When I started mixing, it was awful. I kept trying to take like 4-5 flavors and create something awesome, but I ended up creating awful things - things like the affectionately named "stick" or "coconut vomit." Starting simple is really not a bad idea.

Thanks for bumping people's chins up. I feel like the biggest part of me not being able to enjoy my creations is the lack of the surprise factor. I know exactly what I'm making, and after about 5 failed test mixes of a flavor or a mix, I know what my 6th is going to be like and obviously, it is going to fail to amaze me. Because I know what's going to happen.

I'm a good cook and I experience the same phenomenon when I make food - other people's simple homemade humus can boost my mojo far more than my own roasted goose ever could.

Well put, I've been DIY'ing for 8ish months now, and I hit the same roadblocks early on.

To expand a bit on finding a "good flavor", I'd suggest starting with a recipe you like, then shifting the proportions around. That way you get a feel for what flavor does what, and have a decent chance at finding an entirely different variation you absolutely love.

You can also try dropping flavors you don't like, or substituting them for similar ones, but unless you have a feel for how a given flavor influences a mix, odds are this approach will be more frustrating than shifting percentages around.

I've found a large portion of my ADVs this way, so it's usually the first thing I try when I find a tasty looking recipe, doubly so if it has a large amount of a flavor I'm not too fond of!

I went through 240ml of /u/fizzmustard nana cream in the past month and I have made some small changes in percentage. But you just gotta experiment. Mix small batches to try if good make more if bad so what is 5ml?

Made my first bottle yesterday after days of staring at all of the supplies in fear. Just did a lemon mint 5%/citrus 5% and it tastes great. I am really surprised. I think people come into trouble when they try to dive in deep too quick.

Follow recipes. Buy ingredients based on those recipes. Learn to use the calculator. You really can't fuck this up.

This is a good message. In my experience, trial and error is the best way to learn.

I would like to share an experience that may add to this conversation. I've been trying to clone a juice for almost a year now. I've not given up since I decided to do it. I've gone through innumerable iterations with very marginal changes and it can be soul crushing to feel like you'll never get it. However, successfully getting a note right or getting closer is equally soul uncrushing. Also, along the way I've learned some very valuable lessons on how to make juice and the behavior of individual flavors.

Try to enjoy this hobby; that's why you got into it. IMHO, DIY juice is closer to art than science.

I have been struggling do make tasty juices, but I think I've discovered the source of my pains. I've been using a milk throther to mix.

That completely muted the aromas, don't know why, but just warming up the liquid and letting it melt together is much more effective.

Good advice Mate I see here all the time people having problems with making a decent vape. You should not think you are going to make premium juice buying cheap ingredients. You need the best nicotine you can afford. Buy quality VG/PG.and not the cheapest you can find. People think they can just mix it up and let it sit in hot water for an hour and have a great product (not going to happen). I have found its not going to bloom into a fine tasting juice buy putting in a hot environment. When I started I read as much as I could find on making juice. I don't speed steep my juice at all. I just use good old fashion Father Time to come up with a enjoyable product. I have been very fortunate with my time in the DIY hobby not much has hit the drain. Like you said TomHanks get the flavors to a recipe that you would like to make and go from there. If you make a recipe and it doesn't taste good 10 minutes after you make it put that sucker in the drawer and check it after a week or two and you will find out its going to taste much better. I have juices that are 8 months old and taste fantastic. Let it sit and steep and chances are you will have a good juice if you mixed it correctly.

Great advice. Finding a good supplier is the most important step I've found. My first batches were Chai tea from nude nicotine. I love their nic, but their flavors are hard to work with in my opinion. Capella tends to be very forgiving percentage wise, and nearly every batch of juice I've made with capella has been phenomenal.

Keep mixing!

+1 , well said.

whenever I have a small test batch that tastes awful or has no flavor at all, I just remember that it cost me less than 2 dollars to make it. I also recently discovered that any juice works when you have a cold and can't taste anything....just save your bad juice for that time, and you won't even know the difference ;)

start with single flavors at like 7 or 8 %, i found my happy spot at 10-12%

it's been touched upob here but bears repeating: STEEP/AGE/CURE! Especially if you're going to toss it anyway. Miracles are rare, but you'd be surprised how much better a mix can be in a week or two.

