It feels a little weird opening this discussion as it seems kinda day 1 stuff, but there are parts to the process which may seem a little counter-intuitive. I’d venture a guess some of you will feel this should be common knowledge. As always though - opinions and input are encouraged.
Having a discussion with @TheTinMan1 on Discord, the subject came up of how often first impressions of juice can change substantially in just a few hours. I gave the example of a project I’m working on now which I’ve habitually mixed later in the day and tasted after mix. Often I will taste it again next morning only to find a dramatically different impression of the juice than I had the night before. Why would that be?
Well we talked about it and it seems likely that after a day of vaping, the senses could be a little muddled. One might think this would cause other flavors to be somewhat muted. And that well may happen, especially if the tested juice has a similar profile as what’s been vaped throughout the day. However, I’ve found evening mixes that I try after a shake often seem to “pop” only to find the next morning to be somewhat dull or underflavored. I have a theory for both of these.
First, let’s say I vape Strawnana Custard all day. Then in the evening I make a banana cream recipe. To me it reasons that since I’ve vaped banana all day, the new recipe may seem somewhat flavorless due to the taste and olfactory senses having been inundated with banana for several hours. However, let’s say I vaped a tobacco vape all day. That banana cream mix may just explode with flavor. Look at it like this. If you work on a dairy farm smelling cow poop all day, you may not notice your dog’s fart nearly as much as if you worked at Yankee Candle Hmmm, some will attest that taste and smell are not that related, but I submit that taste is extremely dependent on smell. Whatever, you get the point.
So how does this information lend itself to juice testing best practices? Well, first I think one should do their testing early in the day. Perhaps before vaping anything else. Secondly, I feel it would be good that if you’re going to test more than one mix, you should have contrasting flavors. So instead of testing 3 different strawberry mixes, maybe have 3 different types such as bakery, candy, tobacco, etc. I know this isn’t always possible, but it is always possible to test on different days or hours apart on the same day. I’m finding this to be more important now as I’ve got a project I’ve been working on and feel I keep tripping myself up by testing after a long day of vaping, and testing similar flavors at the same sitting.
Yep, the same thing happens to me. There are certain flavors that I have in many of my recipes and I definitely go taste blind to them if I’ve been vaping mixes with them all day. When I’m testing, (if I can help it) I try to test mixes that don’t have any of the same flavors as what I’m vaping that day. But I think testing in the morning after your tongue has had the night off (ahem… from vaping) is a really good idea. You’ll probably get the best feel for a mix that way.
Taste + smell = flavor
Taste is the sweet, bitter, sour, salt and maybe umame the rest is smell all together = flavor.
So if don’t have sense of smell you can taste somethink sweet but you don’t know what is this. If you drink black coffee you can understand that is somethink bitter but with out the smell you can’t tell if is coffee or not.
Your father doesn’t understand sweet, bitter, sour, salt at all?
When I went outside for my first vape this morning, the flavor was really there and so fresh. So my conclusion would be early morning vaping for testing, if the tongue is well rested.
I think the ‘heat’ is somethink else like just heat, you know… if this going to your eye it’s remain heat. Ask him for the rest sweet, bitter, sour, salt
Personally I test the same way I vape. I mix a 15ml bottles, and after 2-4 weeks of steeping they (sf mixes and recipes) go into the rotation. I have a morning flavor, an at work flavor, drive home flavor, and at home flavor mon-fri. No chance with fatigue.
I drink plenty of water. And if something doesn’t taste right I either sit it to the side to try another add or I adjust on the fly.
dunno m8… even the smallest samples of ejuice i make are getting tested after a really long time…
i have made my routine in a way that i mix my ejuices like 4-5 times per year… even the experimental ones i make are tested like 1 1/2 months later or whatever… it might sound crazy BUT:
i have noticed that large batches need more time to steep
large batches need more time to be consumed, in my case i have usually more than 4 liters of ejuice… i vape some of them a lot, some others less… so some of them tend to stay in my closet for months… it’s good to know how they taste after a very long time… while i go in rotations… in case i want to make a break from them i could vape just pure base for a while, OR buy ready made concentrates or ejuices from a local vaping store… and that’s all…
in this concept i guess you understand why i am doing it like this…
I talked about this once before but i dont remember how long ago it was so ill post my thoughts again. I have 3 vapes in my rotation at one time, Sugar Rush (My way), Strawnana and Subliminal are going right now. In Sugar rush i can barely perceive the graham in the mix that is until i vape Subliminal right before it. It seems that a bit of anise right before a graham vape brings out the graham to the point that it is all i can taste.
If i vape strawnana right after Subliminal i taste mostly a heavy banana custard, if i vape Sugar Rush before strawnana i taste mostly a SB custard. If i start the day out by vaping strawnana the banana and SB become a differently flavoring all together.
And of course everything goes haywire depending on the beverage i am consuming at the time… Our senses totally suck!
This should bring up some interesting information, great post @SthrnMixer, ill be following the one closely.
I quit drinking coffee a few years ago and do remember that Strawnana/Strawvarian Cream were near tasteless with coffee so i would vape a cinnamon roll that i used to mix.
And @JoJo pointing out that you taste nearly nothing with your nose plugged really did warp my view of reality. Not sure how my brain was so confused and didnt notice this before since it is allergy season.
Hi Amorphia. I’m not so concerned about steep time here. It doesn’t matter at what stage of a recipe’s creation you do your testing, I’m more interested in effective testing as it relates to our vaping habits, lifestyle/work environment, etc. I think the question needing answered here is, to know you’re testing a recipe where your senses are at their most efficient and not adulterated by your environment, what is the best practices for insuring that clean palette?
Wow, I never considered all the folks who suffer with sinus issues. There can be no doubt that will affect how your juice tastes. So probably not the best idea to be testing new mixes when even air can’t pass through your nose
I’ll drink all the coffee that you’re missing out on. lol
Coffee makes fruits taste like hay for me… Super weird. Custards, caramels, yes definitely cinnamon and bakeries, those are always paired with coffee for me.
Hmmm, some will attest that taste and smell are not that related, but I submit that taste is extremely dependent on smell. Whatever, you get the point.
