I have been trying diy for about 2 months and everything I make pretty much sucks. I have tried a couple clones and various recipes I have seen around here. I'm measuring by weight I have mostly tfa flavors and essential depot pg/VG wizard labs nic. Everything tastes really alcoholly and chemically. I have been trying to make fruity flavors, strawberry, melon that sorta taste area. I generally use 5-8% flavor its getting very frustrating. The juices I make have been tolerable in a kayfun but if i drip them there horrible, using a tobh Atty at about .75 ohms. What am I missing?
Do most juice companies do some sort of quick steep process before sending there juices out? Does everyone heat there juices or do some sort of steep?
Should the flavor be somewhat correct right from the start? Like you would be able to tell if its a good mix right away or does it always have to steep?
Do you shake each flavor bottle and your nic before you add them?
Not sure if this has been asked (TLDR), but have you tried mixing just your base and nic? (ie just pg/vg and nic no flavor) and vape that? If that tastes shitty, then there's your problem (one of your bases or nic is contaminated/bad).
If they taste chemically they probably need curing. If they smell perfumey they probably need to breathe. Look into a heat or UC curing method, but even after treatment give them a few days in the dark to relax.
Does generally every juice need curing? Generally if you make a good juice should it taste OK at first then get better? Or can it taste awful and after curing taste great?
Both can be true. More complicated mixes, heavier mixes, custards, and tobaccos are all generally bad right out of the mix depending on whose flavors you use. The only time I've had a mix get worse after curing is when it contained too many additives.
do you mean 5-8% flavoring in total, or per each flavor you add? If that's total, then you're likely getting under flavored juice.
I mean 5-8% per flavor
FWIW, if you're using 4-5 flavors at 5-8% each, you might be using too much. My flavor totals rarely exceed 20% and with stronger concentrates can be a lot less. My last mix used 4 flavors and ended up at 6% total flavor and is still really strong.
Maybe less is more in this case?
Don't get me wrong, I'm very new and I've made a few things that were pretty meh, but I've never made anything terrible.
I second the steeping suggestion. I've had a couple juices now that were incredibly disappointing originally turn into pretty reasonable vapes after a week or so.
List us some of your flavors. Then let one of the vets here give you a recipe that will taste good. If it turns out horrible, we'll know it is something else. Have you tried any of the clone recipes yet? All the popular ones (Phoney Peary, Snake Oil, etc) are 'community approved'.
Also, unless they've changed it, Wizard Lab's VG is shit. Smell it, is it odorless or does it smell 'chemically'?
I just switched from wizard labs pg/ vg to essential depot from amazon. I tried making the honey Peary clone and it tasted very dull on a Kay fun like almost no flavor and when I tried dripping it was pretty bad. All my flavors I have ordered from wizard labs or tfa direct.
Let me get back to my house and I will list my flavors
I'm going to jump in here and say "it really depends." Most flavors will need time to properly homogenize. If your honey pearry clone is anything like mine, it takes 3 days before it's vapable. Better after a week. I have very few that are good to go right away. Tobacco is notorious for needing 2-4 weeks.
Most of it just comes down to experimenting, patience, and learning how certain flavors behave (TFA strawberry ripe for example. Love it! But takes about 3 days to settle and blend.) I don't do any water baths, microwaves, ultrasonic screwdriver upside down rain dance stuff myself. I always have juice going in various stages.
I use my TOBH to taste test mine. My usual procedure when mixing something new is to add equal parts of all the flavors I want. And then I'll put it in a hot water bath (let the Kureg brew just a cup of hot water) then drip a few drops and decide what flavors i want more of. Add. Heat. Repeat.
What is the coil your running? What % do you usually start with?
.65 coil, and it depends on the flavors and how many. I'm getting a little better at finding the sweet spot for some flavors.
This Pineapple/tangerine concoction I'm trying to perfect I started at 2% pineapple, 2% tangerine and 1% guava just because I didn't want it to be a strong flavor in the mix. I hit it a few times and added a bit more pineapple till I got to about 4%. It's close to perfect still missing something I can't figure out though.
What is your PG/VG ratio? When dripping, does it taste kind of burnt, or just generally not good?
Just generally not good, like there is no depth to the flavors
It's very difficult to find a good strawberry that doesn't taste chemically, Capella's makes a good one. What other TFA flavors do you have on hand? Let's see if we can whip you up something vape worthy
OK this is what I have...
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TFA
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Honey Dew
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Cantaloupe
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Pear
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Pineapple
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Watermelon
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Watermelon Candy
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Strawberry
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Ripe Strawberry
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Grape Candy
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Cotton Candy
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Strawberry & Cream
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Papaya
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Whipped Cream
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Sweet Cream
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bubblegum
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Bavarian Cream
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Peanut Butter
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Vanilla Cupcake
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Cola Cherry
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Graham Cracker
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Ripe Banana
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Pie Crust
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Sour
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French Vanilla
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Lemon
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Vanilla Swirl
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Orange Cream
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Mango
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peach
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Banana Cream
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Sweetner
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Koolada
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Menthol
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Vanilla Custard
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sour
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EM
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CAP
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Sweet STrawberry
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Vanilla Custard
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French Vanilla
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Lorann
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Watermelon
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Strawberry
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Banana Cream
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Apricot
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Pear
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FA
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Strawberry
If you're mixing by weigh, what are you imputing as the weight of your vg/pg ang flavoring?
What cotton are you using?
CVS Organic cotton
Are you using new cotton every 3 min to test? I found the cvs brand of org cotton still has a taste and needs a break in. I don't diy yet but maybe dripping on some straight vg before dropping your mix might help?
Are you letting the juices steep?
try leaving a mix uncapped overnight.... that will help dissapate perfumeyness and alcohol. you can try "speed steeping" in a warm waterbath as well (i use a crockpot on its lowest setting overnight after 30 minutes in an ultrasonic cleaner). also, shake your mixes before dripping/tanking: this can help distribute flavoribg that may otherwise float to the top. good luck!