hi im new to diy. I made a batch of ejuice and it was horrable. What did i do wrong? I bought cheesecake gram crust and strawberry. Brand is TFA. I mixed 15ml of each flavor in a 120ml 70vg/30pg base with 3mg of nic. i heat steeped with almost boiling water for 1 hour shaking it every 15 min. The juice is really watery and tastes bad. PLEASE HELP. im going to try a batch of cottoncandy, on my next order
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I would recommend no more than 4-5% tops of those flavors to start with. TFA flavors are pretty strong. Too much flavoring will actually mute flavors. Also, a juice with those two flavors should really be a shake and vape, you don't really need steeping unless you have custards/creams in the mix.
"I made a batch of e juice and it was horrible" Lmfao I literally LOLd when I read that. The 20% figure is a lot.. more like 5-15%. And like the guy said above TFA flavors are strong. Not all flavors are equal in 'strength' so 5-15 or even 20% is hardly an absolute figure. Rework your recipe before you even get concerned about steeping. Do what the guy above said. And as far as fast steeping goes you prob wanna have a thermometer involved and don't go above 150 degrees although that's what most people say (I think?) I should mention I did my first quick steep today but it did turn out great! ~150 in triple wrapped sandwich bags for about 4 hours however it's supposed to be dependent on your flavor profile. I'm new to a lot of this but I hope that helped.
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What all these guys said ^^
I remember when I first started DIY didn't have a clue (except with nic made sure I knew how to handle that properly) bought some Capella flavours decided to make a load of single flavours at 100ml then I'd mix them as I go dumped the whole concentrate in each lmfao that was a horrible mistake on my part ...good god was like perfume learnt a valuable lesson though ...start low with small 10ml sample sizes less is more to start with adjust up accordingly
You'll soon get a feel what sort of percentages to use for your personal taste with each manufacturer in any recipe ...If I see any recipe over 7% total I'll reduce it to my liking now FA flavours especially even lower
I remember when I first started DIY didn't have a clue (except with nic made sure I knew how to handle that properly) bought some Capella flavours decided to make a load of single flavours at 100ml then I'd mix them as I go dumped the whole concentrate in each lmfao that was a horrible mistake on my part ...good god was like perfume learnt a valuable lesson though ...start low with small 10ml sample sizes less is more to start with adjust up accordingly
You'll soon get a feel what sort of percentages to use for your personal taste with each manufacturer in any recipe ...If I see any recipe over 7% total I'll reduce it to my liking now FA flavours especially even lower
More flavoring does not equal more flavor...
Don't even worry about 'heat' steeping for now, it's not at all as complicated or even necessary as you may have heard - As Mark mentioned already, it's only really necessary for some mixes. Time is all that is needed for steeping and is really best way. 98% of the time, I mix put the bottle in a cup of hot water .. (not close to boiling.. just hot.. ~140f) for like 3 minutes then shake the hell out of it. Taste and then put it away if I think it needs to steep more.
if you have any left try 1% TFA Graham cracker crust and 4% TFA strawberry - in a 10 ml mix - shake it for 3 minutes .. then taste it. Let it sit for 24 hours then taste it again. adjust accordingly.
Cotton Candy is basically 'Ethyl Maltol' - a chemical additive (as are almost all flavors, with exception of extracts)
It is designed to 'meld' flavors together .. taking off the 'edges' of the flavors to allow them to blend better. On the down side, it tends to 'mute' flavors as well .. and as such should not be used in everything everytime. Many avoid it, unless deemed necessary based on a recipe profile.
Percentages for use are usually .25% up to 2% at the very highest. I would check recipes that use it for response to gauge the quality of the mixer/recipe and gleen from there. I usually avoid it's use unless it's needed to bring together flavors that are tasting 'separated out' in a mix.
Thinking your best bet would be to read through 10 or 20 recipes here .. judge by the conversation within the thread how well the recipe is, and then order flavors to make any recipes that seem interesting. This method will save you from wasting time and money and get you started on the path to mixing things that actually taste good!
Good Luck and welcome to VU!
