Today was my first attempt at mixing my own e-liquid so I thought I'd share the results with you.
I got my first batch of concentrates from Flavourart a few days ago and have been itching to try them, but a disgusting hasty mix made me realise that you really need to set aside some time and space to relax into the mix. So i did just that today.
I got 6 flavours and some traditional nicotine base (thats what flavourart calls a 50/50 pg/vg base).
I decided to dilute the base with vg only and so diluted my boots bottle of vegetable glycerin BP with gin (Tanquerays) to get the right viscosity (I like the slightly floral flavour gin adds to the vg).
So all of my mixes are pg at 25% and vg at 75% with flavour at around 10% on top of that.
You should bear in mind that none of these have been steeped at all yet - I may update this when they have sat for a while.
Like a lot of others on the forum I was after a good approximation of golden virginia hand rolling tobbacco, but have learned that it is unlikely to happen, so am looking for a flavour that is reminiscent enough of the smokes that I have loved for nearly 40 years. either that or something that isn't trying to be a cake or a drink or a sandwich, but is bearable as an all day vape.
So here goes.
1 Golden Rollie from Flavourart. This is the flavour that I messed up to begin with - I used far too much and got a taste that can only be described as drinking that liquid kids blow bubbles with. Once I made a more careful mix at 10% it settled down to be a very decent tobacco flavour, without sweetness or caramel, just a bit leafy with a slight floral hint. Sadly the disgusting flavour that I got from my bad mix was sooo bad that I am now hypersensitive to it and can still taste it lurking in the background. fingers crossed that bubble fluid taste will disappear with a bit of steeping. Overall I could live with this as a mainstay flavour.
2 Virginia tobacco from Flavourart. This flavour is closer to Golden Virginia than Golden Rollie above. there is no hint of the plasticy detergent bubble fluid flavour that Golden Rollie leaves me with. I like this, it is dusty and dry, without any sweetness, or for that matter any flavour that doesn't belong in a cigarette. If you dont inhale it, but blow it through your nose it smells just like dried leaves, sadly not tobacco leaves, but its close enough... reminds me of those herbal cigarettes that they used to sell as a quit smoking thing before patches and gum. I think this is a clever flavour, it is leafy and dusty a bit like the old gauloise tobacco without the smoked (as in bacon) taste that it used to have. I think this would make a brilliant base for building a really good tobacco flavour, but as it stands it is a bit dull. Overall this would sit next to Golden Rollie as a mainstay, and I'd probably end up mixing them.
3 Dark Rolled from Flavourart. Dark rolled, i was expecting something strong and exotic, maybe even balkan, but no - I had to up the percentage on this one to get a flavour strong enough to compare with the two previous flavours. At 12% this flavour began to work, it is not so much dark as a bit more woody, in fact it reminds me of the smell of mahogany (ok so I mean the smell inside the sock drawer of my old chest of drawers). This really is quite a complex flavour, it is very tobacco like but behind that there is a feint hotness, like a very mild chilli, and behind that the woody flavour which is a bit like chewing a cheap pencil, and then there are very feint fruity flavours, perhaps apple or watermelon, then a very slight walnutty ending.
Overall I am not sure that I could use this for too long, it is almost salty, but if you like your red wine oaky and your whisky peaty, then this might suit you.
4 Tobacco Cam from Flavourart. I got this flavour because I couldn't work out what on earth 'Cam' could mean - I still can't. This really is a surprise flavour, it is definitely tobacco like, but the chef has taken a few liberties and invented a new thing. My first impression was very strong "it smells just like sticking plasters", and it does, the cloth on a roll type". If you can't bring that smell to mind, how about "it smells just like a doctors clinic". The smell is due to a hint of cinnamon, just enough so that you can't quite put your finger on what it smells of. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that this is a bad flavour, quite the opposite, but it is a bit of a surprise. Now smell is one thing, but flavour is something else, and to me this tastes quite a lot like sherbet and I really like it for that. I carried this one around for the best part of the day, and sometimes I thought I love it, then I think of surgeries and put it away again - a good thing if you are vaping too much perhaps.
5 oRYental 4 from Flavourart. Yep this is Flavourarts homage to RY4, which I normally happen to like, and was my best hope for a realistic tobacco substitute for my first forays into vaping. Now I am not sure that RY4 is a tobacco flavour at all, more like a mix of other flavours that put you in mind of a remembered pipe tobacco aroma. It seems to me that RY4 is made from caramel, vanilla and liquorice with a few other notes that merge them together, none of those flavours would be out of place in an Edwardian tobacconists and they add up to a sort of tobacconist smell. The good news is that Flavourarts oRYental 4 manages to combine these same flavours really well, you can pick them out in each puff, plus there is another dusty leafy flavour in there too (perhaps Virginia Tobacco no 2 above). This is an elegant RY4 that I could take to the desert island and wouldn't get tired of.
6 Hypnotic Myst from flavourart. My search for a good tobacco e-liquid went awry here, you know how it is you spend ages looking at sites deciding what to shell out for and at the last minute you hit 'add to cart' on some random pup. This random pup is not in the least bit tobacco like, and I had absolutely no expectations when i mixed it up. My first impressions were "fruity", "really fruity", "I hate fruity", "but I like this" and its true, here we have a fruity flavour that isn't trying to be a salad or an ice-cream and it is really intriguing. I spent a long time taking a puff and thinking "I know this flavour, what the hell is it?" I went through cranberry juice, blackcurrant, and then rosewater before I got it. This is a very well done Turkish Delight flavour, that somehow manages to be light and almost thirst quenching. So now I have to reconsider my prejudice against fruit flavours (always a good thing) because this is a really fresh flavour that just suits a vape, at least in my humble opinion.
