Hello diyers,
First off, you guys are fucking awesome. I would never have been able to pull this off without the endless resources this community has provided. Kudos for an extremely helpful sidebar.
I have been vaping for a few years now and received my first diy care package about 3 days ago. I bought about $150 of equipment including ~10 flavor concentrates for some recipes that I found on this sub.
So far I've made: Mustard milk Snake oil Snake bite Strawberry kiwi Strawberry key lime pie Peaches n cream
Gotta say, I'm incredibly impressed with most of these recipes even as SNV, but am excited to track their development over time.
I already made a second order for like 35 more concentrates and a lot of disposable pipettes. I knew I'd like mixing, but I didn't think it'd develop into a hobby so quickly. I figured I'd just save a lot of money and make some decent juice.
What was unforeseen, however, was how much mixing has scratched my constant itch to do R&D. I've spent a lot of time in labs throughout school (materials engineering student) but having my own juice lab has been more fun than any of that.
I've made my own recipe template in excel that works better for me than the online calcs that I've tried. It is more precise and reports all the calculated ingredient percentages and error after mixing. So I just make a template for a recipe, then when I wanna make a batch I just load up the recipe template, plug in nic level and batch size and it's ready to mix. Then after the batch is done, I give it a serial number and if I ever need to reference that batch I have all my data conveniently placed.
I'm at work right now but I can post that later if anyone is interested.
EDIT: Here's a google drive link to the template. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bxr_LoGYUF_eQ01sbzFSUXdUV0k/view?usp=sharing
A few things to note about the template:
It assumes that your concentrates and nicotine are PG based, and that the density of the concentrates and nicotine are the same as PG (I know they are different but for personal use its pretty much pointless to worry about). If your nicotine or flavor concentrates are VG based then you only have to tweak the formulas a bit. To use the template, all you have to do is enter the flavor percentages, nic strength, and batch size. To control the VG/PG you just input your desired VG% and the PG is calculated as 100-PG%-Flavor(s)%-nic%
Congrats! I'm glad you are digging what you have so far.
Before you get further into it may I ask whether you're using a scale to measure your batches?
Yes. I'm only making <30ml at a time so by-weight measuring is much more precise and repeatable.
Which recipes do you plan on making next ?
Well, I've pretty much made all the recipes I intended to make with the 10 first flavors. So until my next package comes in I'll just be remaking some flavors and doing some experiments on the individual flavors I already have.
The plan is to get into the game by following recipes from this sub until I get comfortable with my flavor library. I'll gradually collect data about individual flavors as I go. Eventually, I will have a large enough data set and experience to start developing my own recipes.
I did come up with something on my own last night that I think is pretty good. It was inspired by the snake line clones.
I call it Kiwi-me (pronounced like cream-y)
Here's a link to my particular batch. Flavors all by FA.
To me it tastes a lot like one of my favorite juices from a local company: Teddy Bear Tears by White Raven
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bxr_LoGYUF_eQ01sbzFSUXdUV0k/view?usp=sharing
If you get the chance - and don't hate grape flavors - try mixing up Grack Juice. It's... so strange and nice. I always have at least 120ml made at any time.
Any chance I could get a copy of that template?
Absolutely! I'm leaving work rn so I'll get it to you in like half an hour. Do you know an easy way to make it up publicly available? I can email it to you if nothing else I suppose.
Hey! Mind if I have a copy too? :-) You can always publish it on GoogleDocs and link it in here. I’ll PM you my email!
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bxr_LoGYUF_eV0N1NGRVczBQYWs/view?usp=sharing
So the template works on a few assumptions. One is that your concentrates and nicotine are PG based, and the other is that the density of the concentrates and nicotine are the same as PG (I know they are different but for personal use its pretty much pointless to worry about).
If your nicotine or flavor concentrates are VG based then you only have to tweak the formulas a bit.
