Okay so i am new to DIY started with few mixes but i can not come up with a good recipe for some reason. So when i match the flavors description from different sources they sound great to mix when i mix them they taste very disappointing.
For example: TFA RY4 Double @ 7% FA Cuban Supreme @ 3% *was expecting a nice caramel tobacco did not taste like tobacco to me or a proper caramel.Steeped for a week
Another try FA Forest Mix(Forest Fruit) 3.5% FA Fuji Apple 2.5% FA Coconut 1.5%
was expecting a nice berries with a hint of kinda coconut. tasted like harsh berries juice with something weird at the end obviously not coconut and steeped for 24 hours :( what i am doing wrong here.
Most of my juice around 45%PG:55%VG @ 5mg Nic on Nautilus mini with bvc coils
btw this is all the flavors i have got atm any suggestions.
**EDIT: Just a quick update on my experimental DIY journey. Well to start with thanks for everyone on their notes and comments and all the help.I did actually started to cut my % way down and experiment with only not more than 2 flavors. So what i have done is i mixed 2% of cuban supreme and 0.25% of FA Coconut and let me till you it doesn't taste bad at all it's actually a nice dry taste with a touch of vanilla not so tobacco as my experience about tobacco stops at when i used to smoke but very enjoyable with that hint of the coconut at the end and bit of sweetness on the inhale so i figured out and as from the notes that coconut is quite strong and i know for a fact now what was ruining the fruit mix which was adding 1.5% of coconut up to this point btw that was shake and vape no steep and taste quite nice.
Someone is probably going to tell you to ask this in the New Mixer's Thread, but I'll try to provide some advice.
Situations like your's are why I think single-flavor testing is important. For instance, I absolutely hate CAP Caramel and Cake Batter, so even if I come across a decent-sounding recipe, if those flavors are involved, I'm probably not going to like it.
Also, taste is super subjective. Just because a recipe has really good reviews doesn't mean you'll love it, too. If I were you, I would find what profiles I like (dessert, fruit, etc.) and single-flavor test popular concentrates. Get an idea of what flavors you really like, and then search out recipes with those flavors.
I know when first starting out, the desire to jump in head first with recipe making is strong, but you'll save yourself a lot of time in the long run by just familiarizing yourself with flavors. It provides a solid base for you to work off of in the future.
Gospel. This 1 million percent.
And you only need 1 RDA. Cut your wicks as close to the end of the coil, test flavor. Rip out wick, replace with new after you dry fire the old juice off.
This seems simple enough! Is there any way to bypass actually mixing each flavor with VG in its own bottle? It would be great if I could just drip some vg, then a little drop of the concentrate. Is that stupid??
There's really no way around just mixing them up and trying them as a single flavor test. It sucks, but the grunt work pays off with knowing your flavors well on an individual basis.
Some people will mix a few drops of flavoring with whip cream, if you really want to try and make it an easier process - just keep in mind that this can't replicate vaping perfectly, because some of what you taste might not be detectable so well through vaping.
I bought a 10 pack of 10ml needle nose plastic bottles. I mix up 5ml at a time at different %'s in some. Quick note on each at different time periods.
As long at it keeps you off smokes, I'm not gonna call stupid. We all get there eventually. Some learn from the mistakes and ideas of others. Some prefer to learn by making their own mistakes.
On top of that, using flavors that you're familiar with in tandem with newer flavors helps you get a feel for how the flavors will respond to each other. If the OP had known how FA Fuji interacts with other flavors, he would know that, while 2.5% is a reasonable percentage for the flavor, FA fuji overpowers almost any other fruits.
Thanks for adding that very important point!
I also think this can be a reasonable method for testing new flavors that you wouldn't normally want to test on their own. Like, maybe you don't want to single-flavor test a graham cracker flavor since even at its best, it will likely be a bit dry or bland. Mixing it with a fruit or cream that you're already familiar with can easily show you how it plays with different profiles.
Edit: I still say single-flavor testing is most helpful. I just know that there are people who are either limited by time, money, or whatever and want to skip this. In this case, there are still things you can do to familiarize yourself with flavors.
I really appreciate your help i completely agree with what you say and those recipes was supposed to be the profile i like as i like fruits and i like tobacco. The problem here is i don't have RDA to test every single flavor but sounds like i need one now as testing single flavors would probably give me a better idea when mixing.
Also, when you get around to testing flavors, make sure you check out All the Flavors or ELR for recommended percentages.
Yes! You can get a decent RDA for cheap. IMO they are essential for DIYing eliquid. You don't need fancy coils or anything... Just something to test each flavor before you start combining them. Otherwise, you will continue to run into the problem you're describing and waste time, money and probably end up quitting DIY.
Just pick yourself up a $5-7 clone from Fasttech/similar. It's not your every day device so if it's a bit shitty, who cares.
I'd generally recommend the Derringer, but as it looks like you're mixing for an MtL device you may be better off picking up an older style RDA that's also designed for MtL.
Also, single flavour testing is important, but it's also important to see how things work in a mix before diving into your own recipe creation. Try some recipes that other people have come up with that use the flavourings you're trying to use. At the very least you'll want to do some heavy research on recipes that include the ingredients you're using to see what percentages most people are working at.
Welcome to diy and the first of many, many, many failed recipes. I don't know about the rest of the guys here, but I've came up work wayyyyy more bad recipes than good ones. Take notes on how these turned out and write down what you think the recipe needs. Then when you have more flavors and you're testing them solo take more notes. Maybe one of them will fill a void in an old recipe. I personally didn't start working on my own recipes until about 4 months of mixing tried and true recipes from other mixers. You're working with a really small selection of concentrates so you're really limited, but I think we can squeeze something good out of them. I'd try 6% TFA ry4 double 1.5% Fuji... Maybe a small small amount of Cuban supremo, like 0.5%.
