Become a Patron!

New to DIY juice

P

pgrevie

I just finished making a 50 ml batch of juice. A while back I ordered some FW flavors. I tried making a 15 ml batch when I first got the flavors, but I screwed it up. I didn't read much and just threw it together. This time I went about it more carefully. I was armed with some info from this forum, thank you.

I mixed a 50 ml batch of FW Root Beer. 0mg, 70vg/30pg with 30% flavor. I have a scale that reads 0.01 grams, but I used a graduated cylinder and syringe to measure by volume. Now I have to sit on my hands for a week or two while it steeps. I doubt that will happen, so I'll likely post how it tastes by the end of the week.
 
freemind

freemind

Gold Contributor
Member For 4 Years
Member For 3 Years
30% flavor is really high.

I'd suggest you start at 5% and go from there.
 
P

pgrevie

I figured if it's too strong I can always add more base. I found that FW is the supplier for a vendor that I order my juice from. Their usage for their flavors without base are 10-40%. When you order juice from them you can add up to 4 shots of extra flavor. My math could be flawed, but I figured 10% was the base amount they used and if 4 shots takes it to 40% then that would make each shot 6.25% extra flavor. I usually order 3 extra shots when I buy from them. 3 shots came out to 33.75%, so I rounded down.

With all of that being said, your statement is probably more correct than my assumptions.
 
O

OBDave

VU Donator
Gold Contributor
Member For 4 Years
That's a whole lot of flavor - my strongest recipe goes to 22%, and when I mix it for myself I usually only go a little more than half strength. FW is certainly going to be on the weaker end as far as flavors go, but I'd worry about muting the flavor due to using too much (yes, that's a thing). You may want to take a bit off your first mix and cut it by 2/3 to bring it down to 10% - steep them both at the same time and see which you like better.
 
Lost

Lost

Silver Contributor
Member For 4 Years
Member For 3 Years
Dave posted that while I was typing. So #3 for "that's too much."

If you start tasting juices on the high end, you won't necessarily know how strong it is. There comes a point where your percentage increase in flavoring stops giving you an equal percentage-boost of taste. There isn't a set percentage for when you hit this wall, since all brands and flavorings are different.

This isn't just me talking... I've read other people mention it here as well. At least one post talked about the extra flavor actually making the juice taste worse. Just something to think about for later.
 
P

pgrevie

I will let it steep overnight then cut it tomorrow or Wednesday when I have some time. Maybe the best plan of action is to split the batch and cut half of it to 10% and the other half to 15%. Thank you for your help.
 
O

OBDave

VU Donator
Gold Contributor
Member For 4 Years
LostHasher said:
There comes a point where your percentage increase in flavoring stops giving you an equal percentage-boost of taste. There isn't a set percentage for when you hit this wall, since all brands and flavorings are different.

This isn't just me talking... I've read other people mention it here as well. At least one post talked about the extra flavor actually making the juice taste worse. Just something to think about for later.
Click to expand...
Indeed. That's what I was getting at with
OBDave said:
I'd worry about muting the flavor due to using too much (yes, that's a thing).
Click to expand...
pgrevie said:
Maybe the best plan of action is to split the batch and cut half of it to 10% and the other half to 15%. Thank you for your help.
Click to expand...
That's a good idea - or even cut some to 10, some to 15, and leave the rest at 30 so you'll really be able to sample the spectrum and see what we're talking about so far as diminishing returns when you get to the 30. My guess is that somewhere between 10 and 20 (probably between 10 and 15) is going to be the happy spot...
 
P

pgrevie

Thank you for all of the input. I cut the original batch to 10% and 15%. I have about 10 ml of the 30% left. I dripped a little bit of the 30%... If anyone is looking for a root beer flavored NyQuil, I've got you covered.
 
Heabob

Heabob

Gold Contributor
Member For 4 Years
Member For 3 Years
Just an FYI

I use Tasty Puff Rasta Root Beer at 6%
or TFA Root Beer Float at 10%
(mixed with some other things tho)
 
Kinser

Kinser

Member For 4 Years
Member For 3 Years
ECF Refugee
pgrevie said:
Thank you for all of the input. I cut the original batch to 10% and 15%. I have about 10 ml of the 30% left. I dripped a little bit of the 30%... If anyone is looking for a root beer flavored NyQuil, I've got you covered.
Click to expand...

Just as a personal experience note...I find that it is easier to add flavor after a mix than it is to dilute it out. When testing out a new flavor I find it best to buy the smallest quantity, and to test at around 5%. Many DIYers call it the 5% Rule.

