the flavors.
I agree with the whole one flavor being their best per manufacture theory. I hate that a company can really rake in the bucks just because you have a cool sticker on the bottle. People are stupid.
In my mind, low end juice is one of my local B&Ms. Their flavor book shows almost nothing but straight single flavor mixes from TFA and Capella, none of them are very flavorful, and most have no real depth to the flavor.
When I get something "premium", its usually a proper recipe, blended from multiple flavors and obviously worked on for quite a while. One shop near me spent 2 months trying to make a flavor that tastes like a particular japanese grape (kyoho), and it tastes exactly like the real thing. It feels juicy in my mouth, and doesnt have any funny aftertastes. Thats the difference in my mind. Also, marketing for sure is a huge part.
My key lime pie currently uses 6 different flavorings at 21% total flavoring. It tastes great, but still isnt perfect, I've been working on this for weeks. I've been marketing it the whole time too, giving samples of the current recipe, seeing how it goes, getting second opinions. I need to lower one part and raise another after the latest batch, but its getting close. This is a big part of what makes a juice premium, hyping people up
if you want to make a premium juice take a really nice flavor and over flavor the crap out of some nic base and slap a 30 dollar price tag on it.