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 wanted to say thanks to all of you. I made my first juices today, and issues notwithstanding, I managed to make a shake and bake peach yogurt which is comparable to, if not better than at least half the stuff I've bought online. So, THANK YOU!
Congrats bro! what recipe? Unless it's a secret :)
Never secret, it's a Peach Yogurt, here's the link: https://goo.gl/JyvNhN
To be honest I was a bit worried because my juice is crystal clear vs the many juices I've purchased; only a couple of them were as clear, most were various colors. Also I used PG from a Farm store, but I'm still alive so I think I'm good!
Hello DIY community! Quick question here from a new DIY juice mixer about to start my descent down the "rabbit hole" as I've heard it referred. I am about to get my starter kit from u/TheBrokeVaper in the mail and I have ordered 5 x 10nl flavour bottles and a 30ml bottle I bought extra. The flavours are as follows: Cap Bavarian Cream FA Vienna Cream Cap Sweet strawberry TFA Strawberry Ripe TFA Strawberry TFA Vanilla Bean Ice Cream (30ml)
My question is: are there any simple mixes that could be made from these flavours to make a decent strawberries and cream juice? I prefer a very thick, rich, sweet cream flavour (as you could probably guess from my choice of flavours) and for some reason strawberry and cream flavours have been some of my favourite juices.
Thanks guys, hope everyone's having a good one and spending too much money on Cyber Monday like I am!
Tfa strawberry 6% and tfa vanilla bean icecream 8% make mustard milk. Its one of my adv's to this day. Quick simple and easy for a first time
I'll have to try that one. I'm waiting for my first broke vapor order too. I think I got like 36 flavours coming. Pretty pumped to go balls deep in this diy. Having to wait until creations steep is going to be the hardest part. Not a patient man .
Got any fruity flavors? Those require little to no steeping time from what I've been told (also awaiting the money to start DIY). You could make a fruity flavor to vape on until your more advanced creations steep long enough.
Also, I've been told if you run warm water on your juice (in the bottle obviously) while waiting for steeping to finish, it will speed up the molecules and make things work faster, resulting in faster steeping times.
One short question, can DIY juice (70/30) lose flavor when you store it in small glass bottles like these https://imgur.com/a/xvyxT ?
I mix my DIY juice in 100ml glass bottles and let it steep, after that I pour some of it into a small glass bottle. I'm not sure, but it's like I can't taste the juice very good when refilling from these small bottles.
Possibly, if the cap isn't air tight. The rubber grip isn't great for long term storage, but the time span you're talking about would mean there's a pretty big leak somewhere. Perhaps the rubber is cracked or just doesn't form a proper seal. If you have a regular cap for the bottle, try putting that on and only using the pipette for drawing juice.
I'd like to make a butterscotch ice cream cake and am wondering if i'm on the right track with the percentages and layering. I also have FW Butterscotch in my stash but not using it. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Recipe
3% FW Butterscotch Ripple
2% FLV Butterscotch
0.5% FA Caramel
2% CAP Vanilla Cupcake
3% JF Yellow Cake
2% CAP Vanilla bean ice cream
0.25 % HS French Vanilla ice cream
IMO the best butterscotch combo, I love these 2! I don't think the caramel would be missed if left out. Both 'scotches will cover it up anyway. Solid-looking recipe!
I just ordered a bunch of juice/flavors on Black Friday ($100 worth).
I'm making tobacco+ other flavour mixes. I bought like 1L worth of glass bottles to put my mixes in. I know that tobacco mixes should probably steep. But, I'm wondering if they can steep too long. Do I have to worry, if I make some juice that I don't use for like 6 months? Am I better off making a tons of juice, and it lasts 6 months? Or just a little bit every month, so that it's fresher?
I have a few mixes from when i started mixing a year or so ago. they're still fine if not better than before. It won't rot or mold, both PG and VG are anti-bacterial. It will lose strength over time, though. the nicotine will degrade and the flavors might not be as great. depending on the flavors used. Custards for example just get better and better.
How long does max vg juice last, if stored properly (cool/dark)? I've got about a liter left from a gallon I mixed up in January, still vapes well and tastes fine. When should I start to become concerned about spoilage? Thanks so much.
As long as it still tastes fine you should be good. The consensus seems to be that 9-12 months seems to be the life span of juice mainly because of the nicotine will oxidize. The flavor will probably fade quite a bit too after almost a year.
Im thinking about making this recipe http://e-liquid-recipes.com/recipe/489786/Flawless:%20Aftermath%20clone%20by%20DUNKNDRIP
but I heard Cap Glazed Doughnut wasnt that great so I want a more authentic doughnut seeing as I dont wanna waste money to find out folks was right about CAP Doughnut. Any suggestions on the more authentic doughnut route?
Is a great doughnut flavor, it's one of the few I can stand. I sub CAP Vanilla cupcake ( can't stand any cap Cream, it taste like roadkill) with TFA Vanilla cupcake at the same %. It's more of firm doughnut something you buy that comes in a 5-pack or whatever.
Thanks. Im a little worried that it says its more of a powdered doughnut. Im trying for more of a glazed doughnut. What do you think about just using FA Zeppola in place of CAP Doughnut?
That's the first recipe I ever made and I can't really get into it. Sometimes it makes sense. Other times it's just weird. Not for me I guess. You could try searching for the raspberry sweet and glazed combos that are popular raspberry donuts and less complex.
