DIY juice

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Train2

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Agreed - skimming that TFA thread, you'll find everything from mixing tips that make you smack your forehead, to recipes to try.

In CASE someone wants to make specific suggestions:

What kind of flavors do you LIKE???
(tobacco? fruit? desserts? coffee?)

What have you TRIED already?
(actual recipe, if possible - and are you using a calculator?)

And what seemed to be wrong with it?
 

rstan33

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I like both tobacco and fruit flavors. I have tried mango, strawberry, coconut, pina colada, and pear. Tobacco: red oak, cubano (for my dad, which is pretty good) , and american red. I also just got some bourbon and vanilla bourbon flavors. I do use a calculator also. They seem harsh or perfumy. I try with new coils to no avail.

wont let me post the link to my calculator...
 

DingerCPA

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rstan, harsh/perfumy probably means too much flavoring for you, or you might need to let them sit a little longer before you vape them. I tend to make my flavors a little light until I get the hang of each flavor variety. Some I need a little more, some a little less, depending on what I'm making.

Wander over to the DIY section and read the blogs by Hoosier and Danny45. Hoosier talks about the "flavor spectrum" and what you may encounter with too little or too much flavoring.

So, even with new coil, if the juice is over-flavored, it's still going to come out "less-than-optimal"
 

sketchness

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I bought a bunch of different flavors and am slowly experimenting with them. The most difficult thing about DIY is that it takes time. Time to figure out recipes. And time to let the juices sit and steep once you mix them. I have found also with DIY i seem to mix nicotine at much lower levels. THis to me is where I find that the harshness comes into play. I have found nude nicotine to be the smoothest nicotine so far of what I have tried. I have also tried wizardlabs and vapers tek from bullcityvapors.com.

When playing with a flavor i usually will mix flavor in 1ml of vg with a toothpick until i can taste to see if I like it without wasting my supplies. You also might try some ethyl maltol and marshmallow flavoring ( I use capella) to take off the rough edges. Fruits can generally be vaped immediately and tobacco has to sit from what I hear. so far Seedmans captain black, and Inawera Burly are my fave tobaccos.

As far as harshness goes mix a 5ml VG batch starting at 1% flavoring and work your way up.
 

mkbilbo

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I am using TFA flavors but having trouble getting something that I really like, flavor-wise. I bought all supplies from wizard labs who has a great reputation, so I don't think my supplies are bad. Not sure what Im doing wrong.

Yeah, that's what we call "normal". It's a lot like cooking. You're going to throw out a lot of the stuff you make at first.

Do go join the DIY liquid section. I "lurk" there a lot myself. I've been doing my own for a while now but am still no expert. I'm good at my basic, "mainstays" but they're mostly single flavor, simple things. I've been experimenting with slightly more complex ones lately but it's real "hit or miss". I have a bunch of 10ml attempts I'm trying to figuard out lately whether to try rescuing them or just tossing the lot of 'em.
 

SirEJuice

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DIY is one of the funnest and madenning things you'll ever get into for a hobby. Like most hobbies it's a quazi-science and an art. One thing I've done (I am lucky to have a decent budget to play with) is I'll just brainstorm ideas and put them in an excel document. Once I have 30-40 ideas I'll then go thru and make all of them at once, I even had 16 variations in 10mL samples of different percentages and mixes trying to come up with just one flavor. If you can afford it, making lots of small samples is the way to go, really cuts down your waiting time as opposed to making something, letting it steep, unsatisfied. Make it again, let it steep, needs more tweaking.
 

Train2

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Do watch out for over-flavoring - I'd say, try a simple recipe, and make a couple mls at 5% and at 10%, then see how they are....

With tobacco and vanilla flavors, that chemical/perfume taste and smell can GO AWAY with steeping.
There are dozens of threads about steeping, but here are the top few concepts:

1) Flavors change with time - if you mix, then let it sit a couple weeks, it can make a dramatic difference!
2) With those two, I found I had to actually steep with tops off some - I think there's perhaps an alcohol base in the tobacco flavoring that kills the taste for me til it evaporates out. I could be wrong, but that's what it took for me to like some juices I BOUGHT that had tobacco or vanilla in them. I'd let em sit with the squirt top off for a couple days so they "got some air" then close and shake them every day or so, too.
3) Speeding this up can be accomplished possibly with some warmth, more shaking, etc - many people put DIY liquid into an ultrasonic cleaner that warms and shakes at very high speed.

My everyday flavor I make changes color and flavor over about 10 days.
Look - this is EXACTLY the same blend. One fresh, one's about a week old...it's gets a little darker than that too. It's good right away, but it's better 2 weeks later - that's "steeping".
steepcolor_zpsc51fcd62.jpg



I like both tobacco and fruit flavors. I have tried mango, strawberry, coconut, pina colada, and pear. Tobacco: red oak, cubano (for my dad, which is pretty good) , and american red. I also just got some bourbon and vanilla bourbon flavors. I do use a calculator also. They seem harsh or perfumy. I try with new coils to no avail.
 

gwhetzler

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God yes keep notes on EVERY thing you make and do with diy. You will thank yourself later. Also some of the flavors are just perfumey by nature. Ie dk type blend. You can let them steep with the cap off for 24 to 48 hrs and that will help some as well. Also start low on the flavor and work up till you find the sweet spot for each one.
 

K31Scout

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I like both tobacco and fruit flavors. I have tried mango, strawberry, coconut, pina colada, and pear. Tobacco: red oak, cubano (for my dad, which is pretty good) , and american red. I also just got some bourbon and vanilla bourbon flavors. I do use a calculator also. They seem harsh or perfumy. I try with new coils to no avail.

wont let me post the link to my calculator...

I use Pina Colada at 7% all alone in a 50/50 mix and came down from 10%. Mexican Liqueur is great at 4% the same way. I have around 40 flavors from TFA and only use 7. Like others have said start with low percentage and work up.
 

dice57

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First off, have you found your preferred VG/PG ratio?? Frak, depending on the recipe, I mix at 8-16% flavor extract. Do mix at 70% VG, and use a PG carrier nic base, mixing at 12 mg nic.

When first starting out, would mix 10 ml test batches. Felt needed that much juice to get a decent homogenous test sample. I always use plastic syringes for measuring, have a selection of sizes from 1 ml, to 60 ml.

Most first time mixer bad trials, seem to be from using to much extract. Tis easier to bump up the flavor, then dilute it. Also, some flavors are much more potent than others, and must be used sparingly or can ruin the entire batch. Coffee flavors are extremely strong and must be used with a light touch. Also straight cinnamon and red hot cinnamon should be used in moderation. Very strong influence.

To tell the Truth, when first experimenting with DIY mixing, I just looked at flavors that sounded good, and made up recipes. Me first creation remains to be one of me fave House Select Juices.

Like with most things vape, one just has to play with it, till if Vapes right. Personal preference contributes highly to any recipe created.



Vape long and Prosper.!!!
 

Rickb119

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