Hey guys I’m new here but have been browsing and lurking for about 6 months when I started mixing. I have a few recipes dialed in that I am very happy with. Some of these use Flavourart Soho as a base tobacco flavor. The stuff is weak and needs a percentage of around 6-8. So I ran out and bought 2 - 30ml bottles off ecigexpress. Mixed up my favorites and they all taste like crap. I thought I made a mistake, especially since I could taste no Burley in the 3 that used FA Burley. Burley is very strong and you can’t miss it even at .5%. So I dumped the tank and went for another and it was the same thing. The Soho I bought is overly sweet and maybe they changed the concentration. Anyhow, I emailed ecigexpress to see if they know why it’s changed. Thought I would ask and see if anyone else has noticed a change.
Just occurred to me that I also switched to Nude Nicotine for all of these. Does Nude Nicotine in 100mg in PG base have any distinct flavors? I’m getting a lot of sweet and a spice that seems to have a faint anise flavor to it. I was using PG base 100mg nicotine from ecigexpress.
Easiest way to check is, mix up a batch of your base components (no flavoring), and let it sit a few days, then test. If you still have a problem, or taste the same off note(s), then you have the culprit narrowed down
Is there any color to the nicotine? It’s my understanding that nicotine should be clear, sometimes it may have a slightly pink hue to it. If there’s any yellowish tint to the nicotine, it could be that it’s starting to oxidize. The fact that you’re picking up a “spicy” note in the nicotine is another sign that it might be starting to oxidize, as bad nicotine usually has a “peppery” taste to it.
Buy from vendors who do not rebottle flavors and you’re less likely to have that issue. I had the same issue as you with ECX’s TFA RY4 Double (and a few others flavors). I ordered direct from TPA/TFA and the problem went away.
I does make me wonder. I bought soho and shade FA. The couple mixes I tried were did not result in happiness. Actually, it made me really really sad…I was kinda getting excite by tobbacco mixes with Latika Fa, Ry4 double TPA, and RY4 FA.
I even made a @Kinnikinnick classic mix that didn’t work well and a another recipe from another highly trusted mixer didn’t fair too well.
I have had no problems with the recipes I make with them, my Soho and Shade are in original bottles from Gremlin DIY. Just thought I’d give my information regarding the thread.
Welp, this has been stated before, but… human error is most likely to blame in this situation. Sure, there is a chance one batch of flavoring from the original source could be different from the next due to the batch being made on Monday or Friday. We would hope not. However, the next flavor culprit would be individuals in a warehouse sucking bulk concentrates out of a 55 gallon drum and filling tiny bottles. Did that individual stir or agitate that 55 gallon drum first? That’s the 64 dollar question.
Thanks for the suggestions! I got a little more objective and looked things over and remembered I also switched to a new batch of VG. Same brand as what I was using before. Also found that I was mistaken on the Soho. A couple recipes I mixed used no Soho at all so I feel a little lame to post that it was a problem. I also tried same juices in other tanks and RDA and all same. So it’s either the nic or the VG. I mixed a small sample of 50/50 with and without the nic and they both had the flavor that’s bugging me so at this point I say it’s the VG. The weirdest thing to me is the disappearing Burly. Totally swamped out by this new flavor.
Does this kind of thing just happen sometimes, inconsistency with the ingredients?
Found and fixed my problem which was the new batch of VG I bought from ecigx. I bought some Essential Depot VG from ebay. It arrived in an Amazon Prime box, go figure. Anyways I did my testing with HICs Light Cig recipe which I like to use when I get tired of sweeter stuff. Plus it’s a true SNV and doesn’t change much with steeping. I used small batches to eliminate other ingredients and it came down to the new VG. I emailed ecigx my findings and they politely said tough s*it in other words. No refunds possible.
So my 2 takeaways from this are to methodically narrow things things down when you have issues with changing flavors. Thanks for the suggestions both here and pms.
And #2 is that in my humble opinion ecigx sucks because I explained to them how I went about eliminating other causes of my problem and they still wouldn’t offer any returns or anything else. So I’m out that $$ and 1L of VG goes down the drain.
But…I’m happy because I can make some juice that tastes good again! Been trying to vape the bad batches and it delivers the nic but not much else. Not really enjoyable.
Put a bunch of sucralose or menthol in it. Or both. That usually fixes anything.
Sorry you had an issue getting this worked out, but I’m glad you got it narrowed down. Good lessons learned! Sucks that you had an issue with ECX, though.
