Day one DIY

[Hoofhearted62]

Got my order of flavors from Wizard Labs yesterday and was a little apprehensive as to just going for it and start mixing. Here is what I got to start with.

Product	Model	Quantity	Price	Total
18mg Nicotine solution - 60ml - Carrier Base Liquid: 100% USP Vegetable	NS-18MG-60ML	1	$4.59	$4.59
Propylene Glycol - 60ml	PG-60ML	1	$1.99	$1.99
Vegetable Glycerin - 60ml	VG-60ML	1	$1.99	$1.99
Banana Cream Flavor Concentrate (TFA)	FL-TFA-BANANA-CREAM	1	$1.49	$1.49
Bavarian Cream Flavor (TFA)	FL-TFA-BAV-CREAM	1	$1.49	$1.49
Caramel Original TFA Flavor	FL-TFA-CARAMEL-ORIGINAL	1	$1.49	$1.49
Cheesecake Flavor Concentrate (TFA)	FL-TFA-CHEESECAKE	1	$1.49	$1.49
Cherry Flavor Concentrate (LA)	FL-LA-CHERRY	1	$1.49	$1.49
Cinnamon Danish Flavor (TFA)	FL-TFA-CINNAMON-DANISH	1	$1.49	$1.49
Cinnamon Natural Flavor Concentrate (TFA)	FL-TFA-CINNAMON-NAT	1	$1.49	$1.49
Coconut Flavor Concentrate (LA)	FL-LA-COCONUT	1	$1.49	$1.49
Maple Flavor Concentrate (TFA)	FL-TFA-MAPLE	1	$1.49	$1.49
Strawberry Flavor Concentrate (TFA)	FL-TFA-STRAWBERRY	1	$1.49	$1.49
Vanilla Cupcake Flavor Concentrate (TFA)	FL-TFA-VANILLA-CUPCAKE	1	$1.49	$1.49
Vanilla Custard Flavor Concentrate (TFA)	FL-TFA-VANILLA-CUSTARD	1	$1.49	$1.49
Waffle Flavor Concentrate (TFA)	FL-TFA-WAFFLE	1	$1.49	$1.49
Whipped Cream Flavor (TFA)	FL-TFA-WHIPPED-CREAM	1	$1.49	$1.49
Apple Flavor Concentrate (TFA)	FL-TFA-APPLE	1	$1.49	$1.49
Cinnamon Sugar Cookie Flavor (TFA)	FL-TFA-CINNAMON-SUGAR-COOKIE	1	$1.49	$1.49
Hazelnut Flavor Concentrate (TFA)	FL-TFA-HAZELNUT	1	$1.49	$1.49
Honey Flavor Concentrate (TFA)	FL-TFA-HONEY	1	$1.49	$1.49
Milk Chocolate Flavor (TFA)	FL-TFA-MILK-CHOC	1	$1.49	$1.49
Sub-Total:	$36.88
Priority Mail:	$8.75
Total:	$45.63

As you probably can tell, I like the dessert type flavors, I smoked off and on more than 25 years, and since I started vaping almost 2 months ago, I cant stand the smell or taste of the real thing. Now the big question, any suggestions on some really good juices I can make with these? I am going to get some additional flavors like sweetners and butter, but if someone can give me a good starting place that would be greatly appreciated. I have used a few e calculators to try and get my feet wet. I made my first batch this morning and am going to set them aside to steep at least for a day or so before I try them. I hope i'm not disappointed in what turns out. I made 7 bottles of juices, 12 mg nic 20% flavors and I think I made a slight error in ordering 18mg nic in VG instead of PG. Should I order NIC in PG in the future instead. Thank for listening.. Hoofy

 

[alien502]

Man if I knew it was that cheap I'd have done this a while ago.

 

[clayworks]

Congrats on kicking analogs! And keep us posted on your DIY results, I am interested to hear how they turn out. I've been considering taking the plunge down that avenue as well.

 

[Hoofhearted62]

Man if I knew it was that cheap I'd have done this a while ago.

