Week 75
Aloha DIY'ers! Is every U.S. citizen here surviving the post-PMTA-alypse? Not 100% sure it's in effect or that it's affecting me.
We may see a slight uptick in the number of vapers that have made the DIY leap. If so, welcome to you too! Just reading another post, saw that a person had a question about percentages to use. Also, wanted to respond to it in saying that SFTs are useful in developing your own recipes and to pick out which flavors we can't taste (or tolerate).
So if you did pick up some solo concentrates, or even one-shots, please let others know what percentage you'd mixed it? Also, if you'd used it in a recipe, if a different one.
EXAMPLE from /u/mysticalbuffalo in last week's thread:
>TFA cantaloupe @ a smidgen under 7%
>
>Haven't had actual cantaloupe in many years but it tastes kind of like I remember it I think? Not floral in any way and I noticed none of the dryness others have mentioned. Held its flavor well over an almost 2 week steep. I just mixed it in a recipe by /u/pineappleclock that I altered and will give it a whirl in a few days.
Am curious how you liked it in your recipe, btw. :)
If you're wanting to browse through prior weeks, please feel free to visit the Wiki under The Weekly Threads drop-down or by clicking this link.
Have fun mixing, folks! May all attempts come out glorious.
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OTHER LINKS related to this
Apexified's SFT Cross-Reference Index - https://www.reddit.com/r/DIY_eJuice/wiki/index/flavor_notes
OdieDoodah's Google Sheet Resource - https://link.diyejuice.org/Facts000
Flavor Reviews - https://www.reddit.com/r/DIY_eJuice/wiki/index/flavor_reviews
First time mixer. I’ve tried two single flavors so far. Capella harvest berry at 15%, 18mg nic, 70pg. Very strong scent and harsh when trying it right away. I think 10% or less would be fine. Strong aroma and strong flavor. Kind of tastes like a budget juice. Perfumey berry flavor. I then mixed capella cappuccino v2. After seeing how harsh my first mix came out (though it softened a bit after steeping and adding a little vg) I tried Capella capuccino v2. This time I used 10% flavor, 65pg and 12mg nic. Definitely less harsh (which is confusing because I used to always order my mixes at 70pg and 18mg and they were never this harsh or thin consistency). Anyway, the flavor was definitely less strong than the berry flavor. Aroma smells like some unknown bakery item. I don’t get any coffee flavor. More like some mysterious muted bakery flavor. It’s surprising that DIY’ing to produce the same ratios comes back so much stronger, harsher and more liquidy. Even though I don’t understand why, I’m kind of happy because I can now use less nicotine and have a better balance between the PG and VG. Store bought 12mg mixes were always too light for me but DIY at 12mg is perfect (and probably may even go down a little down the line once I experiment some more). Getting back to the flavors - I think the cap harvest berry can definitely serve as a standalone and can be used at sub 10%. It’s not my favorite flavor but it’s definitely prominent and not 1 noted. The cappuccino v2 - no idea why it’s called cappuccino and I don’t even know how blending it with other flavors would add anything to the other flavors. But whatever, I use pods and as long as I taste a little something and get some throat hit, I’m happy. Got a bunch more flavors to try so will keep y’all posted.
Yeah, sometimes the DX or V2 versions that are DAAP free will miss the mark on how it's supposed to taste. Yet others are surprisingly accurate.
It's happened where I'd done an SFT for an aroma (flavor) concentrate and wasn't impressed. Then found a use for it later because it provided a particular note or mouth-feel.
The more you explore this sub and watch vids about all the available flavorings that are out there, the more you'll be assured knowing what is going to work and how. :) Especially true if you find your taste buds pick out the same flavors that others do here.
That's seems like a high pg % that will cause harsh hit , most mixes for pods are 60vg/40pg and 50vg/50pg
Yeah but I’m used to high PG and never liked 50/50 before. It was always thick and didn’t hit well even with the 18mg nic. Also found that higher pg didn’t clog up my pods/clearos or whatever I was using at the time. . But for some reason, with DIY, even when lowering the PG and nic,I’m getting strong hits which is great. No idea what went into other brands’ mixes and it’s not like I only ordered from one vendor. The calculations aren’t off either in my mixes. Anyway, it’s a nice surprise - just requires gradual tweaking.
These are all 1 month steeped...
OSDIY Blue Raspberry Slush @ 5%, great flavor. No off notes. Was surprised how much more present the flavor was with some time. Off the shake I could barely taste it at all.
INW Black Cherry Tobacco @ 2%, tasty. More bacco presence than INW Black Cherry for Pipe. No off notes. Unlike most Inawera tobaccos, nasty off the shake. Steep makes all the difference.
INW Black Cherry for Pipe @ 1%, tasty. Reminds me a bit of late evening back porch pipe smokin'. Could probably bump this up to 2%, maybe even 3%.
INW Tobacco Blend @ 1%, meh. Reminds me of a cheap analog rolling bacco. Dirty with some ash.
INW 555 Gold @ 1%, tasty. Sweet nutty bacco with a hint of honey. No ash, no off notes.
I was leaning towards buying the Triple-5 but wasn't sure what kind of tobacco flavor it was carrying. Are you picking out any distinct types in it?
Negative, I just taste a bit of bacco on the exhale. Tbh I don't have a very refined palate. Working on it though! XD
Good reviews mixman... Just for the record: I use OSDIY Blue Raspberry Slush at 12-15%, and get a very immediate flavor. Definitely my favorite Blue Razz... sweet, tart, and full-flavored.