Hello, what is the difference between Aroma and Flavour Base?
Here is what I am talking about: https://i.imgur.com/YcESWRG.jpg I usually make myself liquids adding 10% "aroma"(the one on the left side), a nicotine shot and the rest is 50/50 0mg base liquid. Today I received a bottle of the "flavor base" and it's really confusing what is this. Is it a concentrated aroma and I should use 10% of it when making a liquid, or is it aroma+0mg base and I should only add a nicotine shot to it? If latter, how is it different from a usual 0mg liquid, why it's called "flavor base"? Thanks in advance for clarification.
Flavor bases, AKA one shots, are multiple aromas mixed together to be added to a base to make a complete mix. Wherever you got that from should have told you what percentage to mix it at.
Thanks for the answer, the problem is I bought it online and now can't find any information about the ratio anywhere by googling "castle long reserve flavor base". On official website of five pawns there is no info either. On one website it states "add a shot or 0mg base and enjoy", but I don't really trust that website.
I’m pretty sure for that Five Pawns it has the flavors and PG all mixed, and you’re supposed to top it off with VG based nic. Pretty sure they are called doublers. Never had one. So I’m assuming the bottle is half full? So you would need to add 30 ml VG to end up with the proper flavor strength and 50/50 ratio.
No, the bottle is full, like any normal Five Pawns bottle. And there are no instructions on the bottle either.
ATF has INW Tobacco Virginia and INW Classic Virginia listed as flavors. Are these dupes or are they different flavors? If they're different, which is this?
They are different. Inawera is kind of weird. They have like 6 different lines, and some are very similar with their names. The “Classic” part is the line. The one on BCF is from the e-aromat line. So it’s just INW Tobacco Virginia.
For future reference:
WG= Wera Garden (that line has a Virginia too!)
E-Aromat- usually will just be a generic name
YC= Yummy Classic
Classic- will have “classic” at the beginning
Shisha- will have “shisha” at the beginning
TDM= Tino D’Milano. Seems to be a bit of history between Flavour Art and Inawera. The TDM flavors usually have a similar name to FA flavors, and they are like clones of FA flavors.
Good to know, thanks! I've always been a bit confused by INW naming conventions.
Also I loaded up on tobaccos for Black Friday, so I'm looking forward to mixing up a bunch of your recipes.
Hello everyone,
I’m looking for some advice in creating a flavor that sounds interesting, but that I’ve never actually tried. While watching a review from The Vaping Biker, he showed a flavor he was vaping at the moment: a vanilla bourbon custard. I can’t remember the actual name of the juice, but I thought it sounded pretty interesting. I kind of imagine a very vanilla forward boozy kind of flavor with a nice lower base of custard.
The only bourbon I have is TFA Kentucky Bourbon, and the only custard I currently have is CAP Vanilla Custard V1. I do have a few different vanillas to pick from:
TPA French Vanilla TPA French Vanilla Creme TPA Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla TPA Vanilla Swirl
I also have a few staple creaminess enhancers, such as FA Meringue, FA Vienna Cream, and TPA Bavarian Cream. Also, I’m not against bumping up the sweetness with a bit of CAP Super Sweet.
If anyone has any advice on a good starting point for an enjoyable vanilla bourbon custard, I would greatly appreciate it!
Sounds pretty straightforward, but TFA Kentucky Bourbon is pretty strong, even a tiny bit tends to make itself known in a mix. Try 5% CAP VC1 with 0.5% TFA Kentucky Bourbon with maybe 1% Vanilla Swirl to bump up the vanilla top notes and see how you like it. FA Vienna Cream would add a bit of sweetness, Meringue might tip it over in terms of egginess. You can try it right after mixing to check for balance issues, but it will take a week or two to fully come together. You can add Super Sweet after the steep if you want it sweeter.
If you want it creamier than plain custard you can absolutely drop any of those creams in there too.
I bought Flavorah Peach with my first order long ago and I have no idea why.
It's so strong and I haven't found any recipes suited to it. They all ditch it in favor of Juicy Peach CAP or Peach Juicy TPA.
Can anyone give me a solid use for it? Ideally something simple.
Flavorah are super concentrated. Manufacturer recommendations are to use it at around 1-2% in a single flavour juice. I haven't used their peach specifically, but I have a few of their other flavours and that has worked pretty well for me. To keep it subtle in a recipe with a few flavours I generally don't go above 0.5%, with CAP and TFA flavours totaling maybe 8-10%.
I’m a fairly novice mixer, and have a question about sweetness and coils.
I wanted to try mixing Mother’s Unicorn Milk (Unicorn Mother’s Milk?) from E-liquid-recipes.com after getting my first batch of flavors in the mail a couple of weeks ago, but I didn’t have exactly the right ingredients. Wanting to get my feet wet and experiment a little, I made some substitutions that made sense to me at the time. I believe I subbed cap sweet strawberry for ripe strawberry, and I used cap vanilla custard with a tiny bit of graham cracker instead of cheesecake (graham cracker crust). There may have been another substitution I’m forgetting.
The result was pretty tasty, although I’m sure not as delicious as it could have been based on the original recipe. However, the juice I made seemed to burn through two brand new coils almost immediately. The first recipe attempt was 26% flavor, which I realized was higher than most would recommend. I made a second batch at 16%, and the coil started to taste burnt after a few hours, again.
