OK new mixers, this is your thread to ask any questions you want of the DIY eJuice community. All posts are allowed, but we still encourage you to use the sidebar and search features before asking any questions.
- Placing your first DIY order and want to make sure you have all you need?
- Not sure about how to mix your first bottle?
- Want to get started but aren't sure how?
- Any other questions? ... then this is the thread for you. FWIW, the answers to the first three questions will eventually be found in the wiki (still in development); link at the top of the page.
Ask away!
Just got my bottle of 3mg/ml from NudeNicotine. (Yes, I know most people get 100mg/ml but I just wanted unflavored juice vapable without extra mixing)
Since this is my first foray into a bit of diy I don't have a reference point for what it's supposed to be like. So it's 3mg/ml 100% vg. I'm under the impression that with the low nic% and 100% vg it would be really smooth.
But when I vape it, it hits like a 6mg/ml juice that I used to get.
Is it possible that the order was messed up or is this just what it is supposed to be like without the extra flavorings and such?
Thanks for the help!
NudeNic is rough nicotine. Flavorings increase the harshness of your nicotine base. If your looking for smooth low TH vapor, you'll need a different nicotine source.
- Carolina Extract COVG <- the best on the market
- Vaporstek (tends to mute flavors, but its low TH).
Some like vapeclarity, and its worth researching too.
Nicotine is S)-3-[1-Methylpyrrolidin-2-yl]pyridine. How is it different from from different sellers?
Alright, I got one.
This thread contains lots of recipes, but no vg/pg ratio.
Does vg/pg ratio matter when choosing flavor %?
Usually with higher VG, it just needs to age a bit longer. With higher PG, you can get away with a little less flavor since PG carries flavor very well, as opposed to VG. There are certainly more ways to look at this, but that's the bare minimum explanation. A safe bet is to go middle-of-the-road and mix either 30/70, or 40/60. A lot of people prefer 30/70 since it works well in both tanks or RDAs.
Thanks, it was more or less what I thought it was.
Can you answer another question?
I mixed this recipe with exact VG/PG and flavor %, but used coconut extra 0,75% instead of regular coconut 1,5%.
After a week of steeping it tasted really sour. Like when you add too much sugar in tea.
Friend suggested I should mix it with more VG/PG to reduce flavour, so I added another 30 ml of 30/70 base.
Now it tastes like fruit jam, but I can't feel strawberry or coconut or watermelon.
Should I dilute it with more base? If so, why the flavour % is that high?
I test it on both my RDA (haze mini) and RTA (subtank mini single 26 spaced coil).
I've tested a bunch of top rated recipes on ELR and they all taste like sugary jam to me.
Hmm..I'm not really sure, to be honest. You may be what's known as a supertaster (sorry for the mobile link). Sounds made up, but it's actually a real thing and can actually be a bad thing at times. Most of us would envy those people.
My suggestion with that is to just try halving percentages of any recipe you see.
Should I even bother getting a starter kit or should I just get vg/pg, bottles, flavors and syringes?
I'm not using nic, and I'm on a college budget.
I didn't get a kit. Skip the syringes and get a scale. Much easier
As with a lot of hobbies, a kit isn't the best thing, IMO. Unless you can find one where you can customize contents, like flavorings.
vg/pg, bottles, flavors and ~~syringes~~ scales, specifically AWS LB-501. Just makes mixing easier, if not more accurate and consistent.
How does weighing it make it more accurate? I feel like measuring is easier
I should have known better than say more accurate (there is a divide here), but IMO is hands down easier. The key is having EVERYTHING in a squeeze bottle. I can do 3 30ml bottles in 10 minutes or less, Thats it, done. No rinsing and drying syringes, or worry about if I cross-contaminated my flavors by moving from bottle to bottle.
I'm just looking at this from my view, cause I mix for several people, and often make several several 30 ml bottles at a time. Saves me a lot of time and work. I am not disparaging the syringe method at all, it's perfectly fine. Just whatever works for you!
Two questions: When it says 5% of a flavor, is that just 5% of what the total yield will be? Like if I want 100ml of juice I'll need 5 ml of flavor?
Are pg based flavors generally better than vg based ones? I'd like the closest to max vg possible.
5% is 5% of the total volume of your mix. basically you'll put the amounts into a calculator and it does the math for you so you're rarely going to have to worry about it.
PG based flavors are more common than VG based so yeah I'd say the variety of flavors and options you have is greatly expanded if you're using PG flavors. Doesn't mean you can't make a solid juice with VG flavors. Nude Nic has some decent PG free flavors. All in all if you don't have a medical reason for avoiding PG I'd say you're limiting your options somewhat. Plenty of flavors are also very concentrated like Medicine Flower. So you could focus on using more powerful flavors and avoiding flavors that are known to require larger amounts. That's one way I'd go with it.
Yes.
EtOH based flavors are best, and you can do PG free with them, but they're harder to work with(very very strong, and needs to steep out the alcohol.) PG based flavors are second best, and the easiest to use. VG based flavors are really weak and need to be mixed at 10-15% to get the flavor to come out.
Does anyone in the EU have a recommendation for scales? The LB501 is around $100 to buy in the UK.
I have some NV-500 scales. Max 500g 0.01g accurate.
Paid about a tenner from some cream making site for them.
Been mixing my own simple things for a few months, my normal supplier no longer ships to my state, so I bought from another company, and suddenly my juice is tasting kinda.... chalky? I suppose?
