Need help with DIY menthol that i havent been able to find an answer to

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JamesBryan

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Aug 11, 2016
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Hello, i have been vaping for about three years because of having a son and quitting cigs because of it. i found a great deal on unflavored eliquid and menthol crystals. im getting a 250 ml bottle of 24mg 50/50 pg/vg unflavored liquid and a .25 bag of menthol crystals but considering getting a second .25 ounce bag or just get a one ounce as the retailer only has .25 or whole ounce measurements (also has 4 as well as 16 ounce etc). what my GOAL is, is to just add the crystals to the main bottle so i have a 250 ml bottle of menthol liquid and have about a 4 or 5 month supply ready to go. ive seen all the other threads (fill a bottle halfway with crystals, pour in liquid let dissolve and add about a drop per ml etc). i used to smoke Newports if that gives you an idea of the menthol strength i like although i did like Kools too. what would be an effective way to get the desired level of menthol flavor using what i am getting. i decided to go with a premixed liquid for simplicity as well as safety so i didnt have various liquids and nic solution to have to keep track of or that my son might accidentally get into.
 
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JamesBryan

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Moved this to DIY E-Liquid from Simple Solutions


Simple Solutions is to assist the Beginning Vaper with getting started :)
to be honest, even though i have been vaping for about three years, i am still basically a beginner as i have only learned about the specifics of my unit or how to use menthol crystals and havent really had much of a chance to really sit down and learn much about vaping in general but thank you for clarifying where to post questions like this in the future
 

dannyv45

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To be honest I would make a menthol 10% concentrated flavoring (1 part menthol crystal to 9 parts PG) then experiment by adding that to small 10ml batches of PG/VG/NIC base. When you arrive at what you like then calculate that percent you used to arrive at your small batch, to make your bigger batches. This way your not wasting materials experimenting on large batches.

As far as how much menthol crystal to buy for the long hall your experimentation should allow you to figure that out.

Start small so your not wasting materials until you get the hang of what you want to accomplish.

If you make 250mls right off the bat and decide I made it way to strong what are you going to do with it short of dumping it. Maybe buy more PG/VG/NIC to try to dilute it? Not a good way to start out. So start small and avoid costly mistakes.
 
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bwh79

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Most people use a 10% solution of menthol for DIY, and they use that in concentrations of like .5-5%. So you're looking at a final strength of like .05-.5%, meaning you would need about .125-1.25g of crystals per 250ml of liquid. Your quarter ounce is about 7.5 grams, so you should have plenty. Start small -- it's a lot easier to add more later if you need to, than to take it back out if you used too much.
 

JamesBryan

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Aug 11, 2016
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Most people use a 10% solution of menthol for DIY, and they use that in concentrations of like .5-5%. So you're looking at a final strength of like .05-.5%, meaning you would need about .125-1.25g of crystals per 250ml of liquid. Your quarter ounce is about 7.5 grams, so you should have plenty. Start small -- it's a lot easier to add more later if you need to, than to take it back out if you used too much.
so, take 1/2 tsp of crystal, drop into 30 ml bottle, dissolve in liquid then try drop in 10 ml vape fill (i run a kanger NeBox) and if it is around the strength i like it should be ok to dump the flavor supply into the main bottle as the ratio is about the same?
 

Ronald3638

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I recommend that you download E-Juice me up or Juice Grinder to help you with your recipes. When I first started mixing I would fill a 15ml container between 1/4 and 1/3 full of crystals then fill it to the neck with pg.
I would use anywhere from 2% to 4% of this concentrate in my mixes but then I like it strong. I now use a scale to make my concentrate and use 1.5 grams of crystals and 13.5 ml (14 grams) of pg to make 15ML of 10% concentrate. This makes for more consistent end results.
Check out Diy or Die and New Amsterdam Vape videos on YouTube for some very good information on mixing.
 

JamesBryan

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Aug 11, 2016
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I recommend that you download E-Juice me up or Juice Grinder to help you with your recipes. When I first started mixing I would fill a 15ml container between 1/4 and 1/3 full of crystals then fill it to the neck with pg.
I would use anywhere from 2% to 4% of this concentrate in my mixes but then I like it strong. I now use a scale to make my concentrate and use 1.5 grams of crystals and 13.5 ml (14 grams) of pg to make 15ML of 10% concentrate. This makes for more consistent end results.
Check out Diy or Die and New Amsterdam Vape videos on YouTube for some very good information on mixing.
how well would that 15 ml flavor bottle do for a 250 ml supply? my goal is to just flavor out the premixed unflavored 250 ml bottle i have for simplicity sake
 

JamesBryan

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i THINK i found a good mix. i ended up trying a teaspoon of coarselty crushed crystals (i crushed them into powder before adding) into a 15ml bottle and then just filled it with my premixed 50/50 unflavored liquid. put 12 drops into a 30 ml unflavored bottle and it seems to be good but wont know for sure until i clean my NeBox tank and wrap a new fresh coil (kanthal A1 with a 1.5 ohm target resistance at 9 volts just for info) and see if i need to go higher or not. i used to smoke Newports so i do tend to like a strong menthol hit.
 

Ronald3638

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how well would that 15 ml flavor bottle do for a 250 ml supply? my goal is to just flavor out the premixed unflavored 250 ml bottle i have for simplicity sake

It would depend on how strong of a menthol flavor you are looking for.
In 250 ml:
1% would be ~2.5ml
2% would be ~5ml
3% would be ~7.5ml
4% would be ~10 ml

I find that 4% of the menthol concentrate is quite strong and just where I like it but you may not like it that strong or maybe you might like it stronger.

