I'm pretty new to DIY e-liquid mixing, so what I have to share so far is a bit limited. But I'll share any recipes I come up with that I receive good feedback on here.
General Notes On How I Mix
Unless noted otherwise in a recipe, I count the flavorings towards the overall PG mix ratio. So for example, with the Snowy Days recipe, the total flavoring percentage (adding all flavor percentages together) is 20%. If you're looking to mix a 40%/60% PG/VG ratio liquid, then you would type 40% in for the target PG ratio on the ejuicemeup or ecigvape.com calculators and ensure each flavoring is set to 100% PG content. 20% of the PG will come from the flavorings, and the calculator will tell you how much more PG to add to arrive at a 40% overall PG/VG ratio for the size of the bottle you're making.
I use TFA (The Flavor's Apprentice) flavorings whenever possible. There may be some recipes I'll post that have non-TFA flavorings, but if you don't see a brand name or commonly-used brand acronym beside a flavor in a recipe, it is safe to assume I used TFA. Effort will be made to always clearly identify which flavoring was used. This can be important for some flavors such as Apple, Blueberry, etc. when there are 2, 3, or more of them.
I am not a fan of artificial sweeteners, including sucralose. (Sucralose is the sweetener in TFA Sweetener). I've never liked their taste in foods or beverages, and I've also found after a couple of mixes that I really don't care for the taste in eliquid either. Neither do any of the other vapers I know in person. So the recipes you'll see here will reflect an effort to get any sweetness needed from the flavorings used in the recipe, without adding Sweetener. You are of course welcome to add sweetener to suit your own taste.
Otherwise I am a big fan of Bill's Magic Vapor's methods of mixing and flavor development. Especially these truths:
1) Mix with enough flavoring to be able to taste what your're making right when you mix it! Why wait days or weeks to know if it is going to be a good juice? You don't have to.
2) If it doesn't taste good at time of mixing, it's probably not going to taste any better in a few days or weeks either. There may be some exceptions to this like tobacco juices, but mixing good tobacco juices is a skill I am probably not going to invest a lot of time into. I do like good tobacco liquids and have a few recipes I've been working on though.
If you're new to DIY and looking for results you can taste as soon as you mix, please make sure you check out Bill's posts, recipes, and blog entries while you do your research and plan your purchases of creams, vanillas, and other base flavorings.
On to the recipes!
---------------------
"FINISHED" RECIPES
These are recipes I've either received good feedback on, or that I like enough that I do not plan to experiment further with the recipe.
Snowy Days
This is an after dinner soft butter mints type flavor I worked on for my wife. She likes it better than the similarly-named MEL liquid she has vaped exclusively for the last 2+ years, which it is very close to. It is a bit richer in some ways and has a nice peppermint that you get on both inhale and exhale, yet not too strong in my wife's opinion. It is sweet from the Vanilla Swirl, but not overly sweet.
It is good "right out of the can" - you should notice the peppermint and slight buttery cream flavor at mix time - but the flavor really matures nicely after 1-2 days.
This recipe was developed at 60% VG / 40% PG
Snowy Days
9% TFA Peppermint
5% TFA Sweet Cream
4% TFA Vanilla Swirl
2% TFA Koolada
Key Lime Starburst
Key Lime 10%
Vanilla Swirl 5%
Sweet Cream 4%
Sweet & Tart 3%
Inspired by Bill's Magic Vapor's Starburst recipe, but with Key Lime! This has a great lime flavor. The only caution I'd have is that you may want to plan on having some other flavors in your rotation - vaping 50ml of this exclusively was a little rough on my taste buds and back of my throat from the Key Lime flavor. Very tasty though.
DK Vanilla Coconut
Coconut (Extra) 5%
Caramel 5% (not Caramel Original or Caramel Candy)
Cotton Candy 4%
Vanilla Bean Ice Cream 4%
DK Tobacco 3%
If you are a fan of that "Dekang Twang" (OK, I made that term up...) - this one might just be one for you. I am liking this recipe a lot, and as of now it is the recipe I've made more bottles of for me than any other recipe since I started DIY'ing.
I've gotten feedback from one tester who likes it overall, but said that it needs less caramel, and that after vaping it for most of a day he felt the flavor overall is "too much". If you like the flavor but it seems too strong to you, reduce the Coconut Extra, Caramel, Vanilla Bean Ice Cream and DK Tobacco by 1% each and try that. It keeps the same overall flavor profile but just at a lower intensity level.
---------------------
T&D (TESTING AND DEVELOPMENT) - RECIPES IN DEVELOPMENT
These are recipes that I have received limited feedback on or might still need a little something. They are good, but may still need slight adjustment.
DK Black Cherry Vanilla
Black Cherry 11%
Cotton Candy 4%
Vanilla Bean Ice Cream 4%
Caramel 3% (not Caramel Original or Caramel Candy)
DK Tobacco 3%
Nice black cherry flavor and not too sweet.
Pecan Pie (non-TFA Sweetener recipe)
Pecan 5%
Graham Cracker 5% (Clear recommended)
Vanilla Swirl 4%
Pie Crust 3%
Brown Sugar 2%
Vanilla Bourbon 2%
Butter 1%
This is an attempt at a variation of Bill's Magic Vapor's original Pecan Pie recipe that doesn't use TFA Sweetener (sucralose), since I don't care for its taste. I also added 1% Butter. The Vanilla Swirl gives it a fair amount of sweetness. It could probably use a bit more and I've gotten some great suggestions I'll be trying - but this does have a good flavor. I would definitely recommend NOT using the regular (dark) Graham Cracker like I did, it is hard on wicks and coils.