My question is this: is there a standard rule of thumb in terms of what percentage of very sweet flavors should go into a recipe before it becomes a coil-killer? I know sweetening additives tend to gunk up coils, so I’m wondering if there’s a way to predict how much sweet is too much for your coil? I’ve since massively upgraded my flavor stash and I’m sticking closer to the original recipes, but I’d like to know if I can predict or prevent this in the future. Or, maybe I’m totally off base?
If it helps: None of the other flavors I’ve mixed have abused my coil in the same way, Nic is at 6%. Using Smok big baby beast x (or baby beast brother, or whatever they call that thing) 0.4 coils at 40-50w.
I hope my question makes sense, and I’m sorry to be so long-winded! Thank you in advance.
There's no real way of measuring coil gunking other than knowing the culprits and limiting their use. It's not just sweetness that gunks, basically anything that isn't readily evaporated with the base will leave deposits on the coil that build up over time. Really dark concentrates tend to be problematic. As with anything, moderation is key.
PS 6% nic = 60 mg/ml
Hi team.
New new new to mixing, like man's just ordered all his stuff. The more I research the juice the more confused I get. There are.millions of pages of vg this and pg that and a lot.... a lot of contradictions and I am lost.
I am now so nervous to mix anything because it could all be a waste of money and juice... I also s Found our I can die if I mix to much nicotine concentrate in there so the stakes have been raised . I don't want to die.
If there are any mixologists on here that are just begging for a young e juice padawan I am your guy. I am like the cotton in your coil and will soak up information like a sub kit.
I really look forward to hearing from anyone who doesn't mind a few questions
Thanks. Much love. Keep it cloudy 🤙
Hello! Drop any questions you have in this thread any time you want.
Check out the beginner guides in the sidebar, they will get you off to a good start.
Don't be afraid of making bad mixes, I promise you that will happen. A lot. And you'll learn from it. Fortunately the supplies are cheap, but make small batches anyway.
You are unlikely to suffer any ill effects from the nicotine unless you mistake it for your water bottle or eye drops. Just wash off any you get on your skin. Do keep it far away from any kids or pets though.
Heya. It's me. :) Have you looked at the sidebar which has a very helpful guide for beginners? If you're using the PC, it's on the right hand side. If you're using the app, when you enter the subreddit, tap on community info. The links to helpful guides are around there.
Never done DIY before.
Has anyone had Mello Buddha juice line? Their namaste flavor is so good that when I went back to my normal cheap ejuice I kinda hate it now. Problem is the Namaste is almost $30 for 60ml, I can't afford that. Has anyone successfully reproduce the flavor of it here and can share the recipe? I want to make it myself I like it that much.
Has anyone had any success asking a juice maker for their recipe themselves? I know that's a long shot...
3rd Edit: I'm seriously willing to mail samples of it to you veterans if you are interested in trying to reproduce the flavor and share the recipe you make with me
There is a monthly clone request thread that you might have better luck with. Be sure to mention the flavor profile.
Oh ok, what day is that happening
Here is the one for November.
Does it matter what gloves are made out of? Do they have to be Nitrile or can latex work just as fine?
Hi I'm thinking of buying INW Fortuna Strike but I heard it was reformulated. Has it changed at all and is it still any good? Should I still mix the same amount as before the reformulation?
I bought it last in February of this year. I’m not 100% sure on when the reformulations happened. I know I got it before I heard about it, but they could have happened before that. Wizard Labs could have also had some pre-remixed stock. But what I have doesn’t seem any different than what I have had in the past.
Should I be making 40PG/60VG if I vaping on a subohm tank like the tfv12? I really want flavor but don't want to kill my throat. I am on 3mg.
Here is a recipe I made for sour strawberry lemonade; how does it look? http://e-liquid-recipes.com/recipe/2030281/Strawberry+Lemonade+%2528RF%2529
I have a smok grpiv 220w and tfv12.
PG/VG ratio is a matter of preference. 40/60 is good but you might prefer 30/70 or 50/50 and only you can decide that. The type of tank does play a role and the TFVs do favor VG over PG.
I haven't tried the flavors in your recipe but it sounds tasty :) Albeit a coil killer perhaps.
Thanks for that. I used to get MAX VG and thought it was fine but I really want to start tasting flavors, even though I have a subohm tank only atm.
I think I will attempt 40/60 for my first time maybe 30/70..
I want to make a fuzzy peach flavour (like the candy) but I’m not sure how it would turn out. I was thinking of using
TFA - Peach TFA - Sour Flavour Art - Fresh Cream
But I’m not sure how much of each I would put, if any of you have made this flavour and could help that’d be great!
FA White Peach is great for that purpose. It lacks, for me at least, the body but the flavour is great.
FLV has a peach candy that has some hype.
For the candy part, TFA Swedish Gummy, CAP Jelly Candy or maybe FW Hard Candy. It depends what type of candy base you want.
I vape mostly fruit flavors some desserts. I have recipes for a lot of that stuff. Sometimes I want something different , having no idea how to mix tobacco , I buy a tobacco juice from my b&m that I like a lot. This is the profile: A classy blend of a natural oak tobacco, madagascar vanilla and aged bourbon : Any good tobacco mixers give me a hand on creating a similar profile?
Maybe try this recipe as an entry to tobaccos.
It's got some great reviews and if you want you could add some TFA Kentucky Bourbon and it would probably work.
