I have tried to work out how flavour bottle cap lid colours relate to a flavour, enhancer, category or brand but can see any correlation whatsoever, so I am starting swapping lids to get organised - maybe I'm missing something obvious. Yesterday I even started an excel spreadsheet but that is too time consuming and when I'm mixing just want to find a flavour quickly.
Any suggestions on how to organise flavours by groups or types would be really appreciated.
I don't find the organization part very useful, not for me at least. I always just end up with my most used flavors scattered around my scale.
I do however have a few different boxes that I store them in; 2 for fruits, 1 for creams/desserts/basically everything "sweet" thats not a fruit, 1 for spices/tobacco/misc.
The thing that has helped me the most tho is my excel sheet, which I have mainly to get a fast overview of what I have in different categories. It's not a perfect categorization but it works for me. The different ones I have is Citrus, Fruits, Berries, Floral, Candy, Creams, Tobacco/Booze, Bakery, Nuts, Cocolate/Caramel, Spices/Etc. I think it helps me a lot to just have everything in a big sheet so that I can get a quick overview when I make new recipes.
I bought small colored stickers and wrote a number on them. Then I made a spreadsheet to organize the stuff. The stickers go on top of the bottle caps and the flavors all live inside a box.
So whenever I'm mixing and the recipe calls for Cap Super Sweet for example, I go into my spreadsheet and look up the color and number, like Red 15. Makes finding flavors a breeze. I also track the amount of flavor I have left in the spreadsheet.
Someone else came up with the idea actually, but I couldn't find the reddit post, sorry!
This is what the box looks like.
This is what the spreadsheet looks like.
u/modivin
The suggestions I am getting are brilliant, thanks. I understand the number and colour dot system but I not sure why you put flavours in red or yellow section of the spreadsheet, do you categorise them into bakery, fruit etc. Don't know if I could be disciplined enough to keep track of the ml left but can see the benefits,
I use colored labels/numbers and a spreadsheet as well. Instead of using the colors for different "classifications", I change to the next color in line.(pink-yellow-green-pink-and so on) and assign the next number up. I'll do this until the gladware bowl is full. Then throw a label on it(1-13, 14-25, 25-and so on) When I'm ready, I will make the list of needed Flavors for the recipes I'm making along with the color/#. You only go to each container once, and will only have to dig thru a 1/3 of the flavors due to not having to look for the other 2 colored labels. Super quick and efficient.
I think I commented on one of your other posts in a similar sub but thought you meant the actual e liquid itself ( too many Xmas drinks 😂) I break my concentrates down in a similar way to my other answer on the other sub but for other sub but for concentrates I have a couple of small drawers (think they are meant for different screws/ bolts etc) and tend to have my most commonly used near the top then break it down from their eg sweeteners, chocolates, cakes, etc. My best advice would be investing in some storage units (like I said drew/ nuts drawers) and some labels so you can break them down into either sections such as chocolates, creams, fruits, sweets additives or random and be able to to see what each drawer contains contains at a glance. My draws I work with have things such as sweeteners, brown sugar, custard, additives and creams at the top. Then chocolate and things that I like with chocolate on the next level, cakes and Graham cracker etc, things that can work with both choc and cake or fruit in the next ones, then fruits broken down into diff draws eg banana, mango strawberry etc. It will depend on your taste buds, and how your brain likes to organise. For me I like to keep them in some what flavour groups and then on the next layer with things that can run into the next flavour group. But in my opinion keeping them in some what order with labels will make it easier to find the flavours you want when you want it
Wow you a super organised which is why I'm asking for advice, as my collection of flavours grow it getting into a bigger mess and I was annoyed with myself for purchasing two flavours I already had when I could have spent that money on new flavours. I will have a look for the drawers, its a really good idea, might try the $2 before heading to Bunnings, thanks
What you should do is make "fixed positions" for your flavors - and be sure to always put things back in place when you're done. I keep my flavors in a few over-sized shoeboxes and I made a 3D grid from strips of poster board to keep the bottles in place. That way each flavor will be in the same place every time. I put similar flavors along a single row - and similar rows together (ie row of Orange, row of Lemon, row of Lime). To put the cherry on top I make a ""map" like you find inside the lid of a Whitman's Sampler - mapping out where each flavor is. I've been using it for so long now I can almost grab the right flavor without looking.
That is a brilliant idea to have the shoe box lid like a chocolate box, I never thought of it. It is going to take some discipline to put things back as I go, I think the best thing is to mix when no one is around so you can concentrate. I tried to get away from everyone yesterday for an hour (xmas day) and it was a bad idea trying to mix, should have made a coil or two, thanks for advice.
