Hey, i'm receiving my first flavors tomorrow, and i'm planning on starting by copying a recipe+ making a few samples of pure flavors just to start getting to know them.
So, i'll go straight to my question: If I copy a recipe, step by step, let it steep, don't change the percentages, brands and stuff, can I mess it up?
Or do I still have the chance of it being awful even if i copy Percentages and brands?
Thanks for reading!
So long as you actually replicate the percentages, and SHAKE EVERYTHING, barring bad batches or other externalities, the recipe produced will be the same as the original. Some people wash bottles before use (I don't), some people " measure" by drops (don't, this leads to woefully inadequate control and repeatability), but those factors aside, 0.05g of strawberry ripe will do the same thing to any two samples of otherwise pure liquid. (yes some batches vary from the manufacturer, especially less used flavors) On the whole you're fine. Troubleshoot by doing a batch without nicotine if your first batch is garbage. Don't rule out bad recipes, but popular posters here make mostly good stuff. Don't expect the sweetness of mass produced juice, that's a ploy to cover poorly made profiles (frequently).
Yeah, I actually dislike really sweet juices, so it's even more perfect for me.
Thanks for the reply! I'm currently using a graduated cylinder, but will look on upgrading to weight, didn't know it was more accurate, didn't mention anything about it's pros in the guide to getting started.
If you're looking for a good scale, I bought This One and it works amazingly. I just started mixing over the weekend and I'm glad I chose to go the weight scale route. I couldn't imagine dealing with graduated cylinders and syringes.
Oh, well, weight has a much finer resolution at-a-glance, though properly done volumetric measurements can be pretty accurate. On the scale we're talking, it won't mess up your juice or interfere with reproduction of eliq. Graduated cylinders are essentially an extension of mixing with syringes, and carry the same main issue of cleanup. If you have a scale with resolution down to 0.01 grams (milligrams) you can toss your bottle on there, zero it, add X weight of flavor one, zero it out, throw Y weight of flavor two, etc etc and clean nothing when you're done, just shake and steep (or test). Even cheaper end scales do this well enough for our purposes, mine was $12 in a store, just make sure it reads milligrams.
You need to use a scale for measuring for consistency. Otherwise, no. If you can make a box of Mac n cheese, you can mix some juice. You're not going to poison yourself or anything. But also, in the future keep in mind we have a New Mixers Questions thread where your questions are answered in a timely manner by Reddit's own group of world-championship mixing wizards.
Hey, thanks for the reply!
Yeah, as far as i've researched it's kinda easy to do, atm i'm using a graduated cylinder, since I didn't know weighting was more accurate. Will look on upgrading for my next batch. Is it really a game changer, or is it a marginal accuracy?
It is a game changer for a few reasons. First of all, it eliminates the entire hassle of making a mess. Just put your bottle on the scale and start adding flavors. But also, everybody publishing recipes is using a scale, so it ensures that you're on the same page as everyone else (measuring by weight). It is extremely accurate as long as you have one of the recommended scales, which should measure down to 0.01g. I paid $13.99 for my scale on Amazon and its fantastic. The most important advice for choosing a scale IMO is to find one that doesn't auto shut-off constantly. Some scales are set to shut down with 15-30 seconds of inactivity which can be irritating.
The most commonly recommended scale for DIY Mixing is the American Weigh Scales LB-501, which can be plugged in to the wall and has no auto-shut off that way.
Yeah, the main problem is that i'm in Argentina and 50% of stuff that ships here gets stolen in customs/never arrives + takes 1-2 months to arrive.
I'll order it now and pray, since a .01 scale here costs about 200-500USD.
Thanks for the advice!
PS: Do you think I should wait until I get the scale or is it low risk to use the graduated cylinder?
I'd say your biggest risk is improperly measuring your nicotine. Too high can be toxic, too low is no fun. Make sure to use an ejuice calculator or be really good at math. Everything else is just trial and error IMO.
Heh, I'm highly aware about the nicotine problem.
For my first batch, I decided to buy 1L of a premade 70-30 3mg/ml premix. I'll get into mixing them myself for the next batch, planning on using gloves and being REALLY methodical. Thanks for the advice though!
You absolutely don't need to wear gloves at 3mg. At that concentration there is nearly zero risk. In fact, if you bathed in that concentration you might get a bit dizzy. I wouldn't recommend trying it--not because of any safety concerns, but just because of how much base you'd waste filling a bathtub.
Definitely get seperate PG and VG if you care about hitting a specific base ratio - I also bought 70/30 premix thinking that it would make everything easier - only to realize that all the PG in the flavors and nic would throw my final ratio off.
not really. I mean you might not like a recipe but you just use a little more/less of things you liked / didn't like and next time its better. Contrary to what 90% of the people around here think, I (personally) think you can ballpark flavors pretty easily, especially after you've done it a few times. I've never had a problem with it (I have the gear to measure everything correctly and accurately by both weight and volume, however I usually just use my 100ml and 10ml cylinders and 3 minutes of mixing instead of the precision gear and I'm nearly always fine).......and I'm pretty picky about what I like to vape. There will be certain flavors you learn to respect though if you do kinda ballpark recipes. An extra drop of Acetyl Pyrazine, for instance depending on your concentration, can mean the difference in a nice baked goods touch and overwhelming bakery flavor. The truth is, if you put even a little more effort than that into being precise (which it sounds like is your intention), you're probably very spot on unless you derped somewhere. (again that's just opinion though most people here disagree with that I think)
Okie, thanks for the advice, I feel a bit less stressed now lel.
My flavors are arriving home tomorrow so i'm kinda excited on the precision thing, got my spreadsheets for both of the recipes i'll use calculated already :p
Yeah man don't stress too much just try to have fun with it. If you keep running into issues then go back to the drawing board. Also keep in mind the first couple days after you mix some flavors they can be really fragrant. there are some mango flavors I really like to vape that I can't stand for the first 48 hours after I first mix them. It is nice to know how long the recipe maker intends for you to have it sit. I prefer small batches of shake n vape recipes when I can get away with it myself.