It's really not super hard, DIY if approached with the right attitude, and yes, there is a DIY forum here where you will find flavors and recipes and whatnot and also a whole other forum dedicated to flavors you can check out.
Using others premade recipes can work out well, you can also get flavors called one shots that are all premade and you can pretty much shake and vape, while other mixes steep. There are various ways you can find one shots, and when I started (I still do if it's a vastly new flavor) I mix it as a stand alone to get a
sense for steep times and/or flavoring percentages and there is no substitute for your own palate. If you keep good notes you'll get a
sense of what you like and don't like, as well as sort of "average" percentage of flavoring you like. Also, some juices require far less steeping while others need longer, you can also check out flavor
reviews for that sort of information.:
DIY kind of builds on itself, so starting in an easy way can be good. Keep notes, and start small and if you hate something try to fix it would be my advice. I've learned more from fixing failed mixes than I have with perfectly crafted mixes and etc.
Lots more info on the DIY forum but it absolutely doesn't have to be hard. I am PG sensitive so apart from PG flavors I use PEG400 and it has improved my mixes immensely (although it's a bit outside the wheel house of many mixers, so I'd say do your own research on it, and find a good supplier. I use Nicotine River but I'm not sure what shipping would be like and Amazon carries pharmaceutical grade in small quantities (if you are PG sensitive, I'm not sure that was clear). DW is useful and cheap (up to 10% max not more you will get a watery mess) and I used it a lot when I started out DIY and it did help my mixes.
Peppery CAN be the nic, some just tastes that way depending on brand and source although I will say you MAY have more luck with the peppery thing (if you don't like it) by steeping and shaking even unflavored for a while, as it will (possibly) smooth out within the mix. Best of luck,
Anna
