Mistakes Are Expected, So Expect Them
When you first start diving into the world of DIY E-liquid mixing, you will make mistakes. It’s inevitable, we all have done, and we all continue to do it. This is because the world of DIY is so complex, so intricate, and so vast, that it’s very difficult to always remain ahead of the curve. This video and article will detail the most common, and most important mistakes, that DIY e-liquid mixing beginners face, when they get started.
Too Much Flavoring
Using Too much flavoring is a common mistake a lot of new mixers make. It’s easy to mess this up. Conventionally, more flavoring would equal more flavor, right? Well in DIY mixing, that’s not quite the case. Because these flavorings we use are so potent, using too much flavoring can end up creating a product that is ripe with issues. For example, muting is often caused by overflavoring. The same goes for harshness, wispiness, and muddled-ness. Finding the right balance of flavoring is the key to creating a vibrant, well balanced mix. Now overflavoring doesn’t just mean that you’re using too much “overall” flavor, it can also mean that one of your individual flavorings is pushed too high – throwing off the entire mix. An easy way to find the right flavoring percentage is to look at sources like Alltheflavors, ELR, or DIYorDIE and finding the recommended or average percentage ranges of each ingredient. While not perfect, this will give you a much better place to start when making your mixes.
Too Little Flavoring
Not using enough flavoring can also create a less than desired product. Often times in order to fit in a lot of different flavoring profiles into one mix, we tend to use too little of flavoring in hopes to keep enough “headroom” in our mix. This can end up creating many of the same issues that arise from overflavoring. Under-flavoring can create a vape that is weak, hard to identify, soft, and bland. We need to remember that overall flavoring percentage is somewhat an irrelevant stat. What matters more is individual flavoring percentage. So ensuring you’re using enough of each ingredient will help prevent this common mistake. All that said, under-flavoring is a better place to be considering you can always add more flavoring after an eliquid has been mixed. Where you can’t remove flavoring once it has been mixed.
Too Many Individual Ingredients
As creative mixers, we often like to pack as many different flavoring profiles in our recipes as possible. I mean who doesn’t want to vape a watermelon licorice, chocolate chip, vanilla cookie on butterscotch ice cream? But we must be very intentional when using our flavorings. A careless, overabundant use of flavor can result in a messy, vague, and unpleasing product. A classic example of this would be a cream base. How often do we see recipes using 4-5 different creams – such as TFA Vanilla Swirl + CAP Vanilla Whipped Cream + TFA Whipped Cream + FLV Cream + FA Custard Premium + TFA Sweet Cream all just to create a simple base. We must refrain from overcrowding our recipes in order to have more pointed and directed flavor. Less is more!
No Direction
When mixing, it’s easy to get lost in the process, and forget the result. With mixing, my personal theory is that the end result is the only thing that matters. Creating a satisfying, flavorful mix resides above all. And in pursuit of this, having direction in your recipe can help create this. But what does it mean to have “direction”? Essentially, you should have some type of goal with your recipe. In the simplest of terms, say you want to make a fruit recipe – well an example of a clear direction or goal would be “strawberry”. This means everything in your mix should serve the purpose of creating the best strawberry you can. You can of course be more granular and specific. Maybe you want a “jammy strawberry”, or even more specific with “jammy ripe strawberry syrup”. The more specific, the more precise your ingredients can be. Nonetheless, “winging it” can often result in a vague, uninteresting, and boring recipe. (That said, don’t feel constricted. Sometimes the best creations come from aimless mixing. But use direction as a tool).
Not Mixing for Yourself
The last point I want to make is one that a lot of mixers who post recipes fall victim to. It’s the idea of mixing for everyone except yourself. It’s quite rewarding mixing e-liquid and having others enjoy your work. But if you forget to mix for your specific palate and your specific biases, you start to compromise on things you may not have compromised on previously. We must remember that taste is subjective – and in the most extreme sense. People’s tastes differ extremely, where one who tastes vanilla another may taste vomit. Trying to create recipes that appease the greatest number of people is often unfruitful. Rather, you should seek to create for yourself, and your palate. You will create your best work in doing so. And those with similar palates as you will enjoy your work even more. Don’t worry about the palates that don’t align with you.