Moving too fast??

[Xcighippy]

I tend to jump into things head first and all the way with my hobbies. So far this has worked out ok. I learned quickly thanks to this fourm about various devices ( I now have 2 Provaries and 3 mech. mods,and use primarily kayfun clones and rba's) I mastered the art of coil building thanks to the likes of Super X Drifter and many others.
I now am just a week into this DIY thing and WOW! I have hit a wall. I have read the blogs by dannyv45, and Hoosier, and have read all the sticky's. There are really some masters here in the diy field. Thanks to we2rcool as well.
Thing is, I am a Five Pawns Grand Master addict. The flavor and complexity is unmatched IMO . It is my all day vape going on a year now and my question is how do I create juice that even comes close to the quality and complexity that premium juice makers get.
I know there are many juice's out there that are also great, I just don't have much experience with them. not my intention to plug for them or to put down other makers.

So far the juice I have made tastes just like I expected it would. Good but not something I would brag about.The small 5 mil bottles I have made just seem lacking. I am not trying to recreate FP juice. I just want to make a flavor -any flavor- that is fulfilling as an all day vape.
I guess the learning curve is huge with this endeavor. Is my experience normal for a newbe? Am I just wanting it too fast?

 

[~Sue~Feb2012]

Hi xcig

Too fast? Maybe. How long have you been doing DIY?

Did you start by making a single-flavor batch of the flavors you've bought to get a feel for the individual flavors? Vaping immediately or letting them age or steep in any way? Small batches and trying different amounts of each flavor does take time, trial and error though. Complex flavors even more so.

 

[Xcighippy]

Hi xcig

Too fast? Maybe. How long have you been doing DIY?

Did you start by making a single-flavor batch of the flavors you've bought to get a feel for the individual flavors? Vaping immediately or letting them age or steep in any way? Small batches and trying different amounts of each flavor does take time, trial and error though. Complex flavors even more so.

Iv'e been at it about a week LOL. I will take your advise about small batches of each flavor. I have to work on my patience as I want it NOW so steeping is the hardest part of this. As well as trying to figure out just haw much of each flavor to use. I guess I'll get it eventually. Thanks for the advise.
At the moment I'm looking at 20 different flavors wondering where to start!

 

[dannyv45]

Only a week!, you have a long way to go and lots of experimenting to do. It took me months to get to my first ADV that was as good or better then a venders. It takes a lot of trial and error and experimentation. So although you like to rush into things (And I'm the same way) this is something that takes time and there's no way around it. If you got your flavorings down and a good understanding of your bases and how to formulate them for different vapes and need to start working on your enhancements read this thread. It is highly recommended reading.

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...s-flavor-add-ons-em-vw-bw-mts-acv-ect-19.html

 

[Blueser]

I guess it's all according to what you like. My first mix was better than any vendor juice I had bought....but then I' never liked the taste of sickenly sweet cheap perfume anyway...

 

[FACE MEAT]

I could be wrong, but it's my understanding that 5 Pawns extracts many of their own flavors. If that's the case, an exact clone of Grand Master may never happen. However, you may find a recipe that you like better than Grand Master.

 

[Cloud Junky]

To fast is subjective. I started my brother off with a Russian 91% he had to sit through building coils 101 with me, the next day he was mixing juice with me and got the hang of that. Day three he invented his own juice flavor called "Baby Juice" I wanted to name it "New-Buck" and he been vaping for about three weeks now and he has 9 Nemisis clones--- funny story to that, a few Protanks, an Aspire Nautilus, a Innokin itaste SVD, and a evod.

Look at it like this for men there is no such thing as moving to fast.

There is no car that is two fast.

There is no way to make money to fast.

See the trend.

ROCK ON!!! Xcighippy

 

[Rat2chat2]

Don't be so hard on yourself. It takes a bunch of experimenting which to me is half the fun. So many threads and recipes. Just don't give up and keep trying to find your own vaping DIY happiness. Then you will look back and laugh at all the trial and errors.

This is probably where I would start then tweak....

12% Banana Cream 4% Caramel Original 2% Peanut Butter 1% EM All TFA

I've never tried it but I might just have to now. Thanks for posting.

 

[wllmc]

+1 all of the above

 

[Xcighippy]

I could be wrong, but it's my understanding that 5 Pawns extracts many of their own flavors. If that's the case, an exact clone of Grand Master may never happen. However, you may find a recipe that you like better than Grand Master.

Oh I do realize that I am probably not going to make an exact copy of their juice. I'm just curious how you come upon the complexity of juices in general. I hope to mix something eventually that I like better than GM.

 

[cramptholomew]

I suggest thinking of things along these lines:

Find a flavor that you enjoy, that would benefit from several supporting characters. Like, say, M-type tobacco. Now, it needs to be tamed, so maybe a little fruit for the finish, and some body. So, maybe some peach, vanilla, a drop of coffee or chocolate for bite, some AP and/or graham for nuttiness. I'm not saying to make this, because its probably awful, but that's how I approach things. I've made some stinkers, but I also happened on some ADVs this way. It took me a good several weeks to find something more than acceptable.

