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should the vape taste like the juice ?
- Thread starter Jinx'd
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nadalama
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My first guess would be too much air and watts too high. Setup for flavor chasing is different from cloud chasing.
expat42451
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This is quite true. Most of the people I know vape anywhere from 50-80 watts on a number of different types of atomizers. I run between 20 and 24 watts on a collection of rda/rdta's with small simple 316SS 24 ga hand wound coils. So yeah getting the atomizer to even come close to duplicating the taste of the juice is something else entirely. Particularly (for me) a couple of my favorites, 13th Floor DJango or VGod Cubano. Damn sometimes I just want to drink it rather than vape it......I strictly vape for flavor
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expat42451
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I have a Zeus RTA and a Kylin RTA that have both been through a lot of both coils wound by others and myself and neither are much on flavor. I wont even buy an RTA any longer because- for me (and remember this is all personal preference and experimenting for 5 years) RDA's or RDTA's are(for me ) better at flavor. Coils and cotton make a lot of difference as well. For me, either 26 or 24 Ga SS since I cant get anything else much where I live in Ecuador and depending on the atomizer, either 6 or 8 turns of 24 or twisted pair 26 Ga either 6 or 8 turns. Thats what I wind pretty much all the time. My Tauren right now is running 2 coils, twisted 26 ga SS with VGod Cubano, .18 ohms and 23 watts. Mod is a VooPoo Drag, occasionally in TC mode but most times in power mode. Air flow is set in the middle of the range and the Tauren isnt that open as far as air flow goes. So flavor is going to be a different walk from clouds, at least it has been for me. You might give an RDA a try. The Tauren isnt that common. I also use a VandyVape PyroV2 RDTA and a Hellvape Rebirth. I also have a Cheetah 2 which until the Tauren, was my go to flavor atomizer. Dont know whether any of this will work for you or not but this is what I do that works for me. There are a lot of folks that will recommend other atomizers, other coils, other cotton (Bacon Bits is what I use) but thats what works for them. Part of the reason I vape what and how I do is I live in a backwards 3rd world country where import policies are dumber than cold cat feces. We are having trouble getting Bacon Bits here along with some types of wire so go figure.
Another thing I might recommend if you are serious about flavor is to get you some coil tools..the kits including the dies and various things are not that expensive. Bulk wire is a lot cheaper than buying pre made coils and you get to play around with builds, how many turns, how much cotton, how high above the deck to set the coil &c. All of this matters in vaping for flavor.
Another thing I might recommend if you are serious about flavor is to get you some coil tools..the kits including the dies and various things are not that expensive. Bulk wire is a lot cheaper than buying pre made coils and you get to play around with builds, how many turns, how much cotton, how high above the deck to set the coil &c. All of this matters in vaping for flavor.
The e-Liquid will always taste different then when it is Vaporized as not as much liquid will be touching your tongue. Just a word of caution never taste a Flavor Concentrate or you will get Way Too Much of that flavor~! Speaking from Experience~!
expat42451
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You mean its not ok to drink the liquid?
Tasting e-Liquid is one thing, after you lick a drop of concentrate get back to me~!
nadalama
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Heh heh, yeah. You won't do that twice!
Actually I haven't learned yet~! Still lick a drop off my finger. Last was a Cherry which tasted like a box of fucking Ludens~!
nadalama
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Well it probably matters which concentrate it is. I think the one I nearly gagged on was TFA Gingerbread, extra ginger.
.Doesn't really matter since one drop is at least 10% or more even with highly concentrated stuff. Still a WTF DID moment~!
Back in the day when juice was 80-100% pg and between 18-24mg nic it all tasted utterly nasty if you licked it. Wasn't much better vaping it either. 
I can attest to what SteveS45 said. Flavor concentrates to make diy juice with are potent. I've knuckle tested some and it usually makes the tastebuds spaz. I'm talking just a tiny amount like enough to just barely make the skin glisten, not even a 'drop'. lol.
As far as juice tasting the same vaping it as knuckle testing, I've found it's stronger tasting the ejuice itself. Which makes sense. You're getting just the flavor. When vaping you're just getting the 'steam' of the flavor with a lot of air mixed in. Like cologne, smelling it in the bottle vs applying a small amount to the skin and letting it waft through the air. Worn it's a lot milder. The heat from the coils can also alter the flavor some, bring some flavors out you may not taste cold. Should be similar at least.
Other things that can affect flavor, the coil itself. I find I get much better flavor from stainless or nichrome wire over kanthal. Kanthal to me is like taking whatever ejuice you've got and cutting it with about 60% water. Just muted real bad. But that's me and flavor is subjective, some people prefer kanthal to stainless or nichrome or prefer nichrome to either stainless/kanthal. You said 'tank', not sure if you mean rta or subohm tank with factory coil heads. Not all but most factory coils use kanthal by default. Though it's been changing, more and more are using stainless, nichrome or mesh.
