To DIY or not to DIY, that is the question.....

[MizStakes]

Bittersweetness.....This is is gonna be my last post in the New Members Forum because Im almost at 70 posts. But Im not a noob anymore either, YAY!.............................................. Anyhoooo, Im using my last post for some good/bad/ugly DIY feedback. I want to know how hard it really is. Id like input from new DIY-ers and Old Pros. I have read a lot the threads and stickys in the DIY forum but Im still not sure if it is something I want to get into. Im a passionate foodie and drink mixologist and I would love to come up with some crazy juice recipes................P.S. ITS FRIIIIIIIDAAAAAAYYYYYY Ma Peeps!!! I get to play with all my toys this weekend! TGIF Indeed!

 

[klynnn]

Definitely DIY. It takes awhile to perfect a good juice just need a little patience. Start small and don't go out and buy 75 flavorings right off the bat like I did. A year later and I haven't used a lot of them. The rewards are worth it as are the savings.

 

[glasseye]

It's not what I would call hard, just be prepared for a LOT of trial and error. Take note and even print out the percentages that kind people have posted, but remember that most of those are for single flavorings and you need to adjust when mixing multiple flavors. Food and drink translate VERY well. I was a mixologist in another life, it's a lot of fun translating some drinks (real and made-up) into e-liquids.
And if you do choose to go into this, whatever you think you want to store your flavorings and safety supplies in isn't big enough. It's not big enough at ALL.

 

[AgentAnia]

DIY'ing can be easy, or it can be complicated. Depends on how you feel about it and how you go about it. I started DIY'ing almost as soon as I started vaping. It's as simple as ordering unflavored nic juice, some concentrated flavorings, and a few empty bottles.

You can make it complicated if you want more complex flavors. For instance: key lime is easy (base + key lime flavor). Mango/whipped cream/key lime pie is complicated (base + key lime + mango + whipped cream + sweetener + pie crust)/all in varying ratios.

If you find a pre-mixed flavor that you love, more power to you, you are in luck! If you go the route of creating your perfect juice, good luck! Either one is a journey worth making!

The important thing is to keep on vaping!

 

[grandmato5]

DIY isn't hard at all but it does take some patience. It is trial and error to get your mixture to the exact flavor you are looking for sometimes. Finding your preferences in flavorings you prefer for different flavors can take some time so don't purchase large quantities of any flavorings until you know which ones you are going to prefer. Keep good notes on your mixes. Nothing worse then coming up with a GREAT juice and not knowing what flavorings at what percentages you used to get there.

There's no reason anyone has to only do DIY or only purchase vendors juices. While I do DIY the majority of my juice I still enjoy purchasing a few vendors juices that I really enjoy

 

[Vapoor eyes er]

Began DIY 1 month after beginning to vape and haven't looked back. If you're a tinkerer you'll LOVE it BUT can be frustrating at the start. Before you know it you'll be mixing concoctions with 10+ diff ingredients.
One suggestion which I didn't do in the beginning...voice record everything with a voice activated prog. Also VERY important to measure everything in exact amounts.

There were some amazing juices that I mixed but didn't bother to record- those recipes are lost forever.
Best of Luck and have fun.

 

[Iron Molly]

If you are a foodie/mixologist I suspect you will love DIY and do just fine at it! It's like cooking in that you need to follow certain rules of proportion but you can also improvise a whole lot with a dash of this and a dash of that.

 

[TBPlayer2112]

Aww you don't have to stop posting in the new members forum. I still enjoy coming here and helping new folks out and still learn stuff all the time.
OT: If I had the space I would dive right in to DIY. Currently it's not possible but some day I plan on getting in on that. Good luck!

 

[Faylool]

If you want to come up with crazy mixes then it's easy. I think it's easy. Very easy. If you are trying to copy a good juice you have tried then its extremely difficult

 

[Jay Gee]

I've been vaping 3 weeks and DIY'ing for 2. Results have been average so far, but I'm happy with that as it could have been much worse. Best advice I found was to only mix small samples - less wastage that way. Best thing I discovered on my own - menthol fixes everything Well not quite and it's personal opinion, but I find if I don't like a particular mix a drop of menthol can mask a lot of flavours. You have to like menthol of course.

