DIY liquid baby steps

[dezyner]

I have tried, and am really tired of buying e-liquids pre-mixed based on just a description, and subjective tastes and opinions. just too frustrating. I have some samples still coming, but since I got my set-up nailed down finally, and now how a VV coming with decent delivery systems, I now have less variables and a constant to use, I am going to get more DIY supplies. I have already done some DIY with an unflavored nic base, and so far, I have one or two all day vape recipes I can live with. now I want to put together some variety and make improvements.

I found a pretty cool site from reading posts here, but thought I would check and ask, is wizardlabs.us a pretty good supplier? I have already used Lorann, Cappella and tried 4 or 5 pre-mixed suppliers.

for the price of the nic bases and price of the flavors, and variety, I want to give them a try. are the prices too good to be true, or is this what i should have expected all along? anything the uninitiated should know before buying $30 or $40 worth of DIY stuff here? I seem to be blowing more than that on pre-mix "samples" and shipping, and the large batches never match the "samples" when I do buy the pre-mixed. Some of it is steeping I'm sure, but still haven't found any one that really made me say, they "got it" right. so so at best. as always, much appreciated and thank you for your most excellent advice and experience.

 

[Goblue]

I haven't been into the DIY "world" for long but wizard labs is the only place I have ordered from. After reading through this forum and checking prices from other sites I'm not sure there is a better vendor out there. At $1.50 for the flavorings you can't go wrong. My only advice would be to start simple with your mixes. I tried to make a bunch of 3 and 4 flavor mixes the first time around and struck out. Start with single flavors and you'll get a feel for what flavors are like then start getting fancy. Back to the point of the post---Wizard Labs is awesome. Low prices, very fast shipping , and from what i hear great customer service. Give em a shot, and have fun!

 

[Elantis]

I personally have placed two orders with Wizard Labs, one still on it's way to me. The flavors they have are LorAnn's and The Flavor Apprentice.

 

[MattBott]

Wizard Labs is great! Most of their flavors come from The Flavor Apprentince. Great to be able to read the full descriptions on their site, then buy for super cheap at WL.

Their nic, VG and PG are also top notch!

Don't forget to pick up some syringes and needle tips as well. I'd recommend some 1ml syringes for measuring flavorings, 5ml, and 10ml for measuring your nic and bases. Needles, I'd recommend 14ga for VG and 18ga for everything else.

Don't forget bottles either!

Also, nice little holiday sale going on right now!!

 

[graybuck]

Wizzard is great. They have FA, and TPA flavors and lots of them. Price is great and they had a great deal for $1.99 for a 60ml of their new ultra refined nic solution this weekend. Good prices on measuring and bottling equipment too. I do order from cappela's as well for certain flavors. I am new at this but find its not real difficult to get nice flavors on simple one and two flavor juices. My biggest error is using too much flavor. It makes the juice too perfumy(sp) tasting. The rule is a little is good a lot is terrible.

 

[glassmanoak]

I agree that Wizard Labs is the best! Also, when mixing DIY solutions, start with small batches..3ml or 5ml. Don't add nic juice until you like the taste without nic. Keep records and be patient and let batches steep before declaring them a failure.
Good Luck!

 

[Levitas]

Don't add nic juice until you like the taste without nic.

Ah, but there are many who believe that the flavor alters with the use of nicotine in their blend. If this is true, then one might throw out a perfectly good recipe with never trying nic in it.

 

[glassmanoak]

Ah, but there are many who believe that the flavor alters with the use of nicotine in their blend. If this is true, then one might throw out a perfectly good recipe with never trying nic in it.

You need to test the juice, steep it, tweek it before adding the Nic juice. Nic is the most expensive part of any juice. Why waste it on a juice you don't like? I doubt that steeping a juice you don't like will suddenly become better better once you add nicotine.

 

[boog]

Nic is the most expensive part of any juice.

my flavorings cost more than my nic. twice as much.

nic- $40/500 ml
flavors- $20/120ml

 

[Levitas]

You need to test the juice, steep it, tweek it before adding the Nic juice. Nic is the most expensive part of any juice. Why waste it on a juice you don't like? I doubt that steeping a juice you don't like will suddenly become better better once you add nicotine.

I'm just saying, there are some people who firmly believe that nicotine alters the taste of a juice. Many DIY veterans, in fact. Personally, I didn't take too much stock in it myself, until I tested it out. There is a difference, though more prevalent in some blends over others.

 

[glassmanoak]

my flavorings cost more than my nic. twice as much.

nic- $40/500 ml
flavors- $20/120ml

For my most expensive to make juice (36 mg), the nic costs $1.20 and the 25% flavoring cost $0.42 at the prices you quoted. Even at 18mg, the nic would still be more expensive than the flavorings.
My point was.. Why waste money putting nicotine in a TEST that you might have to throw away, when you can test it WITHOUT and then decide if it it is worth testing WITH. Testing WITH nicotine costs twice as much! That's my point.

