Newbie: how to get started with strongly flavoured juices

One shots is more than likely going to be your best bet for multiple success’s. Recommend that you keep the watts down and the ohms up 1.4+ and try not to burn the juice. Start low watts and work up. One shots lend themselves to high % mix ratios, I’ve seen 25% and higher on some brands. If too high at vape, you can always add a 5-10% more VG to reduce the intensity/strength (steep a day or two) of over flavoring.

These guys meet both scores. I’ve since learned I need not be concerned. I
feel okay actually. It was unfair to them for me to say that publicly.
Apologies.

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No. It’s a valid concern and should be discussed. In the history of diy there have been a few companies suspected of watering down flavors. There are a few times where a vendor didn’t properly break down a concentrate by shaking the mix.

The second can happen and why some prefer to get direct from the source. Just like in ournmixing world being alittle off can mean a lot when it comes to the final result.

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No no, no, No need to apologise at all! re-bottling is a totally legit and above -board practice, done with manufacturer’s blesssing…usually! The only trouble is that some vendors keep you guesssing as who’s flavours they’re rebottling :rage:

And now, weeeeell, to bang on my usual drum…drumroll…if you hear that any of those vendors are re-bottling Medicine Flower, can you please let us know? There 's a whole bunch of us hungrily watching out for MF rebottled into smaller sizes.

And finally: Welcome to ELR, Vik , I’ve found your posts really entertaining :slight_smile: Thanks!

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EXC re bottles MF into 5ml bottles and sold as “LOTUS flavors. ECX also identifies their Lotus brand as MF.
re: http://www.ecigexpress.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=Lotus+flavors

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Thanks! But i know that already. Sadly ECX are of very limited use (see my thead about MF suppliers) We really do need an alternative, or several.

@jay210 cheers. Sorry but I’m not going to be any help with MF flavours but if I do happen to stumble across something I’ll be sure to let you know.

So my flavours arrived yesterday and good thing too. I’d clicked that tracking link so many times it was all faded and full of holes :grin:. I’m snowed under with work and won’t be able to mix until Sunday but I did sit down with my new BFF Microsoft Excel and put together a little spreadsheet to help me with mixing by weight. I’m confident I’ve got my numbers correct now, so here’s my Sunday plan. If any of you experienced folks see anything drastically wrong or obviously doomed to failure please let me know.

  1. I’ve shortlisted 7 recipes that use 2-3 flavours
  2. I plan to mix 3 versions of each - original %, strong % and super strong %. As it so happens, most of the recipes are around the 15% mark so I thought 15%, 20% and 25%
  3. I’m going to create one-shot concentrates of each recipe
  4. I’ll fill 21 small bottles with a fixed amount of pre-mixed base (4.8 gms i.e. 4 ml). I felt this would be a quick and simple way to get all my bases lined up and out of the way.
  5. I’ll add differing amounts of concentrate to end with 7 x 3 juices
  6. I’ll then sit around like a d***head for a week while they steep :smirk:

Six of the chosen recipes are from the top rated list in the Beginner’s guide on this forum. The seventh is a Chai Tea with Cinnamon because here in India owning at least one chai flavoured vape juice is required by law :grin:

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If I were you, I’d also try a couple with a little less flavoring, if only to see what effect it has. At a certain point, increases in % are not going to give a stronger flavor. If you want more flavor, you’re going to need another supporting flavor. For example if you’re working with strawberries, add different flavors/brands together or add something like a little bit of dragonfruit to round it out.
The DIYorDIE youtube channel has some decent videos on this subject as well, always worth to check them out.

It’s best to just follow the steeping notes (if they’re available). If you’re mixing fruits, you’re most likely good after a night’s rest and with custards or tobaccos I’d wait a little more than a week.
It’s always good to have a dripper nearby when you’re mixing. Just a few drops of liquid can give you a quick taste to see where the steep is at.

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Okay, I can and will try a lower percentage for each - my one-shots are more than I need just in case. Thanks for the DIRorDIE tip, I’ll head over.

The way work is right now I may not have a chance to test until the following weekend but good to know I don’t need to wait.

I’ve been wanting a dripper for this very purpose. Can you or anyone suggest a single coil one where I can close down the airflow a fair amount? I know I won’t come anywhere near a proper MTL but even perhaps reduce it to something like the Siren 1?

Some people like the Derringer.
Personally i can recommend Hadaly. Around 10$ on Fasttech and the best single coil rda i have tried yet.

Just a side note,

TPA has a lot of good flavors. But none that i would say are spot on. Don’t get me wrong TPA can get you far.
But limiting yourself to nearly only TPA is… Very limiting…
Depending on how much concentrate you need in your recipe TPA can go and get even more expensive than more concentrated aroma (Like FA) A 10ml bottle of pretty much all FA flavors will last you the rest of your life. While 10ml tpa aroma where you need 10% as a single flavor will only make 100ml. If you have the option i would highly recommend FA or the more ‘expensive’ brands. Premium aroma = Premium eliquid.
Taste difference between brands can be pretty astonishing. Let’s say FA and TPA both have a flavor called Orange Cream Bar (only TPA does) You might need 6-8% TPA to get something reminiscent of a Orange Cream Bar. But still not even very close. Then take the 1-2% FA and be prepared to go looking for your socks.
FA is well-known for highly realistic and mostly very concentrated flavorings. So even if they are a bit more, or double as much as TPA flavorings. They are highly worth the price imo.
Last tip;
Go to E-liquidrecipes.com go to the flavor list. Click the search function button ‘Recipes’ to get the flavors with most recipes on the entire site.
The flavorings you’re interested in with the most recipes and ratings you need.
If you don’t like chocolate irl you most likely won’t need it even if it has 5/5 stars. - Only flavorings you are interested in/need for a recipe you really ‘need’.