To help me keep everything in its place - I bought a tiny nail polish rack at the Dollar Store. It has 16 slots that hold flavors nicely. When I mix, I pull out the flavors I need and place them in the rack. As I add each one, I move it to the top rack - helps me not lose my place on what has and has not been added. After I've finished that recipe, I put all the flavors back in place before starting the next recipe. It's easier to keep things organized when you only handle a handful of flavors at one time. If you wait till half your stash is on the desktop - you're lost the battle.
I do the same but just put the flavors on my desk in a line in order of the recipe. On ELR the flavors are alphabetical so as I add to the bottle I quickly cap it and put it back where it goes since everything is alphabetical. The gap where it goes is easy to see
Boxes, brands and alphabetical order. It takes work but I find ANY flavor in seconds.
Hi and thanks, your solution is probably the simplest suggestion I've received and because I am generally a disorganised person this simple system may be the easiest solution. I have received lots of great ideas and will no doubt try a few different ways until I get the right system that works for me. Thanks again, most appreciated.
I use the little stickers that they sell from yard sales on top of each bottle and number them. Keep record of the # with corresponding flavor on paper and can quickly find what I want.
Thanks, someone else suggested that too, I like that’s it really quick and simple as I’m not sure if I will maintain a complicated system
Its not too bad. I use the pilot frixion pens on my lists so it's easier to update quantities or delete. They're erasable and don't suck like most erasable pens do
I'm to the point of needing to go by category and sometimes sub categories for non fruits but I think it could be used for any size collection. Using mostly small 16 slot organizers from dollar stores. Like I have all my cookie flavors in a couple of those and same for cakes, custards etc. Creams I have broken down to usually 2 kinds per like sweet cream and Bavarian cream in 1, plain creams and dairy creams in a 2nd. Recurring things I'll just make a hard category for. like chocolates for example has lb lava cake and ssa dessert chocolate - even though they're both cakey they're only going into chocolate stuff.
Nail polish rack for the misc stuff that I maybe just have 1 or 2 of or just doesn't fit with anything else like cinnamons, honeys, meringues, frostings.
Fruits I can do mostly alphabetical in a large nail polish rack with a few 16 slot organizers for ones I like or just have a lot of (strawberry, lemon, blueberry mainly).
Have them all on sets of chrome shelves now and can get up to 3 deep and 9 wide with the small organizers. 4-5 usable shelves per unit. I just use smalls for 85% of my stuff, so it requires some rebottling. But I can find anything and get the chance to go over other flavors that might work better or just give me an idea for another version so I can knock out a v1.0,1.1 and 1.2 in 1 session. Previously had them in kitchen cabinets until it literally took over.
Hi and thanks for such a detailed response, it is very much appreciated. Looks like I need to invest in some nail polish stands and persevere with my excel spreadsheet. Chrome shelves sound good because no matter how careful I am I still have drips everywhere. I too have been banned from the pantry shelf and that's why I was looking for suggestions, thanks for the hints regarding categories of flavours too.
I have mine organized by flavor category and sub-category combined with a color coding scheme indicating those as well as the brand. I tried stickers at first but switched to paint markers to color the caps. For example, Capella sweet pineapple gets a white dot in the center for Capella, then a red ring for "fruit" category, and then a green ring for "tropical" subcategory. I have everything on a spreadsheet so I can sort them or to remember which combo a particular flavor has, but it seems to work pretty well so far. I can grab the flavors I need with minimal mispicks as I'll end up with at most 3 or 4 bottles with the same color combination.
I think your right about the stickers as I've noticed is my fingers are sticky from the juice they tend to fall off, I just picked up some paint marker pens and will try those but the are limited in the colour range. From the suggestions I've received it seems that the key things are maintain my spreadsheet and use two categories one main and one sub, thanks for the suggestions I really appreciate it.
You're very welcome. Hope you find something that works for you. I picked up my paint markers on amazon- An 18 color pack that was around $15. As for the sheet, I use Google sheets so I can have it on my mobile. I'll put all the flavors on the list right after I place an order on my laptop, but then I can assign categories and colors over the next few days at my convenience. Especially for those flavors that don't really fit into a neat little profile lol.
I just kinda group them by brand, then I move the ones I use most often in common places. I'm lazy like that, but it works. When I build a juice, I think of specific flavors and then I search by brand so that works for me.
