My DIY supplies should arrive tomorrow. Very excited. One question I have is, what percentage of flavoring do u add? The online mixing calculator that was recommended to me has the flavor column at 20% by default. I can input any nbr I want but was just wondering if that was a good place to start. I understand I will tweak the recipes the way I like as I learn. But is that a good place to start? Lorann are the flavorings I'm waiting on if knowing the brand helps. Thanks all!
how much flavor?!
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No way. 4-5% to start and go up in small increments. 20% would be considered the upper limit.
Download and install the free eJuice Me Up software and then open some of the recipe files that are provided. It will give you a general idea of the different percentages that others have used. Also, take a look at the DIY subforum under the ejuice forum...there are many recipes that have been provided.
Start off on the low end and adjust from there. It's a lot easier to add than subtract.
Different flavors will have different %'s at which they shine. Steeping is also a huge factor in the overall taste and performance of the final product.
Start off with one flavor and tweak it to your satisfaction before you start blending. This will give you a good baseline reference.
vape On!
Different flavors will have different %'s at which they shine. Steeping is also a huge factor in the overall taste and performance of the final product.
Start off with one flavor and tweak it to your satisfaction before you start blending. This will give you a good baseline reference.
vape On!
With LorAnn's ,I would suggest making 2-3 ,3 or 5 mil batches for each flavor . One at 5%, one at 10% and one at 15%. Let sit for a couple/three days and see which is closer to your preference. Do that for each flavor until you are happy with the result.
You can then add or dilute the other bottles to the percentage you like. Don't forget to write it down for future reference.
ETA: Steeping is letting it sit awhile to let the flavor permeate the other fliuds better. Kinda like soup or chili or spaghetti sauce tastes better after a few days.
You can then add or dilute the other bottles to the percentage you like. Don't forget to write it down for future reference.
ETA: Steeping is letting it sit awhile to let the flavor permeate the other fliuds better. Kinda like soup or chili or spaghetti sauce tastes better after a few days.
I also make small batches when trying out a new flavoring. Unfortunately, you need to be much more precise in measuring when making small batches. Small batches also don't waste a lot of unflavored nic juice when you wind up having to throw out one of your 'mistakes'.
Howdy nutty1,
I just started DIYing myself. A few things I have found
1. Making 3 ml samples and being consistent is harder than making 5 ml samples and being consistent. Lesser amts of the overall total means there will be a bigger "percentage" error when you make an error, and you will make errors. 1 drop in a 3 ml bottle is a bigger error than 1 drop in a 5 ml bottle.
2. Making something with a 20% flavor level will, most likely, make you cringe when you try it. After my initial cringes (yes, more than one cringe) I went down to 10% and found that a number of cringes turned into, "wow, it's a lot closer and more enjoyable!" YMMV
3. If you are using pipettes instead of syringes, as a beginner, you will never reproduce what you made 5 minutes ago. My experience will definitely be different than others, but with pipettes, what ended up in a 3 or 5 ml bottle never was the same amount bottle to bottle. Once I bought syringes, all bottles were filled to the same level. Also, if you use "drops" as a measurement, first verify that 20 drops equals a ml....it won't. If you still decide to use drops, then make sure you use the same size dropper for all drop measurements. Do not use a 3 ml anything (pipettes, syringe, dropper) and then use a different size device for the next set of drops. While we are talking about that, use a lot of care with cross contamination. I clean and reuse the syringes I have. One is marked for nic, one pg and one vg, even though I thoroughly clean them between uses. Tomorrow I will still use the same one for nic, vg, pg and the others for flavors.
4. One thing that I did, and I think it was Startle who told me, while in the DIY Forums, start my mixing only a single flavor. Ya gotta get that right, because if you start mixing multiple flavors together and you never got single flavors handled, how can you expect that Wapple flavor to be right (and that's only apple and watermelon).
5. Do like they say in all the videos on DIYing ( you have watched a bunch, not just one, right?), do it without distractions, do it slowly and methodically, and write everything down cause I want the recipe to your first multi-flavor juice.
I'm using the "e juice me up" calculator. It's easy to use, but make sure you verify all your fields before you start mixing. It's easy to not change the nic level you are using, or if your nic is 100% pg or vg or a 50/50 mix. Don't forget to hit the calculator button at the bottom, stuff don't change if you don't hit the button. There is a video on line on using that calc with other handy and very useful info.
