Is DIY juice making hard?

[Coastal Cowboy]

Once you can master a DIY calculator (I use juice me up), it's a piece of cake. The calculators take all the variables into consideration, forcing you to consider all the variables. Once you understand all the variables, then, yes, it's very easy. I've heard some good things in this thread, and some things which are completely inaccurate.

I take it that you didn't like my "DIY starter kit" contents?

It's Ok. I came to this from a background of amateur chef and pretty good homebrewer. I can usually eyeball measure a teaspoon of anything and almost any fraction thereof, so a lot of graduated cylinders, beakers, pipettes and whatnot was overkill for me.

I should recognize that not everyone would be able to do that with confidence.

I actually find the percentage method of communicating recipe formulations easier than actual measurements of ingredients because that lets me transfer the recipe I'm trying to my target nic strength and batch size. I tend to make 10ml at a time and undershoot the percentages of flavorings. Then I can tweak the flavor 1-2 drops at a time until it's close to what I thought it should taste like.

That was a lesson I learned the hard way.

I have a bottle of a tobacco flavor that used way too much Virginia Tidewater flavoring and now I have a 10ml bottle of what I call "Christmas Tree." I mean... It tastes like sucking on a Virginia Pine...

 

[Harlen]

Juice making is not hard, but you need to know what you're doing. Even though you won't be be dealing with a dangerous substance--liquid nicotine--I still suggest you visit our DIY forum and read all the stickies (the permanent threads stuck at the top of the forum). You'll find a lot of good information there, including a handy juice calculator and tips on what kind of flavorings to use. You'll need to have at least 5 posts to be able to post there and ask questions.

DIY E-Liquid

Can't add any thing right is right lol
Have fun with it add flavor slowly and know the longer it steeps the better it is ,on most flavors




Good luck and happy vaping!

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[Bill's Magic Vapor]

OK so to everyone that replied, thanks very much for the very helpful advice. I grabbed the EJuiceMeUp and had a basic look around. At Least that is a lot simpler to use than most I've seen and considering that I'm in the zero nic dept it made it even easier.

Funny that the application indicates that for zero nic, you make a simple 50/50 and just add flavor. In most of the research I have done, if for example that PG is 60 drops per ML and VG is 30 drops per ML and flavor is 52 drops per ML that would mean that your not really truly getting a 50/50 using that method because you are now diluting your mixture. Methods used in the calculations from the EJMU application are all based on 20 drops per ML but the dilution still applies. Based on this I would be fair in assuming that my original statement about the ratio for PG(flav+PG)/VG is correct to some degree.

I'll be sure to do an actual check on drops per ML before running the numbers any further on my liquids, that will be my starting point and from all the above perspectives I have gathered here, its all based on trial and error and personal preference.

I'll join in at DIY soon and post my results.

I think you'll find on the ejuice me up calculator that drops per ml is a variable. It may default to 20 drops, but you have to measure your measuring devices to determine the correct number of drops and then change the default. That's what I meant that you have to master all aspects of the calculator to really understand what you're doing. The pipettes I use average about 38-40 drops per ml, not 20, so I have to change the calculator. Also, I don't work in drops most of the time. I work in ml and have every imaginable syringe size. Also, if you are going to use drops, you have to use the same dropper/pipette on every ingredient. Since the formulas are based on percentages, as long as you use the same measurement device, it doesn't matter if you use drops or mls. Good luck to you!

 

[Bill's Magic Vapor]

I take it that you didn't like my "DIY starter kit" contents?

It's Ok. I came to this from a background of amateur chef and pretty good homebrewer. I can usually eyeball measure a teaspoon of anything and almost any fraction thereof, so a lot of graduated cylinders, beakers, pipettes and whatnot was overkill for me.

I should recognize that not everyone would be able to do that with confidence.

I actually find the percentage method of communicating recipe formulations easier than actual measurements of ingredients because that lets me transfer the recipe I'm trying to my target nic strength and batch size. I tend to make 10ml at a time and undershoot the percentages of flavorings. Then I can tweak the flavor 1-2 drops at a time until it's close to what I thought it should taste like.

That was a lesson I learned the hard way.

I have a bottle of a tobacco flavor that used way too much Virginia Tidewater flavoring and now I have a 10ml bottle of what I call "Christmas Tree." I mean... It tastes like sucking on a Virginia Pine...

I wasn't referring to you IBCR, lol. Love your posts! Saying DIY is easy is accurate, especially after you've made several months of mistakes. To do it right (I know...define right) is going to take a while. You'll know this when the first 20 batches without a reliable recipe are unvapeable. So, is it easy to make unvapeable juice? Yes. Is it easy to make great juice? No. Be patient.

 

[Coastal Cowboy]

My first batch, Christmas Tree, was an unmitigated, unvapable disaster. My second batch (a Turkish-Oriental blend) actually steeped out pretty well. My third and fourth batches are pretty darned good!

I'm still feverishly working on a clone of Johnson Creek's Red Oak Domestic. I'm mixing up another shot at it this evening. I'm so close, I can smell it!

I didn't mean to suggest that DIY is easy. It is intimidating at first, but once you get familiar with the calculator and measuring ingredients with a degree of confidence, it's like making a perfect omelette every time.

Love your posts, too. Always thorough and always informative. Fistbump and ^5.

 

[tj99959]

I for one do not suggest buying pre mixed flavorings. I buy PG for 20$/gallon, so why in the world would I buy 15ml of PG with 1 dram of flavoring in it for their exorbitant prices.

Because they are local, I buy my flavorings here, I'm sure you can find a place local that carries flavorings too.
LorAnn Flavoring Oils

For what you want, you would just add about 1 drop of flavoring/ml to your 50/50 mix of PG & VG.