Comments and feedback welcome.
Mix on!!!
General Notes On How I Mix
Unless noted otherwise in a recipe, I count the flavorings towards the overall PG mix ratio. So for example, with the Snowy Days recipe, the total flavoring percentage (adding all flavor percentages together) is 20%. If you're looking to mix a 40%/60% PG/VG ratio liquid, then you would type 40% in for the target PG ratio on the ejuicemeup or ecigvape.com calculators and ensure each flavoring is set to 100% PG content. 20% of the PG will come from the flavorings, and the calculator will tell you how much more PG to add to arrive at a 40% overall PG/VG ratio for the size of the bottle you're making.
I use TFA (The Flavor's Apprentice) flavorings whenever possible. There may be some recipes I'll post that have non-TFA flavorings, but if you don't see a brand name or commonly-used brand acronym beside a flavor in a recipe, it is safe to assume I used TFA. Effort will be made to always clearly identify which flavoring was used. This can be important for some flavors such as Apple, Blueberry, etc. when there are 2, 3, or more of them.
I am not a fan of artificial sweeteners, including sucralose. (Sucralose is the sweetener in TFA Sweetener). I've never liked their taste in foods or beverages, and I've also found after a couple of mixes that I really don't care for the taste in eliquid either. Neither do any of the other vapers I know in person. So the recipes you'll see here will reflect an effort to get any sweetness needed from the flavorings used in the recipe, without adding Sweetener. You are of course welcome to add sweetener to suit your own taste.
Otherwise I am a big fan of Bill's Magic Vapor's methods of mixing and flavor development. Especially these truths:
1) Mix with enough flavoring to be able to taste what your're making right when you mix it! Why wait days or weeks to know if it is going to be a good juice? You don't have to.
2) If it doesn't taste good at time of mixing, it's probably not going to taste any better in a few days or weeks either. There may be some exceptions to this like tobacco juices, but mixing good tobacco juices is a skill I am probably not going to invest a lot of time into. I do like good tobacco liquids and have a few recipes I've been working on though.
If you're new to DIY and looking for results you can taste as soon as you mix, please make sure you check out Bill's posts, recipes, and blog entries while you do your research and plan your purchases of creams, vanillas, and other base flavorings.
On to the recipes!
---------------------
"FINISHED" RECIPES
These are recipes I've either received good feedback on, or that I like enough that I do not plan to experiment further with the recipe.
Snowy Days
This is an after dinner soft butter mints type flavor I worked on for my wife. She likes it better than the similarly-named MEL liquid she has vaped exclusively for the last 2+ years, which it is very close to. It is a bit richer in some ways and has a nice peppermint that you get on both inhale and exhale, yet not too strong in my wife's opinion. It is sweet from the Vanilla Swirl, but not overly sweet.
It is good "right out of the can" - you should notice the peppermint and slight buttery cream flavor at mix time - but the flavor really matures nicely after 1-2 days.
This recipe was developed at 60% VG / 40% PG
Snowy Days
9% TFA Peppermint
5% TFA Sweet Cream
4% TFA Vanilla Swirl
2% TFA Koolada
Key Lime Starburst
Key Lime 10%
Vanilla Swirl 5%
Sweet Cream 4%
Sweet & Tart 3%
Inspired by Bill's Magic Vapor's Starburst recipe, but with Key Lime! This has a great lime flavor. The only caution I'd have is that you may want to plan on having some other flavors in your rotation - vaping 50ml of this exclusively was a little rough on my taste buds and back of my throat from the Key Lime flavor. Very tasty though.
DK Vanilla Coconut
Coconut (Extra) 5%
Caramel 5% (not Caramel Original or Caramel Candy)
Cotton Candy 4%
Vanilla Bean Ice Cream 4%
DK Tobacco 3%
If you are a fan of that "Dekang Twang" (OK, I made that term up...) - this one might just be one for you. I am liking this recipe a lot, and as of now it is the recipe I've made more bottles of for me than any other recipe since I started DIY'ing.
I've gotten feedback from one tester who likes it overall, but said that it needs less caramel, and that after vaping it for most of a day he felt the flavor overall is "too much". If you like the flavor but it seems too strong to you, reduce the Coconut Extra, Caramel, Vanilla Bean Ice Cream and DK Tobacco by 1% each and try that. It keeps the same overall flavor profile but just at a lower intensity level.
---------------------
T&D (TESTING AND DEVELOPMENT) - RECIPES IN DEVELOPMENT
These are recipes that I have received limited feedback on or might still need a little something. They are good, but may still need slight adjustment.
DK Black Cherry Vanilla
Black Cherry 11%
Cotton Candy 4%
Vanilla Bean Ice Cream 4%
Caramel 3% (not Caramel Original or Caramel Candy)
DK Tobacco 3%
Nice black cherry flavor and not too sweet.
Pecan Pie (non-TFA Sweetener recipe)
Pecan 5%
Graham Cracker 5% (Clear recommended)
Vanilla Swirl 4%
Pie Crust 3%
Brown Sugar 2%
Vanilla Bourbon 2%
Butter 1%
This is an attempt at a variation of Bill's Magic Vapor's original Pecan Pie recipe that doesn't use TFA Sweetener (sucralose), since I don't care for its taste. I also added 1% Butter. The Vanilla Swirl gives it a fair amount of sweetness. It could probably use a bit more and I've gotten some great suggestions I'll be trying - but this does have a good flavor. I would definitely recommend NOT using the regular (dark) Graham Cracker like I did, it is hard on wicks and coils.
Comments and feedback welcome.
Mix on!!!
