About to start DIY. Couple questions first though...

[Fresh kevin]

So I've vaped for a while and usually go the budget route in terms of ejuice. I've tried some premium flavors and liked them but can justify spending the money for it. So I want to start DIY juicing. I don't use nicotine so I don't have to add that.

My friends have saved bottles for some years now so I have plenty of bottles.
I know I need some needles for the flavor and pg/vg.
Got some decent recipes I want to try but I like fruity/creamy type flavors if you have suggestions.

My questions are: do I just need to mix the flavor and pg/vg in bottle and let it steep?
Is there any order you use for adding ingredients?
Any easy/good recipes you could recommend to a beginner?

I want to place an order for about 10 or so flavors. Looking into recipes to see what sizes to order. Thanks!

 

[Lannie]

Yes, you can just mix the ingredients right in the bottle, shake it up, and let it sit for a while. Some won't need to sit very long, those are called "shake and vape." I have some good recipes I can share with you if you'd like - I like fruits and creams, too - but they're upstairs and I'm downstairs, so I'll try to remember to bring my recipe book next time I get on here. I'm sure some others will post some of their favorites, too, though.

There's no particular order you need to add ingredients. Do it however it's more convenient or logical to you.

If you're going to get into DIY, you'll want big bottles. However, you don't know if you'll LIKE every flavor, so start with the small bottles, but be prepared (if you like them) to order big bottles. I can guarantee you'll like Capella's Sweet Strawberry, so if you like strawberry, just go ahead and order the big bottle of that one. LOL! I use that in practically everything. I also like Capella's Harvest Berry, but I've been told that Flavour Art's Forest Fruit is a better berry flavor. That one will be in my next flavor order, but I haven't re-ordered yet.

You'll probably also want some flavors like Bavarian Cream (there are diketone-free versions if you care about that), Vanilla Bean Ice Cream (that's a really good one), Marshmallow, Sweet Cream, Cheesecake Graham Crust (I like that one way better than Capella's New York Cheesecake but a lot of people disagree with me on that), Vanilla Cupcake, then there's Graham Cracker (which I think adds a very pleasant sharp sweetness, even though it's not "sweet"), Caramel (to add a little extra "something" to your juice), and other fruit flavors like peach, watermelon, pineapple, etc. You're probably going to need to order more than 10! LOL! Anyway, I have lots of flavors, but those are some of the ones I use most often. Oh, and most of the fruit flavors are sweet on their own, and I use max VG which is also sweet, but I still use a little ethyl maltol as a sweetener in some of my recipes. Usually only a percent or two, but it will add sweetness where it's needed. Cotton Candy also works for that, I've heard, but I haven't used that particular flavor yet.

DIY is fun and very, very addictive! The best part is being able to make any juice you want, right now, and not have to wait for it. And the price can't be beat!

 

[BrotherBob]

Looking into recipes to see what sizes to order

Suggest you order only 8 up to 15 ml sizes to start.

Any easy/good recipes you could recommend to a beginner?

You will want to scroll down to Sir2fyablyNutz thread, he lists most of the places you can find recipes.
Re: First DIY Order

Suggest you read thoroughly:
dannyv45's blog | E-Cigarette Forum
Hoosier's blog | E-Cigarette Forum
How hard is it to get in to DIY liqiud?

 

[juicynoos]

Good luck on your diy journey, you'll save a ton and most likely find recipes you like and then adjust them to your own preference once you gain some experience.
Not really any more to add as you have lots of reading to do using those links provided by BrotherBob.
Since you don't use nicotine your flavors will be stronger in finish, no peppery taste or muted effect. When mixing always bare in mind the equipment you'll be using regarding pg/vg ratio's and of course preferred wattage.

I believe Cotton Candy and ethyl maltol are one and the same.

 

[Lannie]

I thought Cotton Candy was sucralose... I don't really know, like I said, I haven't used that one yet.

 

[dannyv45]

I thought Cotton Candy was sucralose... I don't really know, like I said, I haven't used that one yet.

Most cotton candies are EM.

 

[Lannie]

Most cotton candies are EM.

Thanks! Now since I already have a honkin' big bottle of EM, I won't need to order cotton candy. Or maybe I should say I've been using it all along.

 

[Lannie]

Kevin, I've been kinda busy today, but I did grab a few of my recipe cards, so here are some juices I make that I really like.

This first one, everyone's going to freak out at the percentages, but I made this exactly this way and I LOVE IT! A friend of mine gave me this one, but I don't know what she calls it. I call it Strawberry Buttercream:

16% Sweet Strawberry (Capella)
16% Sweet Cream (Capella)
4% Butter (Capella)

It's a shake and vape, although it does get better after a day or two.

