Concentrate percentages rule of thumb

Something that's been puzzling me for a while.

I know that everyones taste is different and there are also differences in strengths between the flavour brands and even the types of concentrates used and that they all diffuse differently (hence steep time). So I'm going to pose the following questions as in generally or "rule of thumb". I'm also talking about multiple flavour mixing like 2 or 3+ and I'm aware that this question borders on adjunct flavouring.

I've been doing quite a lot of looking at recipe threads both here and on other sites and there seems to be a large variation on the percentages of concentrates used in a mix. I've seen differences of between anywhere from e.g. 10% up to 25%, just as there seems to be a big difference between steep times from a day to a month etc.

A couple of conclusions that I've come to is that for a "quick" steep time (you want to vape it asap) you have less concentrates. And for a longer steep time, more concentrate percentage (you have plenty of juice and are prepared to let it steep LOL). There are members who have a lot more experience than I do so am I correct in this assumption ? If I am correct, then this tells me that possibly the concentrates lose their potency over time. True or false ?

And from my experimentation so far (bear in mind I am very new to DIY) it seems that the best overall flavour level comes from recipes that range from 18% to 25%.

Would be interested to know what others have experienced ?
Cheers
Sodd

 

Generally percentages depend on what brand of concentrates used,and then their is the american factor,Yanks love suger so half there recipe percentages and you should be good to go.

 

You will find some concentrates that only need half a% to be strong enough. Such as TPA Caramel Cappucino. A lot of FA concentrates only need about 3-5%.

 

Good point Necro, something I'd never considered.

Davee, know what you mean on that score. 2% of Tiramasu is very dominating and could be dropped back to 1%

Cheers
Sodd

 

I think it's the other way, loads of my juices taste fine after a day or two of sleeping, leave it a month and they're overpowering. To me the longer the steep the less concentrate needed.

On the ECF and Reddit DIY sections they have recommended percentages for most concentrates, having had a brief look in the past there is no such thing as a standard percentage across the range from one concentrate maker, let alone all of them.

I think you also need to be careful some DIY people seem to be insane. Loads of people claiming Grant's Vanilla Custard is Capella Vanilla custard at 18%, make it up, steep it for a month, vape it and tell me it doesn't make you want to vomit due to how stupidly strong it is.

 

Thanks Quom I'll find those sections you are talking about and have a look.

For a newbie, this thread is shaping up pretty good and is starting to answer a few questions.
Cheers
Sodd

 

Thanks Davee,
You are a legend mate !!! I was just trying to find this sort of stuff.
What you've put up needs to be stickied along with the recipe thread that got stickied.
Cheers
Sodd

 

Imo it all depends on the brand. Usually they will have a "recommended" % to mix. Go from there and you can decide if its too strong/weak for your tastes. If your talking about mixing flavours and your using all the same brands, say a tobacco flavour that states 2.5% recommended and you wanted to add say, cream and mango id use the tobacco as your base at 1-1.5% and add about .5% of the other flavours depending on which you wanted the main flavours to be and which flavours you wanted as an undertone.

 

Something I've noticed is that canuks tend to not like really sweet, or really strong flavours. I've been making doublers for some friends, and they seem to think that they are great, and I nearly always use concentrates at half the recommended strength for most flavours. I always start low, and add more concentrate if the mix is too weak, or the flavours I want to come out the most, are muted. It is much easier to add a little bit more concentrate, than to dilute a mix with vg/pg or unflavoured nic. It is also easier to adjust one particular flavour, rather than dilute the whole mix.

I also give at least one weeks steeping, (using the ultra sonic cleaner on the first day), to most juices before doing any tweeking. The flavours will change a lot in the first week.

 

i'd be really interested to hear from others here what % they mix their flavourart tobacco's at

ive had absolutely no success whatsoever with them

ive tried 2% - ive tried 4% - 6% even 10% - i've tried them straight up and ive let them steep for over a month and then gave up on them as i was getting very little flavour at all - anyone else here had a similar experience with flavourart tobacco flavours?

as a comparison i can mix the juice factory and ecig modshop super concentrates anywhere between 1.5% and 2.5% depending on how long i intend to steep them and they've worked every time

 

Biggest problem you have there is your using tobacco flavors..they all taste like pinapples....hehehe

 

Avtek,
Yes, I've had the same experience with some tobacco's although I really should have kept a diary on this. Did you think that they were losing their potency as time goes on ?

This is one of the things that I've been trying to figure out, for example I have some stuff here that was mixed at appx 20% over a month ago and it certainly doesn't taste like it did after the first week. The flavours have really muted down. Very disappointing.
Cheers
Sodd

 

Our palate is very different from the American palate, so we need to take their recommendations as a guideline only when it comes to concentrates.
They like very sweet, very bold, in your face flavours.
Most canadan vapers I know seem to favour more subtle and certainly less sweet flavours.
Really strong flavours don't make good all day vapes, in my opinion.

When a flavour is too strong, you will find it chemically and not nice tasting. You may not even be able to pick the flavour it's supposed to be.
If you want an example, try a drop of vanilla essence or extract on your finger. It's nasty! Yet a teaspoon in a whole cake or a few drops in some whipped cream is delicious!

To test, you need a good few clean drippers set up very similarly. Same volts/watts/ohms if you can manage it.
Mix a few mL in small bottles - 1 at recommended strength, 1 at half strength, 1 at double strength.
Take a good few puffs of each of these, if you can bear to with the weaker and stronger ones.
You might stumble upon best ratio straight up with one of these, but most of the time, they will need some messing around with to get at optimum.
Take the best of those three, and make a half strength and double strength of the best tasting one.(Half way between the one you prefer and the other one you tried, if you know what I mean?)
To get it right takes time and dirtying up of a fair bit of gear, and a bit of wastage too.
Hopefully at the end, you'll be able to do the maths and mix it all back into the ratio that you liked best.
Steeping will mellow and smooth out the flavour.
You may well find you need to make it a bit stronger after it has sat for a week too.
Such are they mysterious ways of DIY!

Record everything you do, and label all your bottles. Once you get into DIY, you'll soon be surrounded by bottles, and one will look just like another.
You don't want to lose your favourite in a forest of unlabelled bottles, or vape something disgusting by accident be.comse of a "I wonder what's in that bottle?" moment.

 

as far as flavourart tobaccos are concerned necro with my experiences so far i'd have to agree - but ill have to send you some of the ry6 i got thru the co-op

 

i think the biggest challenge is the shifting sands our taste buds encounter in the first 6 months of non ciggie smoking sodd - also we change our gear - atomisers, wicks, voltage - also the level of saliva in our mouth and its acidity changes as well - so a month after steeping who knows what is playing the biggest role in any flavour change or variance

i mean sometimes i'll have a drink of herbal tea and then go back to a juice and bam it tastes different...

but as far as flavour art tobacco flavourings i gave them every chance and nothing even remotely tasted like anything vapeable

 

I'll remember what you've said Avtek, and maybe they are the ones I've had trouble with. I've still got labels on the bottles so I'll dig up the concentrate used and see what brand they are.

You're right too about about how our perceptions change. Wouldn't it be great if on the recipes available it stated how long they had been vaping, what country they are in and the setups the recipes had been used in LOL.
Maybe this would go a long way to explaining the vast differences in overall percentages in regards to recipes
Cheers
Sodd

 

you could also ask them if they had vaped it on the toilet too....hehehe....

 

Yep that's true ...... my dunny's never smelt sweeter !