Preparing For My First Go At DIY

[SpicyMcHaggis]

So I'm venturing into home brewing my own juice and have been studying the DIY University syllabus in this forum. I have nic juice and 12 flavors on the way along with various mixing tools. This looks like an exciting aspect of what has become a hobby as well as a way to kick cigs. I'm nervous and excited at the same time at becoming an amateur mixologist. Although I've read and read I suffer from information over load I'm afraid. So I humbly ask advice on some things.

** I thought I'd just make 1ml samples starting out, is this too small, should I go with 3ml or maybe 5ml?

** I have sweetener coming. What is a general guideline for amount used?

** I have nic juice coming from two places, 125ml of 24mg and 120ml of 18mg. Ihought I'd just mix the two together in one big batch for around 21mg. Is this a sound idea?

I want strong flavor which is why I'm turning to DIY since most of what I buy is way to weak in flavor and I'm tired of wasting money. If I'm gonna vape unsatisfactory juice, it may as well be mine and for a fraction of cost.

Here are the flavors I bought to begin my experiments. If you have experience with them please chime in with advice on a strong flavor range.

TFA Flavors:
Apple
Butterscotch
Strawberry
Sweetener
Pizza
Red Licorice
Bavarian Cream
Marshmallow
Pumpkin Spice
Vanilla Cupcake
Spearmint
Salt Water Taffy

LorAnn
Egg Nog

 

[niczgreat]

Welcome to Diy, it's a lot of fun and not so complicated as they make it out to be.

I believe that about a 10ml sample is a good size to begin with.

The general rule of thumb is 20% on Non Fruit flavors and 10% on the Fruits.
That means that you mix 2ml of flavoring and than add 8ml of your base. If you do this in
a 30ml bottle than you can always adjust it by adding more flavor, More Base, or a thinner like Water or PGA.

If you mix the two for 21mg, which should be fine, than you are actually looking at 17mg as your final strength because 20% will
go to flavoring. What level do you normally vape at? If it's higher than 17mg than you might have a problem. If it's lower than with a little mathematics you can dilute it to your desired level with VG that you buy in any CVS or Walmart.

Those flavors are fine, flavors are subjective. I suggest that you mix single flavors to begin with and than you can always
take those single flavors and mix them together in an Cartomizer or a smaller bottle.

I'd suggest that you might add Chocolate, Coffee, Cinnamon, Caramel to the mix.

Good luck

So I'm venturing into home brewing my own juice and have been studying the DIY University syllabus in this forum. I have nic juice and 12 flavors on the way along with various mixing tools. This looks like an exciting aspect of what has become a hobby as well as a way to kick cigs. I'm nervous and excited at the same time at becoming an amateur mixologist. Although I've read and read I suffer from information over load I'm afraid. So I humbly ask advice on some things.

** I thought I'd just make 1ml samples starting out, is this too small, should I go with 3ml or maybe 5ml?

** I have sweetener coming. What is a general guideline for amount used?

** I have nic juice coming from two places, 125ml of 24mg and 120ml of 18mg. Ihought I'd just mix the two together in one big batch for around 21mg. Is this a sound idea?

I want strong flavor which is why I'm turning to DIY since most of what I buy is way to weak in flavor and I'm tired of wasting money. If I'm gonna vape unsatisfactory juice, it may as well be mine and for a fraction of cost.

Here are the flavors I bought to begin my experiments. If you have experience with them please chime in with advice on a strong flavor range.

TFA Flavors:
Apple
Butterscotch
Strawberry
Sweetener
Pizza
Red Licorice
Bavarian Cream
Marshmallow
Pumpkin Spice
Vanilla Cupcake
Spearmint
Salt Water Taffy

LorAnn
Egg Nog

 

[thinkingaboutit]

Enjoy it, I am washing some bottles and them making 300ml of diluted nic base since I am low on flavored and want to be ready

You got some good advice above. I personally wouldn't bother with less than a 10ml sample. Once you get comfortable and cutting a higher nic level the savings make up for potential waste or you can PIF for someone having a tough time who isn't as picky. I also started a little lower on my flavors. In fact I was happy with a lot of them at 5%. I did different flavors...not sure what brand, I got them from WL.

