Sampling Tips & Tricks

[SailCat]

Howdy @Steam Pilgrim ,

Yeap, was just trying to remember if turning the bridged into a bridgeless worked as I have a couple laying around from back in the day. Thanks SP.

Hay, Mac! Another vaper from 'back in the day', here. You can also (still) buy bridgeless atties but the draw may be a disappointment (particularly compared to developments over the intervening years).

In any event, welcome to the VU community, your stalwart support group. Keep the faith.

 

[zaroba]

Honestly, I've never bothered with changing cotton or even using unflavored when sampling my DIY mixes.
Drip some on, vape it until the cotton is almost dry, then drip the next one.

Unless the flavors being tried are drastically different (like cucumber then chocolate) or contains something known to be a cotton killer (ie, pomegranate), the taste of the flavors mixed is negligible and only lasts until the new liquid wicks into the cotton. When it comes to fruits, candies, and desserts, most of these blend with each other quite well so usually wont get any bad combos from different liquids being mixed for the first few hits. A drink flavor or a tobacco to one of these might yield undesirable flavors though. Chocolate to Coffee wouldn't be bad, but coffee to skittles might not taste so good. Mints (including menthol) could go either way with everything else. Overall, it really depends on the flavors being used and your personal taste preference. Just my experiences anyway.

I will also smell a liquid and put a drop on my finger to taste before doing a test vape.
If it doesn't pass those two tests then I will either continue working on it before vaping it or vape it to get a more definitive idea as to what it might be missing.

 

[zaroba]

Zero-ing in on water as a test medium. This seems like an excellent way to start. No steeping, no processing, no waiting. Just mix, taste and nibble to reset your taste buds.

How does tasting flavours in water generally compare to vaping them?
Do percentages hold up? Are notes muted or amped?

I can't imagine it would be much different from using VG or PG aside from not being as sweet. Might be a bit bitter actually.
Anything you see with artificial or natural flavoring in the ingredients list uses the same flavors that we use.
All the flavor extracts we use were made for things like drinks and foods for a long time before vapors found them.

 

[SailCat]

I can't imagine it would be much different from using VG or PG aside from not being as sweet. Might be a bit bitter actually.
Anything you see with artificial or natural flavoring in the ingredients list uses the same flavors that we use.
All the flavor extracts we use were made for things like drinks and foods for a long time before vapors found them.

You get that this is tasting without vaping, right? Dunno if I'd toss a shot of VG or PG into my mouth ... 'might be OK but I'll pass.

I first read of this method in some of HIC's notes regarding the test of new flavorings.

 

[zaroba]

You get that this is tasting without vaping, right? Dunno if I'd toss a shot of VG or PG into my mouth ... 'might be OK but I'll pass.

I first read of this method in some of HIC's notes regarding the test of new flavorings.

yes, he asked about using water as a test medium instead of vg or pg.
I said that i couldn't imagine it being much different from using vg or pg but it might be bitter.

 

[SailCat]

yes, he asked about using water as a test medium instead of vg or pg.
I said that i couldn't imagine it being much different from using vg or pg but it might be bitter.

Yes, but putting it in his mouth as a liquid.

PG and VG aren't poisonous but I think I'll stick to water as a mouthwash for flavor sampling.

 

[zaroba]

lol, I know the intention is to drink it. Hence why I commented about it tasting bitter. The sweetness in our e-liquid comes from the VG and PG, using water instead would result in a pretty bitter drink without any additional sweeteners like regular drinks have in them to compensate for the bitterness of the flavors. Also why I said that the flavors we use have been used for foods and drinks for a long time before we started making e-liquids with them. They are safe to eat/drink.
.

 

[SailCat]

Thank you Zaroba.

 

[zaroba]

On a side note, I completely forgot about this until now.

I often do drink flavors mixed with water.
While mixing, I rinse out my syringes in a cup of water between each flavor.
Afterwords I drink the water, or try to anyway. Usually ends up god awful, despite the eliquid(s) vaping great.

Just made up a cereal killa clone. All I taste in the water is the hazelnut and lemon.
And it's just from rinsing out the syringes, so fractions of the amount that are used in the eliquid.

 

[MysticRose]

Yes, it has a bitter aftertaste when tasting in water. But, I know that doesn't come through when vaping, so I can still differentiate the flavor profile from it.

 

[big mac]

Howdy @SailCat,

Thanks for the Hay Mac, appreciate it.

Think I'm just gonna grab my old derringer (haven't used that damn thing in forever) and use it for awhile to taste. Will try the water taste test as well and I can't seem to help myself, the first thing I've done since I first started vaping was a drop on the finger and rub some on the gums.

Mac

 

[SailCat]

Howdy @SailCat,

Thanks for the Hay Mac, appreciate it.

Think I'm just gonna grab my old derringer (haven't used that damn thing in forever) and use it for awhile to taste. Will try the water taste test as well and I can't seem to help myself, the first thing I've done since I first started vaping was a drop on the finger and rub some on the gums.

