Top 10 Myths Exposed
- DIY is hard to learn
Incorrect! DIY is quite easy to learn. It just depends on what you’re trying to do. For example, do you want to become a recipe developer and push the boundaries of flavor and aroma? Or do you just want to mix up your All-Day-Vape? Well, if its the latter, then all you need to learn is how to pour liquids from one bottle….into another! It’s very simple, and best of all, very affordable.
- More Flavoring = More Flavor
NO! The biggest misconception of mixing. A lot of newer mixers think “well if I want more flavor, I’ll just use more flavoring”. This is not true and in fact, will give you LESS flavor. I know, it’s counter intuitive. But these aromas are very powerful, and if used too much, will overload our noses and create the “muting” effect. So you’ll need to know how much of a flavoring to use by searching here in the FlavorBook, searching about online, or just testing each ingredient.
- Complex Recipes = Complex Flavor
Incorrect again! The amount of flavorings within your recipe, the actual amount of flavorings used, does not have an effect on the overall complexity or simplicity of a flavor. For instance, TFA Banana Nut Bread is a single ingredient. When mixed, it provides a very complex tasting Banana Nut Bread. That’s only one flavoring. And on the inverse, if you take all the strawberry ingredients on the market, hundreds of flavorings, and mix them together, you’ll just have….well….a strawberry. So don’t worry about how many ingredients are in your recipes. Its irrelevant.
- Leaving your bottle open when steeping is the best way to steep
Nope! The only reason you should EVER leave your bottle open when steeping is if you used a flavoring with alcohol in it, and that alcohol note is overpowering. That’s the ONLY time (and even then, there’s a debate about whether its a good idea). Every other time, seal it up and leave it the hell alone!
- Keep your flavors in the fridge
Not quite. The reason I call it a myth is because it doesn’t make too much of a difference. These aromas are chemicals and are meant to last a long time. So you’re more likely to use that ingredient all up, before it even thinks about going bad. Now, storing them in a fridge doesn’t hurt (if there’s no condensation present), its just not very necessary
- All flavorings of the same profile are the same
Um…no. Basically this is saying “all the different strawberry flavorings are pretty much the same, and I can substitute them out for whichever one I want”. Almost every flavoring is vastly different from eachother. There are a few exceptions to the rule, but for the most part, they’re all quite different. So just know, if you were to substitute an ingredient for another in a recipe, you’re no longer making that recipe, and making something completely different.
- The more VG the better
False! Max VG is meant for two things. More volume, or more clouds, and for those who have a PG allergy. Other than that, it’s always best to stay under 80vg. The reason being, it affects flavor. You’ll find your flavor quite soft and muted at higher 80vg levels, compared to a recipe at 60vg. So if you don’t care about flavor, have at it.
- Don’t worry about the quality of your VG/PG/NIC
Absolutely Not. Using bad VG/PG/NIC will not only affect the flavor of your recipes, but also may lead to terrible aftertaste, and almost unbearable harshness. Spend the little bit of extra money to purchase good, reputable, USP Grade VG/PG (I recommend LiquidBarn), and use highly reviewed and recommend Nicotine (I recommend LiquidBarn). This will give you the cleanest, most invisible flavor, which is exactly what you want.
- I can make my own extracts…easy!
Stop it. Making your own extractions without the proper equipment can make you very ill and at the very worst, can be fatal. Let the chemists, who have spent their entire lives crafting these aromas, do the job for you. They’ll do it better, and they have a lab to produce it safely. In the video above, I tell a story about this lesson learned.
- I can’t taste your recipe…you suck at mixing
Finally…no. I see this a lot, but many will mix someones recipe, find it doesn’t offer them a lot of flavor, and claim its the devs fault. This isn’t always the case. People have different sensitivities, and different sensitivity levels. What I find delicious and juicy, someone else might find harsh, or weird, or they won’t be able to taste it. TFA Strawberry and TFA Vanilla Bean Ice Cream are perfect examples. Always remember to be constructive with your criticism when reviewing or discussing recipes.
