I'm making juices with only a single flavor and VG. I have TFA lemon, kiwi double, horchata smooth, pina colada, then i got Capella's juicy orange, and loranns chocolate hazelnut.
My first batch I mixed 6 bottle each a single flavor 10%/90% VG , I can taste them but very underwhelming and muted, while using both RDA and tanks.
I then mixed up the TFA lemon and seperately the CAP juicy orange at 20%/80% VG and still not really noticing much of a difference.
What percentage do you guys mix your flavors at for a single flavor and VG juice? Most juices i've bought seem to have wayyyy more flavor but I feel like putting 50% flavor seems wrong for some reason.
How long did you wait? You just did a shake and vape, didn't you? DIDN'T YOU!! Your citrus/fruit flavors need at least a week, preferably 2. The Horchata may take a bit longer. Or maybe that's not the problem but I swear, 90% of "why are my flavors muted" questios can be answered with 'Age'.
The 20% orange is atleast a week old, and all 10% flavors are atleast 2 weeks old, and when they were first mixed, I had them in a ultrasonic cleaner with 130 degree water for at least an hour, and all shaken vigorously.
It usually just depends on the flavors. For those flavors specifically, I cannot say because i do not use them, but I've made single flavor juices as low as 3 percent.
Those may be weak flavors alone and may require an upwards of ten percent or greater to be what you are looking for.
I recommend making a mix with more than one flavor if you don't feel comfortable using high percentages.
I'm running into this issue as well. Not sure about TFA, but I use all Capella (cup of joe, cappucino, espresso, chocolate glazed donut, hazelnut, sweet cream), and the flavors are so muted.
I had about 40% flavoring in a 50/50 mix, and it started to taste pretty decent. But then I was told I'm using waaaay too much, so I dropped it down to around 12~14% flavoring. Taste is there, just not as strong as I'd like.
I haven't ventured out into anything besides CAP flavors, but my mixes are typically 15-20% flavor. They seems to come out pretty well.
Also, maybe let them steep awhile? I know my juicy lemon / van custard takes about a week to start to pop.
I thought so too, but I pop them in my ultrasonic cleaner at around 120° for 1.5~2 hours right after I make the mix.
I'm on the fence about the ultrasonic cleaner steeping method. I use my ultrasonic for cleaning my glass, not for steeping. I personally don't believe that an ultrasonic can substitute for a good steep.
For example, the lemon / vc mix I have turns from clear to a bright orange / rust color after about a week. I don't think an ultrasonic can speed that up.
Time takes time, you know?
The very best thing you can do is go to http://dot1ml.com/flavourings and search your extract. This will tell you the average % used in recipes. What this does is give you an idea of where the sweet spot is for that extract.
I can tell you from experience that Capellas Juicy Orange is weak as hell in general and I've been very disappointed by this as I've yet to find an orange that is satisfactory.
Horchata smooth is sweet and weak and nothing like horchata. TFA Horchata original is perfect. I have an ADV with a horchata component and its wonderful. I've only ever used Horchata smooth as a sweetener for some liquids.
The next thing to consider is VG, which dulls all flavor.
Also, I run mine through the ultrasonic for at least 4 hours (with boiling water as you do too). Especially if it has vanilla.