To use the template, all you have to do is enter the flavor percentages, nic strength, and batch size. To control the VG/PG you just input your desired VG% and the PG is calculated as 100-PG%-Flavor(s)%
A Google Drive or Dropbox account would be the easiest way
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bxr_LoGYUF_eV0N1NGRVczBQYWs/view?usp=sharing
So the template works on a few assumptions. One is that your concentrates and nicotine are PG based, and the other is that the density of the concentrates and nicotine are the same as PG (I know they are different but for personal use its pretty much pointless to worry about).
If your nicotine or flavor concentrates are VG based then you only have to tweak the formulas a bit.
To use the template, all you have to do is enter the flavor percentages, nic strength, and batch size. To control the VG/PG you just input your desired VG% and the PG is calculated as 100-PG%-Flavor(s)%
What's your version snake oil? - all the recipes I've tried are way off.
TFA Pear 2% FA Coconut 0.5% FA Vienna Cream 1%
I found this recipe from Bobbysavage's list of recipes (November 16')
I've never actually had snake oil from seduce juice, so I can't really comment on its accuracy to the real deal. I decided to make it because I was already buying coconut and vienna cream for another recipe and figured the extra $1.50 for a sample of TFA pear was worth it.
The batch I made has only been sitting for 2 days so it hasn't had a whole lot of time to steep but as a SNV its pretty good. It isn't my favorite right now but my opinion may change.
Have you tried this version? If so, thoughts?
No, I have not tried that one.
The % look super-low though - everything I've seen is from ^% to 11% - per flavor! (coconut is always very low though).
I'va always used Bavarian cream - maybe Vienna is the key - I'll give it a shot, thanks!
They might seem low but my first impression from this recipe is that 2% TFA pear is quite potent.
The recipe as it sits after two days of steeping is overwhelmingly pear. I don't really like how strong the pear is right now, but I'm hopeful the Vienna cream develops as it steeps and gives it a nice balance.
I made a batch of snake bite from the same link above. It's the same percentage Vienna cream and coconut with FA Fuji instead of pear. I feel the same about both juices: decent with potential.
So here are a couple trains of thought for my recipe percentages for then vs past vs now.
The TLDR: Gear/Manufacturer Recipes/Palette/Intended shelf life/PG percent (50) are all variables that I take into account. I also mix recipes with higher percentages for the gf's tank or less sensitive palettes.
Way back when: people were using low wattage clearos. Percentages were higher.
Then RDAs & sub ohm mechs blew up (no pun intended). Wattages went up and percentages went down, as we started taking it straight to the dome
Somewhere along the line TFA pear was reformulated (depending who you believe). I cant find the old post anymore so take that with a grain of salt.
I and a select few also believe FA meringue was reformulated. Or we all got a fukt batch. IDK either way I cant use FA meringue at 0.5% even its always too sulfuric for me now. I'll try and buy another sample bottle but idk anymore. I've used it@ 1% no problems but now its a no go for me.
Bavarian cream is good and the status quo. I needed a break from it at that point in time though.
I also may just taste things more intensely than some. This isn't the first ive heard of low percentages however like most my recipes: Those are a starting point, better too low than too high.
Also a lot of these are shake n vape recipes so within a day or two you can vape them. The longevity may or may not be there in 3weeks to a month
Sorry for the wall of text and conjecture. I love you
Fucking yes man. Now go search for Apple buttah (DIYorDIE original). My favorite recipe that isn't my own atm. Great stuff.
I've seen apple buttah mentioned around here before, I'll give it a look. What's your favorite recipe of your own creation (if you don't mind sharing)?
Why pipettes? I always buy from BCV and everything comes in squeeze bottles. Also the big bottles (4oz) can take SKS plastic Boston round caps (like the ones bombies uses... Or at least did last time I ordered from them). If you're mixing by weight I can't see why you'd need them...
I only bought 8 ml samples of like 30 flavors so a dripper for all of them isn't really viable in this stage of my journey. I have condiment bottles for vg and pg. It's easier for me right now to just use a 12 cent disposable pipette to move flavor concentrates and nicotine and just trash them when I'm done with the batch.
It's not a long term solution, but its good for now. Once I figure out which flavors I want bigger bottles of, I'll probably get drippers or squeeze bottles.