An example: I'd made some concoction with dragon fruit, cotton candy, and some other stuff. It was good, and I kept testing it over a couple weeks, but something was missing. One day, I thought, "hmmm. I taste no bananas. There ARE no bananas. This needs banana but bread." Bingo! 1% banana but bread did the trick.

Keep at it. It'll come. I did, and I have the patience of a 2 year old.

 

[Xcighippy]

I suggest thinking of things along these lines:

Find a flavor that you enjoy, that would benefit from several supporting characters. Like, say, M-type tobacco. Now, it needs to be tamed, so maybe a little fruit for the finish, and some body. So, maybe some peach, vanilla, a drop of coffee or chocolate for bite, some AP and/or graham for nuttiness. I'm not saying to make this, because its probably awful, but that's how I approach things. I've made some stinkers, but I also happened on some ADVs this way. It took me a good several weeks to find something more than acceptable.

An example: I'd made some concoction with dragon fruit, cotton candy, and some other stuff. It was good, and I kept testing it over a couple weeks, but something was missing. One day, I thought, "hmmm. I taste no bananas. There ARE no bananas. This needs banana but bread." Bingo! 1% banana but bread did the trick.

Keep at it. It'll come. I did, and I have the patience of a 2 year old.

Thank you for your insight. I think I already knew the answer to my question but just needed the reassuring I am getting from you and all the other great folks here. It's reassuring to know that I'm not alone.

 

[JohnnyDill]

I was not aware of these "Boutique" e-liquid sellers. -And I thought that Halo juice was expensive. MY GOD. $37.50 for 30ml?
Come on, man! That is utterly ridiculous. It had better be good!

 

[cramptholomew]

I was not aware of these "Boutique" e-liquid sellers. -And I thought that Halo juice was expensive. MY GOD. $37.50 for 30ml?
Come on, man! That is utterly ridiculous. It had better be good!

$1.25/ml. I don't care HOW good it is. Highway robbery. it costs me around $0.65 for 10ml. While I'm all for artisans and supporting the work they do, let's call a spade a spade... price gouging.

 

[cramptholomew]

One day, I thought, "hmmm. I taste no bananas. There ARE no bananas. This needs banana but bread." Bingo! 1% banana but bread did the trick.

I love how autocomplete always makes this Banana BUT Bread. Totally don't wanna vape BUT bread...

 

[SueandCootie]

I liked the but bread...I have a recipe for .... Cream saved (to vape, not for... )

As for designer juice, if it was THAT easy everyone would be makin their own... It's an adventure!

 

[Xcighippy]

I was not aware of these "Boutique" e-liquid sellers. -And I thought that Halo juice was expensive. MY GOD. $37.50 for 30ml?
Come on, man! That is utterly ridiculous. It had better be good!

I know! It is a crazy price. Actually I pay 27.50 for the Grand Master. The stuff your looking at is the "limited edition" Castle Long, supposedly aged in oak casks or some such nonsense.
Their juice is actually very good. But this is why I'm getting into diy. The price of this stuff is killing me! I know, I know. There are others out there of the same quality cheaper. But this is the juice that satisfied me.

 

[Xcighippy]

Don't be so hard on yourself. It takes a bunch of experimenting which to me is half the fun. So many threads and recipes. Just don't give up and keep trying to find your own vaping DIY happiness. Then you will look back and laugh at all the trial and errors.

This is probably where I would start then tweak....

12% Banana Cream 4% Caramel Original 2% Peanut Butter 1% EM All TFA

I've never tried it but I might just have to now. Thanks for posting.

Thanks for this. I have all those ingredients, will try. I tried something like that but used too much peanut butter. Its about all I could taste.
I need to let it steep. I have a hard time wrapping my head around making something and NOT trying it. Letting it steep is so hard!

 

[dannyv45]

I know! It is a crazy price. Actually I pay 27.50 for the Grand Master. The stuff your looking at is the "limited edition" Castle Long, supposedly aged in oak casks or some such nonsense.
Their juice is actually very good. But this is why I'm getting into diy. The price of this stuff is killing me! I know, I know. There are others out there of the same quality cheaper. But this is the juice that satisfied me.

That is pricy stuff. There was a thread on here not to long ago where the OP did an oak barrel mix and I do have to say it was far cheaper to make then what venders charge for it. But I will say I was sent a sample of that OP's mix and it was out of this world. I can understand the mark up over standard juice because the process is more involved and the oak soaks up a lot of the material so there's a lot of juice loss. Almost twice the markup at 37.50 is a bit excessive. 27.50 though would not be unreasonable.

 

[cramptholomew]

Just for kicks, home brewery stores sell chipped oak for addition to beer...

Oak's Balancing Act | MoreBeer

Has this been applied to vaping?