Help?

[Cloudbursting]

I've spent an absolute ton of money buying exact ingredients in hope that I'll have everything I need. I've tried multiple recipes now and nothing is turning out right at all - I'm mixing using a calibrated scale so I know things are exactly as they should be, no questions asked

I've tried 3 recipes from DIYORDIE, I've tried 3 from E-Liquid Recipes (the top rated of what I was looking for). Absolutely nothing it turning out right. Granted, I'm shaking and then vaping right off the bat to generally check, but the flavors are still nothing close to tasting "right".

I just made two different Key Lime Pies, and one recipe was stupid (%22 flavoring) and then the second was more realistic, but it predominantly tasted a bit more like a soap in the key lime aspect, with none of the graham coming through. I've also tried a Tobacco, an Orange Cream, and it's all just blegh tasting.

The absolute best one I've had so far is a random Apple Pie flavor that was suggested on one of my threads on here (and that one was something someone made up on the spot just because I asked what I could do with a few flavorings I had left over some time ago.) and even that one was very light.

What in the world is going on? Are all these recipes just blegh and made by attention seekers, or folks with no tongue? I can't say I enjoy many "official" liquids either, but these tend to plain out take the cake. Will steeping for a couple days make any difference in the world, or should these all taste "pretty OK" right off the bat? Please help

 

[AmandaD]

I never liked any recipes or any of my DIY efforts until I found HeadinClouds recipes! There are a ton of those on here - perhaps give those a go?

 

[nabibrian]

Can you post an example recipe of exactly how you are mixing.
As an example, if you post the recipe as having been calculated by lets say e-liquid-recipes post the results you get from that and the numbers you are using to mix.

 

[Cloudbursting]

Key Lime Pie

TFA Cheesecake (Graham Crust) 2% - 0.3g
FA Custard %7 - 0.26g
TFA Key Lime %3 - 0.45g
FA Lime Tahiti (Cold Pressed) %0.5 - 0.01g
TFA Pie Crust %1 - 0.15g
+
PG - 1.77g
VG - 14.4g

15ml

This one simply turned out a little soapy, with no amount of Crust coming though.

I have Ripe Vapes Key Lime Cookie to compare to (very decent/good) and ya know... this above is the highest rated Key Lime Pie on Recipes and well, it's no good at all. Might need a steep but meh...

 

[nabibrian]

well, it looks like you have the numbers right so you can weigh by grams.
I think I tried the same recipe and did a shake and vape and it was delicious.

 

[Cloudbursting]

I have a suspicion that my bottle of Graham Crust is heavily watered down but regardless, this recipe came out no good for me. None are. I dunno what gives. Again I'm not steeping these before trying, but right off the bat, I'm getting a soapy tinge from the lime and no crust. All the DIY recipes I try are plain funky. I did expect that something out there would work with proper techniques. Even HIC's recipes, I'm a little unsure where the results are.

I'd even settle for a great custard at this point - but as always, there's some ingredient I don't have.

Quite frankly though, I'm starting to have little faith in any companies other than Capella. I have a lot of creams, and all of them smell absolutely sour or watery. Capella are the only flavors I have that at least smell strong and concentrated - everything else smells watered down.

 

[PuffPuffPass]

Probably a silly question. But have you vaped any of the flavors in that recipe as a stand alone?
That's one thing I've learned I MUST do, with every new recipe. The numbers you see with most recipes in the wild, are tailored to the person who developed it. And those numbers may need to be tweaked, or a brand name shift may be needed.

I've tasted premium juices that claimed to have Peach in them.
And I've also discovered, I can't do Peach in any recipe I try, at any percentage level.

 

[PuffPuffPass]

I have a suspicion that my bottle of Graham Crust is heavily watered down but regardless, this recipe came out no good for me. None are. I dunno what gives. Again I'm not steeping these before trying, but right off the bat, I'm getting a soapy tinge from the lime and no crust. All the DIY recipes I try are plain funky. I did expect that something out there would work with proper techniques. Even HIC's recipes, I'm a little unsure where the results are.

I'd even settle for a great custard at this point - but as always, there's some ingredient I don't have.