If I wanted to go all-out, I'd use mounted spice racks that I can view the labels from in a closet. But then half my collection is TFA which I barely use but have the occasional need for, so I think that'll be kind of a waste.
I sound similar to you in that I'm a bit lazy grouping my flavours and have used brand categories also but as the collection grows it's not working. I've been fortunate to receive lots of great suggestion and appreciate your feedback and comments, thank you.
I have my flavors organized in a hybrid alphabetical order. It's more by flavor profile than by flavor name. For example, I have FA Fuji, INW Two Apples, CAP Double Apple, PUR Country Apple, FLV Sour Apple are all grouped together. I have all my flavors stored in a hanging jewelry organizer in the closet in my office and it works really well.
https://imgur.com/a/8yJeiMe
Do you ever find yourself grabbing the 'wrong' apple? That was my problem when I organized like this.
I organized by manufacturer first, then alphabetical by their full name (for example, 'two apple' would be under 'T').
Thanks so much when I read hybrid I freaked out that it would be too complicated but can see how it works now. By the way I just used FA Fuji last week and loved the flavour, I just used straight 10% and have now increased it to 15% and waiting for it to steep, I really enjoy it by itself but want to use it wit other flavours once I get the base flavour right, I think it is going to be my favourite apple flavour. Never thought of a hanging jewellery organiser as the shelf system is using a lot of space, thanks agin.
That's REALLY high for that flavor, even for single flavor. And it really doesn't need a steep either. Most fruits don't. I'd scale it back to 5% tops
Thanks for that info, I thought fruits would get a bit stronger over time but have noticed after mixing with a good shake they taste fine. The reason I increased the flavour so much is that I have family staying with us who use disposable vapes and love fruit flavours, I lent them my caliburn and Zumwalt which they like but when I looked at what they've been vaping it's 60 Nic Salt (didn't even know it came that high) and the flavour has lots of sweetener, in hindsight I should have mixed lower and added sweetener, now I've used a heap of my flavours as I made them a lot of different mixes and they just keep asking for it stronger. I won't do that again, thanks for the feedback.
I have four of these right now, using each drawer as for a different flavoring company https://sterilite.com/mobile.html?id=479&ProductCategory=186§ion=1 And all that sits on top of this, which I found drawers and doors to put on it, to store PG, VG, bottles, and nic. https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/kallax-shelf-unit-black-brown-60275812/ I would take a picture if I was home.
Thanks, I actually have some of those starlite containers and never though of them for juice as I thought they would all fall over each time I opened it if it wasn't full. I don't think my wife will go for the Ikea kallax but it would help to have one dedicated area with the starlit in them. I think with the grandkids visiting I would have to put doors on them as well. Thanks again, really appreciate the ideas.
I got a board and drilled a grid of recesses with spade bits. so there's a cluster of tobaccos, a cluster of vanillas, a cluster that's cinnamon roll ingredients, a cluster of fruit cereal ingredients, a cluster of menthol/mint/gum, a cluster of blueberry/cheesecake/cookie/lemon, and finally a cluster of AP/Sweeteners/Cinnamon/nic.
Thanks for the idea, I was thinking of boards with 5mm holes for my atty's as stands are so expensive, never thought of recesses for juice so I might look into that to and make one combined stand now. I definitely need to cluster but seem to get confused by categories, from the feedback I've revised vanilla tobacco would go under tobacco not vanilla and vanilla swirl would go under vanilla (I think), thanks agin really appreciate the ideas.
I made a set of shallow shelves exactly the right depth and height for the largest flavour bottle and just sorted them strictly alpha on the name of the flavour, no breakdown by make or anything.
It doesn't take long before you can immediately put your hand on whatever you want, no tricky philosophical quandries like whether it's a dairy or a dessert etc. - just use whatever the manufacturer calls the flavour and sort alpha.
The key is having them all laid out on custom shelves of course, doesn't work well in a box.
I just go alphabetically. I’m not so sure swapping caps will work out, possibly some may not fit on others?
Thanks, I agree that swapping caps is not ideal either. Just curious how you set up alphabetical, I have Vanilla tobacco and RYO tobacco - would they both go in tobacco? Thanks
I keep flavours close together and profiles in a larger mass (fruits on my left, creams/desserts in the middle and additives on my right). I have 300+ flavours so it takes up almost an entire table. I’ve tried organizing them over the years but it always get messed up no matter how hard you try to keep it proper. I stick to having flavours in the same spot, just be sure to put it back as soon as you use it. By doing this, you’ll know where flavours are without having to think about it.