But now it's gone....
So I can smell TFA Strawberry Ripe easily. Like a lovely punch to the senses when I take a whiff out of the bottle. It also features prominently in the aroma of my favorite commercial juice (ADV Saratoga). I never really tasted it much in that juice and I just chalked it up to it having such other great flavors that I was focused on them more.
I've been trying to clone Saratoga for a few months now, but it wasn't until recently that I wised up (by listening to the Beginner's Blending podcast) and started doing single flavor testing. It was then I realized I just couldn't taste it, which could help explain some of my difficulties in cloning. All I tasted was ethyl maltol. Ramped up %, added sweetener, dragonfruit, tfa strawberry... Never brought it out for me. I guess I'm part of this club.
Until today. I went and had a dental cleaning. Water-pik thing, scraping, and this mint polishish paste, then diluted listerine rinse. Got back in the car, vaped on another mix I had just to see if my tasters were gonna let me taste anything at all, and I could taste just fine. So I gave myself the green light to go to my favorite juice.... And there it was. Strawberry effing Ripe. Clear as day and finally I could taste what I'd always smelled from the bottle. Brought the juice to a level above what I had experienced before. I figured wow, my dental hygiene must just be terrible and if I stay on top of it, I'll be good to go!
However, a few hours later and it's gone again. Tried rinsing with listerine, no dice. Brushed and rinsed, no dice. I'm so sad now. I can only think that something in that mint polishing paste woke up my strawberry ripe sensors but they're back asleep again.
Anybody have any experiences like this, or have any other ideas what I might try to bring it back?
You should consider introducing two frankly revolting tools into your life: a tongue scraper and a neti pot. I always assumed brushing my tongue did the trick, but turns out we're actually beating the hell out of our taste buds when we do this. A scraper gets rid of the gunk much more gently and effectively.
The neti pot, while disgusting also, will flush out your sinuses, which is helpful as almost all of our vaping joy is olfactory.
Additionally, try a mix of strawberry flavors, as strawberry was always a weak one for me, until I combined Strawberry Ripe with CAP Sweet Strawberry, and INW Strawberry Shisha.
Most importantly, though, avoid Listerine like the plague. Brush, floss, scrape your tongue and rinse with a mix of warm water and salt instead. Listerine is loaded with drying alcohol and strongly flavored antiseptics that can really muddy the waters. If I rinse with Listerine, all of my vapes end up tasting like milk soured with pickle brine, which is weird and gross and gives me the sads.
Oh, and of course, drink absurd amounts of water.
You could be onto something with the sinuses. I do suffer from chronic congestion. Before I went to the dentist I fired a hefty dose of flonase up there. Combined with the laying back for half hour, maybe I was just more cleared up than normal? I've seen memes of the neti pot girl and it's creepy but maybe I'll give that a shot. That might explain why I can smell it so easily but when it enters through my mouth it doesn't make its way to my olfactory registers because of congestion.....
Neti pots are gross, no doubt, and I resisted getting one for years, despite the hype. Then I caught my first cold in three years last winter, and I was so desperate to breathe, that I caved in. Instant convert.
Don't get me wrong, it still squicks me out every time I use it, but the way it ratchets up my sense of taste and smell along with the glory of unimpeded breathing? Lovely.
Youtube... Neti pot fail is funny... Anyway... I've heard of the Strawberry Ripe resistant people. So sad that you can't taste the flavor. It's one of my favorites. It sounds weird but make sure you're drinking plenty of water. I find that my juices taste very bland when I'm dehydrated.
Yes! All of this. Although, I'm a daily listerine addict. Can't find anything to keep the dragon at bay that'll fit in my pocket (can't chew gum).
Neti pots are damn awesome. Also, try 3-4% INW Eukaliptus Z Mieta standalone. That'll clear out that palette (and to a lesser degree your sinuses as well).
Hell to the yeah; I've got a tank pre-loaded with 3% Eucalyptus + Mint on hand at all times!
Do they still make those Listerine breath strips? I remember carrying one of those packs in my pocket on a particularly humid day, and when I went to dispense one, I accidentally dispensed, like, all of them at once, which stuck to the roof of my mouth and ruined me for life.
Little bottles of alcohol-free spearmint binaca from then on. My eyes water just thinking about it.
I think they do still make the PTSD waiting to happen strips. I did the same damn thing. Looked like a fucking idiot trying to scrape them back out of my mouth before all 20 of them dissolved. Now I carry the little spray bottles. Some genius decided to use the same spray bottle for neosporin. I have never bought said neosporin because screwing that up in either direction will result in a really shitty day.
If you like grape and have TFA Grape juice, try 5% of it with 1 to 1.25% of INW EZM. They're a fun pair.
Have you tried a tongue scraper?
I haven't. I thought about that and did try and brush my tongue later but that just ruined my taste buds. But then realized they really didn't touch my tongue during the cleaning.
I'll try it though
I'm with you on the Strawberry Ripe , i am vaping Manson's Strawberry Shortcake Bar, (a favorite) but i just cannot taste the dang strawberry in it.
I've used neti pots for years, it's never affected my vapor tasting in any way, not saying it won't for you but it didn't for me. A tongue scraper was a game changer for me though, I barely tasted strawberry in any vape ever, every strawberry milk version I'd tasted previously tasted like room temperature milk and like a fake strawberry breathed it's dying breath in the house somewhere. Give it a shot, hope it works out for you too.
When it comes to actually taste-testing your flavors, I enjoy this following method (since I'm short on bottles and don't want to waste VG/PG).
Get yourself a shot glass, add a drop or two of your flavor and fill the rest up with water. Add the flavor before the water so the tap can homogenize the flavoring throughout the solution.
Super easy to get all the flavor notes. I do this with all of my new flavorings.
Woah never heard this method before. I'll try this later and compare it to simply mixing juice. Would save lots of time rewicking too.
I've also heard mixing it with whipped cream or cool whip is effective?
Uh, wewlad
As for that method specifically...I can't say that I've ever heard of it, much less used it. I mean, I see how it could work, but it might be problematic when testing cream/dairy flavors, depending on how what percent milkfat is used in the whipped cream.
I'll try it, now that you mentioned it.
Perhaps this is the problem:
> Ramped up %
Strawberry Ripe is a very strong flavour, and will quickly saturate and overwelm your taste buds. Overstimulated taste receptors stop working, so how do you prevent the overstimulation in the first place?
Lower the %. Still doesn't work? Still lower.
You've proved you can taste Strawberry Ripe at all, so you just need to find the right way to tease your taste buds into enjoying it.
I started at 1% and went up from there. It just never comes in. Just more and more ethyl. I've actually read before people saying it needs to be at high % for them so I went up to 10 before I quit. In my rage I also just dripped a couple drops straight from the flavor bottle into my RDA lol. In some other comment threads I think we've zeroed in on sinus blockage between my mouth and nose, which explains why I can smell it easily but when it goes through my mouth I get nothing.
Lots of people have trouble tasting strawberry. Your dental experience showed that you probably aren't one of those, and the way you described being able to taste then not taste lends credence to the idea that you are overwelming your senses.
Try .5%, and if that doesn't work try .25%. Keep it up in that manner until you can taste it.
You'll know when it works.