Finding a baseline mix percentage?

[Cassius49]

Hello everyone,

I'd like to say thank you to all the members here for providing such a comprehensive and user friendly place for use to collaborate. I've snooped around this site for months but just registered today.

So, I have just now broke into the world of DIY. I ordered all my favourite flavours and ingredients I nees from my local supplier and I'm good to get started. What I notice is that taste is a totally individual thing. What you might like mixed at 6%, I might like at double that etc. So before I start making juices with multiple flavours I feel the only way to know what each flavour tastes like, and at what concentration it tastes that way, I am going to mix them all exactly the same way to get a starting point of referance. I was thinking of mixing 5ml testers at 8%, 80/20 with no sweetener or EM. Let steep for a week and start reviewing. Make adjustment up or down from there. Am I on the right track? Thanks for your help and taking the time to read this novel. Haha. Cheers

 

[Cullin Kin]

Hey! First of all, welcome to ECF!!!!!

Okay, as for figuring out percentages you are exactly right, it's on an individual basis. So, the best way, so your not waiting a week every time you adjust the percentage is to make 4-5 test batches of 2-3mL each. In each one start the percentage at 4, then in the next 8, and so on up to 20%. 20% is the max I've seen flavoring a used at besides Capellas Vanilla Custard.

Also, I now use EM in every single one of my mixes. It never hurts it and I feel that it kind of helps bland the flavors on top of making the whole mix sweeter.

Don't be disappointed if some don't turn out, it's all part of the process. Honestly, it would probably be better for you to start with some tried and true recipes before free mixing. But to each his own. They're out there in the inter webs if you need them. I started with free mixing and I totally shouldn't have. It lead to mass quantities of juice being dumped down the drain. Good luck on your DIY journey!

 

[Cassius49]

Thank you!

That's great advise. I appreciate the direction as I would likely have gone up by a percent or two each trial run and been there a year doing it lol.

I though about the ready mix recipes but honestly I have found very little juice in my city that I have liked. That's why I got into DIY, and the fact that I vape at 2mg nic and my juice supplier only had 18mg, so by the time I cut it back the flavour was nearly extinct.

I will look for some good recipes. I'm 80 percent bakery/deserts and 20 fruits kinda guy..... I'm sure there's thousands kicking around. Thanks again! Glad to be here.

 

[Cullin Kin]

Thank you!

That's great advise. I appreciate the direction as I would likely have gone up by a percent or two each trial run and been there a year doing it lol.

I though about the ready mix recipes but honestly I have found very little juice in my city that I have liked. That's why I got into DIY, and the fact that I vape at 2mg nic and my juice supplier only had 18mg, so by the time I cut it back the flavour was nearly extinct.

I will look for some good recipes. I'm 80 percent bakery/deserts and 20 fruits kinda guy..... I'm sure there's thousands kicking around. Thanks again! Glad to be here.

No problem! I actually meant DIY recipes not premade mixes or diluting vendor juices. If you click on my username, then on my profile click on 'latest started threads' or something like that. In there I think about the 4th link down there is a thread called 'Capellas DIY Recipe Thread V2.0' or something. There's about 45 DIY recipes in there that are tried and true and delicious. They use only Capella flavors though. There's also a TFA recipe thread, Flavor West, and just a general recipe thread floating around the forum. Those would all be good places to base starting points for flavoring percentages.

 

[Cassius49]

No problem! I actually meant DIY recipes not premade mixes or diluting vendor juices.

Great, thank you Cullin. I will definitely check that out. The two suppliers I went with were Capella and TFA so that will work well. I'll check that out now. The great thing about that is a guy can always fine tune the recipe to his taste with any decent makeup calculator. I use ejuice me up, but I know there are many. As you said, those recipes will give me a good starting point and save a lot of waste. Good on ya!

 

[SouthMark40]

The other point I would make in addition is vape your mixture for a while before deciding on whether it needs less or more flavour I find sometimes that after a while vaping it (maybe after an hour) the flavour changes slightly as I learnt recently.

Another good point is don't put any nicotine in your test batches as this is the most expensive part of any mix and if it's not good and you throw it down the drain it hasn't cost you a lot

If your going to make really small batches understand how may drops in a ml you will see this setting in the EJuice me up calculator general rule of thumb dependant on the manufacturers bottle is 40/50 drops per ml if you add this to your recipe in the calculator and then press calculate now you should have the drops that you need to add aswell as the ml which makes mixing a whole lot easier when mixing very small batches

Hope this helps and welcome to the world of DIY...... It's great!

 

[Cullin Kin]

No problem! I actually meant DIY recipes not premade mixes or diluting vendor juices.

Great, thank you Cullin. I will definitely check that out. The two suppliers I went with were Capella and TFA so that will work well. I'll check that out now. The great thing about that is a guy can always fine tune the recipe to his taste with any decent makeup calculator. I use ejuice me up, but I know there are many. As you said, those recipes will give me a good starting point and save a lot of waste. Good on ya!

Keep up that willingness to learn man. I am much obliged help anybody that's willing to listen.

Yes, I fine tune all of the recipes I've used. Like Perpetuas Vanilla Custard which is phenomenal!!! I highly suggest you make that one if you have the ingredients. The capellas French vanilla can be replaced in equal percentage by french vanilla deluxe by TFA.

 

[Susan~S]

Hello and welcome to the forum Cassius49. Glad to have you here!

For all things DIY head on over to the DIY ELiquid Forum. You will not be able to post there until you get in your first 5 posts and the servers update at :25 past the hour. Make sure to read all the "stickies".

Recommended Reading For People New to DYI by ECF member dannyv45 => Includes links to his & Hoosier's Blogs.

For a juice mixing calculator consider using eJuiceMeUp

Here are some threads you may like to read through for different flavoring companies. Many of the posts include recipes and comments about a specific flavor.

1. Flavor Arts (FA) - Pure Vapes has 3ml FlavourArt flavorings
2. The Flavor Apprentice (TFA) - The Flavor Apprentice Flavoring Thread => Also see Bill's Magic Vapor Blogs
3. Inawera (IW) - Inawera - a few reviews
4. Capella (CAP) - http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/diy-e-liquid/637270-diy-capellas-recipe-thread-v2-0-a.html
5. Hangsen (HS) - The Hangsen Thread
6. VapingZone (VZ) - New Super Concentrated Flavors & New Super Concentrated Flavors - Part 2
7. Flavor West (FW) - Flavor West DIY flavor review

DIY Recipe Sites

* ECF E-Liquid Recipes <= Feel free to post your recipes here for all members to enjoy
* EcigExpress Archive Cookbook
* E-Liquid-Recipes
* UK E-Liquid Recipes
* kritikalmass - E-Liquid Recipes
* One Stop DIY Shop - Recipes

 

[Cassius49]

Wow, thank you all so much. Great info there.

I do have ejuice me up. It is the calculator I use. I've been looking online for TFA recipes as I have mainly their flavours at the moment so the links you posted will be very helpful. I'm really excited to start making my own for pennies compared to what I've been spending. I worked in a lab for years so this is right up my alley lol. Thanks again!

 

[WattWick]

You may find this an interesting read.

http://ukvapers.org/Thread-GRIZWALD-s-GUIDE-TO-ALL-THINGS-MIXING

Especially the part about pre-mixing some flavors rather than dumping in all flavors at the same time.

 

[Cassius49]

Awesome, thank you WattWick. I'll check it out now.