DIY 100% VG and 0mg Nic -- Could it really be this simple?

[traderljp]

Hi DIY forum! I am a new vapor (about a week with my ego starter kit) and am really enjoying learning all about vaping, e-liquids and DIY e-liquids. This is such a great forum!

Last night I spent some time with a friend that vapes and makes his own liquid...it was an eye-opening experience. The DIY juice that he makes is so much better then the pre-mixed e-liquid that came with my starter kit from Vape Dudes. Don't get me wrong, vape dudes' flavors are pretty good (I got Blue Honey, No-Bake Cake and Watermelon), but my friends DIY juice was a revelation. It was a completely different vaping experience. Now here is what blew my mind: he said he makes his juice for pennies per bottle and it didn't even have any nic in it. He gave me his recipe and where he buys his ingredients (I will list it below). My question is this: is it really this simple and cheap to make great liquid?

He uses 100% VG that he told me I could buy here: http://www.essentialdepot.com/servlet/the-110/Glycerin-Vegetable-KOSHER-USP/Detail and the flavor I tried was butterscotch by a company called Flavor West http://flavorwest.com/index.php/butterscotch.html and the last ingredient was filtered water.

Here are the amounts for a 30ml bottle:
24 ml VG
4 ml FW butterscotch flavor
2ml filtered water

Now I currently vape juice that contains nic, but I have to tell you that I did not miss the nic when I tried his DIY juice. I would like to eventually get down to 0mg nic for myself anyway, so I was really happy to have tried a 0mg juice and found that it was so good. I am going to buy these ingredients and try to replicate my friends' juice and I'll update this thread if anyone is interested. In the meanwhile (and before I spend some money to do this) I would be curious to hear about what some experienced DIY'ers think of this recipe.

And one last thing (I guess this could be important). When I tried his DIY juice, I vaped from his set-up (which was huge and looked like a police baton - I have a call in to him so he can tell me the name of his model). I currently vape from the ego starter kit from vape dudes. I don't know if it would make that much of a difference, but I thought that maybe the reason I enjoyed his juice so much could possibly be that he has a much better device then I do. I am currently awaiting some EVODs (thanks to forum member aglet for the suggestion to buy these), but right now I have CE4's on a regular EGO battery. Ok...that is everything. I have not posted much on the forum yet and I hope this is a useful/interesting post, or at least not a total waste of everyone's time.

 

[dannyv45]

That sounds about right and yes it's just that easy. The fun is when you start to experiment with different flavor combinations. Be cautioned that the vaping setup does have a lot to do with the vaping experience so It would be wise to look into your friends vaping rig.

 

[Vapeman12]

Yeah, its that easy if you want it to be, I vape Zero nic so i only use Flavor, VG and Distilled water. I mix 15ml bottles and use 11.5ML of VG, 1Ml flavor and 1ml of water on most of my mixes. Its fun and easy.
Some do use PG but i find no need for it so far.

 

[traderljp]

I appreciate you guys "validating" this simple way of doing things. I guess I just wanted to hear that it indeed really can be this simple. I like to read about all of the involved recipes on this thread, but I know that, at the end of the day, I would only undertake a DIY project if it was really easy and foolproof (and cheap)...and it looks like this one is.

What is so incredible is the price per bottle that this would come out to. If I have this right, the 4 ounce bottle of butterscotch would make 30 bottles of 30ml sized e-juice (at 4 ml of flavor per bottle). So if the 4 ounce bottle is $6.52, then each 30 ml bottle of e-juice would only cost about 20 cents each for flavor and then the only other cost would be the VG. And the filtered water is free . That is so much cheaper than buying pre-mixed that it is not even in the same universe!

Ok...Here I go!

 

[yellowsnow]

It is that simple and if you look around and buy in bulk it gets even cheaper than that.

 

[Vapeman12]

Yeah, you can buy VG and PG both in like Gallon containers its much cheaper then getting it in the smaller bottles. If you have the cash for it. and Plan to make loads of juice

 

[Bob Chill]

Not nearly as cheap but you can buy complex flavor combos from places like mom and pops and mount baker. You can get 10ml of M&P's famous 5 layer cake for 8 bucks. Enough to make 50-60ml of juice without having to go through a big learning curve and buying tons of different flavors.

 

[traderljp]

Not nearly as cheap but you can buy complex flavor combos from places like mom and pops and mount baker. You can get 10ml of M&P's famous 5 layer cake for 8 bucks. Enough to make 50-60ml of juice without having to go through a big learning curve and buying tons of different flavors.

