Good advice.
Like Chuck4, I would recommend starting with your two primary flavors (top note).
Once you have those two balanced, then work on adding the next flavor (middle note).
Then once you have that balanced into the equation, you can focus on any accent(s). (Something that just ever so gently pokes its head in to say ‘hi!’)
Layering is very user specific IMO. But it’s also one of the most important aspects to what makes a mix.
I definitely agree. I wasn’t going to get mad or take him for being a smartass. I am one daily but many take me wrong and think I’m angry when I’m actually laughing.
I was told that layering is more for the pros. I am not one!! I did ask one guy if vape shops layer their house juices. He said he wasn’t sure about that. I wouldn’t think they would be layering. I figured it would of been a simple mix and out the door the customer goes. I don’t really know.
I definitely smell and taste cap cheesecake. Fw salted caramel. It’s like I smell tfa cheesecake crust but that could be the cap cheesecake I’m smelling. I also smell custard and it seems more on the tfa custard side but why would someone pick tfa over cap? Cap is definitely better. Who knows. When it comes to apple I’m not sure if its cap dble apple or tfa apple tart or tfa apple candy. Maybe this week I can pin point it down or maybe its layered.
Well, it takes a bit of time and experience. But I wouldn’t say it’s “for the pros”. Simply because I’ve seen many house blends that were honestly nothing special (frequently single or dual flavors even). Though there are some that are talented, just like there are here.
I would say that you’ll start gaining a better understanding when you get to the ‘intermediate stage’, and as you continue to the advanced stage, this continues to improve. But it does take time, and familiarity with your flavors. As well as knowing what you want the end result to be. 
Smell can be an indicator, but trust your mouth first. Get the foundation down solid, and then you can start tweaking the outlying factors.
It may appear that way at times… But I’d bet money that the smarter stores have their best selling pre-mixes already “ready to go” (think flavor stone), so all they have to do is add the Nic and VG/PG to match the customer’s request.
Sure from an unknowing customer standpoint, you could easily think “well, they couldn’t have mixed that many flavors that fast!” But that’s the whole point of using a stone. chuckles
Trust what your body tells you. In both taste and smell though. As well as if you have a reaction to any given flavor (as it means that you probably need to try the same flavor, but by a different company).
Quite agree with Rob @Sprkslfly, not a “pros” thingy.
I look after the e-liquids DIY section in another forum in Italy, and layering and mix structure is one of the first things I (we) teach to all newcomers, once you learn it, it’s a technique, a way of looking at your mix, that’s all, not rocket science.
Where’s the hard bit? What Rob just said, know your flavours understand what you want and need.
Let’s have a look:
To do a top note (head note) with Strawberries, you might need (will need… 
) 3 different strawberries and it’s just the top note.
For the middle note (body) you might want some creams and again you might need two or three different creams
So you see that deciding the flavours, their interaction and blends is the hard part.
You have to know your stash or what can go with what.
Let’s think if on the “milk” you just made you want an accent, let’s say Caramel… Caramel?, Salted caramel? toffee? Butterscotch? Which brand? MOL,INW, FLV, FA, TPA, CAP? and on and on and on and that’s what the pros do!
Test and taste, test and taste, different flavours, different brands, different percentages, different layers, new compounds, 8 hours a day, 7 days a week all year long and keep lurking ELR For new ideas and mixes… Yes they do come here!!
Hey glad we got to hear from a couple of guys who have been at this awhile.
This is the hardest part for me, what @Iv3shf called the body. To me this is the meat of the whole mix. Whether it’s a cream base or a candy, if it’s good you just change the top notes say from apple to strawberry or fruit mix and Bam another recipe. Also I use most of the same middle note flavors to make boston cream pie as I do in a peaches and cream. But the profile for them is crazy different. I give more weight to the heavier flavors in the pie.
This is the fun part. It’s great when one of your friends says wow this is really good, what did you do, there’s something I just can’t put my finger on. This is where I usually think about what I get from both the inhale and the exhale and choose accordingly. When I said that I mix for me that’s true, but I also take advantage of a group of friends for feedback. We meet every couple of weeks or so and I bring several of my “work in progress” mixes. They knuckle for aroma till dry, then do a finger taste, pass the bottles around. They go home with some juice and I go home with notes that I take to heart or discard. I have learned a lot that way. When layering I try to also smooth out harshness with like flavors, perk up fruits with something acidic, be ready to make dry mixes more moist, with things like pear or cactus, use counter flavors in the background (eg. counteract bitter with brown sugar, honey or red wine) balance sour with florals or tea. I went through one phase where I put lemon in everything lol.
I feel like you guys are pros. I don’t know why but I’ve always had a hard time tasting flavors from an rda. I am much better at smell. I know it’s easy but I figured out tiger’s blood without reading anything about it along with a few others. I like to keep my mixes very simple. That means 2,3, and 4 flavors max. I know most of your shops only mix 10% total flavor but others do 20%. I have all kinds of Strawberry. Peach. Watermelon. Coconut. Sugar cookie. Cheesecake. Butterscotch. Caramel.
I don’t know what percentage to use for each one and that’s where testing comes into play. I would know if I tested the proper way.
