My Kit arrived. 5 quick questions.

[Simon]

Well only 12 days 'real' vaping and I've already taken the plunge into Mixology.

My mixing kit arrived yesterday from The Alchemists Cupboard along with Cherry, Toasted Almond, and Golden Pineapple Capella Flavourings and after a quick trip to Superdrug, Boots & Asda I picked up some menthol crystals (Care+ 5g), Asda Rum Natural Flavouring, 200ml Glycerin (Care+) and just in case a small bottle of vodka and a dropper bottle. Also got 2x 2.5ml (out of date) syringes and some gloves from the good lady wife's work.

Question 1:
Is that everything needed to take the plunge into the vaping mixology world, apart from more flavours of course?? Oh the big tub at the back is fermenting Rhubarb wine, not part of the vaping chemistry set.

Question 2/3:
I've mixed up my own menthol with about 5ml of menthol crystals and 5ml of PG as per instructions here and it looks & smells like it's worked ok. Is there a shelf life for my home-made menthol mix?? And is there any other methods for making Menthol concentrate and how??? ie: VG based or Vodka based

Question 4:

Have I formulated the recipe correctly for a Menthol Juice?? I'll be using ml to measure out not drops btw.

Question 5: (last one for now )
When having more flavours in a recipe, say Cherry & Menthol, and my recipe above works out just right for my vape would I keep the % the same for the Menthol and add the cherry flavour???  ie: Menthol @15% + Cherry @15% = total Flavourings added 30% (Cherry/Menthol vape)

Cheers for now..

Simon

[Jen]

Hi Simon - 1-4 all looking good as far as I can tell. You may want to dilute your VG at about 10% with vodka if you're going to be using VG-heavy recipes. Menthol shelf life isn't massively long, in my experience mints and menthols can lose their punch after a while, so mix and vape fresh where possible.

5 - 30% might be a little strong, I'd aim for 20% total. A good Tunes recipe is 10% menthol to 10% TPA cherry

[Simon]

May 22, 2013 9:45:32 GMT Jen said:

You may want to dilute your VG at about 10% with vodka if you're going to be using VG-heavy recipes.

Okey dokey, done that.. 40ml of Care+ Glycerin diluted with 4ml of Vodka in it's own bottle. Would I have to alter the recipe in eJuice Me Up to take into account of the vodka??

May 22, 2013 9:45:32 GMT Jen said:

Would that still ring true with 3 flavours?? Looking for a general formula to start with ya see, so a 20% total flavour is about ball park, whether it's 1 or 5 flavours??

[Blownupdolly]

Please, please, do NOT put the same amount of menthol in as cherry. I made that mistake last week and nearly blew Mr Dollys head off
I would suggest a much lower ratio of menthol depending how strong you want it.

[Jen]

May 22, 2013 10:25:24 GMT Simon said:

May 22, 2013 9:45:32 GMT Jen said:

You may want to dilute your VG at about 10% with vodka if you're going to be using VG-heavy recipes.

Okey dokey, done that.. 40ml of Care+ Glycerin diluted with 4ml of Vodka in it's own bottle. Would I have to alter the recipe in eJuice Me Up to take into account of the vodka??

May 22, 2013 9:45:32 GMT Jen said:

Would that still ring true with 3 flavours?? Looking for a general formula to start with ya see, so a 20% total flavour is about ball park, whether it's 1 or 5 flavours??

I leave the EJMU recipe as is and just dilute my VG with 10% de-ionised water in the bottle - it keeps things simpler and all my recipes turn out just fine in consistency

The flavour percentage is a matter of taste, I think 20% is a great place to start. Just make up a few 3-5ml samples and see what suits you - that's the joy of mixing I know a couple of members here use 30% but I've never had a great result with it myself. Too much flavouring actually kills it, it goes all weird and soapy. Then again, it depends on the strength of your flavourings!

Blownupdolly - ouch! Guess it depends on how strong you mixed your menthol, 10% is just right for me

[Blownupdolly]

Jen I used TPA menthol concentrate. I only made up a 10ml test bottle and put in 1.25ml of menthol and cherry

[Jen]

May 22, 2013 10:47:37 GMT Blownupdolly said:

Jen I used TPA menthol concentrate. I only made up a 10ml test bottle and put in 1.25ml of menthol and cherry

Ahh, I've got some FA menthol and it's total pants! Not even a slight kick. My home brew is much better

Was that 1.25ml each? 25% flavour? Brave woman

[Blownupdolly]

May 22, 2013 10:58:54 GMT Jen said:

May 22, 2013 10:47:37 GMT Blownupdolly said:

Jen I used TPA menthol concentrate. I only made up a 10ml test bottle and put in 1.25ml of menthol and cherry

Ahh, I've got some FA menthol and it's total pants! Not even a slight kick. My home brew is much better

Was that 1.25ml each? 25% flavour? Brave woman

Yes each 25% lol
Might try a home brew one day.

[Simon]

Well, I'm vaping my 1st ever home-made juice and for a basic ingredients list, I must say.... IT'S Great!!!! works out cheap as well.
15% Home made menthol is spot on for me.. about the same strength as menthol ciggies I reckon.

[Simon]

May 22, 2013 11:05:12 GMT Blownupdolly said:

Might try a home brew one day.

Works really well, well it did for me.. 5g Care+ Menthol Crystals @ superdrug £2.15 plus a bit of PG, works out at about £0.70 for 10ml of Menthol Concentrate.

[Jen]

I'm thinking of popping my next menthol brew into the ultrasonic cleaner, seeing if it helps disperse the crystals a bit better

[Deleted]

Your EJMU is set to 20 drops per ml. If you are dropping, many use 30 drops per ml ... I have recipes with 20 and others with 30 depending on intensity of flavours (complicated I know). It might be good practice to use syringes and stick with syringes for flavour measuring or source an accurate pipette.

[Perpetua]

Well done Simon! Satisfying isn't it.


To answer your question on alternative ways of making a Menthol concentrate, the crystals won't dissolve in VG. They will with some heat, but then they tend to ' clump ' once the liquid has cooled.

You can use Vodka if you crush them up finely, but it's a slower process. Using PG is easier, although if you put your concentrate in a VG heavy mix, then again they can sometimes re-form.

[Frogster (The Alchemist)]

Simon, The VG that you got in the Kit is already diluted to the correct consistency and ready to be used. Apart from that.... have fun!

[Simon]

May 22, 2013 17:29:04 GMT Frogster (The Alchemist) said:

Simon, The VG that you got in the Kit is already diluted to the correct consistency and ready to be used. Apart from that.... have fun!

Was saving the good stuff for later Frogster (The Alchemist), very good starter kit btw :-)