Hi guys,
I’m new to this forum and new to e-liquid mixing in general. I just tried FA Strawberry single flavor 7% and I’m kinda disappointed. Reviews on the site of the shop I’m buying from spoke of sweet tasting flavor, but I to me it’s not sweet at all. I found some interesting recipes here, but nearly all of them involve two-week steeping or too many flavors I have yet to buy. Could someone please recommend a flavor by FA which I could use to make the Strawberry sweeter (ideally without long steeping time)?
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Does it have to be fa? Cap sweet strawberry is nice with fa strawberry, so is tpa sb ripe. You could try adding some marshmallow to bump up the sweetness too.
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Welcome Tiartyos!
Do you have any marshmallow, cotton candy, EM or any type sweetener to possibly bring out the strawberry a little more?
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I’ll second that if you’re looking for something that you’re gonna use up quickly.
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thanks guys, I’ll give it a whirl tommorow. Is it shake and vape or do I need to wait a bit?
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Should be ok for SnV. A day or two might help it a little but like Mama said, it is something that needs to be used fairly quickly. Cotton candy, EM mutes the flavor if it is oversteeped
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@Tiartyos the first advice you get is “test your single flavors” so you know what they taste like, but the second bit of advice is that there are only a rare few flavorings that taste great by themselves. DIY quickly becomes more about pairings those single flavors to get a more rounded/realistic flavor …strawberry is the best example.
Never think that if the bottle says “blueberry” that you can just add some to VG and have an enjoyable blueberry vape. Those secret pairing percentages are hidden in highly rated recipes, and all that can be searched using the ELR Home resources and reading “Notes” and “Recipes” under each flavor.
Even better the sticky threads like A Beginner’s Guide To Making The Most Highly-Rated Recipes can help you sift to the best recipes as voted on ELR where you can see how the pros use Strawberry …what %s, and paired with FlavX
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Well. Hmmm. The average single flavor mix is 6.4% and the median is 5. This should be your first warning sign maybe. Flavorart is a concentrate that if you go too high can result in muted flavor. So before you dump out the mix try and add some pg/vg just to see what happens.
The other challenge is that strawberrry FA concentrate seperates in the bottle. Especially when it’s a new bottle with very little head space it is critle to give is a long hand shake. This may be the other issue. Trust me. You can’t just shake it a few rotations…you gotta do it like a work out with the shake weight or like some ppl do while doing another a it’s ity. 
Next, yup already mentioned. Single flavor testing hard. I’ve tried it and my tasting ability can’t stand it. So if your like me you may need to layer in 0.5% fresh cream FA and 0.75% marshmallow FA to have a better experiance and still have a chance to learn about your flavor.
Also already mentioned. You need, most of the time, a second flavor from the same group to get a good vape. Thus, if you got it, try strawberry FA 2% and ripe strawberry tpa 3-4%. I better you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
There are of course fruit flavors that come very close to holding their own. White grape FA, Fuji Apple FA, and billberry FA to name acouple. However they all can benefit by adding just 1-2% from another brand (yes, even 1% from a cap flavor)
Anyways. Lol. I’m done rambeling. Hahha.
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FA Strawberry is more of a ripe one and needs support from another flavor. Yes like it was said before you must shake this one well ,to get it to shine pair it w/ a sweet SB like Cap’s or even better INW’s SB Shisha this will yield a more realistic Berry.
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Uhh dude? this is a bit genius …trying to envision how this could apply globally to the list of common single flavorings. Would it be good to advise folks to mix up say a 30ml (120ml?) of “Single Flavor Testing Base” 70/30 with 0.5% fresh cream FA and 0.75% marshmallow FA? This might need it’s own thread
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Not to hijack…tee hehe. That’s what I’ve done since I started mixing (start super simple).
It does take away from the true single flavor testing method. A few months ago I did single flavor tests with custards (cap, FA, tpa, inw all side by side) and I learned a lot…I really wish I had done it when I started mixing in 2015.