I can't afford to waste money by doing an initial test by putting nicotine in it! If I like the taste, etc AFTER tweaking the initial test, THEN I add nicotine.

OF COURSE, nicotine changes the taste of a juice, Levitas! Especially after steeping. Nicotine does alter the taste immensely. But, that isn't my point! I'm saying save money by not putting nicotine in the INITIAL test.

When I started doing DIY, I mixed all tests without. I tasted them and, sometimes, would vape them for weeks.. steeping, testing, etc. I vaped 6mg at the time. Soon, I found out that I really HATED the tastes of my regular juices with nicotine. I have been vaping 0 nic for about 6 months. There is definitely (TO ME) a difference in taste between 0 nic and even 6mg nic juices. I observe it and I trust my observations, as must anyone doing DIY.

I'm not trying to be a contentious a--hole (WELLLLLLL, maybe so), but I trust my power of observation and my ability to use deductive reasoning, and I believe that it is foolish to put nicotine into an INITIAL test, and nicotine DOES affect the taste of a juice. I also believe that I can get past the obnoxious taste of nicotine and judge the flavor of a mixture. I've been taste testing Boba's Bounty for 2 weeks and have a conclusion.. but that's another post.

 

[Levitas]

I agree, testing with nicotine could be a cost risk, then again, so is any mixing in general. Of course it goes without saying, by adding nicotine to an initial test, it would cost more than if doing it without. However, that's the name of this game, taking risks. Taking a risk on a 3-5ml bottle, even with nicotine for the initial test, is still much cheaper (for the most part) than trying a vendor made juice. The risk is minimal, in my opinion.

I understand where you're coming from, but I was just saying that if the initial taste test, without nicotine, tastes sort of off, one might be tempted to trash the recipe where as if they had just had the nicotine in there from the get go, it might have been a winner for them. This, of course, works either way. One could have made an initial blend with nicotine, and trashed it because it tasted off to them, where as it might have been wonderful with lower, or no nicotine at all.

Personally, I take the risk of using the small amount of nicotine for initial testing. I need to know what it is going to taste like as a finished product, with nic and all, before making a decision if it's going to be a keeper, something to hold on to to see if the flavor improves, or a dump out into the toilet. But that is, once again, just me.

 

[Jimi D.]

Just help the OP mix some juice. Instead of fighting on taste.

 

[Levitas]

Just help the OP mix some juice. Instead of fighting on taste.

Wanna know what's even more pointless than a debate (on the topic of mixing, by the way)? A post like this, with really nothing to offer

 

[Jimi D.]

Wanna know what's even more pointless than a debate (on the topic of mixing, by the way)? A post like this, with really nothing to offer

There's no point. Every time I read these threads, its like Chef Ramsay in a cooking show.

 

[vsummer1]

I mix my base first, then use it to make a small sample size of EXACTLY what I plan to vape. I make my base 50 ml's at a time, and it tests at 17.58 which is fine, since by the time I add my flavorings it gets it down to the range I want my nic to be in the final product.

It would be counterproductive to mix anything without nic as it would change the flavor and the TH. And in MY juice, those 2 things are the most important. YMMV.

If flavor and throat hit aren't a concern to the mixer, then by all means mix your tester without nic.

 

[Iffy]

It ¢o$t me $.0875 for the nic in a 5ml @ 15mg test sample. Think I'll stick with da test nic...

 

[dezyner]

wasn't trying to waste anyone's time on a pointless post/thread, I WAS trying however to get invaluable input as to sourcing in the DIY game, and I got it, and also learned one person doesn't waste money on nicotine, one person does, two people like to argue a lot, most don't, small batches, small flavor increments, and as I suspected, Wizard Labs was a great source. Thanks as always, I appreciate the experience.

 

[glassmanoak]

wasn't trying to waste anyone's time on a pointless post/thread, I WAS trying however to get invaluable input as to sourcing in the DIY game, and I got it, and also learned one person doesn't waste money on nicotine, one person does, two people like to argue a lot, most don't, small batches, small flavor increments, and as I suspected, Wizard Labs was a great source. Thanks as always, I appreciate the experience.

Point well taken and undeniably accurate !

 

[dezyner]

Wanna know what's even more pointless than a debate (on the topic of mixing, by the way)? A post like this, with really nothing to offer

The post title I thought was pretty accurate: DIY liquid BABY STEPS. it wasn't pointless for me. although mixing without nicotine is pretty pointless for me. that's the main ingredient and reason that I vape in the first place. I was mainly curious as to wizardlabs, and everyone else addressed that, but thanks anyways. took you post for what it was worth. as always thank you.