Wow, 12-15% seems really high. I tried at 10% and was plenty flavorful off the shake, but 5% and a nice steep seems to work just fine for me. A month was just how long it took to get back to it. A shorter steep might work just fine to. If you haven't tried lower % with a steep, please do and let me know how that goes for you.
Thanks man, I’ll definitely give ‘er a go @ a lower percentage! I have a semi-slacker-set of taste buds, which could explain the difference. Alot of folks on ELR also seem to prefer a higher % (in the Notes section)... but I do know that section is not exactly the NASA of D.I.Y.
Made my first mix two days ago. Tried Flavor Jungle's Apple Orchard one-shot. The recommended flavor percentage was 14% however trying that doesn't really do the flavor justice - it just tastes vaguely fruity. Maybe the apple that I smell will come out more after steeping. Just tried another of Flavor Jungle's one-shots, the Strawberry Fried Ice Cream, and I'm thinking I might actually have to bump the percentage up a little bit on that too. Anyone else have similar stories on one-shot percentages or am I just trying to over-flavor my juice?
River Rainbow Sherbert
I have been searching for a non-creamy sherbert flavor after tasting one years ago in a zample box. One of my white whales.
This is so close it's silly. 7% at 70/30 was perfect. It's citrusy on the inhale and has a candy raspberry on the exhale. It tastes exactly like those yellow red and blue italian ices. It has pretty smooth rich flavor.
I mixed up a bigger batch and added .5% of TPA lemon, .5% of TPA Sour, and like .2% CAP super sweet. It's excellent.
Sounds really good. Before you added the TPA Sour and Lemon, was it giving you a citrus acid-like hit of any kind?
Molinberry One Shot Galaxy Cheesecake @ 6.88%.
30ml 70 VG/30PG
Bottle says:
> Go blue with the galaxy cheesecake full of blueberries, almonds, berries, & cookie base > Dosage 6% - 8%
Day 0: tastes like gross flower perfume
Day 14: still tastes like garbage flower perfume. There is a blueberry cupcake sprinkles taste is coming in more now.
The flavor is overwhelmingly flowery/purfume. Maybe better with a longer steep and a lower mix but I'm never trying it again.
FA Zeppola @ 4%
I tried this for the first time weeks ago and since then have burned through 90 ml in testers trying to pinpoint what I'm tasting.
It's like a fried doughnut or a churro without the cinnamon and topped with a vanilla-less generic cream. What I couldn't identify was the hint...and I mean a tiny one, of maraschino cherry riding on the exhale. Or am I nuts? Don't answer that!I
/u/RancerDS
I'm cracking open that TFA cantaloupe mix this weekend and I'll let you know!
This sounds really good. :) Will have to try to keep it on my radar. Glad it's not carrying any cinnamon in there.
:)
Too bad you don't want cinnamon. This is my first mix with the Zeppola:
FA Zeppola 3%
CAP sugar cookie 3%
FA Fuji 2.25%
TFA Brown sugar 1%
FW caramel cinnamon roll 1%
I considered subbing the last with FW salted caramel next.
A little bit of cinnamon goes a long ways for me. TPA Apple Pie had way too much for my tastes, so had to use low percentage and then boost the apple and bakery. Your recipe does seem really good. I'd have to sub CAP SS and FW Butter Pecan in for the Brown Sugar and go without the last item.
WF Pumpkin Candy 3% 5-day
I was so excited to test this and now my day is shot. It doesn’t have any flavor, sweetness, or mouthfeel. Fall is cancelled.
Sounds like one you may have to try it at 6% and maybe another batch at 9%. Some flavors require higher percentages. Flavorah typically requires only 1-3%, with the three being rather high.
I can't speak to Wonder Flavors.
EDIT: Looking it up on AllTheFlavors dot com, it's only used in a couple of recipes, so you can't go by average percentages there. If it's supposed to be the candy-corn type flavor which really isn't going to give you any pumpkin. If it's supposed to represent the candy accurately, going to taste mostly like sugar, with a hint of a spice and some kind of fruit.
I see that you're the first person to mention it in this subReddit. Thank you for chiming in about it!! Someone else searching for it here will at least run into your notes.
Wonder Flavors usually gives you a pretty good idea of the flavor at 3%. I usually don’t test above 5% unless it’s a Liquid Barn flavor.
Will I taste a difference if I use pre mixed base (70/30 3mg) from LB opposed to adding my own separate vg/pg/nic to a recipe or one shot? I had 50 mils base layin around for a 6 months +/- so decided to use it. The one shot I tried mixing at its recommended 9.7% was ExclusiveGirl green tea kit kat. I’m not sure if it needs a lot of steeping or if I should have just mixed my own vg/pg cuz all the flavors are muted as well as the color bein pinkish rn.
Also, can making 5 mil test batches be too small to really gauge a recipe? I’m learning everyday thank you
Since it costs about one to two bucks for me, I tend to make 20 mL batches, though often use less than 5 mL for SFT. The left over is sometimes used to experiment with combining into other mixes. It won't give me a fixed percentage, but just a general idea if they work well together or not. For you, maybe just go with ten mill. I like to have additional space in the bottle to make it easier to shake, so 15mL container might be good if you want to go with 10mL.
As to using pre-mixed base, you'll have accurate percentages if you do the math (or use an online calc) to see how much base you need to round it out to desired batch size. Some people will use the right amount of flavoring and then add 30 mL of base, which means it'll be slightly less flavor. Quick example: If you're using 9.7% flavor, 90.3% should be the pre-mixed base, so 30 * .903 = 27.24 mL.