FLV Kentucky blend and Red Burley are a good start to your tobacco journey.
Thank you
I'll definitely second the recommendation for Cardinal, but it won't be like the juice you're getting. Yours sounds like a true tobacco with vanilla and booze notes. Cardinal is definitely on the desert side of things, but adds the burley and cured to keep it from being too sweet. That being said, it was one of my first recipes I mixed and I'm always keeping some on hand.
Something like https://alltheflavors.com/recipes/54093#american_politics_by_chemicalburnvictim
may be to your liking. I also love this one, but definitely not a sweet desert tobacco
The tobacco thing sounds very similar to Castle Long, for which there are a bunch of clone recipes. I'd try a clone of castle long with a bit of tobacco (tpa ry4 double?) and see where you end up.
If I do not have flavoring available currently but have VG, PG and Nicotine- could I make a flavorless juice? Or would the nicotine taste harsh/strong throat hit? Could I dissolve citric acid in PG and add VG and nic to create a sour juice? Would this gunk heavily?
You can vape flavorless. If your nic is harsh, it will be harsh with flavors too.
There are uses for tiny amounts of citric acid but not as a flavoring. The juice will not really get sour but it will absolutely wreck your coils.
Hello. I had a question about a Black Currant flavoring. I have it from TPA, however I was looking to use it to make my fruits more "jammy." I have read that in small percents it can help with that, however I've never really seen someone do it in an example recipe. I was looking to try to use Grape Juice, some strawberry flavor, maybe shisha, and the black currant to make a jam. Anyone have any tips?
I’ve never heard it being used to make fruit jammy. Not saying it’s not true, I’ve just never seen it being used that way.
You’d probably be better off using FA Liquid Amber for that. You could even try using the Grape Juice to do the same, rather than using it as a Grape flavor (it’s not really a good Grape flavor).
Look on some recipe sites for jam monster, just jam, or jam on toast clones. I think it is something like 4% strawberry to .5 or 1% black currant.
This is on my list for my next order because just jam is the main line from my nearest b&m but £20 for 60ml is too much.
Cactus Concentrate-INW do I have to dilute this with PG or something and then use the recipe calculator or do I just put the percentage in the calculator and put it in. I was thrown off by the seller saying "This is concentrated flavoring and must be diluted before use!"
Just as the calculator says, so a percent of the juice, using the straight flavour concentrate. The warning is so you don't try and vape that concentrate straight.
I have a recipe that is calling for CAP Sweet Strawberry RF, but I have regular CAP Sweet Strawberry. Is there any difference?
It stands for reduced flashpoint. It has less alcohol in it for overseas shipping; probably isn't a noticeable difference. The normal one should always be considered better. Only reason people have the RF versions usually is because it was mistakenly overlooked when they were buying the flavors.
I've mixed a few juices, and all the fruit and cream taste chemically. I'm using well reviewed recipes. Is it because it needs to steep? Will steeping get rid of that bitter chemically taste on the exhale?
What recipes have you tried? If you are using nic, where is it from?
Gods milk by skiddlez ninja, sugar cookies and cream by Chrisdyvr or something, simply canolli, mother of dragons milk all of them found on Alltheflavors. And I use nic river 100mg/ml pg.
Hi guys, what companies do you recommend me getting flavor concentrates from
Various ones. Good mixers don’t stick to a specific flavor manufacturer. But you should be looking up highly rated recipes in this sub and on ATF before you purchase flavors. Then you can buy flavors based on those. Do not buy flavors randomly just because they sound good to you. You will end up having a bad time.
I've used (and very much liked) Flavor West and TFA flavors, but I'm Capella-only for the simple fact that I can choose their V.2 flavors (the flavors they offer that have chemicals that'd be worrying for vaping are omitted from their v.2 line), there's a peace-of-mind there that, to me, makes it worth sticking with them :)
I don't get them directly from capella though, I use BullCityVapors (or bullcityflavors now I think), a re-seller, because they're geographically closer to me / have better prices / are an awesome company to deal with (~1.5yrs with them exclusively, never had a single issue, every order is easy and arrives quickly)
You'll pay a real sharp premium if you buy the little bottles for $2.50 apiece, but that's probably worthwhile on your first order so you can figure out what you like, for instance I started out buying like 15-20 of the little $2.50 bottles and got a feel for what I liked, and I'll still spend $2.50 on new/un-tasted flavors, but buying the 4oz bottles is where the real price-break is so what I use in my mixes is almost-always out of a 4oz flavor concentrate bottle (mixed with Nude nicotine and VG from the local grocer - I've recently started messing with sweetener, specifically capella's 'Super Sweet', which I'd also recommend and wish I'd tried earlier!)
Good luck mixing, it sounds like you're just on the cusp of jumping-into this and, if you vape any practical amount, I can't recommend it enough, between the quality of what you can make on your own, the price savings, the peace-of-mind of knowing what you've got in your mixes, it's such a worthwhile endeavor for anyone who vapes and isn't rich lol! (I say that because, presumably, there's 'good quality'/pure name-brands out there, I wouldn't know because I haven't bought juice in ages, but with what the local shops charge for a 30mL I couldn't imagine what a real 'premium' juice would go for! I haven't done the math in a while but my 30mL's cost nothing it's so incredibly cheap when you do the math on what you end up paying, and the process is very simple using the calculator found on e-liquid-recipes.com ;) )
Hey everyone! So im working on one of my favorite IRL dessert flavor profiles, a Ferro Rocher. If you dont know what that is; This chocolate treat consists of a whole roasted hazelnut encased in a thin wafer shell filled with hazelnut chocolate and covered in milk chocolate and chopped hazelnuts.
