I have been doing DIY e liquids for about a year now. A few months in to DIY I remember making super sweet juices that I loved. I now find it hard to recreate the sweetness I had in those mixes. As I did a fair bit of experimenting and new to DIY, I did not bother writing the exact recipes down (really regret it). I can't even remember the exact PG/VG ratios, as previously I was not aware that the nicotine and flavours that I used in the mix counted towards the PG ratio. Based on my lack of knowledge at the time I think it ended up being 50/50 ratio when my intention was 70vg/30pg. Now I find it really hard to get the same sweetness without muting the flavour. From all the research I have done, this is what I have gathered.
Sucralose and EM can be used, however different people say that one mutes the flavour more than the other.
Recommended amount is 1 or 2 drops per 10ml. cotton candy, caramel and brown sugar can all be used as a substitute, without much impact on flavour.
Now having experimented with most of those, I still find it hard to get sweetness similar to Beard Vape no.32 (60VG/40PG) and 12 monkeys Mangabeys 80VG/20PG), which are 2 of my favourite juices and their flavour is definitely not muted. I tend not to buy them often due to the cost.
So here are my questions:
1: Does the brand of VG affect the sweetness?
2: Does the PG/VG ratio affect sweetners? (I know VG is supposed to be the sweeter substance, but my previous juices that I liked were heavier on PG than my current mixes)
In relation to the above question VG is made from palm, soy and coconut oils. Does that mean one brand may contain more coconut and therefore be more sweeter? ( I used to use Totally wickeds VG, but was too expensive £2.99 for 100ml. Afterwards started using Boots VG and now moved Vapable.com own brand VG).
4: How do I achieve a similar level of sweetness without muting the rest of the flavour? (like the store bought juice).
5: Does sucralose deteriorate with time as my Capella sucralose is over 7 months old? (same brand I used previously).
6: If anyone from the UK recommends a particular brand of VG that is not too expensive, I am open to suggestions.
On a side note the PG and Nicotine brands that I used have not changed throughout the process.
This is my first post on this sub, so apologies if there is too much unnecessary information.
Thanks in advance.
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It can, depending on quality and handling.
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It can, depending on quality and manufacturing process of both diluents.
~~3. If your VG is made from oils, buy different PG.~~ fuckin ignore this.
/4. Sucralose. Tons of it.
/5. Not really, sucralose isn't highly volatile like most other concentrates.
>If your VG is made from oils, buy different PG.
Buy different V, i assume
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Not sure, can't say I've noticed a difference in my mixes with different brands. I've used totally wicked's, lubrisolve's and darkstar's, and of the three, my favourite (just by how it tastes on it's own) is lubrisolve's. TW's is aqueous, so watered down, darkstar's tastes a little chemical-y, but lubrisolve's just tastes cleanest.
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Yes, definitely, though it depends on how wet your vape is. With a dry vape, I can't tell the difference, but with a wet, drink-your-juice dripper, higher VG is definitely sweeter.
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No idea on that, though of the three VG's I've tried, can't say I've noticed a difference in overall sweetness between them.
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Personally I prefer using flavours to give me the sweetness, rather than sucralose or EM. They gunk your coils less, mute other flavours less, and you can match the flavour to your mix. I'm an FA fanboy, but I'll use FA meringue for a light sweetness (my most used, it really is brilliant), marshmallow for a thicker, creamier sweetness, and joy for sweetness in a bakery vape.
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Not sure, but a quick google suggests sucralose has a very long shelf life, so I can't imagine it degrades much.
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Lubrisolve, on eBay, is one of the cheapest and best IMO. Darkstar is good too, but only cheaper if you make a big enough order to get 15% off PG and VG.
Do you mind if I ask what you mean when you say a "wet" vape?
When you put a fairly beefy coil in a dripper and blast it at a high wattage just after dripping, chances are pretty high you end up with juice in your mouth. Tastes delicious but some people don't like the feeling. That's a wet vape, more juice in the wicks, with the power to push a load into your mouth.