I would have not even started vaping if I hadn't gone out of town to visit a relative that did it, I bought him a new 250 rig and he gave me all his ego gear in return, I absolutely love vaping. No more smelly clothes, or the wife complaining that I stink like cigs. I can sit in my office at work and puff all day long. LOL

 

[deniz]

Good luck with DIY. I waiting to move to my new place to start DIY. Definitely cheaper and more fun

 

[sss1911]

Looks like a great start. good luck

 

[MissAmerican]

Great job ordering! I love bakery types too. Whenever I test a flavor I have not yet tried I like to put 5 drops of PG 5 drops of VG and maybe just a drop or 2 of the flavoring so I can taste it and see if I like it so I won't waste other ingredients if I end up not liking a flavor. Make sure you write everything down because as I have learned nothing is worse in DIY than making a great juice and not remembering the exact flavors/ratios you used. There are so many great mixing possibilities with the flavors you ordered. Try making a chocolate hazelnut cinnamon sugar cookie...delish! I too like my flavors strong and use 20%. Next time you order I would recommend peanut butter flavor to add to your arsenal its good stuff, also sweetener can help make a juice even better. Good luck and happy DIY'ing!

 

[debcartee]

Does WL only have priority shipping? I wanted to place a. 38.00 order and shipping is 11.50. WTH?

 

[Kellycat]

Does WL only have priority shipping? I wanted to place a. 38.00 order and shipping is 11.50. WTH?

You're buying large items or overweight items most likely, I just made a $30-some dollar order of flavorings and got $3.77 1st class post, but if I added an extra empty 50ml bottle to the order it forced me to do Priority at $6. A difference from 5 to 6 little plastic bottles made the difference..so I'm betting with shipping at that price you're buying PG/VG/nic, which is heavier than you can mail 1st class usually.

 

[Racehorse]

I made 7 bottles of juices, 12 mg nic 20% flavors and I think I made a slight error in ordering 18mg nic in VG instead of PG. Should I order NIC in PG in the future instead.

you really should be mixing your test juice in straight pg/vg first, not using your precious nicotine solution.

Write down the recipe, then if you like it, make it with nic solution next go round.

Now, if you don't like what you mixed, and have to dump, the nic solution is the most expensive thing that will be going down the sink since it's about twice or more expensive than plain pg or vg.

 

[Hoofhearted62]

Fortunately I am forced to follow your advise Racehorse, I wanted to get another batch together so they could get some steep time, So I made another 10 or so flavors yesterday. But since my initial order was only 60 ml of NIC there wasn't going to be enough of it to do all the bottles. SO I made all new batches 50/50 at 10-15% flavors. Does that sound like a better plan?

 

[Bill's Magic Vapor]

A very nice start, I would say. I use TFA flavors and have all the above and a few more, maybe all of them, now that I think about it. You need to get some cotton candy, ethyl maltol and sweetner if you want to make some good pastry and creamy stuff. Ok, from your list, I like the cinnamon Danish with Bavarian cream (and cotton candy). That's my ADV. Any of the fruits with the Bavarian cream, say 12% flavoring (7 + 5) will be nice. Strawberry cheesecake (yum).

Ok, some advice. Decide on a target juice, don't just make 20 at once, because you can't "perfect" twenty different juices. You can "perfect" two or three juices at a time. You need a starting point on flavors, there are two really good starting point threads for TFA flavors. In your fruity, pastry, creamy, Danish vein, I would stay in the 12% - 16% range. Just made a killer juice for the wife and actualy nailed it first time (rare):

3.33% of each of TFA juicy peach, pears, brown sugar, and cotton candy (sweetener). Yum. She made me increase the Brown sugar to 5% on second batch.

Ok, steeping. Leave the mixes open air for first 24 hours in dark, cool place like a cupboard. After 24 hours, place tops on them and let them sit a minimum of 4 days. Shake at first, at second, at third (always shake). Single mixes require less steeping than compound mixes. So, if you make a single ingredient cheesecake, it can be pretty good in two days (two weeks is better, but who can wait that long?).

Make small batches, I usually 4 ml tester/taste bottles and do 3 - 4 ml at a time. I usually make five variations for every flavor, AFTER I know the starting point.

What nic will you be vaping at. Since your base is 18 mg/ml, I'm assuming 12 mg? I would suggest much stronger nic base to start as it's much cheaper to dilute strong nic with PG and VG, and you need a lot of dilution to be able to create the widest flexibility in PG/VG ratios. I use 60 and 100 mg/ml nic bases. Be careful. Use gloves with the stronger nic, 60 and higher.

Be very patient. I make my juice for one to two weeks out MINIMUM. You can't mix something now, and then test it. Takes days for the flavor bonds to be created. Again, be patient. I don't even try my juices any more for about 3 days to 7 days, minimum. Waste of juice and it will just taste like a bunch of chemicals, and you may get discouraged. A week later, those chemicals may be vaping Nirvana.