Look up recipes that really fit your preferred flavor profile and order what you need for them, this way you'll get to try those flavorings out and see what they offer. And if they're the kinda flavors you generally go for in a juice then they'll be good ones to play with in new recipes. Don't get too discouraged, you'll get it soon.
Thanks for the options and yea it's kinda hard atm until i get an RDA basically otherwise i'll go through heaps of coils and i understand taste is subjective i normally when i mix i don't clone recipes i try to mix upon my flavor profiles as one of the mixes i was thinking of a nice berries apple coconut but for some reason didn't turn out what i wanted.
> Thanks for the options and yea it's kinda hard atm until i get an RDA
Once you start vaping from an RDA, you may not want to go back to the Nautilus Mini. Most flavors will taste different/better with the RDA. A good RDA to check out would be the OBS Cheetah. It's cheap, easy to build on and provides very good flavor.
EDIT: Something that just crossed my mind. The Cheetah is a dual coil RDA so maybe something that has a single coil option would be better for testing flavors.
Thanks for the recommendation i checked it out and seen a few reviews on it and sounds like a great pick as i love restricted air flow. But the thing is i am more of a MTL person when it comes to vaping btw what do you think about a single coil on Cheetah ? or do i have to pop in 2 coils.
So I'm sure many people will disagree with me, but I would say to mix at lower percents when you're doing a mix. Pick one flavor to be center stage and mix that at a higher (3.5) percent, and the rest keep down to .5 to 2%. I think that gives recipes better balance. But keep in mind, some recipes just weren't meant to be. Don't get discouraged!
I am surprised that FA Forest + FA Fuji came out as harsh. Fuji is very juicy and so is FA Forest. The FA Coconut is a bit dry, yes.
But not really that much. But for only a "hint" 1.5% was too much. I like to mix the Strap-On recipe of our world-champion with FA Coconut and it's good. A tiny litlle bit dry maybe, but good. You could try that for something fruity with Coconut.
Yea i was actually too. I never tasted the flavors on their own but maybe i went too much with the coconut that is true but thanks for the hint about the coconut btw :)
Hey bud just to offer if no one else has: don't throw out that juice! The tobaccos might need a long (like 2-4 weeks) steep and the fruits might benefit from a short steep as well. You never know, so give them a chance to steep before deciding for good to forget that recipe!
Fuji at 2.5% can totally have a decent throat hit without a steep. Anything i mix with Fuji needs at least a couple of days to "calm down".
Not everyone gets this throat hit though. I think some of us are more sensitive to some volatiles than others, same as some of us dont taste strawberry
Have you tried unflavored base, to see if it is harsh?
Sorry for the question i am a noob in vaping what do you mean by unflavored base ?
Just a mix without adding any flavoring. Just PG, VG, and nicotine. That will let you know whether the nic (the usual culprit in harshness) is a problem.
Don't let it discourage you. I have dumped probably a gallon+ of juice down the drain because I created something that was either mediocre or just plain bad.
It could also be that you just don't like/get the same pleasant notes from a flavor that all the rest of us do. For me FA Torrone and CAP Cake Batter are guaranteed to ruin any mix I put them into. Torrone tastes like straight pine cones no matter what percentage I use it at. Cap Cake Batter tastes like bleach and vanilla no matter how long it sits.
As someone else suggested, Cutting everything in your Forrest mix in half will cut down on the harshness.
Just keep at it. It's the unspoken element of this hobby. You're going to make shitty juice, you're going to throw it away, you're going to lose money. A lot of people think that it's an easy way to save money. It certainly is if you already know you like an existing recipe, but if you want to create something on your own you're going to have a lot of waste. In the last year I've probably thrown away 600 bottles of failed juice.
A lot of good advice here. The only thing I would add is not to throw away a bad tasting juice right away. A lot of flavors need to age or steep before they reach their full potential.
FA Coconut is one of those flavors. To me it tastes soapy right after it's mixed but after a week or two it mellows out and loses the soapy/perfume taste and tastes awesome. I've had some Bakery mixes take a month or more before they tasted good.
Try out a handful of bakery flavors in different amounts/combinations with marshmallow and Bavarian cream. Pretty hard to go wrong there. I always get a feel for the flavor by looking at all the recipes I see people making with it, and I pretty much always mix it at the low end. I find I like most flavors much weaker than other people.
Don't be afraid to taste the flavors on your tongue before using them. You should also be tasting your finished flavor as well. You might taste a drop of menthol and be like "holy cow, that stuff is strong!" then you use a little of it in your juice.
NOTE: in order to keep this sub clean and searchable, please read the following-
-
If this post is questioning where to buy supplies, what flavors to buy, how to mix, or any other general questions, please delete this post and post in the weekly "New Mixers Questions" link in the sidebar.
-
If this post is requesting a clone recipe, please delete this post and use the monthly "Clone Requests" link in the sidebar.
-
If this post is regarding what you can make with your flavorings, please delete this post and use the "Suggest a Recipe for Me" link in the sidebar.
If your post does not meet any of this criteria, it still may be subjected to utmost scrutiny. Please take some time to read through our wiki and other valuable mixing information in the sidebar if you haven't already. Failure to follow sub rules may result in a ban. Cheers, and happy mixing!
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.