Any last minute tips?

[Milkhoney]

Going to DIY my first juices tonight, huzzah! So any tips or tricks anyone wants to pass on before I start? Anything you wish you'd known before you started mixing? I'm working with 36mg base, all VG so planning on thinning with distilled water at about 5% and adjusting if need be, TPA flavors (went a little overboard on the number of flavors I bought) and I'm probably gonna stick with one or two flavors per mix at first, got glassware and more safety equipment that I probably need for only 3.6%.....any glaring omissions? I'm sure I'll find out what works best and what I never needed in the first place after actually getting into it, but I tend to overprepare, it took me 3 months of research to get to this point.

 

[dannyv45]

Most important question is what flavors are you going to be working with and what brand of flavors? Flavors are very tricky as far as % goes. And All VG mixes usually require more percentage then pg/vg. And not all flavors are best at the same percentages. Then you have steeping to be concerned about, Some flavors don't need steeping and others expecially tobaccos need anywhere from 2 - 4 or more weeks. So I make sure you understand this before getting started.

 

[Hoofhearted62]

I like dessert flavors and started DIY a weeks ago, steeping helps. Although at a 1 week steep TPA Bavarian cream for example at 10% flavor 18mg nic cut to 12mg 10 ml bottle. It seems weak. Doubled to 20% Bavarian Cream, added some 10% Ethyl Maltol and 5% Cotton Candy. Still seems weak. UGH.. Guess I gotta let it steep some more. Im thinking for my taste buds I may need to go to 25% flavor on this one...

 

[Hoofhearted62]

FYI, try doing single flavors first, don't get too far ahead of yourself. What flavor calculator are you using if any? I use e-juice calculator from breaktru.com easy to work with and has some recipes in it already.

 

[Shadav]

use a calculator first to create the recipe so you can use exact measurements
take some time to familiarize yourself with how the calculator works, pick a simple recipe and tweak it to fit your needs....
I like the eJuice Me Up - Best eJuice Calculator

lol be careful and don't knock over your vials I've lost more juice that way
have plenty of napkins readily available and hand sanitizer for when you are done.

 

[BlueMoods]

Start low on the flavor - 5% max, they will cancel out if too high and, you can add more flavor easier than adding more of everything else to adjust it.

Keep in mind that complex flavors will need to steep to taste the real results so, be patient with them and, above all, it is YOUR juice, YOUR tastes and, YOUR satisfaction that matters - who cares if you are the only one in the world that likes what you mix.

 

[Milkhoney]

Thank you all, I'm gonna resist the urge to attempt an Elvis sandwich flavor right away.

FYI, try doing single flavors first, don't get too far ahead of yourself. What flavor calculator are you using if any? I use e-juice calculator from breaktru.com easy to work with and has some recipes in it already.

My Linux isn't agreeing with breakthru's calculator, so I've got a few online ones bookmarked for now, and will be doing my own math on top of that to triple check everything, and writing it all down of course. Usign TPA/TFA flavors, and probably going to be focusing mostly on sweet and coffee flavors, so probably things that do need some steep time I imagine. I tend to like simpler flavors, and I don't care for tobacco at all.

 

[Shadav]

unfortunately coffee flavors seem to be the hardest to attain

there's several calculators listed in the forum to try, I myself haven't tried really any others as breakthru's juice me up has worked for me...simple enough to grasp the concept and create/save my own recipes.

 

[trouble1000]

For me making loads of notes is the most important thing. Record all your percentages, all your trials and failures. Label your bottles properly, so that after your 3 weeks of steeping you can still remember what's in them
Also there's nothing worse than making up an amazing mix, not recording it properly and not being able to reproduce it.

 

[FACE MEAT]

FYI, try doing single flavors first, don't get too far ahead of yourself.

FYI, try doing single flavors first, don't get too far ahead of yourself.

FYI, try doing single flavors first, don't get too far ahead of yourself.

FYI, try doing single flavors first, don't get too far ahead of yourself.

FYI, try doing single flavors first, don't get too far ahead of yourself.

FYI, try doing single flavors first, don't get too far ahead of yourself.

I wish somebody had warned me about this. My first several mixes were horrid because I figured 6 or 8 flavors must be better than one.

 

[Milkhoney]

unfortunately coffee flavors seem to be the hardest to attain

NOOOOO!!!! That's the worst news ever. I love my morning coffee vape.

I did two so far, peppermint and banana. Figured I love those enough that if it's bad I can still vape it, and unlike a lot of them they smell pretty much what I expected them to in their bottles. Now I have to hunt down coffee recipes. Drinking coffee is no longer enough for me!

 

[Hoofhearted62]

there are e-juice calculators for android and iphones if your pc o/s wont work

 

[BlueMoods]

Coffee is very hard to find and just as hard to get right. When it comes to vape, coffee is not simply coffee, it's sweet, savory, metalic, dirt, roasted, toasted... quite a complex flavor when you really break it down and, that takes some doing in an extract, artificial flavor and, in a mix when, no matter what coffee flavoring you try, it's missing something.

I'm experimenting with dissolving some of the only instant I have found that makes a good cup of coffee in PG to see if I can get a good coffee base to work with. Yes 6 oz PG and 2 tsp instant coffee, so I can dilute it to 12 oz to get the rest of the stuff I need in there. If it's good, I can break it to smaller batches mathematically. Maybe not over concentrating the coffee to begin with is the trick of it?

 

[DeeDee1234]

Have fun./........

 

[trouble1000]

I've tried countless times to do a decent coffee mix, as well as trying pre-mix. Most of my attempts either tasted too much like tobacco - which I personally hate, or were overpowered by the other flavourings I added
Probably the best coffee type pre-mix I've bought is the Crentia Expresso, but even this isn't a true coffee taste to me. Guess I'll just have to stick to drinking coffee instead

 

[Shadav]

yeah still working on my coffee...I have a 10ml that I've been tweaking to or using in other things for awhile trying to get a good coffee taste....but at this point I couldn't even tell you what is all in it anymore....however atm between using it some coffee flavor from diyflavorshack (which has a great strong roasted coffee smell to it, haven't tried to vape it by itself yet) and some other flavorings (chocolate, sweetener, hazelnut, and well I don't remember anymore lol) I just made a 5 ml batch and am vaping on it...I'm too impatient to let things steep....it's at least coffee like.
It has a nice roasted taste to it but somewhere between a coffee and nut roasted taste and a hint of 3 day old burnt bottom of the barrel truckstop coffee lmfao...but coffeeish tasting at least so it's a step in the right direction....