Anyways, i feel like my first concept recipe is actually a lot closer than i expected it to be. The chocolate tastes quite nice, and the hazelnut is prominent (going to lower it a bit in my next batch actually). But im really wanting some more crunchy wafer notes, which seem to be getting a bit muddled by the other flavors in the recipe. Just hoping someone with some more experience might be able to give some suggestions on how i can beef up the fluffy/crunchy wafer notes? Is there any noobie mistakes that jump out to you? Anything i can fix or make better? Any help is much appreciated, going to mix up my second batch tonight!
Ingredient|% :---|---: Australian Chocolate (Hangsen)|1.00 Biscuit (INAWERA)|1.00 Chocolate Deutsch (Flavorah)|1.25 Cookie (Biscotto) (FA)|1.25 Hazelnut (FW)|2.50 Meringue (FA)|1.50 Toasted Marshmallow (TPA)|2.00
Flavor total: 10.5%
Remember to rate it at e-liquid-recipes.com!
WF's vanilla ruyan custard- i really like this flavor. just got it in this week- been doing single flavor tests of it. does anyone else have it? main reason i'm asking is i'd like a flavor review of it but am unsure if i'm qualified/have a good enough palate to do it myself. it reminds me a lot of what a much better INW creme brulee would be- without the overbearing burnt egg thing. idk. those who usually do reviews- do you have this flavor yet?
Is it like an RY4 type of thing? I’d say go for the review! I don’t really feel like my palate is all that great, but I just go for it. Once you start typing it all out and really thinking about what you’re tasting I think you’ll be surprised by how decent your review is. And then there will be a whole thread where others will possibly come to share second opinions.
it's def a sweeter tobacco thing- ry4ish. i'd say the tobacco has more of a dark pipe vibe, but it's very faint- it's primarily and vanilla custard, with a hint of tobacco that's very tasty- the custard has a smoky, heavy caramalized sugar thing that is reminiscent of inw's creme brulee but- just not bad, like inw's creme brulee. well inw's CB isn't bad in all formats- just need to keep the percentage really fucking low. maybe it's a preference thing but that flavor over about .75 gives me a burned sugar/curdled milk/too much egg vibe thats disgusting and has ruined juices.
but ok- if in a week or two, when i'm satisfied that i've tested it enough at various steep times, no one else has posted one i might give it a go.
Is there somewhere I can find recipes that I could make using the 15 different flavors I already? Something like a database that finds matches for the flavors I have and juice recipes
Sure, both ATF and ELR have a "what can I make?" feature. ELR has tons of terrible recipes and lots of duplicates for every flavor so it's important you pick the most popular one. I'm not sure if ATF still requires a paid subscription to access that feature, it used to but that might have changed.
I hate to say it because I love ATF, but it's getting just as bad with "hey guys here's a 20 ingredient recipe I dreamed up yesterday it'll be great I imagine only have let it steep 20 seconds but it's a 5 star banger promise guys".
I have a friend that is still using one of those crappy little vape pens you can get at gas stations. I am wanting to mix some juice for him but I am unsure of the correct VG/PG ratio to use. Will 60/40 work or do I need to drop it to 50/50? Also, do I need to up the flavor percentages from the mixes I make for myself and my sub-ohm friends?
I don't know about the ratio you'll want to use but I assume that higher pg is for lower wattage devices.
And I'm fairly certain if you are increasing pg, you could lower the flavoring % overall and maintain the same level of flavour. Or you could keep it the same and blow their tits off :p
What is the cheapest source of nicotine? I am trying to maximize my profit. There are a few marks in my neighborhood I would like to sell to.
Hello guys I made around 300ml e-liquid yesterday and put them in 30ml glass bottles. now I have 2 places to choice for steeping. First is my half closed balcony it is around 15C maybe lower in nights and I have a closet in balcony. The second is in my room closet and it is kinda warm in house. Can you help me decide which place is better to steep? balcony is kinda cold not cool. and house inside is not cool at all.
Define "kinda warm". I would favor stable warmth over a fluctuating temperature since that can cause separation, but not too warm for too long.
I was going(wanting) to make this a thread but fear I'd be told I shouldn't have (would like to know if this is appropriate or not!), anyways I've got questions on the phenomena regarding time/oxidation/'steeping', will try and be brief!
-
Is oxidation the chief change that's making the difference between a new and old juice? Is it the main phenomena in 'steeping'?
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Does light cause a separate degradation of its own, or does it just contribute to oxidation?
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What tends to be more susceptible to degradation, nicotine or flavor-concentrates? I keep my nicotine in the freezer (except a ~2wks' supply in a dropper-bottle in my mixing-box), I just keep the flavors in a drawer out of the light- should the flavors go in the freezer too?
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If 'steeping' is a good thing, why do people go to any lengths to prevent the types of breakdown that occur to the individual components before they're mixed (ie their nicotine, their flavors, VG/PG etc)? Surely it cannot matter whether they're breaking-down/degrading individually, or after-mixing ("steeping"), in either case wouldn't the end-result be the same? I'm having trouble thinking that there's chemical interactions going on between the components that leads to a different type of degradation than keeping them individually would, at least not to any significant degree that would ever be perceptible to someone vaping the juice!
