Hi
Is it just me or are many of the highly rated DIY recipes lacking in a real flavour punch?
I’ve recently started mixing and although really enjoying it have been a little disappointed with the results.
I’ve made NotCharlesMansons - Pebbles, DIYORDYE - New pistachio RY4-U, apwroblewski - Mothers Unicorn Milk, kaptainemerica - Cosmic Fog Milk and Honey clone and various other highly rated obviously very popular recipies.
Have followed the recipes to the line and have given each the recommended if not longer steep period.
The only one I’ve been really impressed with was Alisa - DaMomma’s RY4 Delight which is bustin’ with flavour and has been my ADV for months now, I love it.
So really what I’m asking is for advise on how I give these other obviously v good recipes a bit of a kick? Is it a matter of increasing the individual flavour concentrates by say 1/4 - 1/2 % or more or would this ruin the mix?
Adding a flavour enhancer (if there is such a thing) adding sweetener or some magic fairy dust?
By the way my hardware is Sigelei Fuchai 200W / GeekVape Eagle dual coil 0.13ohm @ about 90-100W.
I’m in the same boat as you are. I was massively disappointed in the majority of highly rated recipes. From talking to some of the folks in here I was basically told to use them as a guide and change things to suit your palette. Getting to know your flavours is a big help in doing this, as much of a chore as it actually is, it really does help you along when you flavour test your stash. @Alisa ry4 delight is one of my absolute favorites and I vape it almost daily, from this I found that Catalan cream works really well in an ry4, so I’ve used it in a few. The new pistachio ry4 I find to be very bland but I still really enjoy the original. You could also try maiden’s milk by thirdworldorder, that’s another excellent one. Using ideas from highly rated recipes and trying to make them suit what I liked is what worked better for me.
I concur @DrChud I have found there are a couple of DIYrs that have similar styles of mixing & share the same love of certain flavor profiles. But ultimately I end up looking over posted recipes, dissecting them, rebuilding them & tweaking them to fit my palate.
For me its like going to the Art Museum, I love looking at all the lovely pieces on display, I always see something that catches my eye. Then I move on, I don’t want to make a photocopy of the piece of Art, I want to make my own Art, Always keeping in mind what it was that made me attracted to the beauty of that Artists piece.
Well, there’s this thing that taste is very subjective and what you are tasting is perhaps not what someone else tastes. I have similar impressions with a lot of recipes. I’d even go as far to say that none of the top 10 recipes on ELR really blow me away.
I’ve been mixing for about 6 months now and initially I just tried a recipe and if it wasn’t good, I would just try another one. At the moment I’m at a point where I’m starting to know my flavors, which flavor profiles I like and I basically use other people’s recipes to get ideas.
After a 10ml tester of the original recipe, I’ll tinker with it to take out or mute the flavors I think are overpowering and boost or add the ones I think will lift up the recipe.
In the beginning it seems like a daunting task but with some experience, you’ll know in advance what kind of effect something will have. Also, mix up enough recipes at once. This will keep you going so you won’t have these waiting periods while some juices are steeping.
If you need something that doesn’t need more than a day or 2 steeping, go for your fruity vapes but know that if you’re doing custards and creams, you’ll need at least 2 weeks and the more of it is used, the higher the steeping time becomes.
At one point, I’ll probably start throwing things together from scratch, but for now, I mainly use ELR to get ideas for flavor profiles. There is no rule that says you have to stick to a recipe. Don’t pay attention to people complaining to others when they substitute flavors or ask what they can use for substitutions. I mean, negative comments on a recipe when the right ingredients weren’t used are bullshit of course, but if you want to, substitute, add, leave stuff out, … DIY is all about trying and the more you try, the faster you’ll get to a point where you make a juice that you really enjoy, something that you can put next to a store bought juice and say: Well, mine IS better.
Taste is very subjective… that’s why it’s so hard to just go by ratings. There are some pretty good recipes on ELR that don’t even have a single star rating and I’ve had crappy recipes with over 100 5-star ratings.