Quite frankly though, I'm starting to have little faith in any companies other than Capella. I have a lot of creams, and all of them smell absolutely sour or watery. Capella are the only flavors I have that at least smell strong and concentrated - everything else smells watered down.

If you can't taste the Cheese Cake Graham Crust, I'm going to say there's something definitely wrong. Even at 2% I get good flavor. And I have crap for taste buds, except when it comes to sugary mixes.

What vendor did you use for your flavors? That may be an issue.

 

[tedturbine]

Key Lime Pie

TFA Cheesecake (Graham Crust) 2% - 0.3g
FA Custard %7 - 0.26g
TFA Key Lime %3 - 0.45g
FA Lime Tahiti (Cold Pressed) %0.5 - 0.01g
TFA Pie Crust %1 - 0.15g
+
PG - 1.77g
VG - 14.4g

15ml

..

I've run these through my juice calculator and get the following numbers:

TFA Cheesecake (Graham Crust) 2% - 0.3g
FA Custard %7 - 1.05g
TFA Key Lime %3 - 0.45g
FA Lime Tahiti (Cold Pressed) %0.5 - 0.07g
TFA Pie Crust %1 - 0.15g

In your example you have 7% custard weighing less than 2% cheesecake so something seems a little off here, cheers.

 

[Cloudbursting]

I've gotten mine from Bull City and MFS.

Some flavors I know I have that smell on point are Caps Custard, TFA Key Lime, Key Lime Tahiti Cold Pressed, Caps Banana, Caps Sweet Strawberry, TFA Toasted Marshmellow, Caps Green Apple.

I have over 40 flavors and I'll be honest, these are the only ones that smell right. All the rest just smell funky. I can't taste all of them seperately but I would think a lottt of these would smell a lot more condensed than they smell. And most of my creams smell like banana baby food or just sour.

As it is, to all beginners, I'd so far recommend Capella only, and directly from Capella. I've spent probably $200 on all my supplies and quite frankly I should be able to find a recipe that tastes OK.

Now if these things really need a couple day steep especially for the creams, that's all I need to know. But if not, then this is a big joke. Especially DIYORDIE. Those recipes are god awful. Tried Orange Dream and Marble Lights. Dunno what the hell those recipes are supposed to taste like. INerwa's Tobacco (it's called M4AP or some crap) tastes and smells just like Robitussin.

Crap recipes. Charlie Noble is like Five Pawns compared to any this junk.

P.S. For the last post the Custard is only at 1.7% the 7% was a typo.

 

[nabibrian]

What kind of PG/VG and Nic are you using?
Maybe it is the Nic possibly?
Have you tried mixing without Nic?

 

[AmandaD]

Some recipes that seem to have little taste do come to life in about 48 hours. If they don't work for me then, quite frankly I've never found anthing to improve enough that it was worth waiting even longer. That said, I mix primarily with Flavor Art, and perhaps becauae of the low overall percentage of flavoring most seem to be 'cooked' at that point, if not before (many are shake and vape).

 

[PuffPuffPass]

Cloud, I only have one flavor that actually smells like what is written on the bottle. The rest smell like a different versions of paint thinner. Just saying.

If I had the flavors. I'd give yours a test run, just to see what it would produce. You might go through the list on here, and find a really simple one or two flavor recipe. Try that, and see if you're having the same "bad" results.

Aside from that. Most of the recipes I work with can be vaped almost immediately. But they really don't hit peak flavor for several days. I have one that taste flat, absolutely ZERO flavor for about 24 hours. Ask me how many times I changed that damn thing. Before I figured that one out.

DIY is an experiment in patience and flavor. I know that's not any help. But we do feel your frustration. Most, if not all of us have been there.

 

[Alter]

I mix all my new flavors at 5% as nic free stand alones to see where I stand with that particular flavor, some are OK as shake and vape but most have to sit more than just a few hours. I taste them as a drop on the back of the hand and so far with that method the drop on the hand should taste like it should be out of the atty. I blend a couple/few flavors together and see how it goes, I have almost no interest in trying to remake someone's clone or using all kinds of flavors and make rocket science out of something that should be simple. So far everything I have created has been pretty good, I have made a few failures but without nic, flushing away a few mls really isn't that bad and its all lessons learnt along your journey.

