I just got my first DIY order and I am pretty pumped to get started on this journey. After watching videos and reading posts about DIY I believe that I should taste my flavors individually to get an idea of the characteristics of each flavor.
I was thinking that if I mix 5-10ml for each flavor in max pg, then I will be able to get a sense of the true flavor without steeping. Does it work like that or am I just going to waste my materials? What % of flavor should I be using to start with?
Thanks for any help!
You've got a fair amount of flavors there. To get a true sense of the flavor you'll need to test them at different strengths, 2, 4, 6, 8% etc. The amount needed varies widely from manufacturer. You'd spend a shitload of time and base if you did each test at your proposed levels. I've pasted below a method that you can try. It's fast, fairly accurate and inexpensive.
Testing Flavors
19 drops PG/VG
1 drop of flavor = 5%
2 drops =10%
3 drops = 15%
and so on.
When you find the % of flavor you like you can make a 5ml batch using one of the calculators to get the %s. Using a 1ml syringe is the easiest way to get accurate amounts in small batches. 10% flavor would be .5ml flavor and 4.5ml (nicotine, PG/VG) base.
Fill a 3ml bottle with 19 drops of pg with dropper. The bottle is marked off for the 20 drop level. Then I add one drop of flavoring with the same dropper. I then shake the bottle and put 3 drops in an atty and vape it. I then add 2 drops pg and another drop flavoring to keep the bottle at the marked level. Next I drop 3 drops and vape (10%). Then repeat until 20-25% just to be sure I don’t undershoot my sweet spot and to know what it tastes like when it reaches an over flavored percentage. On flavors I think are going to be stronger I will start with a 40 drop base so I can start at 2.5%.
For this example, I'm going to use 3ml ...put 3ml of pg or vg in a container
add .3 ml of flavoring to give you 10% flavoring.
If it's too strong, add more pg until it tastes right to you. If too weak add more flavor. (Keep track of what you're adding). Once you decide what's good (as an example let's say you ended up liking .3ml of flavor in 5 ml of base.
You now know that if you want to mix up 20ml of juice, you need 1.2ml of flavor (based on .3ml per 5ml).
Take 5ml of water and mix one drop of a flavoring and swish it around my mouth. It’s amazing how much it helps to "learn" a flavoring really taste what it like. I use exactly 5 ml, so I can gauge how potent the flavoring is. If it needs two drops I know it’s a weaker flavor that will need to be a higher percentage. If it’s too strong I know it will require less. It’s really helped me make better mixes. True, the flavor, once mixed in pg/vg changes a bit, but not as much as you'd think. It’s worked really well for me so far.