Welcome back everyone and happy Monday!
Today's topic comes to us from a suggestion during last week's Beginner Blending podcast. I believe it was Substance D who made the request in particular. It was a really great idea and knew we had to cover it next.
#Making E-Liquid for other people
If you know people who vape, you will sooner or later have someone ask you to make them e-liquid. Friends, family, co-workers, significant other, etc. After having gone through a bit of headache myself with this subject, here are some pointers and things to keep in mind.
#What Flavors Do They Like
I find that people typically fall into one of two categories
- People who only vape to quit or stay off tobacco
- People who want delicious e-liquid
There can certainly be a grey line to be crossed between these two kinds of people, but that's beyond the point I'm trying to make here.
People who only vape to quit or stay off tobacco
In my experience, people who are vaping to quit smoking don't care about your Cinna-Apple-Cheesecake-Chocolate-Cheerio recipe on ELR that got 10 ratings. They will generally tell you exactly what kind of flavor they want, and you are best off making exactly what they tell you to make. No accents, background notes, etc. If they ask for apple, you mix them 4-5% FA Fuji and call it a day.
I believe this has a lot to do with vaping still being strange and/or new to them, or just being extraordinarily confident in their decision to know what they prefer. It's definitely a good idea to ask for a sample of the e-liquid they like. It's often a gas station juice that can be replicated with a one or two flavors from TFA, CAP, or FW.
People who want delicious e-liquid
These are the people to try your fancy recipes on. Give them samplers of your new stuff. Open to new and creative ideas. Just be sure to ask them what they like and don't like. Stay away from anything overbearing or unbalanced. It's a good idea to stick with your best recipes when starting out.
Of course, these people probably also vape to stay off tobacco, but they aren't the kind of people that are intimidated to go into a B&M and probably already vape "premium" e-liquid.
#What does their setup look like
Aside from the general flavor profiles, this is something important to consider.
Figuring out what setup they are using clue you in on to what pg/vg ratio to make their juice to.
This is probably common sense to most of you, but it's important not to forget to ask. For example, if they are on a vape pen, you probably don't want to go above 50/50 VG/PG, Kanger Subtank can handle 80/20 decently, and a TF4V can do max VG. 70/30 is a safe bet, most of the time, regardless of tank or dripper.
Alternatively, you can just ask them if they know what PG/VG ratio they want, but I get a surprising number of vapers who have no clue what I mean by that.
#What nicotine level are they vaping at?
Pretty simple question to ask.
It doesn't hurt to ask they are trying to quit nicotine altogether. Getting from 3mg to 0mg can be difficult. However, since you are making their juice for them, you can gradually taper them off at a much more manageable rate.
#Does the person have allergies?
This is especially important to ask people who don't tell you exactly what they want or say "Surprise me!"
There are some flavors that can 100% trigger allergies. Peanut immediately comes to mind.
Not all allergies directly translate over to flavorings, but it would be a pretty shitty way to find out if it does. Just be safe, ask what they are allergic to, and avoid it.
#Be considerate of D/A/AP
While most of use are willing to take the risk in using it, there is no guarantee it's not harmful if used over a long period of time in e-liquid.
So, unless the person specifies that they don't care, be considerate and don't include it in your e-liquid you give to them.
#Don't use flavors known to be harsh
Loading up a liquid with TFA Blueberry Extra and TFA juicy peach and giving it to someone else try to without having them try a small sample is such a bad idea.
This could potentially be unvapeable to them, then they don't have anything to vape until you meet back up with them, while completely turning them away from DIY and back into the B&Ms and gas stations.
Offering people 10ml samples is a great way to get them started on your juice while trying to navigate through what flavors may be harsh to a particular person.
#Conclusion
Keep it simple when you start mixing for someone new. Try to avoid harsh flavors and D/A/AP. Listed to them when they tell you what they like, and make sure you get all the information before you go home to start mixing.
Be sure to catch Beginner Blending tonight at about 9:15 EST on www.mixlr.com/inthemix-podcast
You can find all my previous Modest Monday posts at /r/ModestMonday
The set up is pretty important and easily over-looked. Pens and lower wattage/high resistance coils definitely need to be taken into consideration when deciding on a VG/PG ratio. When I first started vaping, I pretty much ruined a vivi nova coil trying to pull max VG juice through it that a friend had given me. I'm glad those days are over.
The D/A/AP discussion typically brings a blank stare to people's faces after giving them the rundown, but after relating it to the levels found in cigarettes and telling them to do a little more research if they're concerned, most people are pretty OK with it being in their juice.
Juice made to order through 1 on 1 interaction with someone who takes pride in it is the best possible way to do it.
Also: let them know that you can modify a recipe to a degree to suit their tastes.
Examples: 'the strawberry is too strong in this strawberry custard, could you town it down?' or 'I like the cheesecake, but youd you replace strawberry with blueberry?'
I can try.
Lmao that last line hit me so hard. I have buddies who always ask for a little more, a little less, or a swap, and I always tell them, "I can try, but if it's shit you're still paying for it."
okay, prob not the correct place for this.... but i've been vaping for 4+ years with no tobacco at all. recently i got the hankering for some pipe type tobacco; so i ordered French Pipe by INW.
Any ideas on a recipe that would take a person that vapes nothing but non tobacco vapes (custards, creams, milks, etc.) into a pipe style vape that i could actually hang with?
I own over 100 flavors, so i'm not gonna list them all.... but i i'm not quite sure how at attack this one to making something that is pipe tobacco like, but yet not to tobacco'ish to turn me off.
I haven't vaped any NET's or TINO's since my first year vaping.
I haven't tried INW French Pipe, but all of their "For Pipe" flavors are very good. If you want something that's very tobacco-y without being overboard, I strongly suggest FLV Cured Tobacco. It pairs so well with lighter flavors to create a dessert tobacco, or pairs with darker darker tobaccos to make something more rich, like INW Black for Pipe.