 

[Mattp169]

first off you weights are wrong
that has been pointed out
even if your using the real SG of those flavors there is no way 7% of one is less then 3% of another
use 1 for your SG on all flavors

then do not worry so much about exact %

test each flavor separately and find what you like it as stand alone and make a note of it

then use the recipe as a guide
change the word % to PART
this makes it more of a ratio
so a recipe calling for 4% x
and
2% y
is use twice as much x as you do y

now combine all this info
if you know you like X at 4% stand alone
and recipe calls for 8% of it as a main flavor, then you might want to cut all ingredients back in a recipe

conversely
if it calls for 4% and you like it stand alone at 8% that would suggest depending on the other ingredients, you may need to bump up the %s

also try a HIC recipe or 2
if the flavor is good but weak, just bump up everything

also to eliminate issues with pg and vg and nic
try them separately make sure they have no flavor except vg should be sweet

 

[Heabob]

I've gotten mine from Bull City and MFS.

Some flavors I know I have that smell on point are Caps Custard, TFA Key Lime, Key Lime Tahiti Cold Pressed, Caps Banana, Caps Sweet Strawberry, TFA Toasted Marshmellow, Caps Green Apple.

I have over 40 flavors and I'll be honest, these are the only ones that smell right. All the rest just smell funky. I can't taste all of them seperately but I would think a lottt of these would smell a lot more condensed than they smell. And most of my creams smell like banana baby food or just sour.

As it is, to all beginners, I'd so far recommend Capella only, and directly from Capella. I've spent probably $200 on all my supplies and quite frankly I should be able to find a recipe that tastes OK.

Now if these things really need a couple day steep especially for the creams, that's all I need to know. But if not, then this is a big joke. Especially DIYORDIE. Those recipes are god awful. Tried Orange Dream and Marble Lights. Dunno what the hell those recipes are supposed to taste like. INerwa's Tobacco (it's called M4AP or some crap) tastes and smells just like Robitussin.

Crap recipes. Charlie Noble is like Five Pawns compared to any this junk.

P.S. For the last post the Custard is only at 1.7% the 7% was a typo.

I like most of the CAP's flavors too, except for the Chocolates, FA has better ones IMO.

DIYORDIE's "Clapton Crunch" is yummy IMO.
And I made the Yogurt one with CAP Peaches & Cream instead of the Strawberries, good one too.
(and some are better in a week, but everything I mix gets 24hrs at least)

CAP Orange Creamsicle 8-10% stand alone is great btw.
FW Orange Dream Bar is good too.
FW Butter Pecan & FW Hazelnut are to die for.

Try out some Hangsen Cream, it's one of the better ones IMO, only need like 0.5%.
But I like, and still use, CAP and TFA Sweet Cream too.

Never liked any Key-Lime stuff I've made yet tho.

 

[Cloudbursting]

Well, to clear some things up, again that %7 above was a typo, I meant %1.7 (which does equal the grams I listed), and I'm not using nic, just PG and VG from MFS.

5% apple pie
1.5% vanilla custard
1.5% vanilla swirl
0.5% gingerbread
0.5% cheesecake
1% vanilla bourbon

This was an impromptu recipe suggested for me on another thread, and so far, it's the only one that worked for me as a shake and vape; vaped two tank fulls and only stopped because it was light.

Sadly, I have absolutely zero funds to buy any more ingredients (I've spent tons on this). The best I can hope for is to work with this recipe for awhile at least to get an ADV (I can't afford any more official juice either). With the recipe above, it seems to taste great as-is, but is overall light. If I wanted to raise everything by a little bit, how do I figure out the math?

 

[AmandaD]

Well, to clear some things up, again that %7 above was a typo, I meant %1.7 (which does equal the grams I listed), and I'm not using nic, just PG and VG from MFS.

5% apple pie
1.5% vanilla custard
1.5% vanilla swirl
0.5% gingerbread
0.5% cheesecake
1% vanilla bourbon

This was an impromptu recipe suggested for me on another thread, and so far, it's the only one that worked for me as a shake and vape; vaped two tank fulls and only stopped because it was light.

