What is the best way to test new recipes since the generally need to steep?
100 drop test 4 lyfe. Drop 1 drop of flavor for every 1% in your recipe directly into the bottle. Drop the remaining 100 in PG / VG. Shake, hot bath, sample.
Id like to try this but for some reason I don't understand... what exactly do I do to try this 100 drop test?
I drip directly into a regular 5mL bottle. A 10mL bottle would work alright, you usually get about ~4mL but obviously your drops are not my drops.
You start off with the base recipe you're wanting to try, and make the initial tester. Let's say it's this Snake Oil just for simplicity:
Bavarian Cream (TFA) 3%
Coconut Extra (TFA) 1%
Pear (TFA) 9%
Your first 100 drop tester is not creamy enough so you decide to adjust, you can dump out the remainder of the 100 drop test bottle and reuse it if you like (since the recipe base is going to be near-identical), and re-drop with 5% Bavarian Cream & 2% Coconut Extra. Once you find a flavor balance you like, you can make an actual batch. This is the quickest and simplest way to workshop a flavor blend without wasting a bunch of ingredients and bases.
You can also play around with the method... for example, create several variations on the recipe at once with the 100 drop method and taste-test them side-by-side (just be sure to label and record each recipe first). Alternatively, if you really don't wanna be wasteful, and you decide that you just need to see if your previous 100 drop test could benefit from a tweak, you could add one additional drop of flavoring to the finished drop test to alter the recipe slightly by 1% per flavor drop. Adding a couple extra drops of flavoring doesn't alter the percentages TOO significantly, so your 102 final drops recipe with the adjusted percentages is still valid. It's a great method.
That's such a great method! I almost want to go back and rework my established flavors with this. Def gonna work all future flavors this way.
I make a 3 ml sample.
Shake and vape.
Then hot water bath. Vape again.
Then top off for a week testing everyday.
This.
Especially the shake and vape part. Many people think they should leave this out, that juices HAVE to steep before vaping. They don't... many juices are delicious freshly mixed, and besides if you don't try it fresh how can you know how steeping affected it?