So my order from TFA just came in. Have everything else I need. I got a good mix of 20 flavors.
So I was just wondering what was everyone's first mixing experience like? Any unseen problems you ran into? Did you mix all your flavors and just taste test till you got to know all the flavors? Jump in head first into recipe mixing?
Just trying to get a feel for the do and do not's of starting mixing my own juice. I feel confident in my abilities but was wondering what your advice and/or experiences were...
Thanks!
If you're interested in creating your own recipes eventually, then yes, you should taste test all your flavors. Ideally you'd mix them at various percentages and take notes, but if you're not interested in that, mixing them at the recommended standalone percentages on ELR will give you a good idea of how each flavor is.
The one tip I learned from starting out (I'm nowhere near experienced) was that less is more. Try adding small amounts of flavors first and then add onto them if they do not produce flavor you are looking for. Also if you have gotten any strawberry from TFA the flavors tend to pop after a few days of steeping.
+1 to this. My biggest setback from my first few batches was realizing which flavour concentrates needed higher or lower percentages. I tried a trial by error approach instead of just immediately asking for the experts to tell me what to do to "fix" a recipe, which I think helps a lot more in the long run. Took about 40mls of testing to finally get a feel for how to work with TFA banana flavours without simply creating a banana eliquid.
Say it with me now. START SMALL. When I started I bought a box of 12x15mL bottles and mixed them all up willy nilly without using any recipes. Needless to say I was extremely defeated and it took some time to muster the courage to try again. 1 out of 12 was vapeable.
Nice! I just started 1 month ago. Also ordered about 25 flavors from TFA. I first mixed a 10ml recipe from ELR. It's mothers milk clone. It came out delicious. Since I only have 10 bottles of 15ml I am just mixing 5ml recipes to try, and with that I can have a good Idea of the result (after steeping). After 2 weeks if I still hate, i trow it away and boil the bottle and make a new recipe. Thats my suggestion, start with 5 ml.
Yes, if you want to be thorough, create small sample batches of the individual flavors at various concentrations. Make taste notes when you first mix and then properly steep them and make final taste notes.
My big problem starting out was patience, I wanted to start vaping and testing straight away. It took me about a month to finally learn to let things steep and develop.
I've found this to be true. A lot of people say that most anything without cream notes will be just as good shake and vape as it will days or weeks after the fact, but I've found that, while the flavours might not necessarily change with steeping, they meld together so much better after a few days.
- make small batches
- get to know your individual flavors
- develop micro-flavor profiles
I personally have developed 2 different strawberry bases (one produce, the other artificial) and now I'm working on s more complex custard base. After I have these I will be working to balance them together. I started with 2 strawberry flavors and mixed them individually, until I found a good % that I liked (8%) then I tried dripping them together, and I liked it. Wound up making a batch of 4/4% and enjoyed that. I have since then added other flavors for support.
Use the scientific method: only test one variable at a time.
I take each flavor and test it the old fashion way, i put it in my mouth hole. I add one drop to a shot glass of water and swish/swirl it around my mouth. I then take notes. This gives you a general idea of its flavor and strength when compared to other flavorings. Its not ideal but it is a starting point.