I used to use it but then I discovered that I used it because I was using way too much flavoring and I was trying to overcome the perfumey/chemical aspect of my poorly mixed juices. Each flavor has an acceptable percentage range. Too little and obviously you won't taste it, too much and it taste like chemicals.

After two years of making juice I'm starting to realize that you also have to take into account the longevity of a juice. Instead of just mixing a juice and tasting it right there you really have to vape it for an entire day. If you start to get that chemical taste in your mouth after an entire day you used too much. If the flavor disappears or shifts gears on you, you have to put a little more in.

IMHO the key to an all day vape is how moreish it is. If every vape makes you want to take another and another then you found a sweet spot. A lot of flavors are just terrible and nothing can be done but they are actually few and far between as long as you find the right percentages and also the right flavors to mix with them. In cooking (which is another big passion of mine) I season my food just enough to satisfy but not what most people would call "enough". Seasoning in culinary terms is only salt and pepper, using spices and herbs is called flavoring. Using a tiny bit less than what is expected creates the perception that you want more. I think flavoring juice can be the same way. Of course it all depends on the equipment you are using and what voltages. There are tons of variables to account for in DIY juice.

Added some sweetener to my strawberry banana menthol and it ruined it. Added some to my citrus punch. Ruined it. Added some to my sweet tea...ruined it. I'm throwing it away.

In my opinion, sweeter should be used seldom, and when used, preferably with a light hand. I've come into both cases: one where I'd found that sweetener totally ruined a flavor, another where it drastically improved it.

Sweetener, although supposedly considered to provide a neutral sweetening flavor, tends to lend a slight flavor of its own. Beyond that, I've noticed that different sweeteners have different effects on your palate:

Super sweet (CAPS): at higher than 1% this begins to add a Stevia-like sweetness, which to many will appear very chemical. I've found, however, that Super Sweet also tends to add a juiciness to the vape, taking what was once a mouth-drying inhale, and making it more wet, if that makes any sense.

Ethyl Maltol 10% (TFA): Much like marshmallow, this not only adds sweetness, but it helps blend flavors. Like every sweetener, it has a slight muting effect, and again, I wouldn't advise it above 1% unless you're intending to use cotton candy as one of your flavors, in which case I would recommend TFA's Cotton Candy over Ethyl Maltol.

Sweetener (TFA): This has, so far, been my least favorite of the three sweeteners I've tried; it also tends to mute flavors more so than the aforementioned. I wouldn't use this above 0.5% if at all.

The bottom line is that sweeteners are good in certain respects and shouldn't be discarded entirely, but they should be used sparingly. First try Brown Sugar (TFA), Toasted Marshmallow (TFA), Marshmallow (TFA), before going ahead and adding that sweetener. These three flavors tend to be more neutral and enhance the vape rather than detract from it.

Anyhow, that's my view, take it or leave it.

Never used it myself.

Sweetener would be the last thing you would add, after you have tried your recipe and you say "this is great but it needs to be a little sweeter." It shouldn't be something you add to a recipe because it sounds good.

I use marshmallow or em before I use sweetener. In fact I think my 8ml of sweetener from wizard labs is still full 6 months later.

http://www.reddit.com/r/DIY_eJuice/comments/1rwsd4/notes_additives_flavor_enhancers/

Edit: Figure I should add this too.

http://www.vapingunderground.com/threads/sweet-sticky.23374/

I never use it, and the juice doesn't need it. I can't vape it, which is one reason I started making my own juice in the first place.

I've only used sweetener once, and I wasn't impressed. I prefer to use another flavor to bring out the right sweetness (Bavarian cream, marshmallow, etc) or a tiny bit of EM instead.

It's practically useless.

I don't mind a lil EM in my mix. Sucralose is a crutch and I loathe it's presence in liquids.

Never used sweetener.

Frequently use 1-2% sour with fruit blends as it helps the fruit favors stand out.

I'm sure there are times that sweetener helps, but I've never made a mix that needed it.It doesn't help that every juice I've tried that did have sweetener in it gunked up my coils after just a tank or two. Like I said, I'm sure there are mixes that need it, and I wish I could help with some data, but gunky coils keep me away from it, so there's a data point that there are people (like me) that won't buy sweetened juice if we know it's in there.

Bought some, thinking it was EM. Saw afterwards that it was sucralose. Mixed a batch of 10% EM in PG instead. Never going to use sucralose or anything like it.

And EM I only use sparingly in a few recipes.

Depends on how you're referring to it. A specific brand (say TFA for example) flavor extract labeled 'Sweetener' may not be used very much. However as a recipe additive, sweetener of some sort is often used.

As u/iamgr3m mentioned, marshmallow, cotton candy, brown sugar, etc. is commonly used as a sweetener in place of TFA Sweetener when called for in a recipe.

I'm sure not everyone will agree with me, but I would advice some sort of sweetener if you plan on making many of the recipes found here. Not a requirement, just imho.

I uses koolada recently on two of my mixes and it ruined it. Regret buying the 6ml bottle ugh my life

Depends on your flavoring.

I use LA flavorings almost exclusively because convenience and since those are designed to flavor candy they're unsweetened. I'm working on a max VG DK-TAB for the spousal unit (don't ask, she likes it) and since flavoring is TFA no sweetener is required.

A friend of mine decided to try his hand at DIY and sent me a sample of his unsweetened LA cherry which was one of the most foul things I'd ever vaped. I told him to use 10% flavoring to start and about 3% cotton candy and the guy couldn't find cotton candy so he sent me his mix with 10% unsweetened cherry and the mix was beyond nasty.

I added the EM to his mix and sent it back to him; it was about a hundred times better than what he shipped me :)

So - it depends on the flavoring. Unsweetened flavoring might require sweetener.

Since I started thinking about it, the nastiest thing I've ever vaped? Glad you asked - when I made my first order from WL they sent me an 8ml bottle of Juicy Fruit and not having my glasses on, made several mistakes.

• First, WL doesn't sell finished juices. If I'd done my research I'd have known that.

• Second, this liquid was in an 8ml glass bottle. No dropper, no nothing. I had to stick a syringe in the bottle to get the stuff out. You can see that brain is really not working at this point.

So, I loaded up a tank and took a big old hit of undiluted Juicy Fruit flavoring. The thing that bugged me about the whole deal was there were a couple of points during this process that should have raised a flag, but I thought getting the sample was so cool I really had to try it.

Never again. I read labels before I put stuff in my lungs now :)