kinda sounds like an issue i was having with my triples for a bit, but i am not running chokes. and since you are in california you really shouldn'a have to either.
have you synced your carbs air flow with a synchrometer? not a unisyn, but a synchrometer liek this one... http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/PROD/TE/60-9976
if you have, neat.
the reason why the engine would give you decent idle when you blip the throttle with your hand may be due to some sticky carb return springs. are you running individual return springs for each throttle arm? I personally have to run 2, on carbs 2 and 3 to make sure that that all of the carbs are returning to dead stop on the throttle return set screws. one way to check to see if they are sticking is to blip the throttle by hand and then push the linkages up to make sure they are seated completely, if the idle drops the linkages need to be adjusted/cleaned.
fuel mixture is secondary to making sure that the air entering your engine is equalized, once that is done then you can work on fuel.