Sadly, I have absolutely zero funds to buy any more ingredients (I've spent tons on this). The best I can hope for is to work with this recipe for awhile at least to get an ADV (I can't afford any more official juice either). With the recipe above, it seems to taste great as-is, but is overall light. If I wanted to raise everything by a little bit, how do I figure out the math?

I often make a base when I'm fiddling with percentages. The above recipe is at 10%, so I might make a base and then use that at 12% to see if that works.

An easy way to make a base - say with this recipe you could make 10mls - is to just use the percentages as mls. Then take 12% of that for your new mix.

 

[Heabob]

If the Apple Pie is CAP, you could probably just raise that one up first and try it.
I need to hit 10% just to taste it...

You can also add 1% ACV to help boost it a little, if you have any...

 

[Mattp169]

do what @AmandaD said
thats the simplest easiest way to do it
if you do not understand her suggestion we can explain it in more detail
but thats the BEST way to do it IMHO

also look in te forum for recipes by head in clouds
you should be good with those.

 

[Cloudbursting]

I've tried some of HIC's and I'm truly not getting results with those... for me, these aren't blending well and they seem just flat. Tried the Caramel Eggnog, Black Pepper Ice Cream, ect ect. I just don't think I like FA flavors much at all, and all HIC's are are FA.

 

[PuffPuffPass]

I've tried some of HIC's and I'm truly not getting results with those... for me, these aren't blending well and they seem just flat. Tried the Caramel Eggnog, Black Pepper Ice Cream, ect ect. I just don't think I like FA flavors much at all, and all HIC's are are FA.

I'll go one better, and commit a mortal sin within this forum.

I am NOT impressed at all with Game Over Custard. But that's the great thing about DIY.

It's all about YOU, and no one else.

However, I do respect the fact that HIC shares so much. For free.
I can usually look at a recipe and tell where I need to tweak it to meet my taste bud requirements. Sometimes, I guess right. Sometimes, I don't.

 

[Mattp169]

I'll go one better, and commit a mortal sin within this forum.

I am NOT impressed at all with Game Over Custard. But that's the great thing about DIY.

It's all about YOU, and no one else.

However, I do respect the fact that HIC shares so much. For free.
I can usually look at a recipe and tell where I need to tweak it to meet my taste bud requirements. Sometimes, I guess right. Sometimes, I don't.

@wllmc is a member of the vaping mafia, careful what you say about GOC
lol
FWIW
I have some
tried it once, it sits in the drawer

actually reminded me and my wife of universal studios butter beer

 

[PuffPuffPass]

@wllmc is a member of the vaping mafia, careful what you say about GOC
lol
FWIW
I have some
tried it once, it sits in the drawer

actually reminded me and my wife of universal studios butter beer

More like Bourbon laced with butter to me.
I'm actually letting a mix steep, I'll give it a day or two. If it doesn't produce.
Then it goes in the drawer with the Peach and Bilberry.

 

[Mattp169]

of its fa peach, send it to me

 

[PuffPuffPass]

of its fa peach, send it to me

I have FA White Peach & TFA Peach 4 ounce bottles, with very little used. I can't use either

 

[Mattp169]

I have FA White Peach & TFA Peach 4 ounce bottles, with very little used. I can't use either

tfa peach tastes like crap
fa white peach is part of my ADV I can always use more

 

[Cloudbursting]

I just think something is "up" concerning most DIY recipes. I'm not sure if it's that no one's wanting to share their "best" recipes, or that any juice-line level recipes are guarded like a safe, but nothing is tasting anywhere near juice-line level so far, and truly, I'm only expecting Charlie Noble level really. That's a low expectation. They're a cheap, cheap juice line. But their ingredients really are top-notch (nothing waxy, syrupy, chemically, soapy) and their flavors are generally very realistic.

That's the quality I'm going for, and just from testing Capella's Custard, I know for a fact they use Capella in Charlie's Custard. It's pretty much just drip some drops and vape (though theirs has a balancer I can't figure out). But I'd love to discover what they use for their Strawberry Milk flavor, or their Pistachio RY4.

