Good Afternoon! I'm new to this forum, and its so full of great info I wanted to thank everyone! With the costs of commercial juice skyrocketing at my local vape shots, I've been researching the DIY kits and finally ordered a starter kit to try it out. I decided to start easy and ordered premixed base. 30/70 at 3mg, which is what I was vaping in the commercial stuff I've been using. I made my first batch, starting at a small 10 mils. The flavor used was a simple berry blend included in the kit, at 10%. I'm noticing an unpleasant after taste that is hard to describe. Bitter, like the crappy tobacco flavors I've found in low end commercial stuff. I've also noticed this aftertaste in "pastry" style flavors before (churro, apple pie, etc...) I understand that some people enjoy this, but I really do not. My question is, where is this flavor originating from, and how can I get rid of it? Is it the nic base? I tend to think not, because my 30/70 berry flavor commercial juice I like doesn't have it. Or did I do something? not mix it well enough or not let it steep long enough? Any help is appreciated. Thanks!
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New to DIY, having a unpleasent after taste
- Thread starter Revelationjp
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Lefty
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Hard to say for sure. Try some of the nic base without flavoring and see if the taste is still there. Berry and fruit flavors don't usually need a lot of steeping but that's general, not absolute. IDK the recommended percentage for the brand of flavoring included but they can vary greatly. You can let the already mixed stuff steep a bit and see if it improves. You can try a lower flavoring percentage and work your way up as well. I find it best to wait overnight when doing this before moving up to give it a chance at whatever level you're at. It could be just a bad flavor for your taste buds as well.
Thanks for that info, helps a bunch. I never thought of trying the base by itself. just never occurred to me for some reason. I'll give it shot tonight. 10% was the recommended starting point in the kit instructions, so that's what I used. I'll let this batch steep a few days before giving it another shot, then maybe try again with a lower flavor percentage and work up. Sounds like a good troubleshooting technique. My main reason for trying to isolate this aftertaste is that I've noticed the exact same thing in some commercial stuff so I'd think (maybe I'm wrong) that there's some common denominator there I could possibly isolate and get rid of, or at least cover up. I wish I could describe the taste better, I've run across it often enough that someone probably knows exactly what it is.
Have patience Rev, and isolate until you find the issue. As Lefty mentions, everyone has different taste/perception. Even PG or VG can affect the final mix let alone a particular brand of flavoring or NIC versus another. That Berry Blend could be any combination of flavorings/manufacturers.
And one thing to keep in mind, for instance, is that there are many different versions of say, Strawberry flavoring available.. each one is different tasting and most people will have the one that works for them as well as one or several that are absolutely unvapeable for that person.
Perhpas check out some of the recipes online here to get some ideas of what you are looking for and what flavors have been found to work well.
Good luck and Welcome to VU!
And one thing to keep in mind, for instance, is that there are many different versions of say, Strawberry flavoring available.. each one is different tasting and most people will have the one that works for them as well as one or several that are absolutely unvapeable for that person.
Perhpas check out some of the recipes online here to get some ideas of what you are looking for and what flavors have been found to work well.
Good luck and Welcome to VU!
Thanks for the help guys. Sorry for the late reply, work has been murder the last week. So I followed the advice on trying the nix base alone, and that was definitely not the problem. I don't know what I was expecting but it's actually pretty pleasent on its own. So I started from scratch and backed down to a 2% mix and built up to 5%, and found it was perfect! I never thought that a higher percentage mix could add flavor that wasn't there before. But apparently it can. At 5%, the berry flavor is awesome and no nasty under taste. Soni guess from now on I'll start all my builds low and move up. Thanks again for all the help!
Problem is with some starter kits they may be using "other" brands of flavoring rather than the more typical ones used around here.
With that said, even the common brands like TFA, CAP, INW, FA, FW, FLV, etc, each have their own individual taste/strength level.
You will probably need to learn all your flavors anyway and make adjustments by experimentation to suit your preferences.
Sounds like you got a handle on it though.
BTW Good Luck & Welcome to VU
With a lot of fruits, even from more "dilute" flavor manufacturers like TFA, you never want to start at 10%. They become way more chemical-tasting and start to not taste anything like what they are meant to taste like. A really good example is most Blackberry, which seems like a really tough flavor to replicate artificially, I guess. Just a little too much throws the flavor completely off.
Also, while many fruits are "good to go" right after mixing, imo, they still benefit from steeping by off gassing the perfume-y-ness many artificial fruit flavors start off with.
Also, while many fruits are "good to go" right after mixing, imo, they still benefit from steeping by off gassing the perfume-y-ness many artificial fruit flavors start off with.
Sounds like overflavoring, to be honest. Start low and work your way up.
Also, FYI. Steeping is /= leaving the cap off. They are two completely different things. Steeping is just letting the ejuice sit in a dark place, untouched. Leaving the cap off is aerating.
Also, FYI. Steeping is /= leaving the cap off. They are two completely different things. Steeping is just letting the ejuice sit in a dark place, untouched. Leaving the cap off is aerating.
Welcome!
You might find your answer here:
http://vapingunderground.com/threads/finding-the-problem-when-your-diy-tastes-bad.88262/
Ron
"Let's just say I was testing the bounds of reality. I was curious to see what would happen. That's all it was curiosity. "-Jim Morrison
But as long as there is head space in the bottle, fruits and other perfume-y or alcohol-y flavors will still off gas with time/steeping. There's no need, in most cases, to degrade the nicotine and flavorings with exposure to air in most cases I've found over the last four years.
