I'm always pushing myself to get people to quit smoking, but my biggest problem is to find a juice they love, before they give up and go back to smoking. I still think the best way is to send them to a store, try out a ton, and atleast get an idea of what their into. I can always find some they like somewhat, but to make that big leap, you gotta have a solid ADV. Sometimes being close isn't good enough, and after a smoker buys 3-4 bottles that they end up not enjoying, see the money wasted, it's right back to smokes. As a mixer for 20 or so people, selling 30ml for 5$, I'm not in it for the business side of it. It supports my habit, and helps my inventory grow. That being said, I don't want to waste time or money on it either. After finally finding a recipe they love, tweaking it to their liking is normally needed. Explaining what can be done is sometimes hard for them to comprehend through words, and I don't want to mix their favourite recipe 20 different ways, they pick one they like and I end up stuck with a lot of waste. I was thinking of making some sort of kit, 15-20 or so bottles, with examples of different types of effects we can achieve. The goal is to show as many different variants, while using as little bottles as possible. Yes, it will cost a small amount to make, specially how their not to be sold, but 30 ml of each should last forever when it's just for testing. And it's a way to use lots of flavours I don't normally use. For each different section, I would pick one generic recipe that helps demonstrate my point, and mix it with the different flavours to show how it alters. They can then picture that same effect on their recipe.
Here is what I'm thinking. I'm open to all kinds of suggestions, maybe I'm on the right track, or maybe there's a much better way to do this. But so far...
Cooling effect
Three bottles should be enough to demonstrate the differences. For the recipe, doesn't have to be complicated. A basic 2-3 flavour fruit mix can be used.
-Menthol -Mint -Koolada
Fruits
Most people probably have a good idea of which fruits their going to like. I think maybe showing the difference between brighter fruits and darker fruits would be helpful, but to show every single fruit would be very inefficient. I Was just thinking...
-A Bright recipe with CAP harvest berry
-a dark recipe with bilberry, apricot, other such flavours.
Tobaccos
I don't know much about tobaccos so I'd need some heavy help for this. I'm assuming the three main types are
-RY4 type -Cigar -cigarette
Creams/mouthfeel
With so many to choose from, again I'm trying to differentiate the styles of effects that are achievable. Trying to keep it simple, I'd take a generic fruit recipe, and make 5 bottles, adding one of these to each
-TFA marshmallow -FA Vienna cream -CAP sweet cream -TFA VBIC -CAP vanilla custard
I'd also maybe throw cactus in here as well to show the other end of the spectrum, to get a juicy, wetter feel to it. Not sure if it would belong in this section however.
Sweetners
I don't think having every additive would be efficient, however I often find myself trying to explain these when customers realize the effects they have on gunking. I'd like to show how sweetner is different then a plain sweet recipe. Picking the right recipe here would be key. Ideally a recipe you can make as sweet as possible, by only naturally enhancing their inheriting sweetness (i.e. Meringue, etc)
-the recipe itself -sucralose 5% -sucralose 1% -Erithritol -ethyl maltol?
VG/PG ratios
Pretty simple, pick a recipe, mix three bottles.
-50/50 -30/70 -10/90(MAX)
It would be essential to explain how saying "max" is not accurate, and although most of my recipes are 10-15% flavouring, some can be lowered to work at this percentage, if the effect is truly desired.
RANDOMS
I think maybe having 5 weird profiles could be helpful for some, to atleast have an idea of what's out there.
-doughnut -cereal -cake -floral -alcoholic beverage
All in all, there are a ton of categories, and every variant in between, but I'm just trying to make the process to getting that ADV quicker, without losing waste in product or time. So far this counts as 26 bottles. If it's in my Basement, I don't mind. But to bring somewhere, seems a bit much. The again I'm sure I can get a decent bag. Any help at all would be appreciated, whether I skipped something, or something should be altered, im all ears
I dunno man. I think most start with a menthol or tobacco because that's what they know and love. From there they go to broader options. I like where your head is at but I'm not sure it's that simple.
Some guy got me to try a kiwi cream (I'm a former dipper and smoker) and I was like "yup." Would have never ventured without the nudge to a flavor profile I had never even encountered before.
Way overcomplicated.
Three plus one 15 ml should be enough for any starter. One fruit, one tobacco, one dessert, one bonus menthol. They should try all before they decide. Fine tune from there, they should be able to tell you what they want in combination from there. People can't go through tasting 26 different flavors of anything, usually max 5-8 before olfactory fatigue hits.
the problem i see with new vapers who go back to smoking is never an issue of them finding the right flavor.
most smokers/new vapers aren't used to having all these options, and are usually happy enough with whatever flavor they think they might like from a B&M. not that a smoker has working taste buds anyway... new vapers dont want an ADV (at least they dont know it yet) they are usually pumped to try everything. the only reason i ever started using an ADV is because i stumbled upon it while i was trying everything i thought i would like.
the problem i see almost exclusively is on the equipment side. they forgot to charge the mod, so they go buy a pack of smokes. their coil burnt out, so they go buy a pack of smokes. they broke their tank, it started leaking, etc...
it seems to me that you are trying to cater every one of your "clients" tastes and that is never going to work unless you have an extremely limited customer base.
the only way i could see that working out for you is if all your customers had in-depth knowledge of DIY flavors and what they all do, but at that point they should just start making their own juices anyway.
the most i would offer them is telling them i can make flavors "minty", "Creamy", "Sweet" etc. and then work with whatever feedback they give you voluntarily.
You're the one mixing the stuff, if they want to micro manage how you make their juice i would start pointing them towards the best places to buy their own DIY supplies.
Just like when you smoked cigs and that one guy that managed to quit starts harping on you about quiting is annoying, this can be annoying in the same way. I know you just want to help but unless someone asks me about vaping I don't usually push it on them. No one wants to hear that.
I'd start by looking at the data from your 20 or so clients. That should give you a pretty good idea where to direct your energy. If you look up analysis paralysis, it's basically the idea that when presented with too many options, people tend to not want to make one. I think you'll need to narrow your focus down to a lot fewer than 26 bottles before you make much headway into this project. It's a solid idea, though.
Personally, I just wanted to move far away from anything tobacco related. So I never vaped (and never will vape) a tobacco juice, it's disgusting.
On the other hand, I love mint and menthol so finding my ADV wasn't hard at all, specially once I started DYI. My first mix (with some minor tweaking later) became my favorite juice and I vape it almost every day.
The key is finding something that each person loves more than anything, flavor wise. The easiest would be fruits. There's gotta be a favorite fruit for everyone, I think. So a simple single-flavor recipe for the fruit they love is the place to start. Now they have something reliable to vape while trying other, more complex flavors. It is wrong to start with layered juices, because it's too complex for the palate of a smoker which is almost completely muted.
think about your customer base. ex smoker/new vaper doesn't know what they like not that they could taste well enough to find and adv that isn't gona change in a few months. typically they are not sub ohmers since mouth to lung is more like smoking. so a 30 ml bottle is a bit over kill for your typical mouth to lung set up.
keep it simple. and keep bottle size to what a typical coil used would handle before being changed.
I feel like that is great for people to see the differences in flavours, but unnecessary. You are almost starting a juice sampling which is not only costly, but not needed. For example, if I am a new vaper, I know which flavours I enjoy outside of smoking (creams, fruits etc) I would want to try the different variants if I am going to spend $20/30ml. but because you sell your DIY cheap, it is easy for them to pick up 3 or 4 flavors and not feel like they wasted money trying them out. Just my opinion.