What could be causing this? Using the same recipe and all
What did you start buying from a different supplier? Nicotine? If so then try mixing without it and see how that tastes.
Supplier of what exactly? Maybe try a different supplier and then contact the second supplier to let them know you're having a problem once you've confirmed you got a bad batch of something. Most are happy to issue a refund if you alert them to a problem with their stock.
PG/VG and Nic.
And I've been thinking on trying Vape Clarity, may give them a go, after I mix a nic-less batch of what I have to see if that's the culprit
I'd always ordered VT premium and loved it, last order was from Vape Clarity to try them out (100mg/100vg) and I found it great. I mix high nic for myself (14-16mg) and I haven't noticed a difference using the same recipes. It was definitely worth trying them out.
From this CoA I'd assume the VG I got is 99.5%.
Would you mix your WFI with the VG base before hand (I expect to go through that 1kg of VG in around a month) or when preparing a batch?
WFI?
I started this week just using recipes online.
When I start making my own recipes or clones how do I know where to start?
Like if I'm cloning Nana cream how do I know what should be in it besides banana and a form of cream?
Honestly, being able to know what's in a juice just comes from knowing your individual flavors. Test each flavor on its own to get a good feel of what it brings to the table.
Have you tried any of the top rated Nana Cream clones?
i've seen a couple different methods for getting a feel for what an individual flavor adds, what do you use?
I usually search for the flavor either on here or on ELR and see the average percentage people are using it at, and what they're using it for. I'll mix up 5mL somewhere around that percentage. Most of the time, I think "oh, this other flavor seems like it would compliment this well" or "this flavor feels like it would add something really interesting to this recipe I have" and I play around with those ideas. If it's a recipe I already have, and it's a similar flavor to another flavor I'm using in that recipe, I'll likely drop the flavor in the recipe a bit, and add in a bit of my testing flavor.
For the sake of being confusing, I'll just make up an example here. All of this is just made up, so it probably wouldn't be good. Say I'm testing FA Strawberry. I'll find that the average standalone is around 4%. I'll try a 5ml of that. The flavor I get makes me think it'll be good with TFA Key Lime. I know from experience that Key Lime is a good standalone at 7% (made up..not my actual preference). If I want the lime to be more noticeable than the Strawberry, I might do something like 5% lime, 2% Strawberry. If I want more Strawberry, I might do 3% Strawberry, 4% lime.
Say this is an existing recipe I have with Strawberry already in it:
5% TFA Strawberry
2% CAP Vanilla Custard
3% TFA Toasted Marshmallow
If I think the FA Strawberry would bring something nice to this mix, I may want to dial down the TFA Strawberry as to not completely overpower the mix with Strawberry, which might kill the overall profile I want. I might take TFA Strawberry down to 2.5 or 3% and add in FA Strawberry at 2% and adjust from there. I might go through 4 or 5 different attempts with this and never get it where I want it. This is where a lot of my more "complex" recipes come from. I'm not getting exactly what I want from a few different flavors, so I might try something to contrast a flavor in that recipe. For example, TFA Sweet Raspberry is a sweet, almost dark Raspberry. I know from testing that FA Fuji is a bright, crisp flavor. I'd try adding just a touch of Fuji to help liven up and "confuse" my palate a bit to keep things interesting.
It really just comes down to taking the time to learn your individual flavors and how they react or contrast with other flavors. It takes a while and trying other peoples' recipes with notes helps a ton. It helps you get an idea of what they wanted to do with that mix and how they came to their final mix.
Sorry for the huge wall of text. Whoops.
here is a process that I recently posted that may help
Failed terribly at mixing by measuring, I ordered up a scale and 100ml beaker, I wanted to get enough to mix about 500ml or a bit more(3mg nic), I wanted to try to do a strawberry yogurt that has a rough bitter yogurt taste that's more akin to Greek yogurt. What flavors would you guys recommend? And what would the suggestion be on nic/vg/pg and from what vendor? I wanted to mix probably 70vg/30pg since I like a very light throat hit. Other than that, what other flavors do you guys recommend for a newbie?
This is an excellent recipe here:
http://diyordievaping.com/2015/08/18/strawberry-yogurts/
But it is not "tangy". Very creamy, and good. I subbed TFA Greek at the same % for the Cap, and that def makes it more rough. Just now playing with FA and FW yogurts to see if they are a little more "in your face". So there, that's all my yogurt knowledge so far hehe.
Very happy with my Vape Clarity nicotine, and my Essential Depot PG/VG.
First time flavors from the sidebar are all excellent choices. BUT I would recommend picking some recipes that appeal to you, and buy just those needed. Start slow, follow some recipes at first, and be sure to taste all of your flavors by themselves. That takes some time, but as you get to know them individually you will start to see how they will interact, and begin to get ideas of how to combine them.
Hope this helps!
One question about that, is there a place where you can get most of those flavors? I was just searching around and trying not to pay shipping from four or five different places =P
Bull City Vapor should have them all. My go to for nearly every flavor maker, except Flavorah. Go thru gremlindiy.com for that. Both companies are stellar, I am just partial to BCV because of the LARGE selection. Super fast shipping.
The last ingredient says either TFA EM or Cap super sweet. I recommend the EM, much more versatile. I would also pick up TFA Greek Yogurt, and try each. I prefer the Cap version, but both are really good.
And for sure not a "shake and vape". Give them both a good week to age.