Help! My juices are sad

[HarleyBob]

I am using highest quality everthing. Making single flavors at suppliers recommended %. Measuring carefully and steeping for weeks. Every batch is vapable but not great. I start low %. Add little at a time. Tried EM, sweetner, etc. Tried recipes from this forum exactly. I'm no dummy but not getting results. Mediocre at best. Using Flavourart, TFA, Capella,Hangsen and Inawera. Citrus is OK but complex flavors are washed out. I'm at a loss. Guess some of us are not cut out for this. Hundreds of bucks down the drain. *

 

[Markw4mms]

More info would be helpful. What flavors are you using, and maybe a copy or link to the recipes you've tried. Also, you mentioned flavors washing out. How long after you mixed did you notice that?

 

[HarleyBob]

Example 3 week steep. 12.915, base, .225FA Custard, .93 maple FA, .93 Marshmallow Capella. Taste has no distinctive note of either flavor. Just muddled sweetness.

 

[OBDave]

What kind of PG/VG are you using, and at what ratios? It doesn't look like you're using nic, but if so what brand of that as well?

 

[Huckleberried]

Are you shaking your flavorings and your nic prior to mixing?

 

[VinceV1]

How many flavors do you have ? Because if I look at my own selections, I use 10% my purchases on a regular basis. If you are picky, it can be a long process.

 

[OBDave]

That, and with mostly maple (sweet) and marshmallow (sweet) with a touch of custard (the most complex of those flavors by far), maybe the "sweet" is just taking over.

Shaking, though, is a must-do. I shake when I pull my bottles out of storage and set them at my mixing station, then shake again before uncapping to add each flavor. Hearty shaking - just make it a part of your routine.

 

[VinceV1]

Before making complex recipes, trying everything individually is a good thing. If something is not working with your taste, you will be able to replace it in a recipe by something better for you.

 

[Teresa P]

What device are you vaping with? Tank? Wattage? Coils?

 

[mjag]

It would help to tell us what kind of flavor you're looking to achieve. Everyone has different tastes and with the recipe you posted I would expect a mild flavor, if you like bold flavor than that recipe would not work.

 

[Heabob]

Example 3 week steep. 12.915, base, .225FA Custard, .93 maple FA, .93 Marshmallow Capella. Taste has no distinctive note of either flavor. Just muddled sweetness.

EDIT:
Not surprised, all those flavors I normally use as "secondaries", and at lower amounts.
A primary is like Blueberry for example and is usually the highest amount in a recipe.
Say 5% for a primary flavor, (could also be 2 primaries, or 3).
The secondary flavor(s) are usually kept lower, or equal to, the primaries.
(Just a general observation, but there are some exceptions)
(As some primaries are super strong)
(Or if you want to taste more Cream, Milk, Vanilla, etc.,these can become primaries also)
Like: Blueberry Cream vs. Creamy Blueberry
And adding some Maple & Marshmallow to Blueberry works nice.
END EDIT
Other than what's been pointed out:
I'd suggest starting with a 50/50 base, (if you haven't tried this already).
Start with fruits as they are easier to work with than the bakery types IMO.
Even as 1 or 2 flavor mixes.
No EM or sucralose, (Stevia OK in small amounts, i.e. drops).
Like 5% TFA Blueberry Wild, (try 10% next if you can't taste it)
or
3% FA Fuji Apple
or
2-3% INW Strawberry
or
3% Lemon Sicily

(You can add 0.5% FA Marshmallow to those safely, or maybe 0.5-1% TFA Dairy Milk/Sweet Cream)

 

[HarleyBob]

First off, thanks for the responses. I am using a pre mix base from ecigexpress.. 30/70 @ 6mg nic. I do shake the heck out of each ingredient. Store it in dark closet. Re shake daily. I test in a Kanger subtank @.5 ohm, about 30 watts on an Eleaf 75w Pico. My daily is a Kanger Nebox at about the same settings. I like bold flavor so I am probably being impatient on the learning curve. My Coconut and Pineapple shine, but Maple, Banana Creme, and RY4 are lame.

 

[HarleyBob]

Oh yeah, I have 23 flavors, TFA, FA, and Capella. Plus EM, Tiramisu, and Sucralose. Like golf, you can have a bunch of clubs and still play like a hack. LOL.

