Using 80/20 VG-PG 3mg nico premix to accommodate for the %PG in flavorings?

[Mediocre00Rebel]

I've been starting to study the information on making my own juice, as I've wasted money buying s**** juice I don't ever like. Ok, SO... I see that most juice mixes used 10-20% of the PG based flavor. I'm going for fruity mixes, gonna try adding a bit of hibiscus or elderflower notes.

Are all flavors PG base?

When I mix the fruits I'm think like, elderflower or sweet hibiscus 2% strawberry 1% guava 2% pineapple 1% menthol 1% sweetener 1-2% maybe 1% orange. that would give me round about a 70/30 with a slightly more diluted nicotine, which I'm totally okay with since I chain vape anyways. It's more of just a pacifier.... A tasty one.

A question for the experienced DIY juicers,
So if I were to try this recipe:
2% elderflower
2% strawberry
1% guava
2% pineapple
1% orange
1% sweetener
1% menthol

Would this taste like anything I put in it or what? Which flavors usually pop more? I can just imagine which are strong but I don't know. I would just like to try some crazy medley.

Also I want to just make some testers, so 10ml mixes. 8ml of VG 10.16g 2ml PG 2.08g... uhhh then each percentage of each flavor in grams would be .104 of a gram yes? Provided all flavors are PG base that'll get me at 8ml VG and 3ml PG, which would be around 70/30. Or wait. Lmao. It's 80/30, or does that just become 70/30. Yeah. Math and stuff. The flavoring with 1ml of PG will offset the 8ml of VG yeah?


Also here's a picture just some hilarious reviews I saw on bullcity.

 

[Mediocre00Rebel]

I'm still thinking about doing the 3mg premix, most mixes I see are 10% flavor anyway. So a 80/20 premix should make 70/30 with 10% PG flavor. I feel like the nicotine difference from 3mg/ml would be pretty negligible. I'm a little intimidated about working with super concentrated nicotine and doing the math on my own. Math is not my strong point.

 

[ShowMeTwice]

So if I were to try this recipe:
2% elderflower
2% strawberry
1% guava
2% pineapple
1% orange
1% sweetener
1% menthol

Would this taste like anything I put in it or what?

Without knowing whose flavors those are I could not tell you which flavors would be prominent in that mix. Some flavors are stronger versus other flavors.

That mix could be a disaster or tasty. All depends.

As a new DIY'er, I would start mixing with 2-3 of those flavors. Get those to where you like them and then add another flavor.

Start lower with the sweetener, like 0.5%, add as needed. Most fruits are sweet. You might not need any sweetener whatsoever.

Which flavors usually pop more? I can just imagine which are strong but I don't know. I would just like to try some crazy medley.

Without knowing whose flavors those are there is no way of saying which ones would "pop" more. In real life, yes we know which fruits are stronger. With DIY, it all depends on whose flavors you are using.

Also I want to just make some testers, so 10ml mixes.

When first starting out it is best to start with 10ml mixes (your creations).

uhhh then each percentage of each flavor in grams would be .104 of a gram yes?

Ummm, no. All flavors fall into a range of 0.97g per ml to 1.07g per ml. For mixing by weight most people use 1g per ml.

Are you planning on mixing by weight (using a scale)?

 

[ShowMeTwice]

I see that most juice mixes used 10-20% of the PG based flavor.

Generally speaking, yes. I consider 20% total flavoring to be quite high.

None of my mixes use over 14% total flavoring. The majority use less than 10%. Some where I use very highly concentrated flavors use less than 3%. A few have less than that.

Just because a mix uses 3% total flavoring does not mean it's weak. Again, it all depends on whose flavors (what flavor company's) are being used.

A 3% mix using highly concentrated flavors will easily be as strong, and as tasty, as a mix with 10% total flavoring using flavors that aren't highly concentrated.

FWIW, I've been mixing since 2012.

 

[ShowMeTwice]

Provided all flavors are PG base that'll get me at 8ml VG and 3ml PG, which would be around 70/30. Or wait. Lmao. It's 80/30, or does that just become 70/30. Yeah. Math and stuff. The flavoring with 1ml of PG will offset the 8ml of VG yeah?

In that example you are at 11ml of VG/PG only. That's already over the 10ml mixes you mentioned previously.

You are making things far more confusing than you need to (see below).

I'm a little intimidated about working with super concentrated nicotine and doing the math on my own.

I use 100mg PG based nicotine. When I first started DIY I was a little concerned with using 100mg nic. I've spilled some nic on my hands without any problems or issues whatsoever.

Higher concentrations of nicotine is where the serious safety concern lies.

Math is not my strong point.

It doesn't need to be. I don't do any of the math. I let a DIY calculator do all the math for me.

Go to the e-liquid-recipes website, create a login and use their free calculator. Their calculator is super easy to use.

 

[Mediocre00Rebel]

@ShowMeTwice Ok, awesome thank you. I was definitely overthinking it. I wanna make sure I get all the right stuff. I'm definitely gonna mix my own pg/VG. This makes sense, reading other things about mixing confused me on how strong 100mg/ml actually was. But simple, it's 3% to get 3mg in a 10ml mix.

 

[Mediocre00Rebel]

Without knowing whose flavors those are I could not tell you which flavors would be prominent in that mix. Some flavors are stronger versus other flavors.

