I know it's a vague question but I'm sure people know what I mean. I vape stuff that I mixed and then vape some commercial juice and it's like night and day in terms of how powerful the flavors are.
Is it simply a matter of cranking up the %'s? If I start doing 20% flavors will that help? Or are there certain flavors commercial juices are using to get that wattage that I should be using?
Assuming you're a newer mixer, the answer to your question is: sweetener.
The explanation to that is, that commercial eliquids obviously use a high amount of sweetener. That also means that your tastebuds are used to such an high amount. Most recipes you find online these days, tend to use less sweetener. This puts your tastebuds into a state of shock so to speak, and that could make the mixes you try seem bland.
So basically, what you can try to do is to use a slightly higher amount of sweetener - something like CAP Super Sweet at 1% and then slowly lowering it, so your tasebuds can keep up with the changes.
Overall percentage of a mix means nothing and cranking up the overall percentage, will most likely result in overflavoring which will mute the entire mix.
Thanks. That makes sense. I'm not new but I haven't made my own juices in awhile. I definitely don't remember them being this bland. It seems my taste buds have adjusted to commercial. If I just deal with it and wait it out, I'll probably be fine with my juices again.
I thought 1% sweetener was baseline is 1% considered a lot? Also I noticed super sweet is not the best sweetener kind of tastes like dusty old powdered sugar imo
1% is high IMO. It is thought to be around 3% - 4% for commercial stuff
Depends on your flavours. For example, in fruity mixes, adding just 0.2% of INW Kaktus gives a really nice juicy flavour. You can't really taste the cactus, it just elevates the other flavours. A word of warning though, don't use too much or the flavour will dominate and spoil the recipe..
The more you experiment, the more you will find out what flavours can support others. I have several concentrates which I only use in very low percentages (flavour art Papaya also comes to mind, also any citrus based concentrates), but if I left them out the recipe loses a LOT of flavour..
What are the recipes?
This recipe prompted me to make this thread:
https://alltheflavors.com/recipes/25237#butterscotch_cupcake_by_exclusivegirl
I didn't have Vanilla Cupcake so tried one each with 3% Cheesecake Graham Crust, 3% CAP Vanilla Custard and 3% CAP Sugar Cookie instead - along with one of Butterscotch Natural + Vanilla Custard. All taste very bland to me.
Well first of all, you didn't make that recipe if you subbed things. And Butterscotch natural? It's Butterscotch Ripple in the recipe.
What are you using to vape?
Did you steep that mix?
I said I did one with Butterscotch Natural, the rest are all Butterscotch Ripple. That was four mixes I listed. Using a Geekvape single battery mod at like 50w. Yes I steeped them.
As others have said, it's probably that I've adjusted to sweeteners in commercial juices and need to reset my palate.
Yep, as the other folk say, whether your recipe is good or not so good, if like me you're accustomed to shop bought juices you'll be missing that sweetener.
I just got back into DIY after a couple of years away, literally last weekend was when I finished my last bottle of shop stuff. I'd wanted to have clean break so finished every drop before moving over, new wicks all round and... was rather disappointed.
Actually, apart from a couple, particularly one with TPA Berry Cereal, a new one on me and a cracking flavour it seems, with some of their Blueberry Extra and some Bavarian Cream it's great !
I've been optimistically mixing with 0.25 and 0.5% CAP Super Sweet... but adding CAP SS to make it more like 2-3%, and zing - there's the 'taste' !!
As time goes by I'll gradually reduce it but for now, I need the fairly obscene levels of sweetener as that's what my palate is accustomed to.
Try a couple of the juices you're most let down by and chuck in say 0.2g per 10ml, give it a good shake and retry, no need to steep again, or just step it up a few drops at a time.
[Edit] I've not had to do this with the tobacco recipes, I was never into those before but got some INW 555 and TPA RY4 Double and I've found a whole new area of flavours I'd for some reason completely ignored before, no sweetener needed there.
For me is like reverse, commercial are bland as fluff and diy is like heaven and hell. Wonder if commercial juices in Poland are different that much
I actually started mixing because I wound up hating nearly every bottle of commercial juice I tried lol. The exception being River Nicotine’s house brand (rip their peach flavor, it was on another level). One of my adv is a lychee flavor and I guarantee you, that’s not exactly a popular flavor in America lol.
I’ve found bumping up flavor percentages are key to helping transition to diy. Just gotta keep the sweetener to 1% or less. Or keep the sweetener cranked up lol.
Just the sweetener really. Commercial juices basically all lean on heavy dosage of sweeteners, as it's a pretty common way to plaster over the cracks of an otherwise substandard recipe.
The flavour is likely there, but your tastes will not have adjusted for the lack of sweetness; I experienced the same at the start of my mixing journey, and everything does start out tasting quite muted.
Now, though, even if I put 0.5% super sweet into a mix it can be nice out of the gate but makes me feel a bit ill after half a tank - there's just an awful sickly, sticky sensation that almost feels like it's all over my body. And then there's the issue of your wicks lasting 2 days rather than 2 weeks, which is a whole other problem.
But that said, everyone's got their preferences, and if commercial is what you're after then crank up that super sweet as it will definitely bring out your flavours more if you're accustomed to that kind of thing.