But when you click the sorting function ‘Recipes’ it only gives you the flavors with most recipes. The flavors could still be crap. So look at the ratings!!

Follow this order for information on flavorings.
E-liquidrecipes.com - Flavorlist - recipes - Ratings - Reviews and comments

  1. You know you need a strawberry.
  2. You go to E-liquidrecipes.com
  3. Click Flavorlist
  4. Click Recipes
  5. Scroll down the list and see which brand’s strawberry has the most recipes and ratings. (The best)
  6. Click ratings after you’ve seen that Strawberry Ripe is the most popular
  7. See in ratings that Strawberry Ripe has 4/5 stars
  8. Click comments to view people’s reviews of this flavoring.
  9. You are now very well informed on Strawberry Ripe.

But this method is more for mixing your own recipes than just following one.
If you just found a recipe you’d like to try on ELR you most likely aren’t gonna sub out flavors.
You would stick to the flavorings used for that recipe.
So when you get into mixing your own recipes remember these steps because that’s how you find notes/ratings flavor% and reviews on flavorings.
But when you don’t really have a flavor stash yet, you should go on ELR look for recipes that sounds good.
Go buy the flavorings
Test the recipes and if you notice you don’t like to vape banana, that’s a great thing to remember next time you’re buying flavors.
Rinse and repeat. After a couple months you will have a very respectable flavor stash. You will know pretty much all your flavorings and what they do. That’s when you go, i need juiciness in this vape i need FA Pear.
When you’re at this point, it get’s easy, and you can really unfold and create unique E-liquid.

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Became more than a side note. Lol

Also, like Suomynona mentioned.

Always trust your gut.
If someone says TPA Banana Cream is the best banana flavoring out there, but you know you don’t like banana flavorings. Then you don’t like banana flavorings. Trust your own preferences over others.

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:smiling_face: thanks though, the information is very helpful. I’m mixing tomorrow and I’ll pop back and let you all know how it went. I plan on just copying recipes for a while until I get a feel for how this works. Patience at this early stage will stand me in good stead in the long run.

I completely agree that one should trust their gut. Whenever I haven’t I’ve ended up regretting it.

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I can already tell you’ll be the next HIC.

Please update!

Has 175 likes on ELR and the first RY4 i ever tried. Pretty good!
The main note is RY4 Double which is kinda a tobacco flavor so it has to steep.
One month would be sufficient.

All TPA!

You don’t need to do the milk frother, hot water and cap thing if you don’t want to.

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These are all TPA flavorings i have experience with and which i can fully recommend.
There is many more TPA flavors which are generally considered good.

All TPA
Absinthe
Apple
Banana Nut Bread
Bavarian Cream
Belgian Waffle
Blueberry Extra
Blueberry Wild
Brown Sugar
Caramel Original
Chai Tea
Cheesecake Graham Crust
Coconut Extra
Creme de Menthe
Dragonfruit
Dulce de Leche
Graham Cracker Clear
Greek Yogurt
Marshmallow
Orange Cream Bar
Peanut Butter
Peppermint
Pistachio
RY4 Double
Strawberry Ripe
Strawberry
Sweet Cream
Vanilla Bean Ice Cream
Vanilla Custard
Vanilla Swirl
Whipped Cream

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That reminds me I really have to try that blueberry wild, dulce de leche and restock on blueberry extra and strawberry :smiley:

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Blueberry Extra is the inside of the blueberry, and Wild is the outside. Best way to describe it.
I always forget which is which, so i hope i got that right and it’s not the other way around.
Together the best blueberry imo.
Dulce de Leche is also very good!

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But it might not even be the juice that is the problem here.
Your vape gear is getting outdated.
Which mod or vape pen are you using?

The real problem is anyone is gonna have a hard time tasting juice when it is 12mg/ml.
Have you ever tried higher watts and more airflow?
Higher watts and lower Ohms usually result in much more flavor.
You might prefer to vape mouth to lung, but that typically requires higher nic level and more flavoring.
Pretty much all juice made today is made with subOhm in mind.
If you really just hate straight lung inhale and want mouth to lung you will have to tweak your recipes to that.
I highly recommend you to try and make a 5ml batch with 6mg/ml and see if you can taste it then!

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I use a Berserker/Revenger and a Siren 2/Evic Primo SE daily. I’m fairly competent with coil building and have settled on 28ga Kanthal /1.4ish ohms at around 12 watts. I really enjoy this vape and rather than change my vaping style I figured I’d change my juices, which is what led me here.

I mixed on Sunday and it was a lot of fun :grin: I did try one recipe as a SnV just out of curiosity but felt that leaving them to steep would be a sensible thing. Unfortunately I won’t be able to test them out until this weekend but I will come back and let you know the result.

Thanks for the list. My first order contained several on there, and I made another shortlist of recipes and placed a new order for more flavours. This time around I’ve also picked up some Cap and FA.

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@Vik3

MTL vaping is still a thing so it’s not neccesary to change.
I still would highly recommend 6mg/ml instead 12mg. Unless you also really like the throathit that comes with 12.
The cleanest tasting E-liquid is 0mg, the more nicotine you put in, the more pepper flavor you are going to get. That spicy pepper note you get at high nicotine levels really kills the flavor of juice. So you have to compromise at 6mg/ml!
I’m sure you’ll be very glad you picked up FA too. :sunny:

Vape on! :blush: