Building a flavor

[Bucky205]

People are showing a lot of interest in DIY juice, which I personally think is the affordable way to go. So I thought I would share how I build a flavor. Not saying this is the ideal way to do it, but it works for me. The whole idea is based on making the percentages easy to work with. Most flavors are PG based. There are roughly 20 drops of flavor in an ml. Therefore 1 drop of flavor on a 5 ml bottle changes the flavor by roughly 1%, and raises the PG 1%. This is how I would build up Apple muffin using Fuji Apple, Cinnamon Roll, and Ethyl Maltol(sweetner). CR=Cinnamon Roll, FA=Fuji Apple, EM=Ethyl Maltol

Put 5 ml of VG in a 30 ml bottle. Add 2 drops FA, 2 drops CR.

Flavors were weak and needed to be sweeter so I added 2 more drops of CR, and 2 more drops FA, and 1 drop EM.

Not bad but I want more CR taste ,and sweeter so I add 4 more drops of CR, and 1 EM.

Want it sweeter and needs a little more CR add 2 drops, and 1 EM.

Loosing my apple so I add 2 FA

V1 Taste good. Rough Recipe 10% Cinnamon Roll, 6% Fuji Apple, 3% Elthyl Maltol, @ 81/19 VG /PG

Lets say I would have gotten to this V1 step and liked a previous step better, or I over added a flavor. Add 5 ml of VG, now I am roughly at 5% CR, 3% FA, 1.5 % EM @ 90/10 VG/PG. If I divide it into 2 bottles, I am back where 1 drop will equal roughly 1 % of flavor and I can continue to easily adjust.

I never add my nicotine until the flavor is where I want it. Adding 3 mg of nicotine doesn't drastically change a flavor. If you do wind up with 5 ml you can't adjust into something palpable and it goes in the sink, who cares it's pennies. People will argue that I added 1 ml of flavoring so the percentages are off a little. This is true. This is just an easy way to create V1 of a flavor, that you can reproduce. You can get your percentages closer on V2 when you actually measure with a syringe or scale.

The main point is that if you like 10 drops of a flavor on a 5 ml bottle, your going to like that flavor at 10% on a 30 ml.

 

[AmandaD]

Useful info, but it's good to be aware that most of my bottles actually give me 33 drops/ml, which gives me 2 drops=1% per 6ml (this is information we discussed in the original FA thread over at the other place!). And of course there are even more drops/ml in some of the skinny tip bottles.

 

[martinelias]

Very cool. Im a noob to diy ive been rocking the same 6 flavors for a couple of months i just ordered a new set of flavors to make that berry custard recipe you made in the other post.
While i got the syringes to measure, ive been using the 20drops/ml technique without any problems. Granted, most i make are 15ml plastic bottles (10 or so at a time) i just ordered 30ml glass with droppers along with order of flavors from bcv, hopefully i can maintain counting drops if not ill have to start measuring with the syringes.

Sent from my SM-N920T using Tapatalk

 

[Bucky205]

Useful info, but it's good to be aware that most of my bottles actually give me 33 drops/ml, which gives me 2 drops=1% per 6ml (this is information we discussed in the original FA thread over at the other place!). And of course there are even more drops/ml in some of the skinny tip bottles.

I agree, I have seen those variances as well. It's just an easy way to get V1 of a flavor, or see if your going to like it. It's not exact by any means, your losing ratios even when you taste. It is just a rough place you can get back too. Playing with a bunch of flavors with syringes, or scales on V1 is a pain.

 

[AmandaD]

I agree, I have seen those variances as well. It's just an easy way to get V1 of a flavor, or see if your going to like it. It's not exact by any means, your losing ratios even when you taste. It is just a rough place you can get back too. Playing with a bunch of flavors with syringes, or scales on V1 is a pain.

I absolutely agree - I used to use drops all the time on small amounts. Much easier than syringes!

 

[OBDave]

I like this as a great way of building starting percentages, so long as the bottles are all the same - I get about 33 drops/ml out of some of my snub-nosed drippers, but original FA bottles with the orange caps yield more like 45 drops/ml...which is probably why the percentage on OP's final recipe is pretty high - but I'm sure that once the ratio is nailed the percentages will work themselves out in a v2 or v3. I rarely settle into a recipe before about v6 or v8, though if I'm not close by then I get impatient and scrap the whole idea - this whole apricot/blackcurrant/joy thing that sounded so good in my head may not even make it to a v2 unless it improves with steeping.

 

[Chrispdx]

I find that drops do vary from bottle to bottle, manufacturer to manufacturer and so on.

So, since I mix by weight, I use the info from my recipie. On "x" recipie 1% was 0.17 grams and I want to touch up a flavor by 0.5 percent then I just use the math to add from there. Of course take notes.

Typically the only time I count drops is if I am adding a strong and strange flavor. Like cactus, pepper, or clove for example.

 

[Bucky205]

I find that drops do vary from bottle to bottle, manufacturer to manufacturer and so on.

So, since I mix by weight, I use the info from my recipie. On "x" recipie 1% was 0.17 grams and I want to touch up a flavor by 0.5 percent then I just use the math to add from there. Of course take notes.

Typically the only time I count drops is if I am adding a strong and strange flavor. Like cactus, pepper, or clove for example.

That's what the post was about. Building a new flavor. In that instance everything is a strange flavor. Once you have a rough recipe, measuring becomes important. The whole idea was to share a way that someone building a new recipe could progress, and have a reference they could get back to. If you want to know exactly how much you put in a recipe after you have created it. Simply measure the volume or weight of the drops that you used. This post was never intended to be about making a juice from a recipe they copied off the internet.

 

[Bucky205]

I like this as a great way of building starting percentages, so long as the bottles are all the same - I get about 33 drops/ml out of some of my snub-nosed drippers, but original FA bottles with the orange caps yield more like 45 drops/ml...which is probably why the percentage on OP's final recipe is pretty high - but I'm sure that once the ratio is nailed the percentages will work themselves out in a v2 or v3. I rarely settle into a recipe before about v6 or v8, though if I'm not close by then I get impatient and scrap the whole idea - this whole apricot/blackcurrant/joy thing that sounded so good in my head may not even make it to a v2 unless it improves with steeping.

Doesn't mater if the bottles are the same. Once the recipe is where you want it. Measuring exactly what you put in it by volume or weight is very easy. Once you know you like the recipe. Put that many drops of that flavor in a syringe, or on a scale and know you know your exact amounts.