 

[Executive]

DIY can be loads of fun and it's a minimal financial invest for such a great ROI. Just like what Faylool said... Making your own if easy peasy, trying to mimic... get ready for a lot of juice down the drain or suffered through.

 

[MizStakes]

DIY isn't hard at all but it does take some patience. It is trial and error to get your mixture to the exact flavor you are looking for sometimes. Finding your preferences in flavorings you prefer for different flavors can take some time so don't purchase large quantities of any flavorings until you know which ones you are going to prefer. Keep good notes on your mixes. Nothing worse then coming up with a GREAT juice and not knowing what flavorings at what percentages you used to get there.

There's no reason anyone has to only do DIY or only purchase vendors juices. While I do DIY the majority of my juice I still enjoy purchasing a few vendors juices that I really enjoy

I certainly have enough vendor-made juice to last me for a while. The ones I just got in are missing from this pic but right now I have about 30+ 10ml bottles of various flavors. Could I start mixing some of my pre-made mixes??? Especially the ones I do not like; maybe I can get them to taste better by mixing them with other flavors. Im a pastry chef and a fusion-cuisine chef as a hobby. I win a lot of competitions so I have a very advanced palette for flavor. Id love to come up with some fusion-style juice recipes that are completely different than most that I have seen out there.


Oh and another question: I vape 0mg nic but I would like my friends to try my recipes eventually. Does nicotine have a flavor?? I know adding it to the mix affects the ingredient ratio but does it affect the flavor much. I was thinking of perfecting my recipes in 0mg and then adding nic before I let friends sample them. Most of them are smokers and Im trying to switch them to vaping so we could be our own little community. There really isn't one so Im determined to make one, lol

Thanks for the great advice and help everyone!!! You guys are the best, as usual! The forum never disappoints me....

 

[Jaguar07]

I've been vaping since May 14th, of this year. I've been making my own juice since June 14th. My own flavors are tailored to me. Write stuff down, or make sure you stick to what you planned to try and remember it exactly. You'll need some space for bottles but you don't have to have 20 of them "steeping" at once. I usually have (3) 50ml bottles steeping at a time and a couple 50ml bottles in use. If you enjoy mixology, E-juice will be fun. It costs me about $2.60 to make a 50ml of my own at 12mg/ml nicotene and 90/10 PG to VG with flavorings. $5.16 to get Liqua from China, and $25 for a 30ml of Drakes Drakeula at full retail. There will always be some others worth buying.

 

[Kellycat]

I've been vaping 3 weeks and DIY'ing for 2. Results have been average so far, but I'm happy with that as it could have been much worse. Best advice I found was to only mix small samples - less wastage that way. Best thing I discovered on my own - menthol fixes everything Well not quite and it's personal opinion, but I find if I don't like a particular mix a drop of menthol can mask a lot of flavours. You have to like menthol of course.

100% agreed as far as adding menthol to 'fix' a mixture, it'll mask almost any flavor with just a few drops, presuming, as you said, that one likes menthol!

I certainly have enough vendor-made juice to last me for a while. The ones I just got in are missing from this pic but right now I have about 30+ 10ml bottles of various flavors. Could I start mixing some of my pre-made mixes??? Especially the ones I do not like; maybe I can get them to taste better by mixing them with other flavors. Im a pastry chef and a fusion-cuisine chef as a hobby. I win a lot of competitions so I have a very advanced palette for flavor. Id love to come up with some fusion-style juice recipes that are completely different than most that I have seen out there.


Oh and another question: I vape 0mg nic but I would like my friends to try my recipes eventually. Does nicotine have a flavor?? I know adding it to the mix affects the ingredient ratio but does it affect the flavor much. I was thinking of perfecting my recipes in 0mg and then adding nic before I let friends sample them. Most of them are smokers and Im trying to switch them to vaping so we could be our own little community. There really isn't one so Im determined to make one, lol

Thanks for the great advice and help everyone!!! You guys are the best, as usual! The forum never disappoints me....

You can certainly mix pre-made juices, I've actually modified a few pre-made ones with a dash of this, dash of that, and gotten some really good results on occasion. As far as nicotine affecting the taste, poke around on here, there was a thread just the other night someone asking about the very same thing. Personally, I'd say yes, nicotine will affect your flavors, but not drastically as long as you don't do more than 6mg-12mg nicotine in a flavor. If you start doing high-nic juices like 24-36 you may have to have a friend sample them and let you know how they compare to the nic-free though.