I would recommend that you start by making a small test batch like 10ml increasing in 1% increments until until you get what your looking for.

1% of 10ml would be 0.1ml concentrate to 9.9ml of your base.

By the way you could just use straight VG for the test batch.
 

JamesBryan

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Aug 11, 2016
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It would depend on how strong of a menthol flavor you are looking for.
In 250 ml:
1% would be ~2.5ml
2% would be ~5ml
3% would be ~7.5ml
4% would be ~10 ml

I find that 4% of the menthol concentrate is quite strong and just where I like it but you may not like it that strong or maybe you might like it stronger.

I would recommend that you start by making a small test batch like 10ml increasing in 1% increments until until you get what your looking for.

1% of 10ml would be 0.1ml concentrate to 9.9ml of your base.

By the way you could just use straight VG for the test batch.
im basically shooting for a Newport level of menthol which think would be around a 3 to 4 percent. i actually bought 2 1/4 ounce bags (1/2 ounce total) and had i known the amount before i would have just dropped one of the bags into my 250 ml unflavored bottle but i combined them. i found a pretty good calculator here...http://..................../create which i took a few minutes playing with to figure out how to use and it came out with the 7.5 grams for a 250 batch less than a minute before i switched over to this tab on my browser to check for replies on this thread. based on what ive found at myfreedomsmokes available, i will be able to do my 50/50 24mg blend very easily but i will be kind of stuck doing half liter at a time instead of the 250 ml supply i was already looking at doing. worst case i know from now on to just get the 250 unflavored 50/50 24mg bottle i did this time and a 1/4 gram menthol bag and i will have my 4-6month supply ready to go. eventually i will be getting a 250ml pg at 48 mg and a 250ml VG and do out 30 ml bottles at a time (the calculator i found said .9 grams for a 30 ml batch) thank you very much for your help. the reason i hadnt made the jump to DIY before this was basically i was kind of intimidated but after doing the research that this situation forced me to do i found that it is pretty damn easy, especially since i only have one flavor that i will ever be mixing. once i plug a few differrent numbers into the calculator for the specific amounts i would likely make in a given batch i will have a very handy cheat sheet
 
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Scubabatdan

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Ok I have been using menthol crystals for the last 7 years. I usually buy the 5lb bags from bulk apothecary dot com.
My method is to fill a bottle (any size) to the top with the crystals.
Then use Everclear (190 proof) and fill it to the same level the crystals were at.
Cap it and shake, it will take about 3 hours for all the crystals to dissolve (floating it in hot water speeds the process).
Use at 4%, this is very strong, a little goes along way.
The reason I use alcohol based menthol flavoring is, as the menthol flavoring sets the PG and VG versions I have tried in the past would regrow menthol crystal on the bottom of the bottle. That does not happen in the alcohol base version. This method is consistent no matter what size bottle you use or how long it sits on the shelf, and consistently in making e-liquid is paramount.
Hope this helps.
Dan
 
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JamesBryan

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Aug 11, 2016
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Ok I have been using menthol crystals for the last 7 years. I usually buy the 5lb bags from bulk apothecary dot com.
My method is to fill a bottle (any size) to the top with the crystals.
Then use Everclear (190 proof) and fill it to the same level the crystals were at.
Cap it and shake, it will take about 3 hours for all the crystals to dissolve (floating it in hot water speeds the process).
Use at 4%, this is very strong, a little goes along way.
The reason I use alcohol based menthol flavoring is, as the menthol flavoring sets the PG and VG versions I have tried in the past would regrow menthol crystal on the bottom of the bottle. That does not happen in the alcohol base version. This method is consistent no matter what size bottle you use or how long it sits on the shelf, and consistently in making e-liquid is paramount.
Hope this helps.
Dan
eventually i will at least give the alcohol base a shot, but ive found that once ive measured my coarse crushed cyrstals then reduced them to a fine powder it dissolves within a few minutes and i make sure to thoroughly shake the flavor bottle at least every third day and ive seen no crystal regrowth. the reason i ues menthol juice is partly because i used to smoke newports but also if the menthol is strong, i can use lower nic juice and still satisfy the craving. i think that when i switched to menthols i just got used to the lung and trhoat hit so the placebo affect comes into play. i was iroginally using a 32 mg liquid but had to use a 12 mg bottle for a month and noticed that i did use a bit more, i didnt use nearly as much as i thought i would have. when i was able to get back to th higher levels again because the shop had it in stock, i noticed that i was actually doing a bit less than before.
 

Scubabatdan

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eventually i will at least give the alcohol base a shot, but ive found that once ive measured my coarse crushed cyrstals then reduced them to a fine powder it dissolves within a few minutes and i make sure to thoroughly shake the flavor bottle at least every third day and ive seen no crystal regrowth. the reason i ues menthol juice is partly because i used to smoke newports but also if the menthol is strong, i can use lower nic juice and still satisfy the craving. i think that when i switched to menthols i just got used to the lung and trhoat hit so the placebo affect comes into play. i was iroginally using a 32 mg liquid but had to use a 12 mg bottle for a month and noticed that i did use a bit more, i didnt use nearly as much as i thought i would have. when i was able to get back to th higher levels again because the shop had it in stock, i noticed that i was actually doing a bit less than before.

If you're a Newport smoker, add about 1% spearmint to the mix and about 1% tobacco base. You will be happy [emoji1360]
Dan
 
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