I’m not really trying to clone a house juice that is made fresh from the back room. I want to make it better and don’t know if they are layering their house juices but I definitely know that it’s a shake and vape.
Well I’m figure that if it’s a cheesecake with a fruit then the fruit will be higher in percentage unless the it’s a strong flavor. That’s another reason to test flavors. I plan on getting the recoil rebel rda this weekend and will test with that. I tried the drop rda and couldn’t really taste anything with no matter what cotton or coil I used. It was strange.
I’m assuming you vape to not smoke. And if that’s the case how long since you quit or cut down. You will be surprised how much taste perception increases as time goes by. A lot of what I said above is just tricks of the trade that we pick up on as we continue on. The technical among us may look at layering in a complex way but put simply, layering flavor just means that while building a mix, we add a number of different, yet complementary tastes beyond just the basic ingredients. For example: you can just saute onions by themselves. Or saute onions in butter with leeks, shallots, white pepper and thyme. Both add flavor to a dish, but the second option layers in more. Do this as @Sprkslfly said so eloquently gently enough to say hi.
Yes sir. I vape because I got tired of being a walking ashtray. I have 5 different mods. 20 different tanks. With the cheesecake i want to add cap dble apple but i don’t want it to be powerful. Just nice and mellow but also noticable. 2.5 maybe? Max 3%. No Fuji added.
I get my tax return Friday so I’m buying the recoil rebel then. It really seems to be the top best for all rda’s. I will try testing on that.
I have also mailed out tester bottles to different guys in the groups. I’m willing to send out again and pay for shipping if I can find someone who is really up for helping me of what I’m trying to do.
Houston Texas. My location
Not sure if you prefer single coils or dual, but I can HIGHLY recommend the Hermetic (by Blitz and SMM) if you want a great flavor chasing RDA.
As for the double apple, 2-3% should be a good starting point (depending on the cheesecake). Might even go lower than that if you are focusing on the cheesecake!
@Chuck4 it’s always interesting in seeing how others look at things. To me (as I stated it above) the “top note” is the main note. The body if you will. The middle note would be the second most prominent/noticeable flavor (in Bryan22’s case above, the double apple, as, if I were to mix it, the focus would be on the cheesecake). Possible accents (for me) might be FLV frosting, or perhaps even the ever so slight splash of cinnamon.
I can definitely understand how you’re describing things though, and of course, that’s an equally valid way of looking at things. But I just wanted to point out that it’s something to bear in mind when you’re reading other’s notes. 
Where can I find and buy the rda you mentioned? Single or dual will do fine but more leaning to the single side of things. The dble apple seems more between 1.5 and 2% but no more than that. I have also noticed that many others use cap french vanilla. That must be a great flavor. A must I order tomorrow as of Friday. There is some cinnamon in the juice that I mentioned but I don’t think its from cap apple pie, now it could be. I tried cap sugar cookie and something was off. I tried cap cinnamon danish and that wasn’t it either unless my percentage was way off. Maybe I should try tpa cinnamon danish or cinnamon sugar cookie at 0.5 to 1? Maybe 2? The cinnamon is very lite. The fw salted caramel seems to be in the ballpark of 1 to 1.5 it’s not in your face smell but you can smell it but mostly taste it with a long pull from a ohm tank. The top note seems to be either custard or cheesecake. Maybe even tpa vbic. The custard is more on the tpa side of things with a long pull but a friend of mine said he smells cap custard. I smell tpa custard. Also when I took the bottle of juice to a different vape shop one of the guys said loudly…there’s a whole lot of custard in that but he didn’t say which kind. So I’m guessing custard at 5 to 7%. The cheesecake and apple are the first 2 things I smell right off the bat.
It’s worth changing the setting of that thread to “tracking”… That way you know the deals as they’re posted!
I’d definitely try that since you’re already using apple, and besides which, the ‘pie’ aspect should lend nicely to your crust in the cheesecake!
After reading the notes of graham cracker clear. It has caramel and cinnamon so there’s my problem solver right there. 2 birds 1 stone.
I hear alot about the goon. Must be well built. I will research it in a little bit. Appreciate it all
No idea about the Goon other than what I’ve read.
The one I was suggesting was the second one in that post. The Hermetic
https://www.vaporrange.com/Blitz-X-Suck-My-Mod-Hermetic-24MM-BF-RDA-p/blitz-hermetic-rda.htm
Hopefully what everyone has suggested makes sense and helps! 
13 bucks for that? Oh I must get it then. Thank you again. Have a good day
No wonder, ever tried to vape with your nose closed??
Well, try it… you know what you’ll get?? Sweet…… nothing!!! Nada…
It’s your tongue and nose that do the job that’s why your better at smelling…
Oh my gosh, I did have that turned around, leave it to me to have the profile back asswards. I guess it’s easy to look at a list of flavors and immediately think of what I would be looking to do with them. The last thing I wanted was to make something seem more complicated than it needs to be. My first thoughts were to encourage having fun in the attempt. @Bryan22 was obviously working hard to get a handle on this mix, trust me I’ve been there. It looks like you guys have worked a lot out since I last checked in. Bryan when you get to or close to the final product I look forward to trying it out, I’m a fan of those flavors.