Don't even worry about 'heat' steeping for now, it's not at all as complicated or even necessary as you may have heard - As Mark mentioned already, it's only really necessary for some mixes. Time is all that is needed for steeping and is really best way. 98% of the time, I mix put the bottle in a cup of hot water .. (not close to boiling.. just hot.. ~140f) for like 3 minutes then shake the hell out of it. Taste and then put it away if I think it needs to steep more.
if you have any left try 1% TFA Graham cracker crust and 4% TFA strawberry - in a 10 ml mix - shake it for 3 minutes .. then taste it. Let it sit for 24 hours then taste it again. adjust accordingly.
Cotton Candy is basically 'Ethyl Maltol' - a chemical additive (as are almost all flavors, with exception of extracts)
It is designed to 'meld' flavors together .. taking off the 'edges' of the flavors to allow them to blend better. On the down side, it tends to 'mute' flavors as well .. and as such should not be used in everything everytime. Many avoid it, unless deemed necessary based on a recipe profile.
Percentages for use are usually .25% up to 2% at the very highest. I would check recipes that use it for response to gauge the quality of the mixer/recipe and gleen from there. I usually avoid it's use unless it's needed to bring together flavors that are tasting 'separated out' in a mix.
Thinking your best bet would be to read through 10 or 20 recipes here .. judge by the conversation within the thread how well the recipe is, and then order flavors to make any recipes that seem interesting. This method will save you from wasting time and money and get you started on the path to mixing things that actually taste good!
Good Luck and welcome to VU!
Never mix large batches of juice with a new, untried recipe...
Mix only 10-15ml at a time so you don't waste so much if it fails.
BTW INW Shisha Strawberry is way better than TFA IMO.
I'm only using 2%.
I'll echo what's been said. When I get a new flavor I do a 10ml test mix at 3% flavor to get an idea of what that flavor tastes like and a gauge of it's strength. I find CAP Strawberries to taste nasty at too high of a percentage. As Heabob said INW Strawberry is much taster than CAP but that's only my opinion and others may differ. Most recipes I make rarely go over 10% total flavorings.
Bro, stop doing that to your e-juice. Just let it sit for a couple of days. Seriously. If your juice does not taste good after you make it, don't even steep it. If you follow a recipe http://e-liquid-recipes.com/ you will have a perfect flavor. 4-5 percent flavors come out awesome. PS try using a hand blender
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I'd consider it much too low. Although I've had success with a couple of mixes around 20%, they need 6 wks of steeping. To avoid steeping, I'd use 30% flavoring; to shorten steeping to about a week, I'd use 25% flavoring. But all flavors are going to be different in how much to use, and how long to steep; as a rule, only 2 flavors in a mix isn't going to be very good at all. but you really do need to measure them with percents rather than ml's; that's the only way to have a real recipe which is scalable no matter what amount of juice you're trying to make. You need an ejuice calculator. DIY E-Liquid Calculator Ten Flavors With Nicotine Plus PG/VG Adjusting.
Making ejuice is a great deal more like cooking than mixing koolaid.
Andria
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This. That's the reason I'd use 30% flavoring to avoid steeping, so I CAN taste it. Once I know it's a good recipe, then I'd lower percentages to about 25% and steep for a week, to see if it stays good.
Steeping will not make a bad juice taste good, but you need to be ABLE to taste it right after mixing, to know if it's good or not.
Andria
Thank you Andria. For real!
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The type of atomizer can also figure in -- most RDAs really do present a much clearer flavor, than any tank. Which is one reason why so many DIYers use RDAs, at least for tasting new mixes. If you taste something in an RDA and it seems like too much flavor, try it in a tank... it might be just right. But if you try it in a tank and it seems weak... you haven't really learned anything about the actual mix.
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Definitely! a very good point and very true
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Ok.. an RDTA is a tank, which will never deliver the same clarity of flavor as an RDA; there's just too many variables. To know if what you made is *truly* "too weak", you'd need to taste it in a "flavor atty" of the RDA variety. But 20%, using only 2 flavors in the mix, probably is much too weak to taste anytime within 6-8 wks, I don't care what weird things you do to it -- there is no substitute for a) sufficient flavoring and/or b) sufficient time. Or a combination. As I said, it's a little more like cooking than like mixing koolaid. It *is* possible to mix up something that you can vape right away... but it's gonna need a lot of flavoring if you want to be able to taste it right away. Once you get a good recipe down pat, THEN you can worry about reducing the percentages of flavoring and how long to steep it, but if you don't even know if it's a good recipe yet, steeping it or any of that other weird shit is a waste of time.
