You're the noob I've always dreamed of. Where have you been all my life?

Great post, man. Just adding a couple tips to this since a lot of people will surely read your post.

If you get the Essential Depot quart size bottles off of Amazon, get a cheap squeeze bottle from Walmart in the kitchen department. The ones they have are the same threading to fit on the Essential Depot bottles. Boom. Giant VG/PG squeeze bottle.

For an easy mixing method, I use a plastic straw and drill. Basically, just cut half inch vertical slits in one end of the straw, insert the other end into the chuck of your drill, push the straw down to the bottom of the bottle to fan out the slits you cut, and spin the shit out of it, moving the straw throughout the bottle. 20 seconds of this is probably equivalent to 20 minutes of shaking. Save your forearm muscles for later tonight.

Also, to link all pretty-like, whatever you want to say here.

You've earned that flair. Wear it with pride.

It's good to see posts from fellow noobs who are starting the right way. It sometimes feels like the "spoon-fed" are the majority of beginners but I'm guessing there are a lot more like us who don't post just because they don't have anything new to contribute yet.

>Keep a binder with notes/recipes, made this so much easier.

This. So many people refuse to keep hard copies of notes, then get upset when an app gets taken down or a hard drive gets corrupted. I implore everyone to get a small notebook for like $1.50 at walmart(one of the small, thick ones) to keep notes and recipes.

Also, just keep working at making your own recipes. Remember that a juice with less flavoring will almost always taste cleaner and more complex than juices using tons of flavor. If you look at the recipes of the people you linked, you'll see that almost all of us follow the pattern of a high% single flavor for the main note, some sort of filler flavors at medium percentages to make a base, and a few small percentages to add complexity and fill out the flavor profile.

Beautiful post, man.

Great post man! Thanks for sharing. I really enjoy these since I can relate to you that I'm no where near the level of the big dogs you've mentioned. I try but fail so, so much its laughable.

I also use the sidebar a ton, its fucking awesome and I appreciate all the hard work that's went into it. I just don't open threads because I don't feel I can any value at my current level but if this doesn't get shit on maybe I will. Thanks again for sharing your experience.

Bravo, more of these type posts will help me a lot

Thanks for the post! Really glad you're having a good time mixing and starting to experiment a little. I think this is great information for every new mixer to have and can be encouraging. Can't wait to try your first solid recipe =)

Depends on the scale you have but you might be able to extend the auto shut off on it.

Fantastic post! Thank you!

I think you're gonna' love Rhodonite, actually, not only because it's delicious as-is, but because that macaron base is a solid foundation for any crazy flavor or combo you want to throw at it.

I haven't made a bad mix with it yet, and that's saying something, because most of my "off-the-chain" mixes have been hilarious disasters.

Awesome and informative post. Mainly lurk around here so i'm not that active but you will get better. It took me about 4 months to produce some juices I am confident to share with others. About a week ago, I probably threw out about 50 to 60 random bottles of test juices I created that were horrible. But now I have 5 ADVs that I mix and I am always trying out new recipes. DIY to me is an uphill battle but its always a battle that I always like to fight.

And yeah shaking by hand sucks, especially when you are making 6 bottles for friends. Keep at it man look forward to seeing what you create!

Just wanted to let you know, I'm up in Canada, too. You should check out DIY E-Juice for your one stop needs. I hear they also carry nic if you give them a call, but I can't personally vouch for the quality of it.

Will OP deliver with a picture of paper towel/drill juice mixing contraption? I think I'm giving myself pitchers elbow from shaking these bottles so much.

Excellent post! Don't be so quick to dismiss your experiment though. What can you learn from it? Well, you summed it up yourself! It's overwhelming? Tone it down! You use more than double the amount of flavor I'd even consider. It's too sweet? Yea, you have sweet strawberry and cotton candy, it even sounds like a sugary syrup drenched in sweetener. Drop the sweet strawberry and try maybe a quarter of the cotton candy. Now you have a foundation. Does it taste too bland? Try adding some lemon. Too sharp? Maybe add a cream or vanilla bean ice cream perhaps. The key is to start low and gradually adjust. Don't let yourself get discouraged by failure. It's how you learn! Sorry if I'm rambling, I'm a wee bit tipsy..

Great write up, makes me even more impatient for the rest of my bottles to arrive so I can mix up more flavors. I think you made your sub heroes proud.

One thing I've learned to do is to write the exact amounts of all the ingredients I use in a recipe. I write the entire recipe (flavor, PG, VG, nic) on a label as I'm mixing, which goes on the bottle at the end.

So if my recipe calls for 0.26g of Strawberry Whatever, and I accidentally put in 0.28g, I'll know the exact amounts I used. It sucks making the perfect mix and then being unable to recreate it exactly. But I'm super anal about that shit, to the point that I use a milligram scale to ensure consistency.

Pics of your drill setup for shaking juice?

Great post! I myself am a noob! Been lurking, researching and enjoying all the lnowledge shared. Like you I've not posted due to having nothing to really contribute at this time! My first order from DIY ejuice Canada arrives today and I can not wait to put the knowledge I have learnt here to good use.

Like you say, and others should take note, all the information required to get started is available. Just study the sidebar, and any specifics search the sub.

On a side note DIY ejuice has amazing customer service! (From my perspective )

Look forward to trying some of the recipes here and hopefully contributing down the road after I go mad scientist.

>but to create your own will take time, experience, failures, and especially the knowledge of what flavour does what.

You hit this on the head, especially the failures part. I'm working on putting together a write up to show some of the newbies just how much failure can be involved in making a simple clone (TVC's Cranapple, one of my favorites). I'm currently 8 revisions in, and while I'm close to the correct flavor profile (finally nailed what I think is the correct cranberry), I'm not even close to done. Keep trying, keep testing, and eventually you'll hit on something you really, really like.

Also, thanks for being the perfect noob - you did right by reading the sidebar, searching, and asking relevant questions instead of just asking to skip learning the fundamentals. Good on you!

Great post! Thanks for the feedback too.

>Shaking bottles by hand sucks, I taped paper towels to a drill bit, then taped the bottles to that. Sat on my couch spinning my mixes with my drill for 20 minutes or so. It's not no genius setup, but it was very functional and more fun than it should be for a 30 year old.

Doesn't this function as a centrifuge? That would separate components, not mix them.

It won't be long before you realize 10 mLs is too small to accurately test steeping. My next step recommendation would be to acquire 30 mL bottles. Easy to do if you have friends who vape store juice or know a store nearby that will still you used bottles for cheap that you can clean.

> Shaking bottles by hand sucks, I taped paper towels to a drill bit, then taped the bottles to that. Sat on my couch spinning my mixes with my drill for 20 minutes or so. It's not no genius setup, but it was very functional and more fun than it should be for a 30 year old.

These are really good for shaking your mixes instead of doing it by hand.

http://www.labsciences.com/zpopuplabscatextensionclamp.jpg

You said you're in Canada and have a hard time finding flavors sometimes? If you havn't dealt with - http://www.diy-ejuice.com I highly recomend you to check them out, Imho best prices in Canada, great customer service and a nice little rewards system. Best selection I have come across, they are just missing a few brands is all. And their prices on bottles arn't the greatest or worst.