The last thing I will tell you, is get ready, you thought that vaping on its own was addicting, HA! It seems with DIYing, you will either become addicted or you will hate it, I haven't heard of many folks in the gray area between.
Good luck my friend, let us know how it goes ( it's so much freakin fun!, this hobby just gets better and better)
Big Mac
I just started DIYing myself. A few things I have found
1. Making 3 ml samples and being consistent is harder than making 5 ml samples and being consistent. Lesser amts of the overall total means there will be a bigger "percentage" error when you make an error, and you will make errors. 1 drop in a 3 ml bottle is a bigger error than 1 drop in a 5 ml bottle.
2. Making something with a 20% flavor level will, most likely, make you cringe when you try it. After my initial cringes (yes, more than one cringe) I went down to 10% and found that a number of cringes turned into, "wow, it's a lot closer and more enjoyable!" YMMV
3. If you are using pipettes instead of syringes, as a beginner, you will never reproduce what you made 5 minutes ago. My experience will definitely be different than others, but with pipettes, what ended up in a 3 or 5 ml bottle never was the same amount bottle to bottle. Once I bought syringes, all bottles were filled to the same level. Also, if you use "drops" as a measurement, first verify that 20 drops equals a ml....it won't. If you still decide to use drops, then make sure you use the same size dropper for all drop measurements. Do not use a 3 ml anything (pipettes, syringe, dropper) and then use a different size device for the next set of drops. While we are talking about that, use a lot of care with cross contamination. I clean and reuse the syringes I have. One is marked for nic, one pg and one vg, even though I thoroughly clean them between uses. Tomorrow I will still use the same one for nic, vg, pg and the others for flavors.
4. One thing that I did, and I think it was Startle who told me, while in the DIY Forums, start my mixing only a single flavor. Ya gotta get that right, because if you start mixing multiple flavors together and you never got single flavors handled, how can you expect that Wapple flavor to be right (and that's only apple and watermelon).
5. Do like they say in all the videos on DIYing ( you have watched a bunch, not just one, right?), do it without distractions, do it slowly and methodically, and write everything down cause I want the recipe to your first multi-flavor juice.
I'm using the "e juice me up" calculator. It's easy to use, but make sure you verify all your fields before you start mixing. It's easy to not change the nic level you are using, or if your nic is 100% pg or vg or a 50/50 mix. Don't forget to hit the calculator button at the bottom, stuff don't change if you don't hit the button. There is a video on line on using that calc with other handy and very useful info.
The last thing I will tell you, is get ready, you thought that vaping on its own was addicting, HA! It seems with DIYing, you will either become addicted or you will hate it, I haven't heard of many folks in the gray area between.
Good luck my friend, let us know how it goes ( it's so much freakin fun!, this hobby just gets better and better)
Big Mac
You can count drops for measuring, just make sure first...how many drops your device (your dropper) needs to create 1ml of liquid. Then make sure you have enought of that device to use ( for different flavor and bases, meaning pg/vg/nic) so the drop count from each device is the same.....am I making that clear, kinda sounds like I might be confusing. Let me try this a different way....a 3ml pipettes will create a different size drop than a 5ml pipettes, and a 3 ml pipettes will need more than 20 drops to create 1 ml of liquid....at least for me.
For me, and this is just me mind you, when I make a 5 or 10 ml bottle of juice, when the calculator sez I need .42ml of flavor or X number of drops, I add .4 ml of flavor, cause my syringes are marked down to .1 ml. At this point, close enough for government work.
Oh, forgot something, if you are going to count drops using anything other than a dropper, practice a bit with water, that's one of the reasons I round to the nearest .1ml of liquid, such a pain counting drops and not accidentally squirting the liquid instead of dripping it.
Do what Klynn said if you haven't yet. Go read all you can of the DIY forum, helped me a lot, but then, I'm the type that reads 100 different things before I actually do it, then I jump in feet first.
Big Mac
For me, and this is just me mind you, when I make a 5 or 10 ml bottle of juice, when the calculator sez I need .42ml of flavor or X number of drops, I add .4 ml of flavor, cause my syringes are marked down to .1 ml. At this point, close enough for government work.
Oh, forgot something, if you are going to count drops using anything other than a dropper, practice a bit with water, that's one of the reasons I round to the nearest .1ml of liquid, such a pain counting drops and not accidentally squirting the liquid instead of dripping it.
