Success! First toe in DIY water.

[GunMonkeyINTL]

I received both the liters of nic base (100mg, VG) that I ordered from Nude-Nic and EcigExpress, as well as the 50ml bottles from Specialty Bottle that Kurt recommended in his long-term storage sticky.

Both nic bases seemed to be of the same/similar quality - same color, indistinguishable in smell, tested to same strength (as far as the pool-chemical DIY test says). Not sure why I paid $105 for the NN over the $40 for the ECX. If I were to buy more, I will definitely buy the cheaper ECX.

The ECX came in one bottle, and had a little air space, which made shake-mixing much easier. I realize the air could be bad, but it didn't appear to be any different in color, from oxidation, than the NN, and they both had little bubbles in them after shaking, so I don't think it harmed anything. The NN came in two 1/2 liter bottles, with no air space, so I had to draw some out prior to shaking.

Last night, I got the base broken down and bottled for the freezer. I held off a sample of each for taste testing.

First, the wife and I vaped a couple rda fills of straight VG. Surprisingly not bad. I'd always heard people who were sensitive to or afraid of flavors saying that they could use straight VG, but thought it was kooky. We both agreed, though, that if we had to do it, we easily could.

There was almost no flavor- just a hint of sweet on the exhale- and nice fluffy, smooth vapor.

Then we did a couple rda fills of each nic brand, cut to 3mg strength, in straight VG. Neither had an appreciable taste (likely because of the low level), but each added a consistent throat hit on par with the 3mg juice we buy, so it seems they are both GTG and as advertised.

For the last experiment, I made up 5ml of 3mg strength, and added a few drops of Tasty Puffs "Mango Tango" (picked up just for the experiment), and it was actually damned good. We used that up last night, and agreed that it was a perfectly suitable alternative to store-bought. It was not nearly as flavor-saturated as the store-bought stuff, but also didn't kill our palates or leave any weird after-tastes, and, most importantly, proved that DIY was viable for us.

I've got a couple recipe kits, and some random flavors I thought might taste good on their own, coming from ECX, and am looking forward to mixing up our first "proper" bottle.

Thanks to all the vet DIYers on this site for the wealth of knowledge to get us started. I can't say 'thank you' enough.

 

[Frocket]

Glad it's working out for you. Likewise, I'm about to get into the DIY game, and I'm particularly interested in less flavoring - with the coils / tanks I use, many eliquids are simply too strong to be enjoyable.

I'll be starting out at 0% flavor and going up from there. As long as I get the tactile sensation I'm used to, I don't think I'll need much flavoring.

Sent from my D6603 using Tapatalk

 

[Zipslack]

Congratulations on making the jump!

I'm no professor or professional, I'm just cheap. I like to stick with simple one-ingredient mixes. Right now, I'm doing 50/50 unflavored. You really don't have to be a chemist or math wiz to make something worth vaping.

BTW, if you haven't already done so, get some graduated cylinders for measuring/mixing and find a mix calculator to make things easier and more precise.

 

[BrotherBob]

I've got a couple recipe kits, and some random flavors I thought might taste good on their own, coming from ECX

Thanks for the post. Did not know about ECX recipe kits. Looks a little pricey but seems to have it's advantages. I like the idea of demonstrating how to buy flavors by choosing recipe first.
Flavors tasting good on their own is tricky. 90% or more flavors,IMO, can be enhanced with additional flavors and ingredients in the mix. If you find that most of the flavors you bought taste good without mixing them with other flavors, this is good discovery. If you find a flavor(s) that does not taste so good on it's own, don't be discouraged. You can always add other flavors along side the poor tasting flavor (among other tricks), to try to get a mix that is good tasting to you. In some cases, you will obtain a flavor and find out that no matter how you use it, it's not for you. This discovery is not unusual and just part of DIY'g. For an example, out of 100 flavors i have (on average), 2-3% fall in the can not use in any "shape or form" (played with them enough and am unwilling to tinker with them any more) category.

 

[LoriP1702]

Congratulations!!

 

[GunMonkeyINTL]

They don't have many "recipe kits", but I think the pricing comes out to about the same as if you were to buy all of the bottles individually. They only had 2 I was interested in, but they both came with a variety of creams, marshmallows, and such that I figured fit my flavor preferences in store bought juices.

 

[Arriss]

I get my nic from ECxpress. Prior to MMWTA juice, I enjoyed 50/50 unflavored. Got burnt out on fruity flavors. Cool your having a fun time