 

[niczgreat]

Enjoy it, I am washing some bottles and them making 300ml of diluted nic base since I am low on flavored and want to be ready

You got some good advice above. I personally wouldn't bother with less than a 10ml sample. Once you get comfortable and cutting a higher nic level the savings make up for potential waste or you can PIF for someone having a tough time who isn't as picky. I also started a little lower on my flavors. In fact I was happy with a lot of them at 5%. I did different flavors...not sure what brand, I got them from WL.

You are correct, some of the fruits are super strong and 5% would be fine. Taste is subjective you can always start using a lower percentage of flavoring and than going upwards.

One other suggestion, you may want to steep your flavors. After making them put them in a cup of warm water (Lid open) for 1/2 hour. Than put them in a dark place for a week. You'll find that they taste better with age.

 

[niczgreat]

One other suggestion, when mixing flavors I've found that it's better to have a top note. For example I mixed a Chocolate Cinnamon Caramel delight. I used 5ml of chocolate and than 1/2 ml of the other two.and added 24mg of base.

When you mix 50-50 the flavors will often go into combat. But if you mix just a touch into the topnote the ending concoction tastes very good. Kind of like when you have an iced coffee would you mix 1/2 of it with Cinnamon, or would you add just a sprinkle at the end.

One other thing to simplify things. If you decide that 20% is the flavor mix that you like. Mix your base and dilute it to 20% higher than what you vape. That way it's as simple as
Step 1. Add flavor
Step 2. Add Base.

The other way can get very complicated.

 

[thinkingaboutit]

One other suggestion, when mixing flavors I've found that it's better to have a top note. For example I mixed a Chocolate Cinnamon Caramel delight. I used 5ml of chocolate and than 1/2 ml of the other two.and added 24mg of base.

When you mix 50-50 the flavors will often go into combat.

Good call. I am just moving past single flavors, but I have mixed the singles together and I noticed some times were better than others. Sometimes peanut butter banana was amazing, sometimes meh. That could very well be part of it.

 

[nanovapr]

Make sure you keep very detailed notes! "A few drops more of this, a few more of that" can make you very unhappy when you get that perfect juice, that you cannot replicate.

10ml is a good size for samples, you need to let it steep a while before you make any concrete judgements. Also, a de-bridged atty is a good tool for testing DIY. It's easier to clean than a carto, and doesn't retain flavor as much.

 

[SpicyMcHaggis]

I'm a dripping fool at home, so I'm well prepared for testing on an atty. No input on the sweetener?

 

[LucentShadow]

I'm a dripping fool at home, so I'm well prepared for testing on an atty. No input on the sweetener?

I have their sucralose sweetener, which is what I think you are talking about. It's very sweet, and I usually end up using no more than 1-2 drops per ml for fairly heavy sweetening.

I like Ethyl Maltol a bit more than the sucralose for most of my juices these days, because of it's unique flavor, but I still use the sucralose with some of my recipes. Sucralose is just plain sweet, though, and does it's job well.

The only other flavor that I have of those is Bavarian Cream. Very good, and spot-on flavor, IMO. Good on it's own, and mixes well with many flavors, especially fruits and candies.

I make 10ml samples, but I do some quick tests to zero in on each flavor strength, first. Flavor strengths can vary quite a bit within one brand, and also across brands. I just do a quick mix of 20-40 drops of VG and flavoring at a flavoring strength of half or less of what I suspect will be good, warm and shake it well, and taste test it. If it needs more, or less, I add the appropriate liquid to remedy that, keeping a rough tally of the flavor percentage as I go (accounting for drops used.)

I keep that information in mind when blending flavors. If I like my coconut solo at 2% by volume, and my solo cocoa at 12%, then if I want a blend with a flavoring ratio of 75% cocoa/25% coconut, I use 9% cocoa and 0.5% coconut in the final mix.

 

[Nurzrachit]

Be careful with the sweetener, I have noticed at times it can dilute the flavor. Let us know about the pizza vape. Is it combination or pepperoni?

 

[SpicyMcHaggis]

I couldn't resist trying the pizza at that price. HAHA Thanks for the help guys.

 

[SpicyMcHaggis]

My first test batches are happily steeping away! Mixed up some strawberry at 10%, 15% and 20% to get a handle on how much flavor I need.

Oh yeah, and a RY4 sample they sent at 5% since I see where tobaccos need less flavoring.