Other than that, I've invested about $150 into ingredients that well, I simply can't do anything with. I'm looking for truly great Key Lime Pie and Custard recipes, as that's what I mainly can do with what I have. I have Capella Apple Pie, Capella Banana, and Capella Sweet Strawberry as random flavors I might be able to do something with. All the rest are really supporter flavors. Dunno what to do. But all of em are 10-15ml so I don't have a lot of each to experiment with.

 

[PuffPuffPass]

Lime, Cherry, Lemon, Peach, and Grape are the most difficult flavors to work with fdr me. Regardless of where they came from.

Peach, caused much frustration. Because I was trying to clone a recipe from a vendor that "claimed" it contained Peach. I managed to clone it, by waving the bottle of Peach flavoring over the bottle of mix, and calling it done. There's that

I just tried a Blueberry custard that called for BilBerry in the mix. I've tasted nothing but Bilberry since trying to vape that ^%$#!

I'm not saying the recipe was bad, others raved on it. But there are some flavors you just have to walk away from.

What you are trying to do, is combine 2 polar opposites into one space. The Lime (being a citrus and acidic base) with a pie crust, and possibly meringue (sweet base). You're going to have to find the tipping point for the flavors. And that may require a few more ingredients also, just to hold the balance.

From my prospective (others may differ), I would find what % I could do the Lime as a stand alone flavor. And not "just good enough" to pass. Then, and only then would I start adding additional flavors. Slowly upping the % on the other flavors until something broke or clicked. And only ONE additional flavor at a time.

I recently posted a recipe with 6 flavors +/- 1 (as stated in notes). I utilized 11 flavors tweaking it for the flavor "I wanted". So at least 5 were rejected, along with the 15ml samples I had mixed. It's time consuming, and it can be frustrating. You just have to hang it there. The end justifies the journey. Especially if you discover a new ADV.

Good Luck

 

[Dixie1954]

@Cloudbursting, I have posted this info before but it needs to be said again. Tasters are basically in 3 groups - Super tasters (like me) who can taste tiny amounts of flavorings, Normal tasters who can taste (and like) ready made juices,and then there are the Need more flavor tasters which can taste ready mades but think they may need more flavoring added. So the recipes fall within these 3 groups and that is why it is always best to try different brands of the same flavorings you think you will like to see which of the brands of that flavoring works best for you. As an owner of now 151 flavorings I can tell you it is a lot of work - for me at least. Good Luck on your DIYing.

 

[nabibrian]

*From another thread here: http://vapingunderground.com/threads/percentages.144077/#post-723400

Well worth the read, this should help you work out some of the issues you may be having.

As an example of how I started DIY, and still use this method frequently.

Flavor #1
Pick a main flavor like a Fruit.
TFA Blueberry Wild 10% (OR) FE Blackberry 2.5% (notice the difference in %'s)(some are stronger so beware)

Sometimes Flavor #2 & #3 could be other fruits...

Flavor #2
Decide if you want a Custard, Cheesecake, Yogurt type, Vanilla & Cream, etc.
A. CAP Vanilla Custard v1 1-5% (OR) TFA Vanilla Custard 3-10% (amounts can vary to taste here, strong or mild)
OR
B. CAP NY Cheesecake 1-5% (OR) TFA Cheesecake Graham 2-5% (mostly the same as Custard types)
OR
C. CAP Creamy Yogurt 5% (or) CAP Greek Yogurt (5%) (Greek is more tart than Creamy, other brands work fine too)
OR
D. TFA Vanilla Swirl 3% + TFA/CAP Sweet Cream 1-2% (for a Vanilla Cream type)
E. TFA/CAP Vanilla Bean Ice Cream, TFA French Vanilla Deluxe, Hangsen Cream can work well too.

Flavor #3
TFA Brown Sugar .5% - 3% (add a more sugary baked flavor)
FA Coconut 0.5% (can add a creamy buttery effect to some mixes)
FA Nut Mix, FA Nut Mix, FA Walnut, FW Hazelnut (used in small amounts to add nutty in bakery vapes usually)
TFA 5% AP (used in small amounts for nutty effects also)
TFA/CAP Sweet Cream 1%, any Marshmallow 1-3%, Whipped Cream, FA Meringue, Bavarian Cream 1-3% (sweetness and/or body)
FA Oba Oba, FA Liquid Amber, Cinnamon, FA Cardamom, etc.

