I scooped a 60ml bottle of fairgrounds deep fried cream cake at a b&m today...I was hanging out there for 20 minutes with a friend who wanted help selecting a new squonker mod so I went with him
The juice is pretty damn good. I couldn't clone it if I tried. It's a sweet, doughy, mouth watering inhale with a sweet, sugary, creamy vanilla cake exhale.
I have made my own juice for 2 years now and vaping this store bought bottle made me realize I have some very okay vapable recipes, but nothing that's an instant addict mouth watering ADV like this.
And it got me thinking, what makes this juice so good? Is it sweetener? Steeped super long? Extremely pure VG/PG/Nic? What flavor concentrates are they using?
How do you compare your recipes to a really good store bought juice? Be honest!
I've never bought a juice that I really liked. Most of the stuff I DIY tastes okay, but not great. A few of my DIY mixes are pretty good. When one turns out disappointing, I can usually vape it anyway, but even if I have to throw it out, I've wasted less than a dollar instead of $15-20. Maybe I'm excessively picky and excessively frugal, I dunno.
I'm extremely frugal and the same. I've never had a recipe I hated so much it was unvapable. If I am trying to mix something then I can usually ballpark a vapable recips from the start bases off research online, other users prior recipes I base it off if, and my prior experience.
Nothing goes unvaped here. I have about 5 xxxxxxx and creams right now. Some are better than others,but I still vape them all before trying new batches. It helps I mix in 20ml samples and use a mesh tank that EATS juice too though
I mixed my own for like 2 years. Last year or so I've bought store bought stuff. Honestly I've never loved anyone's juice, even mine. Except Cyclops Athena before they changed the recipe. Haven't found anything I love. Just stuff I tolerate.
Bought tired of $25 for 120ml though, probably gonna start making my own again.
Conversely, I have this juice and I don't think it's that great.
I'm certainly no expert in DIY, I've actually just started down this path. But so far, what I've made has been just as good or better than anything I've bought pre-made. (and I've had a lot of pre-made juice)
I just love juices like this. They are my weakness. I like sweet sugary creamy dessert vapes. I used to eat a ton of sweets but now I try to make sweet vape recipes I can vape instead of eat to save all the calories I used to pigout on (donuts, cookies, muffins, cakes, etc)
I'm right there with you my dude
A couple of my favorite store boughts are Sin & Sugar by VapeStorm and Kookie Krunch by Air Factory.
Seems like the best DIY recipes are usually centered around 'light' or 'nuanced' flavors. But sometimes you just want a punch in the sweet tooth 😊
I just put in a $75 order to Capella with all sorts of creams, butters, cinnamons, and of course, sweet. I'm hoping to be able to recreate, or at least get that same sweet creamy kick we're looking for.
There are some really good diy recipes out there right now that fit the bill for that. I have incredibly similar tastes and usually flip between a birthday cake, a looper clone, a strawberry (cake/milkshake/whatever else), and a geography clone that I reaalllyyyy like. I just cruised elr and atf, but one thing I've found is that there is a big difference in color and flavor between 0mg and 2.5mg, especially over time. Also experimenting with some not sucralose/sugar sweetener that so far is really gentle on my coils which can go 2-3 weeks before a change now which is a big deal for me. It also really helps add some sweetness that these more subtle baked good recipes want IMO.
I used to eat a ton of sweets and that’s actually the opposite of how it works on me. I have to stay away from dessert juices cause if I do start vaping them I will inevitably go and buy a bunch of dessert and eat it all. So.. I vape fruit stuff. Still delicious but at least I don’t get crazy cravings.
Start with a 3 Flavor recipe and then add 2% sweetener
I add at least 2% sweetener to everything I make. I know it’s frowned upon but it’s easier to vape it all day every day for 200ml
And my coils don’t gunk up like they did with store bought so they have to be cramming a ton of sweetener in there
I don't use any really. Couple recipes need a shot, but otherwise nope.
My roommate finally got over the, "But I feel bad vaping juice I didn't pay for", and tried some.... Loves most of it... And he stopped having to replace coils every few days.
Now he just passes me 50 bucks when I go for supply restock.
average costs are about 5 bucks per 240ml bottle.
I think a big factor is funding.
I'm luckier than most of you. I do this for a living. I have an arsenal of over 800 flavors available to me. I have an endless supply of PG, VG, and Nic. Some days I'll crank out 30 or more different recipes. I spend entire days just sampling what I made the previous week.
Between my access to supplies, and a minimum of 40 hours a week spent thinking about it, everything I release better be damn good. Releasing things that are barely vapeable isn't an option. The market is too saturated.
Now please don't take that as me saying a hobbyist can never make juice as good as someone who does it full time professionally, but someone who does it for a living has more opportunities and resources to support their success.
Sweetener definitely helps, but it isn't the key to making a good flavor. That just takes time and dedication. You have to vape a lot of shitty juice to get something worthwhile.