 

[MizStakes]

I've been vaping 3 weeks and DIY'ing for 2. Results have been average so far, but I'm happy with that as it could have been much worse. Best advice I found was to only mix small samples - less wastage that way. Best thing I discovered on my own - menthol fixes everything Well not quite and it's personal opinion, but I find if I don't like a particular mix a drop of menthol can mask a lot of flavours. You have to like menthol of course.

Good advice......never would have thought of that! Wait... then whatever flavor it is, I could just add the word "Icy" the name, lol....icy banana nut bread, icy almond brownies, icy caramel corn....HAHAHAHA

 

[Vapoor eyes er]

Oh and another question: I vape 0mg nic but I would like my friends to try my recipes eventually. Does nicotine have a flavor?? I know adding it to the mix affects the ingredient ratio but does it affect the flavor much.
I was thinking of perfecting my recipes in 0mg and then adding nic before I let friends sample them. Most of them are smokers and Im trying to switch them to vaping so we could be our own little community.

It's hard to answer as nicotine is either in PG and/ or VG. I know that smokers really want and need the nicotine to achieve the TH and lung hit. That's prolly why the zero nic PVs are a dismal failure. I find the nic adds a touch of a peppery taste but realize smokers prolly won't notice as the taste buds are not up to snuff.
Juice Components
Flavoring usually about 5- 15%- could be higher or lower depending on the flavor used.
PG enhances flavor, TH and lung hit- water like - many of us believe PG to be a throat irritant.
VG= vapor and can mute flavor- thick
Nicotine- TH, lung hit and our need for nicotine. The MOST important ingredient in regards to TH and lung hit.
Standards in the industry are 80/ 20 or 70/ 30 PG/ VG.

 

[Chimney34]

Do it! I was hesitant at first too but it's much easier than I thought!

 

[MizStakes]

It's hard to answer as nicotine is either in PG and/ or VG. I know that smokers really want and need the nicotine to achieve the TH and lung hit. That's prolly why the zero nic PVs are a dismal failure. I find the nic adds a touch of a peppery taste but realize smokers prolly won't notice as the taste buds are not up to snuff.
Juice Components
Flavoring usually about 5- 15%- could be higher or lower depending on the flavor used.
PG enhances flavor, TH and lung hit- water like - many of us believe PG to be a throat irritant.
VG= vapor and can mute flavor- thick
Nicotine- TH, lung hit and our need for nicotine. The MOST important ingredient in regards to TH and lung hit.
Standards in the industry are 80/ 20 or 70/ 30 PG/ VG.

THANKS! Great advice! Cause the whole PG vs VG thing always kinda confused me....

Oh and that dam pic of your little spoiled, peanut eating squirrel and how you got that pic still makes me giggle every time I see it!

 

[Jay Gee]

I was thinking of perfecting my recipes in 0mg and then adding nic before I let friends sample them.

The bigger problem you face is not the nic itself, but the volume of suspension liquid you will need to add to achieve a certain nic level.

If you have 10ml of 0mg nic juice that you're happy with, you would have to add 20ml (or 200%) of 54mg PG or VG to get to an 18mg juice. This would dilute the flavour and you would also throw the balance between PG and VG out unless you premix the nic base to take this into account.

However, if you use a high nic base (say 100mg) and shoot for a lower nic juice (say 12mg), the ratio of nic base required drops dramatically to 1.4ml (or 14%). Still enough to alter the flavour, but not so bad. The PG/VG ratio would similarly be less affected.

Some quality juice makers even alter their recipes for different nic levels to achieve a consistent flavour at each nic %.

It all depends on how accurate you want the remixed sample to be, but would work best with the high nic base to lower nic juice scenario.

 

[Executive]

There are tools on the web that can make life a bit easier when home brewing. Take Ejuice Me Up for example, available at eJuice Me Up - Best eJuice Calculator it does all the work for you, calculating how much nic, pg, vg, and flavorings you need. It takes into account what your current nic base solution is adjusts accordingly.