Some of the flavors from #3 can be moved down to Flavor # 4, 5, 6, etc.

And some flavors like FW Butter Pecan at 10%, or FW Cinnamon Roll 7%, work great as single flavor vapes.
Many others are fine as single flavors too.

Or even a 2 flavor mix like FA Pomegranate 2.5% + Hangsen Cream 0.5%

Also study the recipes section to get more ideas, experimentation can be fun and rewarding.

Coffee flavors are usually quite strong and usually require less, .5% - 1% to start.
Like FA Espresso, and FA Tiramisu.
And most Hazelnut flavors are kinda strong too, but FW Hazelnut is a sweeter type.
FA Hazelnut .5-2%
FW Hazelnut 3-7%

Adding some EM, Sweetener, or Liquid Stevia Extract to help sweeten it up some.
And Vanilla/Cream/Marshmallow to smooth it out a bit.

 

[Heabob]

*From another thread here: http://vapingunderground.com/threads/percentages.144077/#post-723400

Well worth the read, this should help you work out some of the issues you may be having.

But I'm not the one having issues.

 

[nabibrian]

But I'm not the one having issues.

Of course, I know you are not having the issues.
I posted what you replied on a different thread with so the OP on this thread can have the pleasure of reading your great feedback

 

[Heabob]

I just think something is "up" concerning most DIY recipes. I'm not sure if it's that no one's wanting to share their "best" recipes, or that any juice-line level recipes are guarded like a safe, but nothing is tasting anywhere near juice-line level so far, and truly, I'm only expecting Charlie Noble level really. That's a low expectation. They're a cheap, cheap juice line. But their ingredients really are top-notch (nothing waxy, syrupy, chemically, soapy) and their flavors are generally very realistic.

That's the quality I'm going for, and just from testing Capella's Custard, I know for a fact they use Capella in Charlie's Custard. It's pretty much just drip some drops and vape (though theirs has a balancer I can't figure out). But I'd love to discover what they use for their Strawberry Milk flavor, or their Pistachio RY4.

Other than that, I've invested about $150 into ingredients that well, I simply can't do anything with. I'm looking for truly great Key Lime Pie and Custard recipes, as that's what I mainly can do with what I have. I have Capella Apple Pie, Capella Banana, and Capella Sweet Strawberry as random flavors I might be able to do something with. All the rest are really supporter flavors. Dunno what to do. But all of em are 10-15ml so I don't have a lot of each to experiment with.

Without knowing what flavors you do have, it's really hard to suggest anything...
I've made something close to this but has some other brands used instead of CAP.

ALL Capella Custard Base
2.7% Vanilla Custard v1
2.7% Vanilla Bean Ice Cream (can also use TFA here)
2.7% Sugar Cookie v1
1% Sweet Cream (can also use TFA)
1% French Vanilla (can sub with TFA French Vanilla Deluxe or Vanilla Swirl)
1% Cake Batter
1% NY Cheesecake (can sub with TFA Cheesecake Graham)
1% Bavarian Cream (I prefer 0.5% Hangsen Cream)
1% Marshmallow (normally I use 0.5% TFA Brown Sugar here)
1% Caramel (I prefer FW Butterscotch here)
0.5% FA Coconut (optional, but nice)(could use CAP Butter here also)

If your missing a few don't worry about it...

If you want more "Custard" just raise it up some, and lower the VBIC and Sugar Cookie.
This base needs to steep for 2 weeks min. and a month would be even better.
Add your Strawberry to this later on to nail down the % needed, but I'd start at 5-7%.
You can add a bit of Banana in with the Strawberry too.

Sorry I can't help with Key-Lime Pie, but you could always try some Key-Lime with this base.

 

[Heabob]

Of course, I know you are not having the issues.
I posted what you replied on a different thread with so the OP on this thread can have the pleasure of reading your great feedback

Lol, sorry,I saw, and replied to the other thread too.