Hay, I had to check back only to find that I really did spell it that way. <sigh>

The Derringer is a fine choice. I plan to drag out all the old drippers I've got & get 'em in rotation for just that purpose. They're packed away with all those old mechs I obtained during one of the earlier Vapocolypse scares.

 

[big mac]

Howdy @SailCat,

LOL....I put or gave, all the drippers away, all I did with them was make a mess and got dry hits. Yes, I know, it's my own fault for either over juicing or over vaping. I just never got used to them I guess. I even thought I would be able to use Temp Control and one of those EZ Drippers to solve that problem, but I can't seem to find the sweet spot with TC. Oh well, maybe something to work on in the future. For now it's DIYing the juice.

Mac

 

[SailCat]

Howdy @SailCat,

LOL....I put or gave, all the drippers away, all I did with them was make a mess and got dry hits. Yes, I know, it's my own fault for either over juicing or over vaping. I just never got used to them I guess. I even thought I would be able to use Temp Control and one of those EZ Drippers to solve that problem, but I can't seem to find the sweet spot with TC. Oh well, maybe something to work on in the future. For now it's DIYing the juice.

TC has become de rigueur for me but that's with tanks. the coils for which are built by skilled Asians in an overseas factory while DIY requires tasting many different concoctions concurrently. I picked up a dozen bridgless atties, having forgotten that the draw is much like trying to suck a golf ball through a drinking straw, a disappointment for one used to lung inhales since cartomizers. Ah-hah! I have boxes of cartomizers so O tried that as well. Better draw but the flavor is surely compromised by the lint and mouse-dropping composition of the wicking material. Drippers really seem the best solution. I have a box of Ko Jen Do (or something like that) and a hank of Rayon. While a slight deficit in eyesight and dexterity has stalled my competing for the CoilMaster title, a local shop has offered to coil up the collection of dripper I had accumulated to dodge that earlier imaginary hardware shortage. I'll just feed wicks to the little devils when need be, then revisit the shop for re-coiling. Eventually (soon) I'll have the gear put together that will allow me to personally experience the orgasmic joy of wrapping the perfect coil but til then, this seems like the best way to taste DIY homebrews.

 

[Steam Pilgrim]

I can't imagine it would be much different from using VG or PG aside from not being as sweet. Might be a bit bitter actually.
Anything you see with artificial or natural flavoring in the ingredients list uses the same flavors that we use.
All the flavor extracts we use were made for things like drinks and foods for a long time before vapors found them.

Have you ever tried cream for testing? I've seen it mentioned, by wllmc for one. I suppose it may offset some of the lacking sweetness of PG/VG, and the thick, lingering texture might make for a good test medium.

HIC mentioned it too, and saltines, but prefers water or fingertipping straight out of the bottle.

Both note that percentages from water or cream don't directly translate to juice. There has got to be a way...

 

[Steam Pilgrim]

Yes, it has a bitter aftertaste when tasting in water. But, I know that doesn't come through when vaping, so I can still differentiate the flavor profile from it.

Do you work out flavour strengths and recipes in water? How do percentages hold up when translating to juice?

 

[wayne.walkerr]

The best advice I could give is when you're testing FOR THE LOVE OF GOD WRITE NOTES. Write as much as you can about the flavoring your testing. The flavor profiles, the "texture", any aftertastes, any pairings you think would work with it, everything. This will help you when you go to make your own recipes, because you'll know which flavors to use in specific situations. This will also speed up your mixing a lot, and increase production output. Also, I use Evernote for all my DIY notes. This is because I can "tag" certain keywords which makes finding flavorings I need a fucking breeze. Say I'm making a Fig, Walnut, Bearclaw or something, and I need something that will bind the flavors together. I just search #binding and a list of flavorings pop up. Then I can narrow it even further by searching #binding #fig #walnut, and maybe one of two will pop up and I can just choose from there, with all the recommended percentages I already wrote down from my testing. I HIGHLY recommend trying this method out.

 

[lordmage]

makes me feel like an old vaper when i remember cisco bridgeless where no where to be found due to demand now its lack there of... hell i remember a DSE901,801,306 and so many more three piece designs

 

[MysticRose]

Do you work out flavour strengths and recipes in water? How do percentages hold up when translating to juice?

I don't work out recipes in water, and I don't taste in water in percentages. I just do it to familiarize myself with the flavor profile itself, then have fun experimenting in eliquid I do write down notes and rough strength when testing, some are stronger than others and it does translate to vaping. I also write down ideas I think would pair with it when tasting. Some are obviously stronger tasting than others, so I obviously start those at lower base percentages when trying in a recipe. IMO, you can't work out recipes with water testing, as 1 drop is quite strong, so if you had more than 1-2 flavors it would be very overwhelming. It always tastes stronger in water than in a vape to me.