That is about all i have to say right now, I hope it is worth the read.
I got my first batch of concentrates from Flavourart a few days ago and have been itching to try them, but a disgusting hasty mix made me realise that you really need to set aside some time and space to relax into the mix. So i did just that today.
I got 6 flavours and some traditional nicotine base (thats what flavourart calls a 50/50 pg/vg base).
I decided to dilute the base with vg only and so diluted my boots bottle of vegetable glycerin BP with gin (Tanquerays) to get the right viscosity (I like the slightly floral flavour gin adds to the vg).
So all of my mixes are pg at 25% and vg at 75% with flavour at around 10% on top of that.
You should bear in mind that none of these have been steeped at all yet - I may update this when they have sat for a while.
Like a lot of others on the forum I was after a good approximation of golden virginia hand rolling tobbacco, but have learned that it is unlikely to happen, so am looking for a flavour that is reminiscent enough of the smokes that I have loved for nearly 40 years. either that or something that isn't trying to be a cake or a drink or a sandwich, but is bearable as an all day vape.
So here goes.
1 Golden Rollie from Flavourart. This is the flavour that I messed up to begin with - I used far too much and got a taste that can only be described as drinking that liquid kids blow bubbles with. Once I made a more careful mix at 10% it settled down to be a very decent tobacco flavour, without sweetness or caramel, just a bit leafy with a slight floral hint. Sadly the disgusting flavour that I got from my bad mix was sooo bad that I am now hypersensitive to it and can still taste it lurking in the background. fingers crossed that bubble fluid taste will disappear with a bit of steeping. Overall I could live with this as a mainstay flavour.
2 Virginia tobacco from Flavourart. This flavour is closer to Golden Virginia than Golden Rollie above. there is no hint of the plasticy detergent bubble fluid flavour that Golden Rollie leaves me with. I like this, it is dusty and dry, without any sweetness, or for that matter any flavour that doesn't belong in a cigarette. If you dont inhale it, but blow it through your nose it smells just like dried leaves, sadly not tobacco leaves, but its close enough... reminds me of those herbal cigarettes that they used to sell as a quit smoking thing before patches and gum. I think this is a clever flavour, it is leafy and dusty a bit like the old gauloise tobacco without the smoked (as in bacon) taste that it used to have. I think this would make a brilliant base for building a really good tobacco flavour, but as it stands it is a bit dull. Overall this would sit next to Golden Rollie as a mainstay, and I'd probably end up mixing them.
3 Dark Rolled from Flavourart. Dark rolled, i was expecting something strong and exotic, maybe even balkan, but no - I had to up the percentage on this one to get a flavour strong enough to compare with the two previous flavours. At 12% this flavour began to work, it is not so much dark as a bit more woody, in fact it reminds me of the smell of mahogany (ok so I mean the smell inside the sock drawer of my old chest of drawers). This really is quite a complex flavour, it is very tobacco like but behind that there is a feint hotness, like a very mild chilli, and behind that the woody flavour which is a bit like chewing a cheap pencil, and then there are very feint fruity flavours, perhaps apple or watermelon, then a very slight walnutty ending.
Overall I am not sure that I could use this for too long, it is almost salty, but if you like your red wine oaky and your whisky peaty, then this might suit you.
4 Tobacco Cam from Flavourart. I got this flavour because I couldn't work out what on earth 'Cam' could mean - I still can't. This really is a surprise flavour, it is definitely tobacco like, but the chef has taken a few liberties and invented a new thing. My first impression was very strong "it smells just like sticking plasters", and it does, the cloth on a roll type". If you can't bring that smell to mind, how about "it smells just like a doctors clinic". The smell is due to a hint of cinnamon, just enough so that you can't quite put your finger on what it smells of. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that this is a bad flavour, quite the opposite, but it is a bit of a surprise. Now smell is one thing, but flavour is something else, and to me this tastes quite a lot like sherbet and I really like it for that. I carried this one around for the best part of the day, and sometimes I thought I love it, then I think of surgeries and put it away again - a good thing if you are vaping too much perhaps.
5 oRYental 4 from Flavourart. Yep this is Flavourarts homage to RY4, which I normally happen to like, and was my best hope for a realistic tobacco substitute for my first forays into vaping. Now I am not sure that RY4 is a tobacco flavour at all, more like a mix of other flavours that put you in mind of a remembered pipe tobacco aroma. It seems to me that RY4 is made from caramel, vanilla and liquorice with a few other notes that merge them together, none of those flavours would be out of place in an Edwardian tobacconists and they add up to a sort of tobacconist smell. The good news is that Flavourarts oRYental 4 manages to combine these same flavours really well, you can pick them out in each puff, plus there is another dusty leafy flavour in there too (perhaps Virginia Tobacco no 2 above). This is an elegant RY4 that I could take to the desert island and wouldn't get tired of.
6 Hypnotic Myst from flavourart. My search for a good tobacco e-liquid went awry here, you know how it is you spend ages looking at sites deciding what to shell out for and at the last minute you hit 'add to cart' on some random pup. This random pup is not in the least bit tobacco like, and I had absolutely no expectations when i mixed it up. My first impressions were "fruity", "really fruity", "I hate fruity", "but I like this" and its true, here we have a fruity flavour that isn't trying to be a salad or an ice-cream and it is really intriguing. I spent a long time taking a puff and thinking "I know this flavour, what the hell is it?" I went through cranberry juice, blackcurrant, and then rosewater before I got it. This is a very well done Turkish Delight flavour, that somehow manages to be light and almost thirst quenching. So now I have to reconsider my prejudice against fruit flavours (always a good thing) because this is a really fresh flavour that just suits a vape, at least in my humble opinion.
That is about all i have to say right now, I hope it is worth the read.
