I FINALLY solved my problem with muted e liquids!!

[MitchB]

Just want to start out by saying this ISNT a post recommending to do what I did. Use it as a last resort.

So, Ive been trying to mix e liquids on and off for over 6 months now. I have quite a few flavorings. I still remember the first batch I mixed up. It was TFA Watermelon @ 10%, I remember the fact that I found next to no flavor in my liquid.

This has been a problem throughout my DIY experience. I have tried countless recipes with hardly any flavor. Tons of batches...all fails. The concentrates themselves smelled great but nothing when diluted.

It wasn't vapers tongue....I could still taste shop e liquids.

I thought it could be the lack of sweetener - but even at 1% or more of Super Sweet I couldn't taste anything.

I was pretty fed up and bought a 60ml from a shop yesterday. Had all but given up on DIY. Tonight I woke up though, and couldn't sleep. So, I decided to try again. This time LA Watermelon at 17%, yes, you read that correctly 17%.

Holy crap! Boom. That watermelon Jolly Rancher flavor everyone talks about. Finally. That flavor I got in shop juices but could never get in my own. I am going to mix up some more testers and try to fine tune it.

@AndriaD Thank you so much. Seeing your strawberries and cream recipe is what made me try this. When everyone said it was a waste of time!

Im not exactly sure why I can't taste flavorings at lower percentages...could just be my tastebuds. Im pretty ecstatic though and can't believe I finally figured it out. Everyone advised against this, so I never tried it. Said less is more.....that I would cause vapers tongue.....etc. Well, like they say, taste is subjective and I'm very happy now. Just wanted to share.

Now to search for higher flavoring recipes or do some testers and increase certain ones.

 

[hellcatrydr]

As soon as I read 17% I knew this had Andria's fingerprints on it.

 

[AndriaD]

Yep, some of us, our tastebuds aren't quite dead... but certainly comatose! Glad my super-high percentages (and the reason behind them!) could help! Over time, you may find you can gradually bring it down, maybe even bring it down considerably -- my strawberry & cream started at 31%, with 16% shisha strawberry, but my last mix was under 24%; the shisha strawberry around 13.7% -- it's still an ongoing process.

Andria

ETA: I wonder -- when you first started smoking, did you find the taste of cigarettes totally vile, but learned to accept that taste?

 

[pulsevape]

everybody is different and vapes different ...I always tell noobs to listen carefully to advice,but never ever restrict themselves to that advice..experiment for yourself even if it goes against all the advice you've been given..

 

[Time]

Just want to start out by saying this ISNT a post recommending to do what I did. Use it as a last resort.

I always use it as a first resort.

Actually, I use starting percentage guides like this one, https://www.cloudhousevapor.com/tfa-recommended-blends

Most flavors will have a percentage range like 5-15%. I always use the higher range, 15% in the example.

The recomended percentage for TFA Watermelon in the linked guide is 15%. So, 17% is in the ballpark.

 

[MitchB]

@Time I actually used LA Watermelon, 15% of that seems just as good, but I assume much higher than what people would normally use.

Now, time to experiment and basically start over. Trying to find what flavors work at higher percentages.

 

[Just Frank]

I find I have to go higher on flavor for some of my equipment. But mostly I can taste everything fine. I'm glad you found what works for you.

 

[AndriaD]

ETA: I wonder -- when you first started smoking, did you find the taste of cigarettes totally vile, but learned to accept that taste?

@MitchB , the reason I asked this is that I wonder if those of us who found the taste of cigarettes particularly awful but persisted with smoking anyway, for whatever asinine reason, might have this difficulty tasting our vape... As if, we somehow *turned off* some portion of our abilility to taste, in pure self-defense... and now find it difficult to re-activate the full scope of our sense of taste.

I do know that even though I smoked for nearly 4 decades, my sense of smell wasn't terribly affected, and thank god for that, as it saved me from fire a couple times... but since I quit smoking, my sense of smell has sharpened considerably; my sense of taste, only slightly. Have you noticed if any food/drink tastes different to you now? For instance... I always loved italian sausage on pizza... but now I can't tolerate italian sausage at all, it tastes kinda "gamey" to me -- though I still love breakfast sausage.