Thanks for any answers to any of those, they've been on my mind and would love to hear what the word is on these!!
I'll be brief as I'm on mobile, but oxidation is always bad and not just in regards to flavor as it can also produce harmful byproducts.
Steeping is basically giving the components time to homogenize (mainly flavors bonding with the PG and VG). Smaller volatiles like you find in fruits don't need long, while larger volatiles like creams need more time. I don't know the exact science with regards to new compounds forming but I'd say it's plausible. Another benefit of steeping is that it gives certain unwanted components time to dissipate and/or evaporate. Steeping is not about degrading the components.
Light itself does not cause oxidation, it's UV-radiation you need to protect from. So a lamp causes no harm but direct exposure to the sun does.
Do not put concentrates in the freezer and only in the fridge if you must.
Thanks for the explanation! :)
> Steeping is basically giving the components time to homogenize (mainly flavors bonding with the PG and VG). Smaller volatiles like you find in fruits don't need long, while larger volatiles like creams need more time. I don't know the exact science with regards to new compounds forming but I'd say it's plausible.
This sounds shaky to be honest, do you happen to have any links to anywhere that may explain this with the science? Am just having trouble wrapping my head around the idea of any significant chemical reactions taking place amongst the ingredients, even the 'bonding to VG' you mention doesn't sound like my understanding (ie that these are different compounds in a mixed solution, demonstrated by them settling-out if left undisturbed - presumably the reply to this would be that some bonding occurs, I'd just like to know the mechanics behind it!)
>Another benefit of steeping is that it gives certain unwanted components time to dissipate and/or evaporate.
Again this is something I'd want to know for sure, I mean it sounds nice - you're telling me that, by letting my juices sit, they're going to get purer by losing 'unwanted compounds' - it sounds nice but again w/o mentioning a thing it sounds more like a meme that just gets repeated and not something legitimate (what, specifically, is evaporating?) And it's worth considering that, if you've already made the juice (ie all those ingredients were exposed to air/light and then shaken to heck with all that fresh air), during the time these un-named 'unwanteds' evaporate during steeping you'll also be letting it oxidize - so the release of these compounds would have to be a greater benefit than the degradation of the juice in its post-mixed(air-exposed) state.
>Light itself does not cause oxidation, it's UV-radiation you need to protect from. So a lamp causes no harm but direct exposure to the sun does.
Interesting, I guess I've been wayy over-protective of light then, you're saying that it's fine to have everything out in-the-light so long as it's artificial light and not outdoors in the sun (or a room with the window open)?
>Do not put concentrates in the freezer and only in the fridge if you must.
Good to know thank you!! I don't even put them in the fridge, I keep them in a drawer- my nicotine is in the freezer though, that's proper procedure for that right?
I don't have any sources to quote as my explanation is just an understanding I've formed through the years. I have yet to find a definitive answer however. What most seem to agree on is that the main difference during the first couple of days is explained by evaporation and degasification of the solvents, such as alcohol (required in the concentrate, not in the final mix), and progressively finer distribution of the volatiles in the mix (not binding per se). Beyond that, there's a lot of speculation as to what is going on at the molecular level and if you're looking for an explanation of that, I'm not your guy, but I do believe new compounds may form as the liquid starts to age. Do some digging on esters and oxidation of aldehydes if this is of interest.
Artificial light is fine, it's the UV that ruins our liquids. And storing the bulk of your nic in the freezer is a good way to protect it, but keep a bottle at room temperature for mixing.
I think you're overthinking the sciencey side of things. If I cook a pot of stew, it tastes great the first evening, better the second, and sublime on the third. I do not know why this is, and I don't need scientific proof to trust my tastebuds.
I see steeping the same way, flavors need time to blend. Some need time to settle down because they're brash out of the bottle. Others (mostly creams) need more time to come into their own.
The best way to understand this is to test it for yourself. Mix something, and test it over a period of time to see how the flavor develops. This is also the best way to understand how flavors work alone and how they work together.
We can argue theory all day long, but you'd benefit more from a bit of practice.
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No. Oxidation degrades flavors, and is a small, unwanted part of steeping. Homogenization and evaporation is the "science" behind steeping.
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Ulltraviolet is bad mmkay. Ruins flavors, ruins nicotine.
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Nicotine
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See above statements about actual steeping.
Thank you very much!! A couple things: >Homogenization and evaporation is the "science" behind steeping.
Interesting- what is evaporating, exactly? If the goal of steeping is evaporation then wouldn't the bottles need to be opened, I mean a 30mL bottle that's 97% full doesn't have much room for evaporation right?
And re homogenization, isn't that achieved quite rapidly? Once I've put my ingredients together and shake the living hell out of it, it's about as homogenized as it's going to get- I understand that there may be some (like <1%) further homogenization as it sits there but that'd be such an insignificant amount of "more homogenized" than it is after shaking that I highly doubt anyone could recognize the difference in real-life A/B testing :/
>Ulltraviolet is bad mmkay. Ruins flavors, ruins nicotine.
Good stuff thank you! I keep them all out of the light, but how about temperature? I keep my nicotine in the freezer, my flavors in a box in my drawer..
