So I've been mixing up juice for a while but have always just keep it basic making a 30ml at a time using just nic pg vg and 15-20% flavor every bottle. I don't keep a lot of supplies around a couple pipettes and a couple 10ml syringes. Now that I just got my order for 1 liter of 100mg juice though I'd like to learn the more advanced more tasty stuff so I figured the best way to start would be to ask, what are your essentials in your DIY Ejuice toolbox? What flavors, measuring equipment, additives, etc can you not live without??
- Strawberry Ripe (TFA)
- Sweet Strawberry (CAP)
- Peanut Butter (TFA)
- Vanilla Swirl (TFA)
- Orange Cream (TFA)
- Vanilla Custard V1 or V2 (CAP)
One of these flavors makes it into virtually everything I have ever mixed.
Would you mind DMing me some recipes I have all those except the CAP and about 30 tfa flavors all together
It's not 100% up to date but was accurate when I started that thread. Please note that 'the seeker' is terrible, V1.1 and V1.2 are a bit better though although not updated here yet.
1ml syringes, pipettes, nitrile gloves, piles of glass test vials with poly caps, ultrasonic.
What do you use the glass test vials for? I use the pipettes and syringes to measure and dump right into the bottle but like I said I've only done very basic stuff with 1 flavoring and sweetener and stuff like that.
Every mix goes into a vial for testing, like 3-8ml. Also used for homemade solutions and extracts, decanting small volumes of flavoring from 120ml bottles, and taste testing individual flavors for optimum percentages. I have about 50 and I run out often.
Scilogex MicroPette (10ul-100ul), 100ml graduated cylinder, 50ml graduated cylinder, 96 well microplate, reusable chart to track contents of 96 well microplate, amber glass bottles 100ml-500ml, syringes 1ml-50ml.
New ideas get mixed in 1ml batches. I'll usually do several variants on the basic theme. Once those are steeped, they get taste tested. Winner by popular vote moves on to the next round. Losers are combined into Scubbo Juice.
Second pass is 10ml batch testing. That let's me control down to 0.1% on flavorings or additives. Those are tested by passing them around to anyone and everyone who'll try it. This is when I play with additives (sucralose, menthol, vanillin, koolada).
Third pass testing is a basically done recipe. Large batch gets made (50-100ml). The micropette still sees some action as I tamper with small portions of the 'done' juice to see if we can make it better. Third pass isn't allowed to go on long, "Perfect is the enemy of good."
I let someone else name them. I never liked puns and star wars enough to be good at it.
> Scilogex MicroPette (10ul-100ul), 100ml graduated cylinder, 50ml graduated cylinder, 96 well microplate, reusable chart to track contents of 96 well microplate, amber glass bottles 100ml-500ml, syringes 1ml-50ml.
For a second there I thought I was watching an episode of Breaking Bad.
I took a gamble. I figured the extra $100 in hardware would pay for itself by allowing lots of really small batches while trying to get a flavor right. The little plan is to have my own infinite supply of vape and to keep my supplies stocked selling off cheap bottle to friends and associates.
I've been approached by a buyer from a large-ish chain of Bong and Dildo stores about supplying juice for all their stores, but I'm not entirely sure I'm interested in full-scale commercial production.
Tools:
Everclear/PGA - This is the best cleaning agent I've found. The only flavour it's not managed to entirely cleanse from a bottle is Durian energy drink (I was going to call it Saint's Flow if it didn't make me vomit).
Heated Ultrasonic Cleaner - Just as amazing as everyone makes it out to be.
RDA - Probably a given, but I've seen way too many people trying to test flavours on clearos to leave this out. I use either 1 or 2 coils, with 4 wraps of .8x.1mm ribbon around a 1/16th drill bit, for testing.
Flavours:
Bavarian Cream - A great accent for a lot of juices. I have a ton of "Base flavour & cream" juices, and this is an ingredient in all of them. There are also a couple of non-"X & Cream" juices I use this in.
Additives:
Ethyl Maltol: I use this almost more than bavarian cream.
Menthol: I only use this in one flavor (so far, I'm about to test another with it), but the flavor (Banana Milkshake) wouldn't really work without it.
Koolada: Same as above, it provides a great cold feeling to Banana Milkshake, and the flavour effect is minimal.
> RDA - Probably a given, but I've seen way too many people trying to test flavours on clearos to leave this out. I use either 1 or 2 coils, with 4 wraps of .8x.1mm ribbon around a 1/16th drill bit, for testing.
I tried testing with a tank for four days before giving up. The IGO-W is cheap and works great on standard batteries (I use it on an MVP). I've also gone to using very little wicking since it's better for small batch tasting and easier to take out and change without ripping the coils. I think I change wicks 3-4 times a day.
what is the Heated Ultrasonic Cleaner for? I don't follow this stuff too heavily yet so I've never heard of it.
Speed steeping. I like it a lot better than a slow cooker.
I have a HUGE syringe (too lazy to look but I think 60 ml) that I use for vg, have to have 1 and 3 ml syringes. I just bought some erlenmeyer flasks, because I kept overflowing the bottles, and figured I'd just mix them in there and transfer to bottles. Almost bought beakers, or graduated cylinders, but the flasks were too cute to pass up.
Other than that, I really keep it pretty simple because I'm new to this and just make simple stuff for myself. Even my labels are simple (masking tape).
Flavors I like are: TFA: pear, honeydew, coconut extra, bavarian cream, strawberry, strawberry ripe, peanut butter, double chocolate, graham cracker. That's all I can think of at the moment.