DIY Day One

[Sed Contra]

So my first batch was a loss. I had read the lines wrong and botched it. It was TFA Whipped Cream at 15%. I dumped it.

My second effort was FA Custard at 15%, and I think it turned out okay, though I suspect that it needs some serious steeping.

For fun, I mixed up Strawberries & Cream at 15% with a few drops each of TFA Whipped Cream, TFA Cinnamon Sugar Cookie, TFA Banana Cream, and FA Custard. I also added a drop of Ms. T's Bakery sweetener. I'm vaping it right now in a 1.5 Ohms Ikenvape 510 Canon drip atomizer at 2.5 volts. It's not bad. It's better than unsteeped Mt. Baker Vapor "Moo juice," anyway...I'm thinking that next time I should skip the few drops of those other flavors and go with 20% Strawberries & Cream with a drop or two or sweetener. Maybe I'll do the Cotton Candy trick when my next order comes in on Friday to get it a bit sweeter without using sweetener.

Other than figuring out how to easily get precise minute measurements, I think that this DIY thing will be a great way of saving some dough and it will give me another creative outlet.

 

[keelalagirl55]

If needed, I use 1/2 cc insulin syringes (removing the needle) for very minute measurements....up to .5 ml in .01 ml increments

 

[Hillbillie]

If needed, I use 1/2 cc insulin syringes (removing the needle) for very minute measurements....up to .5 ml in .01 ml increments

Hi Keela!

How do you remove the needle on the insulin syringes? I've tried and failed at least 3 times and the needle is too small of gauge to extract anything into it. (?)

 

[Hillbillie]

If needed, I use 1/2 cc insulin syringes (removing the needle) for very minute measurements....up to .5 ml in .01 ml increments

Hi Keela!

How do you remove the needle on the insulin syringes? I've tried and failed at least 3 times and the needle is too small of gauge to extract anything into it. (?)

 

[keelalagirl55]

Hi Keela!

How do you remove the needle on the insulin syringes? I've tried and failed at least 3 times and the needle is too small of gauge to extract anything into it. (?)

heheh Hiya Hillbillie...you got the ECF hiccup

Pliers on the plastic cap that holds the needle. Once removed, the tip looks like a standard tipped syringe.

Edit: I should add that I twist and pull with the pliers....just pullin was not near as easy

 

[Hillbillie]

Ah! So it isn't the actual needle I should be pulling on? Ha! Figures....lol. Here I bought a whole bag and, after my 3 fails, I was looking for a diabetic to give 'em to.

 

[keelalagirl55]

Took me a few to figure it out too....broke several needles off trying before it clicked

 

[Harlen]

I like to make my juice 100 ml at a time so as to not need the micro needles
Keep at it and if you make an oops save it ,it just might be good ????

 

[Hillbillie]

Thanks, Keela!


Good luck to you, Contra. I'll be watching for what you end up with. I'm too new to DIY (obviously...still learning how to use a syringe) to offer any sound advice.

 

[Hillbillie]

I like to make my juice 100 ml at a time so as to not need the micro needles
Keep at it and if you make an oops save it ,it just might be good ????

Whoa...100 mls?! Yeah....I don't have those kind of skills (or monies). I've mixed about 14 different "recipes" so far....was able to only tweak 2 to complete vapability.

 

[Sed Contra]

I'm vaping Strawberries & Cream right now...tanked it up in a carto-tank. I used 15% and think that closer to 20% would be better, but still...it's tanked up and I'm vaping!

 

[Chas_L]

I'll do the Cotton Candy trick when my next order comes in on Friday to get it a bit sweeter without using sweetener.

Be very careful with this, a little like 1-2% adds a bit of sweetness but much more really kills a lot of flavors. IMO sweetner iseasier to us unless you just want to take the sharpness out of a mix.

I also suggest letting you new batches steep for awhile before adding more flavoring a it is easy to overflavor and end up with less flavor.

