1st attempt - Perfect vaping balance but aftertaste

[Ashley A]

So I some DIY mixing extras to dilute my liquid on my last VM order.

I decided to try my own full mix this last weekend. Started out with a 10ml Blueberry sample. I was aiming for 70VG/30PG at 6mg.

I mixed in 0.5ml VM Blueberry concentrate (PG based) + 2.5ml PG to get my 3ml/30% PG at 5% flavour strength.
I then added 1.6ml of 36mg Nicotine in VG base + 5.5ml to get my 7ml/70% VG at 6mg total nicotine strength.
I then mixxed mixed mixed, carried it in my pocket for a day, left it on the dash of my car outside for half a day to let it heat, mix, and steep rapidly.

Upon further researching, I found that higher VG tends to mute flavours so I decided to try it before deciding how much to add. I loaded it up in my Subrank with RBA this morning, and boy was I on the money on the feel part from 12watts to 30watts, it was a great vape. I did notice the flavour was very mute though so I added 6 drops of concentrate to my subtank to get it to hopefully closer to 10% flavour concentration.

I'm quite chuffed with it as it is the most vapable thing I ever had in my Subtank and I'm thinking DIY from now on. The problem is that there is a bad chemical like aftertaste from it. which I don't like and it stays.

What am I doing wrong there and what can I do to fix it?

 

[ET]

that usually means overflavouring / not enough steep time. should be those drops you added to the subtank that did it.

 

[Andre]

Yip, probably requires a day or two of steeping with the cap removed - in a dark cupboard.

 

[zadiac]

Be careful leaving it in direct sunlight (without covering) it for too long. It'll ruin the juice. A few hours in direct sunlight is enough.

 

[Ashley A]

I left it from after 2pm until 5pm. I see most guys do it for 4 hours so I figured somewhere around there should be fine.

 

[Ashley A]

Ok, thanks guys. Will try and let the final product steep longer next time. Usually I steep everything for 2 weeks in a dark cupboard with occasionally opening and leaving it in the evening for a while before closing it up and putting it back in the cupboard but I was just too impatient to try it after not getting the right off the shelf liquid until now.

 

[free3dom]

Some flavours are also just a tad chemical by nature (not sure about the Blueberry). For these even with steeping it never really reaches that smoothness you are after.

There are ways around it by mixing some small amount of something subtle such as sweet cream, vanilla, etc (it will depend on your particular taste).

You could also try some smooth (which is an additive) but I have no experience with it so can not comment on it.

Finally, what I've found works exceptionally well (if you don't mind mint) is to add a very small amount of mint (peppermint, spearmint, etc - again it depends on your taste) - this hides the chemical taste quite well and adds that little bit of extra kick to it. This works especially well with fruit flavours.

This is all very unscientific advice though and you will need to experiment for yourself.

Let me call our resident DIY helper @Derick to give you some proper advice

 

[stevie g]

over flavouring

 

[Yiannaki]

@Alex has a technique for steeping juices outside that he needs to share here

 

[Derick]

Some flavours are also just a tad chemical by nature (not sure about the Blueberry). For these even with steeping it never really reaches that smoothness you are after.

There are ways around it by mixing some small amount of something subtle such as sweet cream, vanilla, etc (it will depend on your particular taste).

You could also try some smooth (which is an additive) but I have no experience with it so can not comment on it.

Finally, what I've found works exceptionally well (if you don't mind mint) is to add a very small amount of mint (peppermint, spearmint, etc - again it depends on your taste) - this hides the chemical taste quite well and adds that little bit of extra kick to it. This works especially well with fruit flavours.

This is all very unscientific advice though and you will need to experiment for yourself.

Let me call our resident DIY helper @Derick to give you some proper advice

Usually a chemical taste (kind of perfumy, like when you spray deodorant and breathe some of it in) means that you have put in too much of a particular flavour. This level of 'too much' can vary from flavour to flavour, so if you get a perfumy or chemical taste try and reduce the amount of flavouring a bit and see if that doesn't help. I know that sometimes you want a flavour to be very strong, but some flavours unfortunately just cannot go that strong - that is the nature of the beast that is DIY

Sometimes though as you said, adding certain flavours can mask the chemical taste a bit and letting your mix steep with the cap off can also evaporate some of the flavouring - getting rid of the chemical taste too.