I've read the sidebar, but still have a couple questions.
I've got 60ml of 100mg/ml nic base 70% VG coming. Trying to get a couple fairly easy but tasty juices made to start to convince my wife a larger investment is worthwhile.
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Most versatile flavors to start with? I mostly vape dessert and fruit flavors. I assume I should have some custard/cream/vanilla flavors and some fruits. Also, who makes fruits (particularly strawberry) that tastes like fruit, not candy?
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What do you all consider staple items? Sweetener, sour, smooth, certain flavors, etc?
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Assuming I want to mix juices at 9-12mg/ml for tanks and 3-5mg/ml for dripping, what would be the easiest and safest concentration to dilute my nic to?
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I've got 1, 3, 5 and 10 ml syringes, nitrile gloves and plan to mix in some 10 and 30ml bottles I've cleaned out. Any other essential hardware I'm overlooking?
I use TPA fruits and like them. I have seen some say Inawara fruits are the most "life like", which may not convey to a better tasting vape. My must haves are Ripe Strawberry, Pear, Banana cream. I love Strawberry Ripe, but some hate it. Your best bet is to buy samples so you can decide for yourself what is best. Wizard Labs carries TPA, Lorann and Capella flavors in 8ml sample sizes.
I am fairly new so can't answer all of your questions, but I can tell you that TFA Ripe Strawberry has the most realistic flavor to it. I have tried 7 different strawberry's.
Take a look through here. This might help you out a bit...
http://www.reddit.com/r/DIY_eJuice/comments/2ehekc/master_flavor_reviews_and_tasting_notes/
- Sweet Cream from TFA. It goes in just about every one of my mixes, as I am a dessert man as well. Also mixes well with fruits. Usually keep it to 2% or less. You'll probably want a vanilla custard as well, Capella Vanilla Custard seems to be the favorite around here. I also use a lot of cheesecake, bavarian cream, whipped cream, and marshmallow.
I second the TFA strawberry ripe, it tastes like a farm fresh strawberry rather than a candy strawberry, such TFA strawberry or LA strawberry.
However, some recipes go better with a more artificial strawberry flavor. Some recipes use both. It's all trial and error, just play around with mixes and find what works for you.
I just ordered some stuff from flavourart, I've heard their fruits are very true.
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I have never used any sweeteners or the additive stuff like EM or AP or whatever it is people tend to use, just personal preference though, I've never seen the need for it.
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I would say don't dilute your nic, but again, thats just my preference. I just use however much I need and mix directly into the bottle. Mixing with 100mg/ml nic makes the math easy. Just make sure you always wear gloves when you handle your nic as it can burn your skin. Wipe the bottle with a paper towel after you put the cap back on while you still have your gloves on. I never touch my nic bottle with my bare hands.
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I didn't think labels were going to be an issue, but as soon as the bottles started piling up, I realized how necessary they are. Use dates and/or batch numbers on your bottles that correspond to recipes in your notebook. I have 3 different mixes of a juice with the same name. One of them is good, two of them suck. I can't figure out which recipe in my notebook is the good one. Pain in the ass, would have saved me a lot of trouble just to date the page and bottle or use a batch number. Something simple like those 1x3 inch shipping labels work great if you don't care about a logo.
Awesome. Thank you.
I was looking at a lot of the flavors you mentioned. Good to have some confirmation I was on the right track.
I need to dilute the nic, I have 2 and 3 year old girls who have a knack for getting into anywhere and anything. I was going to lock it in my gun safe(literally the only place in the house they haven't figure out how to get into, it's unreal), but I figured it will store better in the fridge as the inside of the safe gets really warm.
Great ideas on the labels and logbook.
Gotcha, good idea to play it safe. Unfortunately, nicotine is gonna be toxic any way you cut it. You can still get nicotine poisoning from a 3mg juice if you get enough on your skin or ingest it. However, anything above 48mg/ml is going to burn as well, so stay below 48mg/ml. 36mg might be ideal for the levels you want, it will simplify your math a bit.
Of course, if you keep your nic in the fridge, make sure you're kids can't reach it. Also, PG/VG won't freeze, so you can keep it in the freezer as well just to keep it a little further out of reach.
Here is the thing, Look around for Recipies, Find one you like, Find one your wife likes, and order the concentrates to make them. OR if you like Grape, order Grape Candy flavor by TFA, make a 50PG/50VG 9Mg/Ml Nic mix with 15% flavor and then vape it.
Once you vape it, sit back and let the tastes speak for themselves. Then tell her, Ya know, this only cost us like .60 cents to make and you KNOW in a store it would of cost us $5.99 (Assuming your B&M's sell 10Ml @ $5.99)
Then, when your friends ask you "Hey, whatcha vaping" and you say "<Insert flavor here>, I made it myself" Their next question usually is "Oh? Can you make me some? and How much would you charge" To which you can say "SUUURRRREEE, $4.00!!" and then BOOM your on your way to vaping for free (For the most part) as more and more of your friends buy from you. Because you can use the money from your sales to replenish your mixing supplys.
TL;DR, if you make a flavor you both like, that in and of itself will be enough to convince her. I guarantee it.
Sort of my plan. I've found a few recipes that sound interesting that I plan to try. My wife doesn't vape, so I'm fighting an uphill battle there. The biggest problem is getting her to agree to me investing in a bunch of concentrates to start with. I've showed her the math. A co worker and I are splitting costs to start, so that will help
Shipping is probably the 2nd highest cost in DIY, so do your homework on flavors. Don't do what many do and order it like candy in a shop.... Know what recipes you are mixing before you order! And tell your wife I have saved easily 5x what I have spent in a year, so will you.
I've only been at it a few weeks myself, but I recommend looking up and make all 3 MilkStones (milkStone, MilkStone 2.0 &amp; MilkStone 2.6), at least 10mg each. Then play with them with single fruits, tobaccos and desert flavors.
By standing on the shoulders of the giants who formulated these, my mixes have gone from 'pretty good' to outright delicious and better than the vendor juices I like to emulate. For instance, my Snake Bite clone kicks ass over the original and couldn't be easier to make once I had the 'stones premixed.
Boa Nip
10% MilkStone 2.0 3.5% Inwera Apple 2% .9 Saline
I'd provide links, but I'm on the tablet at the moment, but a quick Goggle will get you there.