Thus I wouldn’t recommend that it as a “rule of thumb.” But for me I can’t stand single flavor testing. Ive been let down at every turn. It distracts me from enjoying the vape and learning anything.
For example, i single flavor tested some RF SC flavors recently and most fell super flat. Super dissapointed and frustrated…so much I haven’t mixed with them since. I’ll try them again, but ugggg.
Also, to start out with the simple method also causes some problems. Fresh cream and marshmallow FA helps to change the sharp corners of the flavors and can take away a note or two. This can be dangerous but it sets the dance floor.
If the mixer doesn’t know this and they move from the cream base to no cream there can be some mixed effects.
But for me…depending on the flavor I go as high as 1% fresh cream and 2% marshmallow FA. I swap fresh cream for Vienna cream FA. But the difference between Vienna cream and fresh cream can be tricky. Also the balance of 0.5-1% fresh cream is tough and takes practice.
0.5% for strawberry is relatively good. It may be better at 0.25% if only testing SB FA. But if blending FA and tpa strawberry 0.5% would be slightly better compared to 0.25%…To smooth out the odd chemical note that can be found in ripe SB tpa.
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Thanks for ur extensive reply, really appreciate it.
Interesting. I gave it only a few lazy shakes and went about my business. Will do better next time. 
If I do this how long do I have to steep it for?[quote=“Chrispdx, post:8, topic:117048”]
try and add some pg/vg just to see what happens
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Not an option for me atm, I only have 50/40 VapeGear base and that’s it, will buy pg vg seperately, eventually.
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@Tiartyos worthwhile mentioning again… beware the repackaged 10ml flavorings. My first order from a Vendor I won’t mention was disappointing. Either the repackaged 10ml flavors were out-of-date (expired) or they were simply poorly mixed (the 55 gal drum) before they were portioned off into tiny 10ml bottles. If you taste a new flavor and it’s totally off …it may actually be off.
Whenever I buy small 10mls to test I try to get Manufacturer bottled flavors and not repackaged (by the Seller). It almost ended my DIY journey because nothing I made was any good. Once I re-ordered suddenly the exact same recipe was as intended. Some of my first posts here were about why I couldn’t understand why anyone liked Strawberry Ripe because mine tasted like green celery.
The best advice to me was from a friend on ELR who not-so-gently suggested “…what kind of hobo buys 10mls?” LoL and you know who you are! 10mls are maybe where we all start, but when you find something you like, reorder it as a 30ml minimum. It’s cheaper in the long run and you stand a better chance of getting an accurate portion from a faster moving product line. HaH! so… don’t be a DIY hobo 
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For testing mode you can try it the next day then the third day and 5th day.
You will find a lot of folks say strawberry need some time to settle and blend. With a simple mix a few days may be better. But it may be good to you after 24 hours.
Once the diy sickness takes over and you mix a lot you won’t need to worry about steeping because you willl have enough on hand to let everything steep for atleast 2-4 weeks.
You can always add some more base…just alittle.
As for sickness…
This doesn’t include the 20 mixes in the cabinet. And yes I said I would never get that deep.
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heh Never let your Mom open that drawer
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i use Fa stawberry all the time the 7 pct seems high have you triedbit between 3 to 5 pct ??? addbsome marshmallow , meringue , or whipped cream
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Strawberry is a tough flavor to enjoy singularly. It took a 6 flavor base for me to appreciate a real strawberry flavor. Then came Strawberry (SC) Real Flavors… IMO it embodies all the characteristics of what a true SB should be and is the best SB I’ve used to date.
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So glad to see that I am not the only one with ‘the sickness.’ I have a fridge so full of e-liquid, some have been steeping for 6 months!
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If it’s a sickness I might need to be quarantined. Because I think I’m seriously affected. @least 2 months of 6nic mixes mixed up. God only knows how much 0 nic I have mixed up. And I feel I need to order the entire flavor apprentice line for single flavor testing…
Both nice strawberries
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Ok now that really is a sickness… hope you have a good stock of bottles!! 
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