The “flavour-flavour-flavour” factor - a non factor?

[Waine]

I want to keep it real and say a bit about “flavour” — a word that often comes to the fore when vapers and or reviewers talk about what they seek in, or like about an RTA or RDA.

In almost every review on You Tube, the reviewer will comment on “flavour”. Some claim that they are not “Cloud Chasers” but rather “Flavour chasers”.

The topic of flavour is mainly emphasised when reviewing a 22mm RDA or RTA with a slightly restricted air flow. The reviewers will say something like: “This RDA is not for you cloud chuckers, it’s more designed for flavour”. They will then compare the atty that is being reviewed with another atty and tell you how much or how less flavour it delivers in relation to other brands. Sometimes I think it’s just an excuse to justify promoting a very restrictive airflow RDA/RTA.

So here is my take, as unusual as it may sound. I vape to enjoy nicotine and for the love of the hobby. I have never quite gotten used to the idea of vaping flavours akin to fruits, cereals, puddings, chewing gum or cool drinks. In fact I get sick of any flavour in a very short space of time. I find myself diluting many new e-liquids I buy with an unflavoured DIY 90/10 VG/PG, 6mg mix. Sometimes, even my favourite juice: XXX and Red Pill becomes overbearing, which I end up diluting. Incidentally, I suck at DIY juice making.

Frankly, the whole “flavour” issue is so overstated and subjective. Flavour is not even a fair indicator as to how good or bad an atomiser performs. There are so many dimensions to vaping that affect flavour, e.g. air flow, design, the size of the atty, the type and size of the coil, the brand of cotton used to wick and the type of vaper one is, i.e. mouth to lung or direct to lung. Furthermore, nicotine has a flavour of its own, so the levels of nicotine, i.e. 0mg, 3mg or 6mg, etc, also has a significant effect on flavour. Then there is sheer opinion. Some reviewers will state the cons of an atty, and then say, “But yes, the flavour is good”.

So when reviewers (while reviewing an RDA/RTA) scream: “Flavour-flavour-flavour...” I immediately dismiss the notion completely. These statements mean nothing to me. I never buy that sales pitch. A persons’ decision to buy a new RDA or tank should not be based on someone else’s opinion of “flavour”. It should be a personal choice based on trial and error, the brand, the looks, build quality, how it will potentially vape to your preference and the overall appeal. For me, the fundamental deciding factor is quality. How good are the screws? How sturdy is the deck? Will the unit last a long time without pathetic grub screws stripping, the posts wobbling, or the 510 pin giving in? Will it leak? Will the paint peel off, and of course, does it have a decent air flow mechanism? The flavour factor — I have to experiment with to draw my own conclusions.

I’m curious to read what others think when reviewers take massive hits (of their 0mg nicotine juice) and declare: “Hmm....flavour, flavour, flavour!” (in true “RIP Trippers” fashion) with their muted voice box, while the dense vapour still exits their mouth.

Are you a “flavour” chaser? Which RDA/RTA’s are the real flavour monsters, and why?


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[Scissorhands]

Very interesting take on flavour, to each his own

Without getting into a thesis

I mostly vape light "delicate" profiles, bakery , custards and creams , I have gone through over 900ml of some juices and still enjoy them like the first toot

Simply put, most RDA/RTAs dont pick up all the notes I look for and can feel empty when compared to a flavor monster eg.hadaly

I find some of my favourite juices simply flat and tasteless in some RDAs eg.pulse22

I mostly vape simple/parallel builds with the odd fused clapton, 30 - 40 watts normally

I dont find the coil type impacts the "flavor" significantly but rather highlights or withdrawals different notes

Best regards

 

[Raindance]

@Waine, I share the sentiment. What I have been experiencing is that the atty that gives me "Flavor, flavor, flavor" on a menthol juice is not the same atty that gives me Flavor^3 on a bakery juice. In addition, we have plenty examples here of how some of us struggle with an atty's performance for weeks until we eventually get the build, wick, airflow, wattage and juice right for that particular setup. Just s weird that some get it right first time.

Bottom line, I watch a review to see the details of a product and do not pay to much attention to the reviewers rating of it. I rate it against my own criteria based on what I see.

Regards

 

[Rob Fisher]

Interesting discussion and I would certainly agree that different devices perform differently for different juices... for Red Pill the Skyline, Vapor Giant Mini V4, the Exocet and Odis Flow produce the very best FLAVOUR for me.

 

[Huffapuff]

You certainly have an interesting take on things @Waine However, I do believe a reviewer mentioning if an atty is better at producing clouds vs flavour has merit, as the construction of an atty does influence this. I certainly don't want to fork out a few hundred bucks to buy something that isn't my thing!

Certain atties/builds can definitely produce different results though.

 

[Clouds4Days]

I want to keep it real and say a bit about “flavour” — a word that often comes to the fore when vapers and or reviewers talk about what they seek in, or like about an RTA or RDA.

In almost every review on You Tube, the reviewer will comment on “flavour”. Some claim that they are not “Cloud Chasers” but rather “Flavour chasers”.