 

[RonJS]

I like bold flavor so I am probably being impatient on the learning curve.

Are you using a juice calculator program and perhaps measuring some of the mixed flavors by drops?

Ron
---
"When I was having that alphabet soup, I never thought that it would pay off."- Vanna White

 

[Lost]

Guess some of us are not cut out for this. Hundreds of bucks down the drain.

Look at it like this... Do you cook? If you do, I'm pretty sure you didn't learn how to use a cabinet full of spices in a couple weeks. It takes a while. Measuring, taking notes, experimenting. Pretty soon, you have a pan full of bland tomato sauce and blindly toss in the perfect amount of salt, oregano, garlic, etc with no measuring spoons or recipes.

Single-flavor juices can be difficult due to them possibly being too one-dimensional.

But if you use too many flavors, the subtle ones tend to disappear. It's like making a 20-ingredient BBQ sauce. Ingredients 12-20 aren't changing the flavor enough to make the effort worthwhile.

Your single-flavor juices aren't a waste. They're now an ingredient. Combine some of the banana creme with the coconut. Put the maple with bourbon or tobacco or whatever.

At some point, you'll get a better taste for all your flavors. You'll vape one and know exactly what else it needs.

 

[VinceV1]

Oh yeah, I have 23 flavors, TFA, FA, and Capella. Plus EM, Tiramisu, and Sucralose. Like golf, you can have a bunch of clubs and still play like a hack. LOL.

Without great ingredients... no great Cuisine.

 

[BKTOAD]

Without great ingredients... no great Cuisine.

As a chef, this is not exactly true.

A chef can make great cuisine with pork hocks.

A hack can screw up beef tenderloin.

Good ingredients are important. But not as important as how you use what you have. But, some flavorings are just gross.

 

[VinceV1]

As a chef, this is not exactly true.

A chef can make great cuisine with pork hocks.

A hack can screw up beef tenderloin.

Good ingredients are important. But not as important as how you use what you have. But, some flavorings are just gross.

Bad flavors can't be good with talent.

 

[Ablonz]

@HarleyBob Most of my flavors are enhancers. Like take Apple for instance, Blue Raspberry is needed to make the flavor pop out more and vice versa. Blueberry IMO need English Toffee to pop out. Banana Cream takes about 2 weeks to come out. Also, I notice it tastes better at lower wattages like around 18-20 watts. All flavors have different tastes when it comes to heat and airflow applied as well. Blueberry likes tighter air flow where as Bavarian Cream likes wide open air flow. All those things need to be taken into consideration. Hope this helps.

 

[Heabob]

Like golf, you can have a bunch of clubs and still play like a hack

Or if you only had 23 7 irons to work with?.
Maybe you could list your flavors for us Vultures to pick at...

Bad flavors can't be good with talent.

+1

Or maybe not even really bad flavors, although possible, but it also could be just a bad application of the wrong flavors.

Makes a big difference on what those 23 flavors are.

 

[Tootall]

I just made my first day juice this week. I did buy 480 ml of 85vg 15pg 6 NIC pre mixed flavorless juice to make it easier but my NIC will be a little lower than 6 after I mox flavoring bit not much. Inam no professional by any means. I then found a web site with the calculations for single flavor juice percentages and I made a bottle of each of my five flavors so I didn't use to much flavor and make it shit. I then mixed the flavors I wanted and it worked great I have been vaping it ever since it was good immediately and just keeps getting better. I don't know whether this helps you but I found making each flavor by itself and trying it before you mix with like a drip tip so you know what each flavor tastes like by itself and then mix it insures you don't kill your juice .

 

[lirruping]

trying it before you mix with like a drip tip

Tasting/smelling out of the bottle can be a great way to tell what a flavor is going to do in a mix--or it can fall flat. It really, really, depends on the flavor! Some stuff smells and even tastes great as a drop or two in a glass of water, then later also smells/tastes great. Others (and this is the significant minority) don't.

Like Everyone's been saying, it's a process. I really hope you don't give up, OP, because it's so much fun, so satisfying, and will save you a ton of money if you learn to make recipes you love. The learning curve can be long and frustrating, but like anything, if you keep at it, you'll have "AHA!" moments, then those will begin to pile up and you'll be off and running.