Spoiled community (not so much this sub) imo. Juice gets cheaper and more companies compete and customers have a sense of entitlement. This can all work against you when trying to make your own. Expectations...

Absolutely agree. Start simple. Look up some of the well known (clone) recipes from this sub, order the flavors you need and follow the recipes. The vets here have already put in the trial and error for you. After you've gotten some good mixes under your belt and a decent amount of flavors in your vape station, start to experiment by tweaking recipes to your tastes. It's really not that hard to make a decent vape, but it's gonna take some time for you to start rivaling the Vapor Chef.

Everything I mix tastes heavily of chemicals, tried different strengths, different ratios, only got one that doesn't heavily taste of chemicals, might just have to try to leave everything to steep for 2 weeks, tried different nics and pg/vg as well so it's something I'm doing or maybe it's just how eliquids taste...

You hit the nail on the head perfectly. I'm still new to DIY but I don't expect to make the next Five Pawns overnight. I'm just in it for the hobby and to save some money. I've made five batches so far and while none are mind-blowing they are my own creations and I enjoy creating them and vaping them. Maybe someday I'll have something on par with the more premium lines of juice but for now I have pretty good home-made juice. It may not be perfect but I know exactly what's in it and I can tweak the recipe for the next time I mix it up.

To me DIY is more about the experience than it is the end result. Rome wasn't built in a day and your juice isn't going to be the best thing since sliced bread without spending some serious time into the mixing and flavor sourcing.

I had great success in the beginning. Now I can't even recreate my initial results. Though mostly that is due to starting DIY cause I couldn't find any cheap juices that were good. Only vaped gourmet juices the last half year though so that's mostly the reason. Next up is trying new sources of flavors. I can't even stand the flavours I loved in the beginning.

I started mixing years ago when I first started vaping to save money. Everything I made tasted horrible. About six months ago I started again, I have 3 recipes I love and a few more I am working on now. Easy as pie. This time I just picked a few recipes I thought I would like and went from there.

I'll admit it, I've started, failed and quit several times. It's tough to get a juice just right if you don't experiment. Sometimes I'll make a decent base, something like milkstone, and then split it into 5 identical bottles, then add something different to each one, take notes, and repeat until one of them is good. Keep track of that recipe. The ingredients are cheap enough that if you ruin 10mls of vg, put it aside for a bit to steep it, try it again in a week or two, then dump it. That's only going to cost you I'd say at most $1 vs buying a 30ml of some 'gourmet' juice for $25 and deciding you don't like it.

Keep trying, keep experimenting. When you get a good one, it tastes 10x better. Don't forget to take notes!

My main issue is my mixes end up coming out harsh even though the flavor is good if not fantastic. I'm now experimenting with EM, marshmallow, and citric acid to smooth them out.

I tried to start out by finding a recipe and ordering those exact flavors, but some weren't in stock so I decided to get what I could and then order what I thought I'd like.

I'm starting to order from bull city vapor because they have the larger bottle options. I've gone through a lot of capellas green apple which I love, and I'm currently vaping that with citric acid and tfa gummy candy. It's delicious and the closest I've gotten to a green jolly rancher flavor which was what I was shooting for.

Somebody once recommended tfa apple candy flavor but I haven't figured out how to mellow it out, every bottle I've mixed with it came out really harsh.

I really appreciate the words of encouragement. I keep getting crap mixes, but there is so many flavor concentrate companies to choose from so I am gonna keep on going and find some awesome flavor mixes. This is just like how it went when I started cooking and I became awesome at cooking (that's what I've been told anyway lol)
Thanks again!

Just to add my two cents. I started out very slow and rather cautiously. I had done a ton of research and decided on a simple two flavor mix that sounded tasty. It paid off. That has turned into my EDV. In the meantime, I have been mixing much more complicated juices but I fall back on my EDV while those steep or until fully vetted.

I also refuse to pay some of the prices I see on "gourmet" juices. Hell, I was spending nearly as much as I did when I smoked. Other than the health factors, that is one reason I quit. My first purchase, including supplies, for mixing, I mixed over 200ml for $34. I was hooked.

Awesome to hear that! I had made a near perfect clone but my measurements were off a bit, so that was my attempt at remaking it. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, and glad to share. I'm going to be mixing like crazy after I get my magnetic stirrer, so I'll keep ya posted :P

If anyone is looking for someone to review their ejuice email me ctlifetool@gmail.com