Andria

 

[Cosmic]

If you look around at some of the well-regarded, more famous diy recipes from 4-5 years ago or more, you'll notice the flavor percentage tends to be more like 15-20%. These days there seems, on certain forums, to be almost a peer pressure to post recipes with as low as a total percent as possible. That's prob. just my perception, but it seems that way, especially say, on reddit or ATF. Can't tell you how many times I've tried an almost legendary recipe and found that after steeping it was so light I could barely taste it or it was just unsatisfying at that percentage....and that I've had to increase the percentage again and again sometimes. Gets a little frustrating, and a royal pain in the ass to have to keep adjusting. Sure, plenty of folks like light juices, no prob. I have to chalk it up to the fact that I smoked for 35 years and that my buds just aren't what they used to be....I don't like it, but it is what it is. If I get a one-shot concentrate and recommended is 12%, I usually start out around 15% until I get the feel of the juice. I don't always vape stronger juices, but more often than not yeah. For example, a really excellent ry4 named Cardinal by a mixer called Fear....a delicious ry4 at the original percentages...but a bit light for me still.... I just wanted it to have more of a presence/impact....I've upped percentages twice now and I'm still evaluating the juice. ( I do seriously recommend that recipe, by the way.) I only wish I had started vaping in my twenties when I had better flavor perception....but then again vaping wasn't invented then (neither was the internet, I'm as old as dirt....lol).

 

[AndriaD]

If you look around at some of the well-regarded, more famous diy recipes from 4-5 years ago or more, you'll notice the flavor percentage tends to be more like 15-20%. These days there seems, on certain forums, to be almost a peer pressure to post recipes with as low as a total percent as possible. That's prob. just my perception, but it seems that way, especially say, on reddit or ATF. Can't tell you how many times I've tried an almost legendary recipe and found that after steeping it was so light I could barely taste it or it was just unsatisfying at that percentage....and that I've had to increase the percentage again and again sometimes. Gets a little frustrating, and a royal pain in the ass to have to keep adjusting. Sure, plenty of folks like light juices, no prob. I have to chalk it up to the fact that I smoked for 35 years and that my buds just aren't what they used to be....I don't like it, but it is what it is. If I get a one-shot concentrate and recommended is 12%, I usually start out around 15% until I get the feel of the juice. I don't always vape stronger juices, but more often than not yeah. For example, a really excellent ry4 named Cardinal by a mixer called Fear....a delicious ry4 at the original percentages...but a bit light for me still.... I just wanted it to have more of a presence/impact....I've upped percentages twice now and I'm still evaluating the juice. ( I do seriously recommend that recipe, by the way.) I only wish I had started vaping in my twenties when I had better flavor perception....but then again vaping wasn't invented then (neither was the internet, I'm as old as dirt....lol).

I agree, people seem to have some prejudice against making ejuices that can actually be TASTED, not just smelled. I've noticed that right from the start, and thank god when I first started DIY, I was still at ECF and in the TFA thread there, the "high-flavoring mixing" is recommended, because it's the only way I can taste my vape at all.

Maybe it's because nowadays most folks are vaping at absolutely ridiculous wattages, creating clouds that look more like whipped cream than vapor. I guess if you vape something with the heat of a fucking radiator, maybe you can taste a vape that's only 5%-10% flavoring... But some of us can't vape that way, and I wouldn't, even if I could, because vaping 5ml per day is a LOT less expensive than vaping 20-30ml oer day. Even if I mix it at 25% flavoring, it's STILL cheaper to tootle puff than cloud the whole house.

Andria

 

[Cosmic]

I couldn't stop laughing Andria, you have a way with your posts that cuts right to the point.

 

[SteveS45]

I start with the manufacturers recommended percentage and work form there. Some say 3-5% while others say 15% as a starting point. That is why a 10ML sample in a 15ML bottle works for me you can triple the percentage and still have room to tweak.