Bob, I like the idea of avoiding a big learning curve and getting to try complex flavor combos, so I am now strongly looking at the DIY flavors at MBV.

All of this started, however, with me sampling my friend's DIY juice and enjoying it so much that I wanted to replicate it. When I went to order the 4 ounce bottle of butterscotch flavor that he suggested from Flavor West, I saw that the shipping was about $12...so my immediate reaction was to look for a few more flavors to buy so that I spread the big shipping cost among a larger order. Since each 4 ounce bottle of flavor makes a huge amount of juice, I soon realized that I was about to buy enough flavor to produce a few years worth juice and I came to my senses. I guess I will just buy the one bottle and pay the large shipping cost or I'll go with your idea of getting the smaller amounts from another place.

Thanks to everyone that helped me out here.

 

[dannyv45]

A big mistake is when you start replicating or cloning a juice. That's where the fustration starts to come in. You ask yourself "does mine taste as good as his" or "is mine as good as that venders juice" etc... Stay away from replicating and cloning and when you ask the question, the question should be "Does it taste good to me". You can then pat yourself on the back and be proud you came up with your own unique mix.

 

[kirkb]

Try a site like the flavor apprentice (TFA). You can pick up quite a few samples and not break the bank or end up with years worth of inventory. You are entering a realm of no return. If you have an ounce (or ml) of OCD, you will not be content with a couple of flavor sand will soon find yourself owning a toolbox full of supplies.

Using small samples such as those from TFA, you can cover a lot of ground for $20-30 and their shipping is reasonable.

Good luck and enjoy!

 

[dannyv45]

The problem with TFA flavors are they need to steep expecially the tobaccos and cream flavors. Others also report chemical or alcholo taste. For the new mixer these flavors are difficult to work with. My recommendation would be to start with hangsen flavors. These flavors you can get right the first time at 5 - 7%. Then if your feeling abbitious use the TFA flavors. Don't get me wrong you can get good results from TFA but they are more difficult to work with. Look here for hangsen flavors.

Hangsen e-Liquid Flavoring | ecigExpress

 

[kirkb]

The problem with TFA flavors are they need to steep expecially the tobaccos and cream flavors. Others also report chemical or alcholo taste. For the new mixer these flavors are difficult to work with. My recommendation would be to start with hangsen flavors. These flavors you can get right the first time at 5 - 7%. Then if your feeling abbitious use the TFA flavors. Don't get me wrong you can get good results from TFA but they are more difficult to work with. Look here for hangsen flavors.

Hangsen e-Liquid Flavoring | ecigExpress

Very valid statement especially with the tobaccos. They need time or other steeping methods to come into their own. But, if you are looking to try a wide variety and are willing to give time for your recipe to mature, you can't beat the TFA prices.

 

[Chas_L]

WIzard Labs has the best price on 8 ml bottles of TFA and LA flavoring. They also have very good prices on PG , VG and all of the other supplies one may need.

 

[traderljp]

Thanks for all the thoughts and suggestions. I'll update after I get my supplies and make my first batch.

 

[Ch!pDasRipp3r]

Thanks for all the thoughts and suggestions. I'll update after I get my supplies and make my first batch.

How did that first batch turn out?


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[traderljp]

How did that first batch turn out?


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Thanks for the reminder for me to update this...

I wound up ordering the butterscotch flavoring from MBV instead of FW as I was told it was the same flavoring and I did not want to pay such a big shipping cost to FW for one bottle.

Everything else was done exactly as the directions I was given. The results were a bit weaker versus the original (if my taste and memory serve me correctly). I still enjoy it, but I am giving it more time to steep (made this about 10 days ago). Another difference could be that I do not have the same mod as my friend...I'll be able to try my DIY mix with him (and his set-up) in a week or so, so that could be interesting.

 

[dylan199]

I cant wait to start making my own juice. I'm going to give the 100% vg a try and go from there.

 

[Angiebubs]

What impacts the flavor/quality the most? The flavor itself? Does the actual VG base differ in flavor from one place to another? How much impact does the nicotine supplier have on flavor?
(I just know I have become very biased in juices and really like the artisan e liquids....and am nervous of ever trying to make my own that it will end up like the 30-40 bottles of juices I have from less expensive vendors that I am unhappy with!)