Very curious to hear what's evaporating-out of a mixture to give the 'steep' effect I hear so much about! I notice my mixtures change color, and I think I can notice a difference in taste when they're older (though I can't say for sure, and am not even sure it's a positive difference, I struggle to notice one when vaping older juice and think I can notice a difference but really unsure)
- No. We want the excess to vent off, allowing better homogenization. However, we use volatiles as flavorings, so leaving the cap off is a great way to lose ALL of your flavor.
The homegenization is a byproduct of the evaporation. Think of it like steeping is just reducing the amount of volatiles until it's just right.
- I've found temperature to not have as much of an impact in degradation. It does still have some impact due to being energy and degradation requiring energy.
The color change is absolutely oxidation, but the flavor change is more about becoming a homogeneous mixture and losing excess volatiles.
I recently mixed up a few recipes, one of which was DIYORDIE’s fruit circles (flavorbook) recipe. After a night of steeping all the other juices I mixed were flat, but this one is still very “foamy” on top. This goes away with shaking but quickly reforms. Is the juice contaminated with something, or is it just one of the flavorings I used causing the excessive foam? (The recipe uses cap sl fruit circles, fw VBIC, and fa meringue)
Some flavorings do this some don't. It's not anything to worry about. I haven't really seen what exactly causes this; some particular ingredients they use to make the concentrates do this.
Are there sites where I could enter the flavor-concentrates I have on-hand, and get a resultant list of recipes using the flavors? Am wanting to try someone else's recipes for once, change things up! Thanks for any reco's!!
Hi Having hard time trying to find glass bottles w/o dropper for my steeping & storage.Dont like the dropper ones seems like the plastic tops don't screw on good enough. I have found some glass jars w/ metal or tin scew on lids like preserves jars. Would they be OK to use. I live in Scandinavia so shipping glass bottles in from out of country would cost more than the bottles Thanks
I'd be a bit concerned with the plastic coating on the inside of the lid having soaked up flavor and what not, but other than that I don't see why not. Sounds cumbersome though, for lack of better options I'd just steep in plastic bottles. Just checked all the Swedish vendors I know of and the only one carrying glass bottles anymore only has caps with pipettes.
Fairly new to mixing, but I have gotten down a few fruity recipes that work for me. However, all of the creamier mixes I’ve put together have seemed to lack a certain “punch”. Don’t know how to better put it, but they all seem to be missing something. What have y’all done that you’ve found really helped up the overall quality of your creamier flavors? (Desserts, cereals, etc)
Creams without top notes, such as fruits, chocolate, nuts, spices etc do seem lackluster, perhaps that's what you're missing?
I could try adding nuts and spices. I add fruits often.
Just received all my DIY supplies today and mixed my first few batches by weight. I ran into a couple issues I need help with.
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Used the 30ml unicorn bottles to mix in. I think this was a mistake, for flavors and nic it was fine, but I had huge issues getting the correct PG/VG amount into the bottle. Options?
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PG/VG...man... VG is hard to work with! What I did is pour from my large VG/PG containers into smaller, condiment like containers. These have a flip top though that doesn't work for dispensing.
So...I also got some 10ML leur lock syringes to transfer the PG/VG to my mix. Needless to say, I had a very hard time getting the correct amount into the unicorn, especially with the VG. I had a hard time controlling the amounts and went over the weight a few times.
Any advice?
Condiment bottles and premixing the PG/VG to reduce viscosity helps a lot. I premix to 30/70 PG/VG and most of my mixes use between 5-10% flavoring, so my mixes end up between 35/65 and 40/60. Saves time and space too.
So if you wanted to use this with a new recipe, you'd just add the PG/VG amounts required and pour that amount from your pre-mixed bottles? If so, this sounds pretty solid.
I premix one liter of base at a time into a condiment bottle. Then whenever I mix, I pour straight into the target bottle, adding in flavors first, then nic, then I just top it off with the premixed base. If you know where to stop pouring you don't even need to measure the base.
I got these bottles on Amazon I don't open the cap all the way and have a ton of control with them.
I screwed up and bought these thinking I could use them for PG/VG but the cap just isn't conducive for that: https://goo.gl/hpYrt2
The good news is that I'm also macerating some tobaccos (Hey, if I'm going to do something it's balls to the wall), and I purchased these bottles to put the final NET flavors into: https://goo.gl/JfGW8c I have a couple extra, so today I'm going to transfer my PG/VG from the bad bottles into one of these, and put the remainder back into the large containers. I think this is going to make life way easier!
does anyone know where i can get a caramelized pear flavour? i've tried making my own version of traveller's finest, but it's not quite right. know of anywhere that sells a caramalized pear flavour, or a combination i can throw together of other juices to mimic it?
I'd take a look at Drunken Pears and try deconstructing it a little. I think the notes you want are in there, but I'm not completely sure which flavors are adding what.
So I bought a DIY kit from Nicotine River a week ago. This is my first time doing DIY but I am very familiar with vape juice. The VG they sent me is very thin. Almost like water thin. From my understanding VG is supposed to be very viscous. Is this normal or should i be concerned?
random Q: but are CAP super sweet and TFA sweetener interchangeable? Cap super sweet isn't available where I'm from (not in the US) whereas tfa sweetener is.
Someone told me there were some differences, I think cap ss had some EM in it according to them. But they are both mainly sucralose, I'd say go ahead, but you might want to get some EM to go with it
Is it a good idea to let concentrates steep before using them for the first time?
