Dear Fellow Mixers,
It’ll be interesting to come back to this years from today and see how everything was flipped on its head. For now, I’m not quite sure how we are all adjusting but we are surviving. While life outside is on hold, mixers in the game have the time to experiment and (hopefully) access to their supplies at all times. So, today I’m just chiming in with my Dear Diary post since my RY4 project has taken a back seat (expect updates soon).
What do I want to talk about? For sure I want to talk about what it means to be a ‘member’ to this community. While I’m down about not feeling connected to my regular life, vaping and being in touch with other vapers -- even just virtually -- has allowed me to feel connected. If we are vaping the same mixes, the same recipes, then we are experiencing the same things together. Now is a very good time to sit back and write up those reviews that you’ve been sitting on.
ATF/WTF?
I keep saying I’m going to leave ATF. Every time the site is down or I can’t have my Custard NOW (gracias, u/EdibleMalfunction), I ask myself why haven’t I found an alternative yet. That said, it’s because there is some pretty awesome information there. One of the first things I learned was to use the atf flavor averages for mixing up SFT’s. The reason I can do that is because of all the work that had been done before I got interested in trying Hangsen Pumpkin Pie. I can click a button, type in the first few letters and presto! There it is! Flavor, recipes, notes, blood sweat & tears, all for my reaping. Any recipe posted is going to inform that number. But maybe I want to mix up some recipes instead of just flailing wildly like normal?
When I was newer, those reviews meant quite a bit to me. Can’t leave a review without being a paid member; both good and bad to this. The continuing ongoing debate of ATF/ELR aside, reviews help. Nowadays, I can spy a recipe and make an informed decision if I want to try it or, even better recently, which parts I want to steal. How’d I get there? I mixed up a good number of other peoples’ stuff. I learned which recipes I liked, which mixers led me astray, which ones were super tasters (I’m a less than super taster apparently), etc etc. The bottom line here is: if you’re not a paid member, you can’t leave that review… but wait, yes you can! Here on reddit we have a dedicated thread to Whatcha Vapin On? Leave a quick short review there. Who knows, someone may be inspired to try it or spin off it.
What to Say?
u/kindground keeps it short and sweet for you here. I’d add a few things to this myself. He’s coming at it from the perspective of the mixer. I’m going to come at it from the perspective of a new mixer. When I first started, I just wanted to know what a mix *tasted like*. So, leave notes on what the mix simply tastes like:
- What do you get on the inhale/exhale?
- Who might like this mix (if not you)?
- What do you want more/less of? \
- How would you change this if you were to mix this again or attempt the profile yourself?
It’s just that simple, kids. People want to know what they’d be getting into if they mix up something. And, it’s a godsend to the new mixer who may not have any familiarity with the flavors, possibly even considering buying 1-6 flavors just to mix something up! I’m guilty of not writing a review of a recipe I’ve tried if I were nonplussed. What am I going to say that’s constructive here? For starters, I can identify what was outside my scope of familiarity, what maybe didn’t strike a chord with me, why it might work for someone else? Why did you choose to give it one to five stars? I am guilty of only leaving glowing reviews. It’s much easier to do than to think of ways to be constructive. If I have not left you a review for something you know I’ve tried, mention so in the comments, please.
Why does it Matter?
I’ve already covered some and kindgroud did an even better job, of course. It matters because there’s literally hundreds of recipes on atf with zero reviews where even ONE may sway someone else to try it, especially if they search by reviews/rating. I was reminded of this when I mentioned u/kindground’s Warm Apple Cider in last week’s FotW thread on apples. This is a killer recipe that had only one review until 4 months ago and now boasts 3! It uses 8 flavors that I probably am not going to go out and buy unless I were certain it was awesome. Spoiler: it IS awesome even with some subs (another great reason to leave a review!). No it’s not the same, but yes it is doable.
3 reviews? But you click that little “i” right under the name of the mix, to the left of “kindground” and boom, you get all the info you could possibly want. Not the least of which is that it has logged 1,115 under recent mixes. So… 1,115 mixes and only 3 reviews? Okay, so that can’t possibly be true, but even if the number were deflated to 10%, that’s 111.5 mixes with only 3 reviews? That’s crazy. We are mixing, we are sharing, we are tasting, experimenting and it’s (mostly) free.
Be a part of this.
Share in the weekly thread. Leave a review. Become a member of the community and just keep trying stuff, but share with us what you’ve learned!
wash your hands and stay safe at home,
- i
Comment below on any recipe you want to pimp out, ask for a review, or just idk, say something and stop fucking lurking and join the shit show! Or join the Discord and connect in real time!
Edit 1: Check out u/ID10-T's FAQ on Writing Reviews
I can say, with great certainty, I need to be better about leaving reviews on recipes.