A dry vape is more like your mouth-to-lung style low powered vape, where the flavour comes from the vapour itself and not juice in your mouth. It varies of course, you can get dry and wet vapes at any wattage, but generally speaking the closer your mouth is to the coils and the higher the wattage, the wetter the vape will be.
CAP Sweetner (Sucralose) at .5% for sweet and 2% for retarded vendor sweet. This is my personal experience.
Add a percent or two of TFA Sweetener to your recipes and it'll be sweet as balls. Capella Super Sweet is going to be double the strength of TFA Sweetener I believe so if that's all you have, use maybe 0.5-1% of that. I have read a few times on here that CAP Super Sweet is no bueno, though because it contains some nasty preservatives. Search for CAP Super Sweet in the search bar and you'll probably find some info.
Edit: Here's some info on CAP Super Sweet that should really be seen by more people here because I'm sure a good amount of people use CAP Super Sweet!
Isn't TFA Sweetener and Capella Super Sweet the same thing (sucralose)? Capella's one is just more intense.
Welcome to the sub. I'll give a go at answering some of these questions.
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I haven't noticed any difference between brands of VG and what they are based off of. HOWEVER, I can taste if the VG is soy based or not.
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Worse comes to worse, make the same recipe at max VG, and one at a different ratio and test it out. I don't believe that makes a difference, but I've seen some weird things happen.
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See 1.
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Lets say your working with creams. Using about 1% whipped cream will add a noticable amount of sweatness. Personally I use either whipped cream, cotton candy/EM, or caramel/sugar cookie depending on the type of flavor I'm looking for.
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I don't believe so, but then again i don't mess with it that often. Someone else might be better off answering that then I.
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Does not apply for me.
Thanks in terms of creams, are there any creams that you would recommend for sweetness. I never know which cream is going to be sweeter.
- Yes- but not so much as you'd notice. I noticed almost no difference between essential depot and bulk apothecary- Nude Nicotine VG is ever so slightly sweeter to me.
- Yes
- Yes, one brand might extract VG from different materials, but again you won't see a major difference unless its a shit product.
- Over flavor the shit out of your juice, add 2% Sucralose, and start selling at $20 a bottle
- Best used by a 1 year shelf life, also depending on how you store it
- Looks like pricing isn't too bad on amazon UK
Also just checking my notes which may be out of date- MSDS on TFA is sucralose 10%+ . Capella is 15% Splenda brand sucralose, in water with preservatives; Water, Sucralose, Citric Acid, Sodium Citrate, Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Benzoate
Edit- reposting my previous notes;
Sucralose adds a lot of sugar flavoring very quickly, use very sparingly for creams and desert flavors. If you use too much, you will only taste burning sugar/caramel. Brown sugar Extra is very similar to sucralose, but is more palatable with similar flavors like caramel and dulce de leche. Sucralose will cause coils to blacken and crust. Marshmallow adds sweetness and a hint of very sugary cream at very low percentages, but it can hide savory top notes. Ethyl maltol adds lingering sweetness and is very, very strong. It will mute flavors over time, especially piquant tropical or citrus flavors. I'd recommend it for fruit flavors at 3-12 drops per 30ml depending on the recipe, you will likely have to alter flavor percentages to account for it, but you won't know for sure until 3-5 days after blending.
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I don't think so but quality will be different.
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PG carries flavor and sweeteners better.
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I never had problems with using sucralose and muting flavors. EM will do that though.
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It shouldn't as long as it isn't sitting around with the cap off or longer than 1 year.
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Can't help you there.
VG does have a bit of inherent sweetness and flavor, though you won't notice this much after flavors are added, so I wouldn't rely on it to impact the sweetness. Typically you want one with the least amount of flavor/sweetness so you know it doesn't impact the recipe at all.
True, VG is made from palm/coconut/soy but I don't believe it's from the oils. The VG I use is made primarily from palm and as a standalone it tastes kind of like a semi-sweet hint of coconut.
I'd recommend for a good sweet juice to use sweet flavorings and then bump the sweetness up a touch with sweeteners if needed. This will give you a more well-rounded sweet flavor than just adding straight up sweetener.