This next one I got online somewhere (I don't remember where) and I made a couple of substitutions, and came up with this, which has no name yet:

10% Sweet Strawberry or Juicy Peach (Capella) - I've made it with both and both are yummy
8% Vanilla Bean Ice Cream (Capella)
3% Cake Batter (Capella)
3% Marshmallow (Capella)
1% Ethyl Maltol (Flavor Apprentice)

This next one is a Strawberry Shortcake flavor, if you care for that kind of thing:

8% Sweet Strawberry (Capella)
7% Yellow Cake (Flavor West)
5% Whipped Cream (Capella)
5% Vanilla Bean Ice Cream (Capella)

And a Strawberry Cheesecake one:

10% Cheesecake Graham Crust (Flavor Apprentice)
8% Sweet Strawberry (Capella)
3% Graham Cracker V2 (Capella)
2% Marshmallow (Capella)
1% Ethyl Maltol (Flavor Apprentice)

(You can see why I have to buy BIG bottles of the Sweet Strawberry flavor! LOL!)

And finally, I really like this one as a refreshing change of pace. It doesn't have any creams in it, but you could sure add something if you wanted to:

10% Sweet Strawberry (Capella)
4% Dragonfruit (Capella)
1% Watermelon (Flavour Art) - I actually think this would be better with 4-5% Capella's Sweet Watermelon
3% Menthol (Flavor West)
3% Ethyl Maltol (Flavor Apprentice)

I listed all the above flavors and the manufacturers I got mine from, but you can use what you have and it will probably still be good. Some flavors are slightly different between manufacturers, but sometimes it's just a minor difference. Other times, maybe not so minor, but I've never been afraid to try a substitution if I don't have a particular manufacturer's flavor.

These can just be ideas for you to start from, and then adjust to your own taste if they're not quite right. For instance that last one with the menthol, I was just playing around, trying to make something that would refresh my mouth (even though I don't normally care for menthol) and my first try didn't have ENOUGH menthol. It was only there for the first couple of hits, and then it was kind of flat. So I upped the menthol and now I like it. I can't vape it all day, because I'm a weenie when it comes to menthol, but it sure is good after a few hours of vaping a heavy dessert flavor. Five minutes of the fruit and menthol and I'm good.

Have fun!

 

[Lannie]

Kevin, I have some more recipes, if you're interested. I don't want to post them if you have enough to get started with already, but if you want, I have a Unicorn Milk clone, a strawberry "milkshake," a strawberry custard, and one another ECFer came up with that's strawberry with several different creams. (Of course you can sub any fruit flavor for the strawberry in any of these recipes.)

 

[SteveS45]

I just ordered a starter kit and I do not mean to hijack this thread but I want to make Tobacco first and it is the one flavor that does not have a suggested mixing percentage. Any suggestions is most appreciated!

 

[scotdc]

I just ordered a starter kit and I do not mean to hijack this thread but I want to make Tobacco first and it is the one flavor that does not have a suggested mixing percentage. Any suggestions is most appreciated!

Good luck. Tobaccos are all over the place as far as percentages go, it all depends on which manufacturer you end up liking. My current inventory has about 40 tobacco flavors as I try and figure out which ones work best for me.

In general:
Hangsen - very nice range of tobaccos, some of which like Desert Ship and Highway are my favorites. I like 7%, but anywhere from 5% to 8% is the norm.

Flavourart - stronger concentrates than Hansen (with exceptions), I usually start at 3%

Inawera - some of favorites are these. I usually start these at 4% to 5% and adjust from there.

Sign up to E-liquid Recipes web site, there are many tasting notes and percentage recommendations for most ingredients there.

 

[SteveS45]

This Tobacco is from Liquid Barn. Thanks for the suggestions

 

[dannyv45]

This Tobacco is from Liquid Barn. Thanks for the suggestions

I think you can start safely a 3% and work your way up.

 

[SteveS45]

I think you can start safely a 3% and work your way up.

Input is much appreciated! Have you done DIY of tobacco yourself?

 

[dannyv45]

Input is much appreciated! Have you done DIY of tobacco yourself?

It's my main vape. Doing mostly NETs. But if you want good tobacco flavoring try the hangsen line of flavorings at 5 - 7%.

Concentrated Flavoring - Brands - Hangsen - Bull City Vapor

 

[SteveS45]

Next round I ordered 3 bottle of Tobacco to start. Hopefully they will be good but with 7 other flavors to create new tastes and flavors have some experimenting to do.

 

[dannyv45]

tastes and flavors have some experimenting to do.

That's the fun of DIY

 

[SteveS45]

That's the fun of DIY

Actually did not get into DIY for the fun part I am not satisfied with the flavors available commercially that I have tried or sampled. And to be honest since I went to a Mod starting to go through e-Liquid much faster. Do you steep your Tobacco? If I do not mix and vape availability I will pick up a bottle of my choice tobacco and dilute it from 2.4%.