Do what Klynn said if you haven't yet. Go read all you can of the DIY forum, helped me a lot, but then, I'm the type that reads 100 different things before I actually do it, then I jump in feet first.
Big Mac
I use the e-juice calculator for the percentages. 20% is too much to begin with, if you got flavor art flavors, the Tobacco ones are usually from 2-3% and the fruit flavors are from 10-15%, but you will have to try for yourself, its a matter of preference after all.
Good deal Marvd,
I now have a bunch of 3 and 5ml pipettes. I can't use them worth spit. I know there are others who probably use them with great effect and results....I'm just not one of them. I do good with syringes and think I'm getting better each time I mix a batch.
Big Mac
I now have a bunch of 3 and 5ml pipettes. I can't use them worth spit. I know there are others who probably use them with great effect and results....I'm just not one of them. I do good with syringes and think I'm getting better each time I mix a batch.
Big Mac
Good starting point (or to come back to) is http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/diy-e-liquid/74109-guide-diy-flavoring.html Lots of good info/tips.
Percentages vary, according to tastes. Sort of like how salty do you like your food? No-salt? Very salty? Easier to add more salt (flavor) than to remove it.
I use this method, from Str8V8ping's blog: http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/blogs/str8v8ping/2705-diy-tips-str8.html, and can decide for myself what % to use. While Linda likes 'peach' at 15%, and Mike likes it at 18%, I prefer it at 10%. And Linda likes "blueberry" at 10%, and Mike likes it at 15%, I prefer it at 20%. You may like each of these at 5%. I first do 1ml samples, in a small vial, at 0% nic. No need to waste nic juice on science experiments. When I'm close to what I want, I move up to a 5ml sample, this time at 1/2 my normal nic level--I'm gonna be vaping this a lot during the test, so don't want to overdo it with nic, and I'm not ready to make the switch to 0-nic yet. I thought I liked the peach at 10%, but the 5ml sample was too strong. Tried 8%. Then moved to a 10ml sample, this time at my usual nic level. Each step was fine-tuning my recipe to what *I* wanted it to taste like.
Percentages vary, according to tastes. Sort of like how salty do you like your food? No-salt? Very salty? Easier to add more salt (flavor) than to remove it.
I use this method, from Str8V8ping's blog: http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/blogs/str8v8ping/2705-diy-tips-str8.html, and can decide for myself what % to use. While Linda likes 'peach' at 15%, and Mike likes it at 18%, I prefer it at 10%. And Linda likes "blueberry" at 10%, and Mike likes it at 15%, I prefer it at 20%. You may like each of these at 5%. I first do 1ml samples, in a small vial, at 0% nic. No need to waste nic juice on science experiments. When I'm close to what I want, I move up to a 5ml sample, this time at 1/2 my normal nic level--I'm gonna be vaping this a lot during the test, so don't want to overdo it with nic, and I'm not ready to make the switch to 0-nic yet. I thought I liked the peach at 10%, but the 5ml sample was too strong. Tried 8%. Then moved to a 10ml sample, this time at my usual nic level. Each step was fine-tuning my recipe to what *I* wanted it to taste like.
Howdy folks,
Biker Bob gives some sound advice about flavors being different for each person. One may like a real strong minty, others only want that touch of mint. One thing to remember or at least think about. For me, last week, all of a sudden, I could taste my juice all around the edge of my tongue, and on the underside way in the back. My taste buds are finally making an appearance. It will probably mean the percentages that I have used will have to be adjusted on my next batch...not sure yet. So far it's great having the watermelon juice that I liked, while it was a bit subtle, burst into portions of my mouth screaming "I'm hereeee, enjoy me". I can imagine that if that apple I have gets any more tart, it's gonna have to get weaker so it's enjoyable for me.
Big Mac
Biker Bob gives some sound advice about flavors being different for each person. One may like a real strong minty, others only want that touch of mint. One thing to remember or at least think about. For me, last week, all of a sudden, I could taste my juice all around the edge of my tongue, and on the underside way in the back. My taste buds are finally making an appearance. It will probably mean the percentages that I have used will have to be adjusted on my next batch...not sure yet. So far it's great having the watermelon juice that I liked, while it was a bit subtle, burst into portions of my mouth screaming "I'm hereeee, enjoy me". I can imagine that if that apple I have gets any more tart, it's gonna have to get weaker so it's enjoyable for me.
Big Mac
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