IntroductionThere has been a large increase in the number of forum members taking up the noble art of mixing lately and it is envisaged that this will only continue to expand as vaping grows. In line with this increase a number of questions are being repeatedly posted. This guide was born from an idea to help new mixers with the basics of the art.
Please read this guide and then feel free to ask any questions you may have, suggestions for changes or improvements are welcome. This guide is not intended to replace existing resources on the forum, rather support them.
Links to suppliers will not be included in this guide as the forum contains those already.
A separate thread has been created for comments and feedback to be posted
allaboute-cigarettes.proboards.com/thread/21123/beginners-guide-mixing-feedback-threadThis has been co-authored by
Roger and myself
Guide To Mixing
In principle, it is expected that most people use Propylene Glycol (PG) based Nicotine for mixing. This is largely due to preference and easier availability of PG Nic base, although Vegetable Glycerine (VG) bases are becoming more readily available. As a result, illustrative examples will assume PG heavy juices and generally a 70/30 ratio. Ratio is usually written as PG/VG.
Formula principle
Each juice contains nicotine suspended in either PG or VG liquid. This is referred to as Nicotine or Nic Base. This concentrate needs to be diluted down to a safe target mg/ml strength before use. Dilutents will generally be non-nicotine PG or VG.
A flavourless e liquid will contain a ratio of these.
Flavours are generally PG based and when calculating a mix, these need to be included.
Others. Sweeteners, e liquid enhancers etc, if required.
For example, when mixing a juice which is PG heavy and uses PG Nic Base, the total of the base, the diluent and the flavours will comprise the ratio of the total PG content.
The example below shows what constitutes a 70/30 PG/VG eliquid.
When mixing VG heavy liquids the actual percentage split will be influenced by the amount of flavouring, and whether a VG Nic Base is used. To achieve near 100% VG liquids, VG Nic base is required. Even then, unless using VG flavouring, the mix will be more likely to be 80/20 if using PG flavouring.
Plan your preferred ratio, target strength, percentage flavouring and use an online calculator to determine the actual volumes to be used.
PreferencesPG gives greater throat hit and flavour (probably because of PG flavourings), VG produces more vapour and can impart a slight sweetness to a mix. VG is thicker and may not wick well in certain atomisers. AG (Aqueous Glycerine is available from eliquid DIY sections which is effectively VG thinned with distilled water.
Your personal preference and any sensitivities to PG or VG will determine your ratio.
Strength vs diluent
The actual ml’s that are used to create the mix will be influenced by the target strength. A 6mg e liquid will require far less Nic Base than the 18mg e liquid. Therefore the amount of PG diluent will be high for 6mg yet low for 18mg – this is because of the inherent PG being included in order to deliver the target nicotine strength.
As a side note, volume (a 5ml vs 30ml bottle) is merely a multiplication of the base percentage split.
Impact of flavours on mix
Flavours are the wild card. Each flavour varies in intensity across each supplier. Learning from others experiences or experimenting yourself is the only way to determine the optimal percentage. Most initial flavour experiments generally assume a 20% use of flavours. It is worth noting that both PG and VG have a sweet taste with VG being the sweeter. Too little, or a weak flavour may struggle to overcome the bases.
Although 20% is mentioned above, that may well be far too much for some flavours or palates. The best advice is to start low, possibly around 5% and increase if too weak. The old adage “you can add, but you can’t take away” is a sound one.
As mentioned before, flavours are generally PG based. In a 70/30 ratio liquid at 18mg strength using 20% flavouring, the PG diluent content is likely to be only half of the VG diluent. This seems odd but this is part of the contributing “top up”towards the total 70% PG.
An approach to experimenting is further on.
ThinningSome heavy VG juices can be thick and some people thin the liquid further to assist in wicking if not using AG. Distilled water (buy from chemists not Halfords) or vodka can be used. Vodka assists with throat hit and the alcohol absorbed is miniscule. For beginners do not bother to thin. This is something that can be learnt later and will also depend on the atomiser you are using. The volumes to use are entirely subjective but up to 5-10% would be ok. Mixing calculators allow you to factor this in.