Ok, enough for now. Please see the TFA threads. Countless recipes, advice, starting points, tips, etc. Making juice is the best thing about vaping to me. Plus the gear....and the vaping....and ECF. Well, it's all pretty great. Also, get the right gear to start. Beakers, amber bottles, syringes, pipettes, etc. Expensive to start. Don't store juices in plastic more than 30 days, or you'll get leaching. Amber bottles are important. Cupboard storage seems the best. Be patient (did I mention that). Best to you!

 

[Puff Vader]

I just started mixing my own flavors as well. One I really like so far is a mix with cinnamon and vanilla bean ice cream. You have to take it easy with the cinnamon though, it is strong. I use 1 part cinnamon with 3 parts vanilla for the flavoring. The vanilla smells really strong but the vap is light. The cinnamon hits hard on the throat if you add too much. Hope that helps and gives you something to try. I know you did not get pineapple but another good mix I found is pineapple with coconut at a 1 part to 1 part mix.

 

[Custo]

How many bottles does 1 8ml bottle of flavoring make?

 

[AttyPops]

Nice start. Not bad at all at 7 ish cents per ml for base.

I used to order (still may) my base in multiples of my target strength. For example, double strength allowed me to fill bottles 1/2 full of nic base and the remainder with flavoring and cut solution. Triple strength would mean filling 1/3 of a bottle with base and topping off. Of course a good sale on 100mg base changed my plan slightly. But it's still a good trick.

Also, since I vape juice with a high PG content, I ordered the base in PG. That way, I could do zero VG if I didn't want any in the juice. You have to think about it because sometimes they offer options ...like 50/50 base or all VG or all PG. Depends on your goals. Some people are sensitive to PG and never want any...even in their flavorings.

See the DIY juice section for more info. Happy vaping!
DIY E-Liquid

 

[AttyPops]

How many bottles does 1 8ml bottle of flavoring make?

The flavoring thing is a crap-shoot.

Some flavors you use one or two drops per 30 ml bottle. lol. Others are 10 or 20 %. And it varies by not only the flavor, but your preference as well.

There's no rule.

Well, maybe 1 rule...too much Mt Dew Drops tastes like old gym socks and makes you puke. One or two drops, is OK.

So caution. Also search "steeping".

 

[Cavediver]

Word to the wise: use a very light hand with that cheesecake flavor. I mixed up a sample of cheesecake at 5% and it's toxic. I'm not sure what type of cheesecake they're using as a model, but it only has the faintest resemblance to the flavors I know as cheesecake. I might be able to use it at 1% in some recipes, however, I think I'm going to put it in a deep, dark cupboard and try cheesecake from Flavor Art or Capella instead.

Take it slow, be methodical, record everything, get a good mixing calculator, and keep some back-up juice in case things don't work out so well

Good luck!

 

[MissAmerican]

I wish I had the patience to let my juices steep, I almost always start vaping them right away. I have read about the hot water steeping method and am going to try that as soon as I get more VG vape mail. I have a question, I've been mixing for a while now and have noticed that some of the juices I made and forgot about for a few weeks now have a perfumey taste and smell to it, (rendering it unvapeable to me) anyone know why that seems to happen? Has it happened to any of you out there? Any help on that would be appreciated

 

[Hoosier]

I have a question, I've been mixing for a while now and have noticed that some of the juices I made and forgot about for a few weeks now have a perfumey taste and smell to it, (rendering it unvapeable to me) anyone know why that seems to happen? Has it happened to any of you out there? Any help on that would be appreciated

Yep, read my blog on flavoring levels and look very carefully at #7 on that list. (Link under my avatar. The "3" to the right of Blog Entries

 

[Racehorse]

Fortunately I am forced to follow your advise Racehorse, I wanted to get another batch together so they could get some steep time, So I made another 10 or so flavors yesterday. But since my initial order was only 60 ml of NIC there wasn't going to be enough of it to do all the bottles. SO I made all new batches 50/50 at 10-15% flavors. Does that sound like a better plan?

well of course, as you are not supposed to use your more expensive nic solution for *experiements*.

Also, I would not make more than 5ml at a time. That is the top limit I make when playing around.

Once i have the recipe written down, and I've made 5ml and steeped it and it's good and vapeable, then I use the recipe to make it w/nic in it, and make 15ml