I figured I would just get a jug of 3mg VG base and a few flavorings based on my usual mixed berry custard ADV that I'd like to make something similar to. I know there are probably better and more efficient ways to do this but I just want to keep it super simple and see if I'd even enjoy doing this. I'm not sure what the difference is between all of their nic base types (PurNic, Glass, and Chemnosomething, all the same price).
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Edit: Is Nicotine River's nic good? I was also looking at Carolina Xtract because I know for certain that I like their stuff (my adv uses it) but they are super pricey and only sell either huge bottles or crazy high concentrations. I'm just worried about getting something that ends up being harsh. I'm pretty sensitive to shitty nic - I've ended up tossing like 30% of the juice I've bought over the years because it was too harsh for me to vape. I cannot stand harshness at all but 0mg doesn't do it for me.
Ditch the syringes and get a scale, I started of using syringes and it makes mixing feel like a chore, with a scale it’s a piece of piss.. and quite fun!
So going by weight is easier then? It seemed like syringes would be easier to deal with as opposed to making a bunch of tiny weight measurements. I have a scale but I think it only weighs to hundredths of a gram.
Yeah a lot easier, syringes need washed and cleaned properly, it’s not ideal to cross contaminate etc.
Weighing is sooo much easier you just drip the amount into the bottle shake and your off!
So this is where dripper lid bottles are useful? Most of my flavours come in open mouthed 30ml plastic 'jars' effectively that I have to use a syringe to get an amount out of.
Does this mean I would have to decant all of my flavours into amber glass dripper bottles? I'm really sick of washing 1ml syringes but I don't understand how you guys are getting it accurately from concentrate bottle to scale.
look at the brand American Weigh, both the models LB501 and the Gemini20 are great scales for $20. Ive only used nic river and have only ordered twice so far and no problems with it. Have only tried the salt formulation and can say you can do high % and make your body shake without feeling anything in the throat. You might want to get nicriver's kit to begin with, you get alot of stuff for the price
Where are you finding the Gemini20 for $20 on their site? https://americanweigh.com/product_info.php?products_id=580&osCsid=li9urnitst646ernu1lc31b147
Or are you finding it offsite?
Edit: nevermind :P
https://www.amazon.com/American-Weigh-GEMINI-20-Portable-MilliGram/dp/B0012TDNAM
Also would like to add that I moved my vg and pg into smaller squeeze bottles from walmart. They're actually empty ketchup and mustard squeeze bottles lol. Was like 97cent each.
This made adding vg and pg into a tiny 30ml unicorn bottle much easier.
But yes mixing by weight is much much easier than syringes/pipettes . Just drip into a bottle and way less cleanup.
Consider getting Capella's Harvest Berry. I like it a bunch. FA Forrest Fruit is another good one.
Put 'em together and make Looma!
I already have FA Forest fruit, is CAP harvest berry different enough to be worth buying? Some comments i've read made me think they were almost identical but i might be wrong.
They're both a berry medley but have different flavor. I think FF is a bit darker while HB has a more tropical-ish vibe. I think I can taste just a hint of pineapple maybe which makes it bright. I think it's worth it because it's good. It's only a couple of bucks to try.
It looks good, but if you’re looking for recommendations: I would switch to TPA Strawberry instead of the ripe version, TPA Blueberry(Extra), and TPA Sweet Raspberry. It will save you money, and those are great flavors to try out. I would also consider getting a 30ml of the Vanilla Custard. If you end up liking it, you’ll run through it very quickly. To make it even more simple and affordable, you could check out FA Forest Fruit. It’s a single flavor that checks the mixed berry box.
Ditch the syringes and get a scale. It’ll be just a tiny bit more than what you’re paying for syringes. Also, get a whole bunch of 10ml bottles and flavor test everything you get!
Really? These syringes are like $2.50 for a couple of different sizes and needles for each. I have an old $20 digital scale around here somewhere that I use for coffee and weed but I assumed I would need something nicer to do these tiny measurements. Syringes and mixing by volume seemed like an easier and cheaper way to just mix up a few things and see if I liked it.
I was planning on doing 10ml mixes in the 30ml bottles for now. I need them anyway for other stuff and didn't want to end up with a bunch of tiny bottles only good for one thing.
if your dope scale measures to .01g use it.
Lots of good advice here. Definitely use your scale and mix right from the bottles. I can honestly mix a bottle of juice from start to finish in less than 5 mins with no clean up. It will take you longer just to wash your syringes. And you should take the advice of PG-based nic if you're looking for fast and easy. Nic should be kept cold and cold VG is a pain.
But this is all advice for you to actually get into DIY. If you're just looking to mix a big batch of your ADV then you can do it however works best for you.
True, I did not consider the cold vg issue. Really looking to make max VG because that's what makes sense for me (I hate throat hit, like clouds, only use drippers anyway), but I'm thinking I should be slightly less lazy and go the route of getting concentrated nic and making my own max VG base with that.
Just for reference . . .
If you're mixing 100ml of juice @ 3mg/ml and using 100mg/ml nic (in PG) - you only need to add 3ml (of PG) of concentrated nic. If the recipe you're mixing uses 7% total flavor - you'll be adding 7ml (of PG). That means you'll have 10ml of PG in 100 ml of juice - or 90/10 VG/PG. So you should not worry about PG nic and throat hit. The high concentration means you add very little.
