I've had some what of a revelation the other day. Let's give a little back story though, because we need the context. So about 3 weeks ago, I decided to embark on a journey to make an ejuice that tasted just like Funfetti. I was inspired by a little family members birthday party, and the cake they ordered was this homemade Funfetti cake made by a VERY popular baker in the town. God damn it may have been one of the greatest things to ever touch my lips. It was this super sugary, vanilla iced, yellow cake, and was filled with sprinkles made by the baker. This was no, out-of-the box birthday cake mix, type shit. This was a cake created by a man who knows his fucking cake.
After the party, I immediately went to mix. The flavor was still fresh on my tongue, as extremely sweet products normally do. I grabbed for things that just made sense, Yellow Cake for body, Custard for egg, Vanilla Swirl and Sweet Cream for nuance, Vienna for icing. Shook it, vaped it, no dice. It just wasn't right. I tried messing with percentages, adding different supporting flavors, such as Almond, Caramel, even Banana. Nothing was really coming close to that simple cake I had devoured. Then finally I found a recipe, that after the steep, might work. So I put it away and decided to come back to after a few days. I was so sure this recipe was going to work, I even told people about it claiming a new recipe on the way. Few days go by, and...nope. Doesn't work. Now this fascination, has turned into a challenge, and to me a challenge usually turns into an obsession.
So over the course of the two weeks that followed, I created about 30 different mixes, all containing different variations of (kinda) the same flavor profiles. Nothing was working. I didn't know what to do, or where to begin. It was a sad sight actually. A man driven by his obsession of taste, broken and limp, around an array of sticky 15ml dropper bottles. I was about to just quit. And not quit the recipe, no. Quit mixing all together, even vaping, and I was going to run away and live in a hut somewhere in the Appalachian.
So that's kinda what I did.
I decided maybe I should get out and not think about this for a while. Just live as if I never mixed a day in my life. And for vaping, I figured I'd try and do without. Maybe abstaining from vaping will reset my palate and olfactory senses. Luckily for me, family issues arose, and this gave me a reason to leave town a bit. I was gone for a few days with my family, going about my days as a neversmoker. One thing I wanted to do was buy some Birthday Cake at a couple of other places with the justification for "research", but in reality, I'm just a fat fuck who loves cake. So off I went, on this voyage of abstinence.
I come back after only a few days, and I feel great. With everything that's going on with me, DIYorDIE, and my juice line, and my day job, and schooling, and my girlfriend, and this website, and whatever else I've gotten myself into, I realized that I really need to put in leisure time for myself. That 3 day break from this pummeling routine I put myself through day in and day out, really did wonders. Not only on my mental health, but the physical. Giving time for my senses to recuperate was the best thing I could've done for this "mixers block" I was going through.
First thing I did when I got home was load up a fresh build and poured in some my my favorite juice. That first pull off my SX Mini at 60W on a 0.3ohm, was an EXPLOSION of flavor that rocked every taste bud in my body. I swear to god, I felt that shit in my dick. The vapor drawn in was so vibrant, so bright and crisp, so intense. After a good 10 minute vape session, I realized I needed to test some batches of Funfetti while my senses are still fresh. I vaped each of my latest batches, spending around 5-6 freshly dripped pulls on each. After I did this for about 6 batches, I knew what ingredients I needed. It was more clear than ever. No thinking, no over-analyzing, it was just through fresh senses and experience that I knew exactly what flavorings I needed and how much. So I loaded up my bottle with my ingredients, made 4 varying batches, and let them sit for a few days. I come back to them 4 days later, and what do you know. Nailed it.
So I attribute the Funfetti recipe solely on the little break I took from vaping. I never realized how much of a pounding our sense of taste and smell take on a regular basis, especially for someone who vapes and especially for someone who mixes. Day after day, hour after hour, we are slamming our noses and taste buds with highly concentrated chemical aromas. Vaper's tongue is more than just a minuscule malady. It's fatigue. And as with any kind of physical fatigue, if it's not treated it builds up and manifests into other areas of the body. The reason I was not able to find out these simple flavor profiles, was because I couldn't understand anything I was tasting anymore. The connection between my nose and mouth to my brain, I guess, had some kind of static between them. And all that was needed to remedy this was a little break.
So if you're a mixer, or trying to become one, or just want the absolute best flavor from your juices, you owe it to yourself to take a break from vaping completely. Just hold off for one or two days. I promise you it's not that hard, and the rewards are worth it. And if you're one of those guys who can't live without a drip tip in your mouth, take a longer break. Give your nose and taste buds some time to heal and chill out. I promise you, that first vaping session you'll have when you get back will be mind blowing. And it will probably make you re-evaluate the amount of vapor you're inhaling on a daily basis. And if you really don't want to take a break, just remember, at least you're not smoking. I could taste FUCK ALL when I was puffing on Marlboro Reds.