That mix could be a disaster or tasty. All depends.

As a new DIY'er, I would start mixing with 2-3 of those flavors. Get those to where you like them and then add another flavor.

Start lower with the sweetener, like 0.5%, add as needed. Most fruits are sweet. You might not need any sweetener whatsoever.




Without knowing whose flavors those are there is no way of saying which ones would "pop" more. In real life, yes we know which fruits are stronger. With DIY, it all depends on whose flavors you are using.




When first starting out it is best to start with 10ml mixes (your creations).




Ummm, no. All flavors fall into a range of 0.97g per ml to 1.07g per ml. For mixing by weight most people use 1g per ml.

Are you planning on mixing by weight (using a scale)?

I've heard people say scale is the way to go. So I'm using a scale. Less to clean up too, instead of using like 6 droppers.

 

[Mediocre00Rebel]

These are the flavors I wanna get. Excited to see if I can make some interesting stuff.

 

[Mediocre00Rebel]

I wanna add a good orange flavor, I wanna avoid it being like a bitter zest flavor tho. Unless adding just a tiny bit eliminates the possibility it will be bitter. Excited.

 

[ShowMeTwice]

I wanna add a good orange flavor, I wanna avoid it being like a bitter zest flavor tho. Unless adding just a tiny bit eliminates the possibility it will be bitter. Excited.

I always have a couple orange mixes going. Flavour Art makes excellent orange flavors.

FA Blood Orange and FA Royal Orange combined make for a very authentic tasting orange profile.
In equal measure, 2% each, you will have a mix that tastes like freshly squeezed OJ (think Tropicana).

In mixes I like using them together.

Both are naturally sweet, Royal Orange is the sweeter of the two and is like the flavor of navel orange juice. Blood Orange adds a bolder, deeper orange flavor, it is also sweet and has very light zest note. The zest note is not bitter.

3% - 5% if used individually. If using both in a mix you can vary the amount of each percentage-wise to profile one over the other. Example: Royal Orange, 3.5% Royal Orange + 1.5% Blood Orange to feature the Royal Orange in a mix.

FWIW, orange works very nicely paired with pineapple, or strawberry, or guava (and many more!).
Or, as an example, orange/pineapple/strawberry in a mix is very tasty.

 

[ShowMeTwice]

These are the flavors I wanna get. Excited to see if I can make some interesting stuff.

Nice list.

If you like strawberry, I would recommend FA Strawberry and FA Juicy Strawberry. Combined they make a very convincing strawberry profile. They are very authentic tasting strawberries compared to TFA Ripe Strawberry.

 

[ShowMeTwice]

@ShowMeTwice Ok, awesome thank you. I was definitely overthinking it. I wanna make sure I get all the right stuff. I'm definitely gonna mix my own pg/VG. This makes sense, reading other things about mixing confused me on how strong 100mg/ml actually was. But simple, it's 3% to get 3mg in a 10ml mix.

You're welcome.

Yes, 3% nic base to get 3mg in any sized mix (6% = 6mg etc.).

I've heard people say scale is the way to go. So I'm using a scale. Less to clean up too, instead of using like 6 droppers.

Yes, using a scale is the way to go. It's very quick and easy. No mess to clean-up at all.

I prefer the American Weigh Scales LB-501. It weighs down to 0.01g. Whatever scale you choose needs to weigh down to 0.01g.


Reddit has an excellent Guide to Mixing by Weight.

 

[ShowMeTwice]

Becoming a successful DIY'er requires much patience and time. There are no shortcuts to success.

For someone new to mixing, creating mixes from scratch can be very frustrating.

Putting a good mix together requires knowing your flavors. Creating a mix, like you did, in your original post is often a recipe for disaster for the new mixer. I would recommend only starting with a couple flavors.

A mixer needs to know their flavors. One way to accomplish that is to do a Single Flavor Test (SFT) with each flavor. For SFT's I do 5mls; VG/PG/nic + 1% to 3% of whatever flavor. The percentage I use in a SFT all depends, as some flavors are very highly concentrated. That means using as little as 1 drop to 0.5% in a SFT. Example: the majority of FLV (Flavorah) flavors are highly concentrated.

Regarding SFT's, if you want to be a successful mixer, there is no better way to learn and know your flavors.

After you've made a mix shake it very well. Then let it steep for a few days. Steeping forms a homogeneous, or miscible, mix. Every mix will benefit from steeping. Store your mixes in a drawer, closet or pantry. Avoid storing them in sunlight. Shake your new mixes every day. And shake your mixes before you vape them (just as you were taught with retail juices).

Also, a common mistake new mixers make is using more of a flavor than is needed. Every single flavor has a point where if it is used at high percentages it will end up tasting horrible. If used too high a flavor will fold over itself (crap tasting). Using more of a flavor does not equal better tasting e-liquid (depending).

Start every mix using each flavor at lower percentages. Why? Because then you can add more of a flavor to a mix (if needed). You can not take away from a mix.

Do not fall into the trap of thinking mixes need to have 10%, 15% or 20% total flavoring to be excellent mixes. They do not. I have many mixes that use 5% or less total flavoring, and those are full bodied and full flavor.

Get a notebook and make detailed notes for every flavor you try (or SFT). Likewise, record detailed notes for every mix you create. Your notes will be very helpful going forward.