I use VG nic. Mainly because I wasn’t thinking about pg being easier and ordered 500ml of 100 nic from nicriver and it’s lasting me a really long time. It’s a pain kind of. What I ended up doing was taking a few 30ml Amber glass bottles and shaking the shit out of the big bottle when I first got it and putting about 150ml into the small bottles. Then I put both the big bottle and all the small bottles but one in the freezer. Now I take out a small bottle when I need it and don’t have to worry about the big bottle until I’m starting to run low. Then defrost the big bottle once, separate into small ones again and you’re good.
Vg nic is a huge pain in the ass when it’s cold. You also don’t want to open any of the bottles without completely defrosting them first since vg can pull humidity out of the air and absorb it which is not a good thing. But, defrost it only when you need and separate. It isn’t complicated, doesn’t take long and will let you make that max vg juice.
hey, did a ton of research recently and made a post myself, if you have any other questions ask here.
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Nic river is great. also if harshness of juice is an issue i might look at nic salts (they have much less harshness but different storage requirements etc...)
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also i would try to find an actual recipe on Alltheflavors.com to mix using, rather than trial and erroring yourself.
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among this just bite the bullet and get the lb 501 scale on amazon, i did this myself since it is super quick to mix juices and requires little to no cleanup.
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if you aren't already, mix in small batches (5-15 mls) until you have a flavor you enjoy.
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link to my post: https://www.reddit.com/r/DIY_eJuice/comments/9w8pho/first_flavors_to_get_from_vapewild/
its a lot to read but it follows my first process as well.
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if you think you will keep mixing, buy that much juice, if you reeeeealy arent sure, i might go with a different retailer that deals in smaller batches of a base.
Right on, thanks for the info. I actually am gonna go with mixing by weight. I have a scale already that I use for coffee and whatnot, when I made the post I was under the impression that I would need something nicer and expensive but it turns out this little fucker will work just fine for now.
I'll look for recipes. I'm hoping to roughly clone my adv but it's not a super high profile company so I'm not sure if there are any clone recipes out there for it.
You don't store nic salts any different than freebase. Keep a working bottle out and the rest in the freezer.
Get PG based nicotine at a higher concentration, something like 48mg/ml. Trust me you'll thank me later
Any specific reason? I was looking a 3mg premixed VG base because that way I'm not stuck with a ton of extra nic if I decide to not keep DIYing. I only vape 3mg, no interest in pod systems or anything else where I'd want it stronger.
Was planning on going 100% VG since I hate throat hit, I like clouds, and only own drippers anyway so no tank related wicking issues to worry about.
Kind of wanted to try out diy in the most low effort way possible haha. I have very little free time, I struggle to find half an hour to make a new pair of coils once a week or so honestly.
VG based nic is a bitch to work with. Because it’s so thick if you don’t shake it like a baby that owes you money you’re gonna end up with hotspots. PG is far superior for nic base.
I've just had a handful of max VG juices and I really prefer it to the usual 70/30 stuff. I'll consider trying an 80/20 premix if I can find one I suppose, or maybe just suck it up and mix my own from concentrate. It's probably less hassle then I am imagining. Thanks for the info.
Is nicotine river decent? They seem like they have a few different types of freebase nic under different names but they don't explain the difference.
The other place I was looking at is Carolina Xtracts just because the place I get my favorite juice from uses it and it's smooth as hell. I'm pretty sensitive to harsh nic. Part of the reason I'm trying out diy at all is because like 70% of the juice I've bought has felt really harsh to me and I'm sick of buying a bottle of something that's super highly praised and then finding out I can't stand to vape the shit even if it does taste great. I'm gonna be super bummed if I buy a ton of nic from somewhere and it turns out to have a harsh throat hit.
Carolina Xtracts 100mg/ml in PG has been the best nic I've ever used. I'm on my 4th maybe 5th 120ml. Excellent quality.
I don't have any personal experience with it, but Nic River's ChemNovatic gets a lot of praise.
Two recommendations: CAP Bavarian Cream and FA Meringue.
CAP Bavarian Cream will go really well with custard base recipes. FA Meringue will help desserts soar to the heavens and slap the face of god.
Duly noted.
Every "cream" flavor I've tried I hated, but I imagine there are small amounts of it in most of the custards I'm into. Custard is my jam for sure.
I like Chemnovatic better than PurNic. The PurNic just seemed a little bit rough on the throat. The Chemnovatic is nice and smooth.
If you're going to go with mixing by weight, you might want to consider getting a small bottle of 100mg nic, and a big bottle of VG. I'm not good with math, but I'd assume it's cheaper that way in the long run. Then again, as a first-timer, you might be better-served doing like you've planned with a liter of the 3mg VG, to see how much you like your own mixes.
For flavors, go with a highly rated recipe on ATF or ELR and buy those flavors. That's probably a better idea than trying to figure out a recipe on your first try.
Nicotine River has been great for me. If you've got the cash, you might want to bump up your order to $50 so you don't waste $10 on shipping. Good luck!