This makes sense. If I spent 40-50 hours making recipes I think I could churn out a couple good ones.
I used to be a line cook for like 6 years and worked in many from scratch restaurants. I know how to get the gist of a recipe but that's about it.
With my favorite store bought juice being a 10/10, my favorite juice IVE made is probably a 6.5 or 7/10.
With that being said I have also only went through 50 total different flavorings in these past 2 years. I need to just drop a couple hundred bucks on a big 50+ alll new to me flavor order and start experimenting.
It's difficult to me because there's like 30 different strawberries. Testing all of those individually and with one another would take me 2 years by itself. Alot of people swear on one or two strawberries but I know there has to be some hidden gems in those other 28 strawberries available.
I guess I just need more time and practice to make a really tasty recipe.
It can be hard to justify spending that much money on flavors you might not even enjoy. I truly believe that the individuals that have assigned themselves the duty of posting single flavor reviews have done an outstanding job. It's not an easy task to put that stuff into words. I'd recommend thinking of a flavor you're interested in and getting the 5 with the biggest reputation. Doing single flavor testing is an under rated exercise. You need a mental catalog of what everything is capable of. You can read all day but nothing works quite like the olfactory system.
With that being said, if strawberry is part of what you're looking for, you're in for a bumpy road. You're right about the 30 different strawberries thing. It's a nightmare. You'll probably end up building one of your own from other strawberries that are 30% of the way there.
Last but not least, noticed your username. I grew up in Chesterfield. I miss RVA. Hope you guys are doing ok with the storm.
Oh yeah man I grew up in henrico and live in lakeside now. Small world! Funny thing is I live in the outer banks april-september but I came back earlier this year because of Florence and I didn't want to deal with any after mess and just came home early instead.
But yeah I love a good strawberries and cream, or a good strawberry banana/melon. I just love strawberries lol I've been meaning to pick up the strawberry shisha.
It's okkay though right now I have a disposable income and I really enjoy making vape juice, it's kind of like cooking and brings me back to my restaurant days.
Plus, spending $200 every 3 months on flavorings would still be cheaper than me buying juice. I go through about 200mls/week. I also use the fireluke mesh pro and RDAs with big fused claptons that run through juice like crazy.
It's a good hobby of mine and I'm okay spending some money on it. Some people like bikes or rock climbing etc and spend money on it, but I like making vape juice so I can justify it!
Yes, yes and yes you absolutely can make great juice because working in a restaurant u sound like u know flavors and pairing and I think that’s important. Also, yes it takes time to sft ( single flavor test) all your flavors and take notes and when you get in the several hundreds range it seems very overwhelming...but it’s fun, there’s tons of support here when you need it and it soo outweighs buying premium juice when you know the real cost and that those guys n gals making that expensive juice are just regular folk like you and I but they had a head start is all. Have fun w it and find a few mixers you like their style maybe and mix their stuff until your own is perfected, buckle up and enjoy the ride it’s a doozy! I doubt I’ll ever taste well enough to create juice or maybe I’m vaping w the wrong gear...idk and idgaf anymore, I honestly think there are those that can and should and do juice well and there’s ppl like me that just do better in supporting roles 😩😂 if that makes sense.? Haaa. Invest the time and $ and maybe by this time next year you can clone that juice you love and more....;)
Haha yeah I understand and yeah I've made specials for restaurants and worked in kitchens for 4 years and FOH for 3 years. I know how to cook and enjoy it! That's why I like making vape juice too!
It's not at all the same, but kinda scratches that itch to make something delicious.
When I was in between jobs and money was thin a couple months ago I was vaping 1-3 flavor recipes. They were vapable and some tasted good but nothing was like holy shit I need this this is my new ADV.
It's difficult for me to get that ONE recipe you can't get enough of and blows your mind.
I have one recipe that's pretty damn good, it's IDI0Ts sugar cookie tweaked and plus a 3 more flavorings and it's pretty damn tasty. I'm going to mix up a bottle and add 2 or 3% sweetener to it, give it 2 weeks, and wait to see how it compares to store bought liquids.
Maybe I'm just missing the sweetener for that mouth watering drinking my juice but I'm not feeling.
Edit:. I have been using a tobino and an old derringer RDA A LOT lately and they are both flavor monsters. All my recipes that taste good from other RDAs and tanks taste bad through these. It's too much. Weird how the same bottle if juice can vary in taste so much depending on what RDA/Tank, coil, airflow, and wattage you are vaping it at!
I'm not saying that those kind of juices aren't good recipes and they just dump a bunch of Sweetner in there , But there probably is a shitload of it in there.
So if you wanted to diy something like that you would have to have a good recipe to start with and then go pretty extreme with the Sweetner.
Like I tried some one hit wonder once and I imagine there was 3-5 percent Sweetner in that stuff. And I actually like Sweetner , but that stuff was to the extreme.
Sweetener. Tons and tons of it.
Bet it wrecks your coils after a couple tanks.