Look for flavor profiles instead and give things a try, even if nobody else has tried it or commented on it.
This is an older/common topic. New vapers are almost always recent ex-smokers. Smoking cigs kills your Taster and it may take awhile to gradually regain full tastification. I have found that in-your-face flavor wears thin in terms of an ejuice qualifying as an All Day Vape. There are several flavorings in particular, cinnamon specifically, which can build up over the day and become unpleasant. What’s tasty with your morning coffee can be too much after dinner when vaping it all day long. My general advice is make it weak enough you can enjoy it over a longer period …at least an entire day. I also stopped mixing Max VG because it muted flavors …but it’s all you bro. If you’re diggin it, that’s all there is, but are you diggin it for more than 15 mls?
All I can say is you’re a lucky guy. I know that PG carries flavor a little better, requires less of a steep and so on, but there are more than a few people out there who are sensitive to PG and just cannot have it.
I’ve nearly quit vaping and went back to tobacco because I couldn’t get through the day comfortably with all the PG in my liquids.
@SPG
You could try some of the real intense flavors and see if that does the trick for you.
You may never get the taste back out but Bacon (OOO) comes through loud and clear in all my recipes it’s in and I have to use it with a very light touch.
I have a handful of flavors in my stash that are what I’d list as Super Strength that even a hint of comes blasting through very clearly.
Cherry (LA)
Chocolate (SC)(RF)
Cucumber (OOO)
Onion (OOO)
Rhubarb (SC)(RF)
Watermelon (LA)
Of the 130 odd flavors I have that 6-7 will come shining through for my tasters every time.
Whether it’s just me and my strange preferences in flavors or what but that’s my intense 6.
I’ve done the buy the correct flavors and follow the recipes and finally had looked long enough and been disappointed enough times to start mixing things I dreamed up at night or foods I like and kept plugging away till I got a handful of acceptable juices and I was able to stop buying store juice.
I’ve gotten far enough now with my own testers and builds that I can look at a recipe and know it’s in the range of things I find tasty. I’ll save it and adapt with the flavors I have and tweak it till I’m happy with it as I’m the only one that matters.
With the wife watching my flavor buys like a hawk it’s always what do I have that is close enough and what’s the minimum I need on my next order. Being old and fixed income the wife has me on a very small budget for this frivolous crap as she calls it.
Buy more empty bottles as that’s what I run short on most often. I’ll think to myself, I’ll have a mixing session only to remember I’ve not got any empties on hand.
After using my own 10 juices for the last month I opened the tag end of the last store juice and finger tasted it and WOW it’s like pure sugar against what I’ve gotten used to. Ordered up some Sucralose on a whim with the next flavor order to see if that’s what in the store stuff. Not sure if I’ll use it as I’ve gotten used to my own blends. The Liquid Stevia doesn’t feel-taste that sugar sweet or I’ve just not used enough yet.
For me it’s been a process and I anticipate it will continue to be a process. I was fairly fortunate in that I vaped quite a few commercial juices and found out what “family” I liked. For me it’s fruits for ADV and a few deserts for “snack” vapes. From there I was able to pick some from our listing that made sense to me. Many of the flavors I have not become familiar with as of yet. No recipe was perfect as written for my taste but I was able to pick them apart and make adjustments that worked for me. I started working on ADV as this would also impact my financial outlay. I now have a good assortment of ADV’s that are better to me than what I can buy. I enjoy trying new commercial “desert” flavors and they are cost efficient as I don’t go through that much of them. When I do find one I really like, I ask the folks at my favorite B&M to open their books and can often get a pretty good idea of at least the main ingredients used. There has been the occasional small batch of draino but no serious waste as of yet. As a hobby, I have also included woodworking, photography, and coil building so there is always something vape related going on. No hurry for any one aspect of the hobby. Makes for a good balance.
I searched for it before and I’ve searched for it now (like i posted in the other thread too). PDO or 1.3-propanediol is really hard to get and if you find it, it’s expensive + shipping.
So for now, I’ll just have to stick to what I know
