In the previous part, we learned together how to improve flavor, which is to adjust the power appropriately, close the airflow and choose the right type of coil. But that's not all, so today let's continue on the path to mastering flavor.
4 - Materials for coil and wick
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Coil: Coil is the heart of the vape set, taking on the most basic task of vaporizing essential oils. As mentioned in the previous section, each type of coil has different characteristics, in addition to the coil type (clapton, fused, parallel, ...), the material used to make that type of coil also plays an important role. For the majority of vapers, kanthal and nichrome 80 (Ni80) are the two most popular types of wire, these two types do not have many differences except that kanthal heats up slower and has a slightly higher resistance. In addition, there are types of wire specifically for TC mode such as Ni200 (Pure Nickel), Ti (Pure Titanium) and SS316L (medical steel). These types of wire are very picky about the smoker and should only be used when you are proficient and confident enough with TC mode. If you use wire for TC mode, absolutely do not heat the Nickel and Titanium wire to red heat because it will release toxic gases to the respiratory system. SS316L wire will be a safer choice because it can play both Power and TC modes.
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Wick: In the past, silicate cotton was the material used for vape pens, but there was a problem that when silicate fibers were accidentally inhaled into the lungs, they could not decompose and caused long-term damage to the smoker's body. Therefore, organic cotton - natural cotton that has not been bleached - has become the top choice of vapers. However, cotton is also produced by many manufacturers and just like coils, choosing the right type of cotton that is durable, loose and most importantly odorless will greatly improve the flavor of your vape. There is also a very special type of wick material called "mesh wick", this is another category that I will definitely have an article discussing in the future.
5 - Choose the right VG:PG ratio
Most vapers will find their preferred VG:PG ratio after a while of vaping. Cloud chasers prefer e-juices with high VG ratios (70-80-95%) because VG makes the juice thicker and produces bigger clouds. But when it comes to flavor, things get a little more complicated.
Most of the advice online says that juice with a high PG ratio will give better flavor. This is argued because PG is used as a solvent in the food industry, so it will bring more flavor? That is partly true but not completely. Most juice brands choose PG as a solvent to dissolve concentrated flavors, so the higher the flavor content (Flavor rate) of a bottle of juice, the more PG the final product will have. However, PG has a poor vaporization ability, so VG is needed to bring flavor into the vape vapor.
Choosing the juice ratio is entirely up to your preference, but there are still a few things to keep in mind. Firstly, PG has a strong flavor, so the more PG in the juice, the stronger the flavor. Secondly, there is the issue of juice conduction. Choosing a juice ratio that is not suitable for the device's conduction capacity will cause the juice to overflow due to the essential oil being too thin (too much PG) or the cotton to burn due to the essential oil being too thick (too much VG).
6 - Choose a drip tip with a small tapered shape
It sounds obvious and repeats what I said in the previous article, but let me explain. In addition to being an accessory to decorate the vape, the drip tip also plays a big role in improving the flavor of the juice. If you think that any type of nozzle can do, think again. Choosing a drip tip with a tapered shape helps to condense the vape vapor and bring it straight to your taste buds. Another very important thing is the balance between "air in" and "air out". The air in is the air vent below and the air out here is the vape vapor through the drip tip. You will never see a vape with the air vent open but sucking a tiny drip tip or closing the air vent but sucking a big drip tip. This air balance makes the vape vapor smoother, avoiding jerkiness or loss of breath when inhaling.
7 - Beware of Vaper's Tongue
All the effort of preparing the vape machine, essential oils, and setup will be meaningless if you lose your taste. You will feel that the usual vape flavor is no longer delicious, instead it is a bland taste, even a bit pungent and smelly... Sorry, you have lost your taste. The community often jokes: "If you have never lost your taste, it means you have never really vaped". Indeed, losing taste or tastelessness is a phenomenon that any vaper will encounter during the process of using vape. This phenomenon is caused by many reasons such as burning the tongue, the body is tired or after using alcoholic beverages, burning cigarettes. But the most common reason is that your tongue and nose are too familiar with a certain essential oil flavor, at that time the brain will push that taste aside and you can no longer feel it. This was a defense mechanism of our ancestors during the ancient hunting and gathering process, avoiding odor saturation at that time helped humans always be in a state of high alert, easily detecting strange smells. However, it is the suffering of us vapers in modern times.
There are many tips to cure “vaper’s tongue” syndrome such as sucking on lemon, coating the tongue with sugar, smelling freshly ground coffee, etc., but most of them are ineffective because this phenomenon is caused by the taste and smell mucosa building a barrier with a certain flavor, you can’t do anything effective to break it. The best way is to stop vaping for a few days, the barrier layers covering the tongue mucosa will peel off by themselves and then you will feel the flavor of your favorite juice again.
That’s all I have to say. Although this is not a complete article, I hope you will feel excited to become a flavor-chaser.
Thank you for reading the entire article.
Gia Bao