If it's an rta, coil placement can impact flavor. Type of coil, paired with type of rta. Like I wouldn't try to stuff an alien coil in a kayfun rta, or run a small 2mm simple round wire coil in the ammit rta. In bigger rta's that have the room, I prefer the taste of fused claptons over twisted or simple round wire. Again subjective, some people are all about simple round wire coils. To me even a basic twisted coil is a big improvement over simple round wire in direct lung rta's. Kayfuns or other smaller chambered single coil mtl/restricted direct lung types thrive on simple round wire coils.
The design of the tank can impact flavor. Not pitting brand against brand since both are copies and not authentic, just comparing their general style. I've got a kayfun v4 and kayfun v5, also a taifun gt3. The kayfun's are almost identical aside from a slight airflow difference between v4 and v5. The taifun deck is almost identical, simple 2 screw setup for a small single coil. Chambers are about the same size, chimneys are about the same size. You'd think running the same identical 2mm or 2.5mm id 8 wrap spaced 28ga ss316L coils from the same wire spool that flavor would be similar. Nope, not even close. The taifun lacks flavor something fierce while the kayfun types are rich and full of flavor. Doesn't matter which is which other than it proves two tanks that are 90-95% visually similar can have two very different outcomes. Whether it's the shape of the bell inside the chamber, chimney diameter, how the air enters the rta.. both have a single small round air hole beneath the coil so it's not bottom vs top airflow. No idea but they definitely differ in flavor. One's great the other tastes like nothing but warm air.
As far as juice tasting the same vaping it as knuckle testing, I've found it's stronger tasting the ejuice itself. Which makes sense. You're getting just the flavor. When vaping you're just getting the 'steam' of the flavor with a lot of air mixed in. Like cologne, smelling it in the bottle vs applying a small amount to the skin and letting it waft through the air. Worn it's a lot milder. The heat from the coils can also alter the flavor some, bring some flavors out you may not taste cold. Should be similar at least.
Other things that can affect flavor, the coil itself. I find I get much better flavor from stainless or nichrome wire over kanthal. Kanthal to me is like taking whatever ejuice you've got and cutting it with about 60% water. Just muted real bad. But that's me and flavor is subjective, some people prefer kanthal to stainless or nichrome or prefer nichrome to either stainless/kanthal. You said 'tank', not sure if you mean rta or subohm tank with factory coil heads. Not all but most factory coils use kanthal by default. Though it's been changing, more and more are using stainless, nichrome or mesh.
If it's an rta, coil placement can impact flavor. Type of coil, paired with type of rta. Like I wouldn't try to stuff an alien coil in a kayfun rta, or run a small 2mm simple round wire coil in the ammit rta. In bigger rta's that have the room, I prefer the taste of fused claptons over twisted or simple round wire. Again subjective, some people are all about simple round wire coils. To me even a basic twisted coil is a big improvement over simple round wire in direct lung rta's. Kayfuns or other smaller chambered single coil mtl/restricted direct lung types thrive on simple round wire coils.
The design of the tank can impact flavor. Not pitting brand against brand since both are copies and not authentic, just comparing their general style. I've got a kayfun v4 and kayfun v5, also a taifun gt3. The kayfun's are almost identical aside from a slight airflow difference between v4 and v5. The taifun deck is almost identical, simple 2 screw setup for a small single coil. Chambers are about the same size, chimneys are about the same size. You'd think running the same identical 2mm or 2.5mm id 8 wrap spaced 28ga ss316L coils from the same wire spool that flavor would be similar. Nope, not even close. The taifun lacks flavor something fierce while the kayfun types are rich and full of flavor. Doesn't matter which is which other than it proves two tanks that are 90-95% visually similar can have two very different outcomes. Whether it's the shape of the bell inside the chamber, chimney diameter, how the air enters the rta.. both have a single small round air hole beneath the coil so it's not bottom vs top airflow. No idea but they definitely differ in flavor. One's great the other tastes like nothing but warm air.
I have found different flavors taste better with more or less power even with the exact same setup. Like some Tobaccos taste better with a bit more power or temperature. IMO this is no one answer to anything vape related. Subjective Again?
Quoted for truth. Back in the day a lot of people didn't care for Halo's Freedom Juice saying it tasted like cedar chips while they vaped it at 3.7-4v @ 1.5+Ω. Step it up to 5+ volts and it tasted damn near a burning tobacco. Almost ashtray-ish. It's still my go-to when I crave a cig. But it needs the additional power. If they made it in high VG I'd be in trouble. lol
Same can be said for Fuggin' Commando. At a normal wattage, the vanilla is too strong. Crank it up and the tobacco comes alive almost killing any semblance of vanilla imo.
The problem with flavor is that there are too many variables that come into play. Type of coil, placement, wicking, airflow, power, heat, taste buds, etc... That's why I tend to vape unflavored about 50% of the time.