Your first recipe - Use an ejuice calculator
There are a number of calculators that can be used. E-Juice-Me Up is simple yet allows you to experiment as well. It can be downloaded from
www.ejuice.breaktru.com/ You can save each recipe under a file name for future reference, please note this is not compatible with Android.
You need Framework 3.5 for it to work if you don't already have it installed. ( With thanks to Simate for the information. )
www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=21Here is an overview of E-Juice-Me-Up
Please don't use this recipe ... its not very good
There are also alternative calculators that are available online. The downside of these is that you will need to record the recipe somewhere else.
Suggested InventoryPre-preparation stage. Decide your mix and throughout this process stick with it!
Try not to deviate. You can experiment later.
Save your bottles! Old juice bottles … don’t throw them away. Clean them (very hot water ultrasonic cleaners), leave them to dry upside down. Shake any excess out but don’t worry if a few drops of water are still inside.
So, assuming you have your Nic Base, Dilutents and flavours you will need:
Nitrile gloves to protect against spillages.
Syringes – 1 small gauge and 1 large gauge (I use these for VG)
2-3 pipettes.
A pot to store the syringes and pipettes when not using them.
A flat surface to work on.
A glass of water for pipette/syringe rinsing. When mixing pungent flavours I try to use different pipettes or at least rinse them out. This may not be important when mixing only one liquid but if you are mixing another one straight after, you may not want to get menthol in your vanilla custard.
Tissue/Kitchen Towel
A recipe to follow. Stick to the recipe.
I would recommend something simple to start with. Taste is subjective and vendor liquids will have been developed and tested over time. The exact ratios of flavour needs to learnt.
Simply mix the volumes up into your bottle.
Done. Give it a quick shake and then leave it to steep.
Not quite as easy as that. I would recommend making sure there are no children, cats or excitable dogs around when you are doing this.
When mixing I use syringes to do the bulk liquids, i.e. Nic Base and dilutent. For flavours and to prevent accidental flavour contamination, switch from mls measurement to dropper measurement, drop straight from the bottle. Some vendors supply flavours without droppers (Cupcake World) and this is where I use a pipette.
Developing your own … a practical exampleStart small. Record. These are my 2 principles.
Flavours vary. You will never really know initially how they will taste. Do not waste valuable Nic base by mixing up 30ml of experimental flavours.
Mix as above but make up the recipe at 1-5ml volume. Keep new flavours low, especially tobacco’s (max 5% for these).
Leave the mix to steep.
When ready test it on a dripping atomiser.
If it needs a flavour nudge, adjust the recipe and add the extra oomph. Don’t go over the top.
(If it’s just plain bad, ditch it … at least it’s not 30ml.)
Record what you did.
Repeat.
With this process you will be slowly upping the PG split but it doesn’t matter. You are taste testing, adjusting and refining the mix.
SteepingMost e liquid will benefit from maturing (like wine) This is known as steeping. Time is the best. Leave the mix somewhere warm and dark. Ways of speeding this up are to leave overnight on a radiator, to use an ultrasonic cleaner, place in a warm water bath.Time is the best, grasshopper.
Production PlanningWith mixing you are always 1 month behind. If you intend to live off home mixes,make sure you have at least a month’s supply of vendor juice. It is likely it will take a month just by the process of steeping and experimentation to be able to get to a good juice. Once that is established you then have another potential month of steeping ahead of you.
Work 1 month in advance.
SamplingUse a dripper. I prefer a 306.
When wondering when to sample, there is always an urge to have a go before juice is ready. When is the juice ready? To begin with you won’t know. You will have to try it.
I sample 24 hours later, 1 week later, 2 weeks later. Just a few drops and you will begin to see how the juice is coming on. Some flavours are a bit shy initially but soon start to grow in intensity. This ongoing sampling is really useful to get a better understanding of how the flavours behave and of your personal tastes.
Flavour Pairing
Looking for inspiration on flavours that will work well together, then this is a really useful site to check out:
nouveauraw.com/raw-techniques/flavor-prfiles-that-pair-well-in-recipes/