Also, I was reading a review of INW Strawberry Shisha and it says that it's sweet and tastes almost jammy, but is it more of natural sweetness that isn't necessarily sweet to the tongue, or actually sweet like sucralose? For example, if I were to make a single ingredient recipe from INW StrawSH, would I not need to add a sweetener? Hope that makes sense. Some food items like certain onions and cuts of meat are considered "sweet" but they're not actually sweet. Thanks.
Steeping doesn't start until you mix with the concentrates.
I don't know of any concentrate that contains sucralose, but maltol or ethyl maltol are common ingredients. With VG being sweet on top of that, juice tends to be inherently sweet, but not the kind of sweetness you'd get from sucralose. So if that's what you desire, you'll have to add that yourself.
Possibly stupid question that's been covered before somewhere, but... what's the minimum steep time when working with chocolate flavors?
That’s really going to depend on what chocolate and what else you are using it with. There’s no minimum.
Depends on the concentrate and your definition of minimum. The ones I've tried have been good after a shake, some may have gotten a bit smoother and creamier after a few days, but no significant changes. If part of a more complex flavor, such as CAP Chocolate Glazed Doughnut, it will need more time.
Has anyone gone overseas with a large amount of flavors? I'm going to South Korea in a month or so, and will be there for a year, so I want to start DIYing again since I've heard juice is expensive there.
Flavors? Those are just food products
Just got my second big batch of flavors. All the flavors were from the suggested first flavors to order on the sidebar. Just mixed a 30ml of kiwi cheesecake and 30ml of cinnamon roll apple danish. Tomorrow I'm making a 30ml of The Him Catself.
My question is, are there any flavors you would add to the suggested flavor list on the side bar or other recipes you can make with those flavors?
That's primarily a list of the most common, popular and versatile flavors. Everyone's personal list would look completely different as taste is subjective. As for recipes, you'll see some of the ones listed in almost every recipe you mix up but not necessarily that many recipes using only flavors from that list. You can try the "what can I make?" feature at ATF or ELR. I would recommend you start taking notes on what flavors you're missing when you go to mix up new recipes, over time you'll get a pretty clear idea of what flavors you should order next.
I've got around 30 flavors. Only about 15 from the list. I've learned Acetyl Pyrazine makes my cereal flavors come together just a little but better.
Thanks for the input.
I would also try using the Flavors section on ATF. Just click on at the top where it says "popular", "Hot", "Top". https://alltheflavors.com/flavors/top100
Got a batch of 100mg/ml VG nic for testing but I'm not sure if I've got it set up right in Juice Calculator. Just wondering if anyone could check the screenshot to see if the weights are correct for a 30ml batch at 2mg?
I'm thinking something is wrong because I can't get rid of the "Unable to add enough VG/PG" warning...
The amount is correct, it's easily verifiable by hand:
100 mg/ml * 0.6 ml = 60 mg of nic
60 mg / 30 ml = 2 mg/ml
I'm unfamiliar with that calculator, but it's set to 90% VG, 10% PG and 10% flavoring, that's a lot of percent!
Thanks but how much should 0.6ml of VG nic weigh? 0.727 grams or 0.741 grams?
I had set my nicotine ingredient to 90% VG instead of 100% VG because I thought the other 10% in the bottle was nicotine. Looks like I'm supposed to set it to 100% but I just want to make sure.
If you look here, you'll see that the weight of 100 mg/ml in VG is 1.235 g/ml, so multiply that by 0.6 and you get 0.741 grams.
Yea, your assumption about the 10% being nic was correct, but it seems the calculator does that conversion for you, so set it to 100%.
Any advice for single flavor mixes? Please add what percentage you use. Thanks from a newbie to DIY!
So I have a work in progress, and it's the first real recipe I'm doing, but it seams like it might be too high of a percent of flavors. It's not supposed to be anything but some sort of chocolaty cake type good stuff.
Ingredient|% :---|---: CAP Cake Batter|1.5 CAP Vanilla Bean Ice Cream|2.5 CAP Vanilla Custard V1|2.5 TFA Cheesecake (Graham Crust)|4 TFA Bavarian Cream|4 TFA Mocha|6
Flavor total: 20.5%
I also have some INW Biscuit and Purilium Caramel Coffee w/ Sweet Milk. Any advice would be appreciated, like if a flavor is just not needed.
What are some of the best straight up Shake and vape concentrates you have tried ?
Just got a bottle of 500ml 80/20 04nic from pink mule delivered. I am wanting to make a 100ml black currant menthol flavour. Is it as simple as adding 2.5ml of each concentrate and filling it up with the pink mule solution?
I'm trying to mix a bottle of juice. The nicotine pg/vg is down but I'm confused on how to do the flavor. I've read the sidebar and am still confused.. I have CAP sweet mango, CAP juicy peach, CAP juicy lemon, CAP sweet strawberry, TFA blueberry extra, and FA lemon cicily. I'm doing the mix by weight method. I tried a batch with the mango and it is terrible. Someone help ;_;
What %s are you using?
I was using 3% and 5%. I think my problem is that sweet mango by itself kinda tastes like shit. But my rda also broke and I'm using a normal atty now which helped improve flavor. And in not used to pg. I prefer max vg blends. Do you know any sweet mango recipes that aren't very overwhelmingly mango?