The topic of flavour is mainly emphasised when reviewing a 22mm RDA or RTA with a slightly restricted air flow. The reviewers will say something like: “This RDA is not for you cloud chuckers, it’s more designed for flavour”. They will then compare the atty that is being reviewed with another atty and tell you how much or how less flavour it delivers in relation to other brands. Sometimes I think it’s just an excuse to justify promoting a very restrictive airflow RDA/RTA.

So here is my take, as unusual as it may sound. I vape to enjoy nicotine and for the love of the hobby. I have never quite gotten used to the idea of vaping flavours akin to fruits, cereals, puddings, chewing gum or cool drinks. In fact I get sick of any flavour in a very short space of time. I find myself diluting many new e-liquids I buy with an unflavoured DIY 90/10 VG/PG, 6mg mix. Sometimes, even my favourite juice: XXX and Red Pill becomes overbearing, which I end up diluting. Incidentally, I suck at DIY juice making.

Frankly, the whole “flavour” issue is so overstated and subjective. Flavour is not even a fair indicator as to how good or bad an atomiser performs. There are so many dimensions to vaping that affect flavour, e.g. air flow, design, the size of the atty, the type and size of the coil, the brand of cotton used to wick and the type of vaper one is, i.e. mouth to lung or direct to lung. Furthermore, nicotine has a flavour of its own, so the levels of nicotine, i.e. 0mg, 3mg or 6mg, etc, also has a significant effect on flavour. Then there is sheer opinion. Some reviewers will state the cons of an atty, and then say, “But yes, the flavour is good”.

So when reviewers (while reviewing an RDA/RTA) scream: “Flavour-flavour-flavour...” I immediately dismiss the notion completely. These statements mean nothing to me. I never buy that sales pitch. A persons’ decision to buy a new RDA or tank should not be based on someone else’s opinion of “flavour”. It should be a personal choice based on trial and error, the brand, the looks, build quality, how it will potentially vape to your preference and the overall appeal. For me, the fundamental deciding factor is quality. How good are the screws? How sturdy is the deck? Will the unit last a long time without pathetic grub screws stripping, the posts wobbling, or the 510 pin giving in? Will it leak? Will the paint peel off, and of course, does it have a decent air flow mechanism? The flavour factor — I have to experiment with to draw my own conclusions.

I’m curious to read what others think when reviewers take massive hits (of their 0mg nicotine juice) and declare: “Hmm....flavour, flavour, flavour!” (in true “RIP Trippers” fashion) with their muted voice box, while the dense vapour still exits their mouth.

Are you a “flavour” chaser? Which RDA/RTA’s are the real flavour monsters, and why?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Agree 100% and i hate it (pet peeve) when someone says if you want a flavour rta/rda then 22mm are best.

My 2 alltime best flavour RDA are both 24mm.
I created a thread the other day on this matter.

https://www.ecigssa.co.za/22mm-vs-24mm.t46327/

 

[Alex]

@Waine, I enjoyed reading about your thoughts on this topic, and I found myself nodding in agreement on all the points you mentioned. Particularly with regard to the "flavour" that nicotine adds to the mix. I don't even bother sampling any juice that doesn't have a certain level of nicotine, because I can pick it up immediately. I would best describe my experiece as eating something that's lacking salt, and the nicotine is like the "salt," at least for me.

 

[RichJB]

Are you a “flavour” chaser? Which RDA/RTA’s are the real flavour monsters, and why?

For me, it's not that one atty has more flavour than another. It's that the internal dynamics of the chamber and the airflow result in different flavour responses. Some atties will emphasise the top or primary note, others will boost the base note(s). Wayne describes the Hadaly as like a set of studio reference speakers that will give you a flat response without boosting either the bass or the treble frequencies. So an audio mixer will use those if he wants a faithful reproduction of the sound.

However, that doesn't mean that it gives the ideal vape. With speakers, you might not want a faithful response. If you're the type of guy who causes house windows to shake when you drive past in your car with its boombox blaring, you would probably want to boost the bass. If you're getting on a bit and have lost the top 5k of your hearing, you would probably want speakers that boost the treble range a bit. So flat response studio speakers might not be ideal for you.

I agree with Wayne that the Hadaly gives me the best and most faithful balance of top and base notes in a juice. It might not be my preference for an all day vape but when I'm testing a flavour or juice, it's the atty I will use first.

At first, I thought it might just be the power of suggestion, that because Wayne said it, I then imagined it. But when I assessed my Recoil, I concluded that it was a base atty, ideal for testing the bed or base that the top note rests on. When Wayne reviewed his five favourite atties, he said exactly the same. For him, the Recoil is a "bass" (base) atty that emphasises the low notes. He called it a "beats" atty. So I came to the same conclusion as him without the power of suggestion.

But on the general topic of flavour, I agree with you. Reddit once had a thread on "what is the best flavour dripper?" There were 100 different drippers suggested, with each person saying that the other 99 don't know what they're talking about and don't know how to build. There isn't a "best flavour" atty. Instead, what happens is that if a vaper has ten atties, his personal building style and watts/wire/cotton/etc choices will suit one of them more than the other nine. So he will conclude that is the best flavour atty. It's just the atty that suits him. If he had different habits and preferences, he'd probably prefer a different atty.

So yeah, I certainly wouldn't take any reviewer's word as gospel. Most atties have much the same potential for flavour. The rest is up to you, to experiment and find the spot where that atty delivers for you.