I tried looking at your stash, but I had no luck… I was hoping to see what flavors you are mixing. FTs simply don’t work well with some flavors or brands.
Just for my palate… good flavors or mixes are easily detectable with a FT, but it’s not fool proof.
I do FT’s of both, the flavor itself (not mixed with anything) and then the mixed mix.
But I do it to determinate strength and high, off, bottom notes/nuances.
They don’t taste the same vaped in most cases, but it tells me how weak/strong they are, how sweet they are, if I get let’s say musky note, I for sure know that I’ll have to throw a cream or whatever in, so I don’t end up tasting it later. With some flavors you can’t mask anything lol.
If I get a tard top or middle note that I do not want, I’ll know to use something that sweetens this or a booster to bring it out more etc.
This is just initial testing, instead of jumping in blind, and in most cases it does work out very well for me. But there have been cases where ft was extremely weak and muddeled, but when I vape it, it’s the total opposite. That’s why I don’t base everything around ft anymore.
Very cool. I use “juice me up” which is resident on my computer. Have never become a fan of on line storage. The only service I use is drop box for transfer of large files.
@Pro_Vapes I’ve not had good luck trying this method. Tried a few times, and it was not close to what flavors were like vaping, and sometimes took awhile to cleanse the palate afterwards so, it wasn’t a good match vs. SF testing for me.
My previous comments are still valid.
But I will add, I once tried the finger test on a menthol juice. It was a pretty potent vape already (which I like in menthol), but I was not quite prepared for the FT on that one. I saw stars it was so overwhelming! Won’t do that again!
So, anyone as smart as me or dumber (which probably doesn’t cover a lot of you), don’t FT a menthol mix.
I don’t believe in finger testing. I tried it a few times, and the liquid tasted nothing like when I vaped it.
I did try it a few times on flavors themselves, and that sort of gave me a general idea of the flavor, but the way PG feels in the mouth is quite terrible.
On the other hand, I was at a vaping store with one of my mixes, and the know-it-all kid who works there did a finger test on the juice.
He described it as a nice mix of orange and papaya, but it’s a bit peppery since my nic is probably going bad.
What he did taste in fact was a mango/strawberry/super sweet/ws-23 mix with 0nic. I didn’t want to correct him 
Or you’re just really bad at mixing. Kidding, kidding! Yeah I agree finger testing is much different from vaping, but I still do it anyway. Can’t help it.
I totally suck at it 
After all, the dude works in a vape store. He knows everything!
I don’t know @anon44944642 I’m having an OFF week LOL. I don’t mean to beat up on the whole finger testing, as I see some people doing it, their reasons for it, and how it works for them, which is great. I’ve never FT menthol LOL, thank God, but for me, and maybe just for me, because I do soo many SF tests, AND, it’s all for VAPING, once I found that what I got from the FT seldom translated into what is was like VAPING, it just seemed to be a waste of time. That’s just me though.
Finger tasting is definitely an individual preference… especially with some synthetic concentrates. One thing that’s really worked out for me is good FTs most often result in good concentrates/extracts/mixes, and over time I’ve been able to pretty accurately gauge between the good and bad for my preference. I’ve been able to obtain pretty good starting % for a lot of flavors also.
Just as with anything in life, the more you do it, the more you gain from it. But as with most things common sense should come into play, like FT’ing concentrated flavor enhancers isn’t a good idea.
@Pro_Vapes That’s actually a very good point. I think @eStorm said something similar as far as gauging strength and/or sweetness from FT.
Hey everyone! Nice to see all you good people still here. I have been ridiculously busy for the last few months, but I sure haven’t forgotten (or quit mixing) good ole ELR.
This article caught my eye right away. I look forward greatly to finger testing every single new flavor I receive. I just wash my hands and apply the tiniest drop I can to a knuckle. This is certainly not the best method or most likely not even the sanist method. Not scientific or even usually very pleasant. So why do it? Honestly I don’t know. Curiosity? I do gain some knowledge of the strenght of the concentrate I suppose. Perhaps some insite on chemical tastes and steep time (if it tastes horrible now, maybe it will mellow and be nice in a month.). All I know for sure is that I nearly can’t help myself when that package shows up. It’s tasting time! Lol. O, and it takes many hours to get the taste of even a teeny tiny droplet of Fresh Mint (INW) out of your mouth.
I FTing my flavors, I think all of them. The most of the times it is work accurate for the flavor/aroma profile but not that much for the mouth feeling/taste. A good example is Bavarian Cream and other flavors with high % of vanillin or ethyl vanillin, I use the TPA version, the FT gives a spicy note but when I vape it is smooth.
Never ever try Koolada or Menthol… never…
I finger taste test all my juices and components when they arrive. I also smell everything. Once i make a new mix i’ll vape a little bit in an RDA to see how it vapes right away. I do the RDA thing every 3 days till I think its good to do a tank full.
The FTT is a great way to get a sense of how something might go well together. The components that are hard to do are those that have a chemically taste or smell on its own though.
The only thing I do is finger test concentrates when they arrive. It gives a sense of potency of the concentrate and it can tell you straight away whether it’s a bad product or not.
I doubt a supplier will wait for a 2 month steep to receive a complaint about a shipment (which happened to me recently).
FT is a lot less useful compared to mixing some concentrates in water or even coffee. Straight up, they taste nothing like how they vape, and that goes for a lot of e-liquids as well. I have bought commercial e-liquids based on a finger test and was hugely disappointed most times. With concentrate FTs, you don’t know anything about throat hit or mouth feel and you do get a chemical taste from most. The more concentrated the flavor is, the less comparable to your vape it will be.
Great way to guage potency. 
PS I randomly taste my fingers all the time. I had to, the title made me.
I am surprised this did not veer off earlier 
I finger test everything as well but keep a glass of water by me in case the concentrate is very strong. I use to use the shot glass method before.
I wish my juice vaped the way it finger tests. Sometimes I want to drink the stuff. It’s a little disappointing come time to vape. And it only smells and tastes better as time goes on but the vape never completely matches it. On occasion, I’ll get the finger version on a first inhale. That quickly fades and I wonder if it has something to do with palate fatigue? All senses are subject to overload. What’s your take on it because I’ve been looking for some answers to this dilemma of finger flavor vs vapor flavor. Heat might be part of it but we need heat to vaporize. Idk, I give up.
If you get the right thing on first inhale, it could be your wick getting dry. Maybe try a dripper?
Trust me, I use everything. Although, hands down, there’s nothing like an RDA for flavor, imo. Or maybe an RDTA. I do chain vape and get flavor fatigued.