Sometimes it's stuff I try before it becomes public, sometimes I forget to leave reviews because I'm discussing a recipe with someone directly rather than leaving the review, but in either case, I can do better.
Thanks for the reminder that the reviews aren't just for the mixer Doggo.
Hey, buddy! Me too! Especially true of getting the pre-release through mixer’s club and stuffs. But yeah man, just one review even if a 3 star meh, tells me more than nothing at all. Honestly, I’m especially guilty of not even sharing recipes or making them public too. I just like what I like and never feel anything is ‘done’ so I just never click ‘make public’.
I can totally see how that can come to pass. I have a lot of recipes I don't think I'll ever change but still, they don't get made public. Whether that's because I feel like they're only "okay" or because I haven't had time to put together notes on them they just sit there.
Mixer's club has been great for me stretching my palate, but I haven't kept up with when/if MC recipes get made public. With that in mind I'm making my 3 submissions from last month public now.
Edit:
and, since you've tried it before it was made public Before first light
Damn it /isuamadog, why you gotta make me feel guilty about the 10+ reviews I’m slacking on?!
I normally try to review every recipe I try, and I’m normally pretty good about it, but I’ve fallen behind lately. You’ve reinspired me to go back and knock those out! Idk I’d I’m mad or happy with you right now lol
Great write up as always :)
Ha! I’m pretty sure I owe YOU a write up on pod banana and another one that’s eluding me... so back at me!
Thanks bud! Gonna miss seeing your mug Tuesday mornings after 3 weeks of how bout dem apples?!?
Ok fine, i'll share another 1-2-3 recipe i made up last week.
The Dog always forces me to write stuff, mumble mumble...
Anyway.
Recipe time and some notes, or whatever. I'm not quite there yet on finding the best ways to describe something, so bear with me.
1-2-3 Syrup Strawberry lemonade http://tjek.nu/r/zdbH
|Co.|Flavor|%| |:-|:-|:-| |FA|Florida Key Lime|1| |INW|Shisha Strawberry|2| |FLV|Lemonade|3|
(add WS-23 and/or SS to taste, as always i like to add 3 drops SS and around 5/6 drops WS per 10ML)
​
I love to make simple 1-2-3 recipes. Find some flavors that are pretty strong, see if they'll fit together. Easy right?
What i wanted to make was a simple strawberry lemonade, just like half of the recipes that are on ATF/ELR.. But i wanted to do it my way, just a little bit outside of the box. For the sour part, everybody uses FA Lemon Sicily. For good reason, it's a good lemon so why won't you use it. I wanted to be stubborn and use something else, so i picked FA Florida Key Lime. Why? because i have it, and it's a sour note. Plain and simple.
Now, for the lemonade part i could pick any lemonade i had, i have multible but picked FLV's because i find this to be the most complete lemonade flavor. It doesn't need much help, just some fruits and maybe some extra sour note.
On to pick the strawberry. I made 2 batches that day, one with this Shisha Strawberry (syrup-y strawberry) and another with FA Red Touch, which is more artificial/freeze dried. Personally i like this syrup version better, but feel free to sub it for FA Red Touch. To each it's own right? To make it easier on y'all, here is the link http://tjek.nu/r/zdbr
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So, now that you're enjoying this nice easy shake and vape lemonade, how's life?
If I were making you do anything at all, you would be collecting all this great work into one simple recipe Tuesday post, making a front page post with these in depth notes, monthly recipe thread entry, weekly what are you vaping post! Keep sharing, my good man!
I don't think my opinion matters. But I will say my stash is built on other people's opinion and I can\t thank them enough
Everyone’s opinion matters! You’ve mixed tons of recipes and I’ve seen you giving great recommendations on the discord and Reddit. I think we underestimate how much we have to offer to all these people who are showing up here for the first time not knowing where their next juice will come from in the time of covid as well as anti vaping legislation.
it is a weird thing. when first starting I scrubbed the net and found this sub to be the best resource but it didn't have the best patience for newbies. lately there is an influx of new guys/gals who need immediate answers to questions already available on the sub. the sidebar is golden, it has been for years. but there is a lot to go through. even before this pmta crisis researching this hobby is difficult and lengthy. it sucks and I don't like seeing people giving up because of bad choices they weren't aware of.
I’ve been trying to leave my first review for over a month now. It saves my comment but doesn’t post it. At least I don’t think it’s posting. I paid for the membership FYI. Am I missing something?
Yeah. Another lovely atf feature. I have no idea why it works that way. I had to log out and recheck the reviews to see if my first one was there. I guess the coder figured you’d not want to see your own review (or know that it worked!) for some reason.