Andria
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Ace in your original post you mentioned the batch didn't taste good you said the mix was really watery and tastes bad
Was there a lack of flavour? Andria is suggesting some very high percentages there just wanna make sure that is what you meant?
Also you don't have to taste in an RDA at all, if a mix is good it's good, don't go thinking this is the problem alone, unless of course that is you want to buy an RDA. I think this is a bit of a red herring in all honesty...I don't dispute they probably do taste better but you don't need one at all, I've managed so far without one!
Why mix in an RDA that tastes awesome when you then plonk that flavour for all day vaping in an entirely different tank which will have a different flavour? Might as well make it taste good in the tank you use the most
Was there a lack of flavour? Andria is suggesting some very high percentages there just wanna make sure that is what you meant?
Also you don't have to taste in an RDA at all, if a mix is good it's good, don't go thinking this is the problem alone, unless of course that is you want to buy an RDA. I think this is a bit of a red herring in all honesty...I don't dispute they probably do taste better but you don't need one at all, I've managed so far without one!
Why mix in an RDA that tastes awesome when you then plonk that flavour for all day vaping in an entirely different tank which will have a different flavour? Might as well make it taste good in the tank you use the most
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Ace in your original post you mentioned the batch didn't taste good you said the mix was really watery and tastes bad
Was there a lack of flavour? Andria is suggesting some very high percentages there just wanna make sure that is what you meant?
Also you don't have to taste in an RDA at all, if a mix is good it's good, don't go thinking this is the problem alone, unless of course that is you want to buy an RDA. I think this is a bit of a red herring in all honesty...I don't dispute they probably do taste better but you don't need one at all, I've managed so far without one!
Why mix in an RDA that tastes awesome when you then plonk that flavour for all day vaping in an entirely different tank which will have a different flavour? Might as well make it taste good in the tank you use the most
Well that's quite true... but you can't really know for sure how it tastes, if you don't get the clearest possible flavor. But if you taste it in an RDA and it's fine, then it's weak in a tank, but you normally use a tank... then you do need to mix *for* that tank.
High percentages are necessary to determine if a recipe is good, so you can taste it right away. Nothing says you have to leave it that way, once you figure out the recipe. But it's just stupid as shit to mix at like 10%-20% and then have to wait and wait and wait, and THEN find out it's a shit recipe -- you need to know that RIGHT AWAY so you can fix it! Once you determine it's a good recipe, THEN you bring the flavor percentages down. But trying to mix at 10%-20% and having to wait just to know if a recipe is good... that is no way to learn how to DIY ejuice.
Andria
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Each to thier own I guess I prefer to start low and work up in flavour % use less concentrate that way But then I don't like high percentage recipes
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But you already know how to mix -- if you didn't, you wouldn't know that you don't like high flavoring mixes. Someone who's just learning needs to be able to taste it, to know anything! Just to learn!
Andria
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Yeah I know Andria read my 1st post right at the top I was a nooby then didn't have a clue at the time except using 15% was way to strong even then after just coming off the stinkies...(still think I've got those in the cupboard steeping lol) ...I'm not trying to cut your point down I'm just saying there isn't one single way to DIY that's all
Start low work up
Start high work down
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Yeah everyone seems to have a *little* bit of tastebud issues when they first quit, but some of us have MASSIVE tastebud issues after quitting, which go on for quite a while -- I'd been smoke-free for over 2 yrs before I could start bringing my strawberry & cream below 30% flavoring, and I still can't get it under 25%... if I actually want to TASTE it. Currently it's at 25.75%, and it's *almost* not sweet enough... it's right at the borderline between "I can't taste this" and "this might be a little sweet". The sweetness seems to be the factor that makes the difference for me, in whether I can taste something, or find it "too much."
Andria