 

[dannyv45]

I'll do the Cotton Candy trick when my next order comes in on Friday to get it a bit sweeter without using sweetener.

Be very careful with this, a little like 1-2% adds a bit of sweetness but much more really kills a lot of flavors. IMO sweetner iseasier to us unless you just want to take the sharpness out of a mix.

I also suggest letting you new batches steep for awhile before adding more flavoring a it is easy to overflavor and end up with less flavor.

EM which is cotton candy is a bit more forgiving then sweetener (Sucarlous). Sweetener is what you have to be careful with as a little bit sweetens a lot.

 

[Sed Contra]

EM which is cotton candy is a bit more forgiving then sweetener (Sucarlous). Sweetener is what you have to be careful with as a little bit sweetens a lot.

Exactly. Also, I'm sensitive to the taste of artificial sweeteners, i.e., I can taste the littlest bit and don't like it, so maybe EM will work better for me.

 

[williebb123]

i like to use .6ml of stevia on a 30ml bottle of juice is right for me but everybody is different so go smaaaaall

 

[tdavids]

I use a 1ml luer tip syringe I got from RTS vapes when I ordered my first batch of supplies. You can use it with or without the needle and it also gives .1ml increments.

 

[Rickb119]

Whoa...100 mls?! Yeah....I don't have those kind of skills (or monies). I've mixed about 14 different "recipes" so far....was able to only tweak 2 to complete vapability.

You'll be doing that too after you make a few small batches of one that you really really like.

 

[Sed Contra]

I use a 1ml luer tip syringe I got from RTS vapes when I ordered my first batch of supplies. You can use it with or without the needle and it also gives .1ml increments.

USPS tracking says that my 1ml and 10ml stuff (as well as EM) from RTS will arrive tomorrow, so I'll be experimenting with some more complicated recipes tomorrow.

 

[tdavids]

I am just working with single flavor recipes right now too see what works for me. I got the 1ml for test batches and since I vape@3mg nic the amount of nic i use is tiny.

 

[Sed Contra]

Okay, so...

I got in a shipment from Wizard Labs today, and now I'm rocking the 1ml and 10ml syringes. WOW! What a difference. I'm going to chuck 25 1ml and 25 3ml pipettes now.

I made one more complicated recipe in a 5ml tester: Banana Cookie (TFA Cinnamon Sugar Cookie 15%, TFA Banana Cream 5%, Flavour Art Custard 2%) with 50/50 at 1.8% nic. Not bad. Good learning experience in terms of mixing three flavors. It vapes great and tastes pretty good - just not really a cookie...more like a light, fluffy, creamy, slightly spiced, banana mousse or something.

I also made up 3ml testers of Whipped Cream 20%, Orange Cream 20%, Strawberries & Cream 20%, Banana Cream 20%, and Cinnamon Sugar Cookie 20% - these were mostly to see what they taste like at 20% since 15% seemed a bit on the weak side the other day, but also to get a better sense of what each one tasted like.

I got in EM from Wizard Lab today, too, but I decided not to use it until after I have a handle on what the flavorings taste like on their own.

3ml testers seems like a fair size to test with, too, and I actually prefer 3ml bottle for dripping, so it works out pretty well for me. If I like to drip it with the 3ml bottle, I can always go bigger later.

All of this new experience is prompting me to think more about getting more flavors to work with. The 1ml syringe just freakin' rocks, so I'm feeling quite confident in my mixing ability. Now the issue is recipes and testing.

Questions:

What's the best way to clean out the syringes and needles? I have at least one 1ml syringe and locking needle per flavoring and I have three 10ml syringes (1 for VG/Nic, 1 for PG, and 1 extra), so if I can properly clean and maintain what I have, I'll buy an additional 1ml syringe and locking needle for each new flavoring that I get (which might be too much, but I'd rather have more than I need than not enough).

Should I boil them? Use vodka? What?

Thanks!