Also it really helps leaps and bounds if every time you mix you take notes and keep those notes somewhere safe, on a computer, or phone or in my case cause I'm old school I have one of those marble composition books like they used to make us use in school.
 
P

pgrevie

Kinser said:
Also it really helps leaps and bounds if every time you mix you take notes and keep those notes somewhere safe, on a computer, or phone or in my case cause I'm old school I have one of those marble composition books like they used to make us use in school.
Click to expand...
LOL. I have a stack of them in the closet. Every year when back to school sales hit, I replenish my supply. I have a number of them floating around with notes from various ongoing projects.
 
7

70414

Bronze Contributor
Member For 4 Years
Yeah what Kinser said....start low on flavorings, test & work your way up as needed.
 
Kinser

Kinser

Member For 4 Years
Member For 3 Years
ECF Refugee
And above all, and pretty much as an after thought, if you don't have a dripping atty get one. I personally use the Derringer as my test dripper. But any dripping atty will do. Rebuildable is preferable as you will want to change your wicks. A strong RY4 type flavor will carry over into a nice sweet Jolly Rancher Watermellon otherwise.

Strangely that combination wasn't terrible as that is sort of what one of my "all sorts" tasted like. An "all sorts" is where I take dribs and drabs of empty bottles and mix them all together. Not everyone does this but I'm a tight wad. Seriously I save the end pieces of soap and stuff them into old pairs of the Mrs' panty hose...."Depression Soap on a rope" my grandmother called it.
 
Zamazam

Zamazam

Evil Vulcan's do it with Logic
VU Donator
Platinum Contributor
Member For 5 Years
"Seriously I save the end pieces of soap and stuff them into old pairs of the Mrs' panty hose...."Depression Soap on a rope" my grandmother called it."

Same here, Thank God I'm not the only one who does this. My Grandma used to make her own laundry soap with left over lard which she rendered out side and then added Red Devil Lye to the cauldron. You made do when you didn't have much money.
 
Kinser

Kinser

Member For 4 Years
Member For 3 Years
ECF Refugee
As my grandmother used to say. "Use it up, wear it out, make do or do without." That said she never made soap. My great-grandmother did but they moved to Atlanta from the country when my grandmother was just starting to get old enough to do work (about 8 in those days if we're talking farm work).

ETA: The "all sorts" was something I developed when I was between jobs and before I started to make my own juice. I've never been able to ever replicate any of the things I made that way, be they wonderful or awful.
 
P

pgrevie

My uncle makes his own soap and uses the leftovers, scraps and end pieces to melt down again. He calls it "ugly soap".

I tasted the ejuice and I think the 15% is in the right neighborhood. I've had a bit of a sore throat/cold for a couple of days, so I don't know for sure. I'm getting a bit of a chemical taste from both the 10% and 15%. I'm not overly worried about it as I started with the least favorite flavor I had. I have been using a dripper to test the flavor. Mostly I've been using a teapot RDA with an ekowool wick. I've been building titanium coils lately .20-.25 ohms.
 
Kinser

Kinser

Member For 4 Years
Member For 3 Years
ECF Refugee
I rarely go above 10% in my mixes. There are a few, ones that use LorAnn flavors, I'm partial to their banana cream flavor my only qualm is the Yellow Dye 5 that uses like 14% flavor and 2% EM. It is supposed to be very candy banana flavor like. Watermelon Jolly Rancher, as I call it, uses 10% TFA watermelon and 1% EM. So using total flavors in the 15% range is not unheard of.

That being said, when developing a recipe, less is more. Like cooking, where it is easy to add salt but difficult to take it out, the same principle applies to crafting juice.

As to melting down soap scraps, the Mrs has started doing that lately. She no longer has to wear pantyhose at work since the hospital agreed that office workers can wear khaki scrubs.
 
freemind

freemind

Gold Contributor
Member For 4 Years
Member For 3 Years
pgrevie said:
My uncle makes his own soap and uses the leftovers, scraps and end pieces to melt down again. He calls it "ugly soap".

I tasted the ejuice and I think the 15% is in the right neighborhood. I've had a bit of a sore throat/cold for a couple of days, so I don't know for sure. I'm getting a bit of a chemical taste from both the 10% and 15%. I'm not overly worried about it as I started with the least favorite flavor I had. I have been using a dripper to test the flavor. Mostly I've been using a teapot RDA with an ekowool wick. I've been building titanium coils lately .20-.25 ohms.
Click to expand...

Are you using Ti wire in temp control mode?
Be careful to never pulse Ti wire (dry fire it) as it can form some pretty nasty stuff.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

VU Sponsors

Top