My first attempt at DIY I whipped up 6 different flavors, notes after warm steep & two days in the cupboard:
Strawberry Cheesecake: Cheesecake graham crust (TFA) 6%, Strawberry Ripe (TPA) 10%...subtle strawberry flavor, nice mellow cheesecake
Raspberry Vanilla Ice Cream: Raspberry Sweet (TFA) 5%, VBIC (CAP) 8%...day 1 predominately raspberry, VBIC not there, day 2 raspberry has dropped off & VIBC has come thru
Blueberry Danish: Blueberry (Cap) 8%, Cinnamon Danish (TPA) 2%...initially strong danish, no BB flavor, day 2 danish has calmed down to mellow on xhale, still not enough BB
Strawberry Banana Cheesecake: Banana Cream (TPA) 5%, Strawberry Ripe (TPA) 5%, Cheesecake graham crust ((TPA) 8%, Whipped cream (CAP) 3%...initially creamy xhale, no fruits coming thru, day 2 slight fruit predominately banana, cheesecake & cream came up to nice creamy xhale.
Strawberry, peaches & cream: DX sweet cream (TPA) 5%, Juicy peach (TPA) 5%, Strawberry ripe (TPA) 2.5%, Sweet strawberry (CAP) 2.5%...initially peach predominate, slight strawberry, some creaminess. day 2 peach still predominates but not as strong, strawberry has dropped off and creaminess has come up.
Nannies Titties recipe here: http://e-liquid-recipes.com/recipe/303316/Nannies+Titties# ...initially nice creamy cinnamon cake flavor, day 2 Apple pie is coming up with nice cinnamon cake xhale. Nannies Titties is just the tits :) and I think will only get better with time.
So what have I learned so far? For my taste I think I need to go a little higher on my percentages on my fruits especially the Blueberry & Strawberry, as I find them lacking in all these mixes. Will they come up with further steeping? I'm not sure. What do y'all have to say?
Raspberry is a very potent flavor I would suggest using much less if you want more VBIC also 8% VBIC probably could come down a bit as well.
Strawberry Ripe isn't really the best strawberry flavor to pit against a strong flavor like banana especially at a 1:1 ratio. You're not getting any fruits because you're using too much cheesecake and cream. I would lower the creams and the banana and use a more robust strawberry flavor like FLV, TFA Strawberry, or CAP Sweet Strawberry.
Same applies for your strawberry peach. Peach is going to be stronger than strawberry so to find balance you need to up that strawberry percentage and back off on the peach. Steeping will help a strawberry + cream flavor get better most people suggest a minimum of one week steep time but ratios need to be on point first.
FME CAP blueberry is very mild and does not really give the blueberry taste even in high concentrations pair it with FA bilberry in a low percentage or try TFA blueberry wild or extra for a real blueberry taste.
Edit: Also TFA Cheesecake Graham crust and CAP VBIC can be extremely overpowering mixed in the percentages you are mixing it in which is why your fruit is not coming through. I typically use cheese cake at 4% or less, and VBIC at 5% or less.
I mixed my first 6 batches on Tuesday and I am having the same issues as you. I have no idea if I mixed everything properly because when I tried them, i didn't like what I tasted. I'm guessing I just need to steep a bit longer and be patient.
I'm just not getting the fruits so much. Like you I'm going to let them steep some more. None of mine came out totally horrible so I will in the end vape all of them, unless after a longer steep they turn into kerosene.
Well I know my impatience holds two problems.
First, I'm using a Max VG base.
Second, most of my flavors are considered "dessert", so they contain custards and similar flavors.
Both of which tend to take longer to develop. My Orange Creamsicle had a hint of orange and an awful exhale. Milk and Honey pretty much just had the bad exhale, maybe a hint of stale cookie. These tests were the next day after a hot water bath. There is no way i F'd up that badly so I think time is my only enemy here.