Today's the day!

[spacey]

So, after spending days obsessively reading and watching everything I can about mixing, today is the actual day I have a go

I have my pg & vg, nic base (72mg), far more concentrates than I intended getting (whoops!!) and 3 sorts of sweetner (I figured that I needed them all as different recipes seem to use different ones...). I also got a bottle of MTS Vape Wizard as I'm sure that must be what's in juices such as Nicotickets CLS & Creme Brulee - to give that full on mouth coating creaminess (that sounds a bit suspect but you know what I mean ). Not planning on using it at first, need to gain experience in the basics!!

Anyhow, wish me luck!! I'm going to try a simple custard to start (GVC clone, I lurve my GVC) - but I know it will be weeks before I get to try the results - so will also try a butterscotch/cream one as well. Hopefully that won't need as much steeping...

What I am wondering is this - I see people say that if something isn't sweet enough or have enough flavour, then they add more flavour later - so do you just add another drop into the already steeped mix and continue steeping? Can you try it straight after adding extra or does it need added steep? Does doing this knock out your ratios of everything else? Am I just overthinking this and overworrying about it??

[Pepperty]

you often tweak as you go.

If you know a mix is fine to vape from the off then you taste and alter, so if its ready in about 2/5/10/21 days you can still add in sweetener and extra flavour later when its steeped - then wait a few days etc, the main thing to remember is note down alterations as you don't want to make your perfect eliquid but not know what percentages were used as you kept chucking more in!

In the extra amounts wont throw the nicotine and pg/vg ratio out tons? so I wouldn't worry there, just concentrate on getting flavour as you like it. I generally start at the lower end of suggested flavour percentages and work my way up after taste testing when steeped.

Some people mix with no nicotine in tiny 3ml testers but if its a well known recipe that you know you like then 10ml is fine - thats what I do

[CockneyVaper]

Best of luck with it all Spacey - I have never gotten the hang of mixing, (I just couldn't seem to get my flavourings right), and went back to pre-mixes.
Perhaps I'll give it a good old go again soon. Anyway, have fun.

[spacey]

Thanks Pepperty that's helped my stem my nerves

Good advice re writing stuff down - thats the one thing I'd forgotten about in my eagerness to get started (I am that person who always makes endless lists and notes so would have been doubly annoyed with myself!!)


Thank you CockneyVaper - only time will tell if I'm doing the right thing....or if it's a total disaster!!

[Pepperty]

Ditto! spacey I have a wee recipe notebook to hand 

If I was starting mixing again I would probably recommend the 'one shot flavours' like T-Juice of Chefs Vapours or Pink Spot, those concentrates that are already combination flavours and the amount is generally known.

For example, I have a perfectly pleasant 'mint choc chip ice cream' thats a self mix of 3 or 4 or more flavours....faffing about to get percentages correct? ugh! not for me! - but you can buy an already mixed concentrate of 'choc chip ice cream' that tastes identical so I much prefer 'one shot mixers' where possible.

Some people take to mixing like a duck to water but I'm not one of them...

[Pepperty]

The biggest issue spacey is that taste is subjective, many members can love an e-juice made up at 20% but that doesnt mean you will.....?
I have an excel spread sheet in which I note down all the recommended percentages and note whose recipe and I work out whose taste buds I match as a guideline of where to start.

For example, @johanino makes her juice up in 3/4/5% only but Perpetua goes for around 20% on many, so I match her recipes more. But at least my spreadsheet has notes on each brand and each flavour so I have a baseline idea of my starting point.

[spacey]

Well I'm figuring that as I love baking cakes/desert type stuff and adding little tweaks till I find how it suits me, that maybe I can apply the same process to mixing eliquids....with the added benefit that I don't have to consume the majority of the damn cake afterwards anymore!

(seriously, that's my one downfall of baking, one slice is never enough!! But I love the whole 'creating' process so mixing seems like a win-win )


Pepperty - I'm all about the flavours!! so many juices seem underflavoured to me, so I think I'll be starting on the higher side

[lardarse]

If you're unsure about flavours start low, you can add more, you can't take too much out.

[Perpetua]

Aug 23, 2014 9:18:33 GMT spacey said:

 I also got a bottle of MTS Vape Wizard as I'm sure that must be what's in juices such as Nicotickets CLS & Creme Brulee - to give that full on mouth coating creaminess (that sounds a bit suspect but you know what I mean ). Not planning on using it at first, need to gain experience in the basics!!

Anyhow, wish me luck!! I'm going to try a simple custard to start (GVC clone, I lurve my GVC) - but I know it will be weeks before I get to try the results - so will also try a butterscotch/cream one as well. Hopefully that won't need as much steeping...

What I am wondering is this - I see people say that if something isn't sweet enough or have enough flavour, then they add more flavour later - so do you just add another drop into the already steeped mix and continue steeping? Can you try it straight after adding extra or does it need added steep? Does doing this knock out your ratios of everything else? Am I just overthinking this and overworrying about it??

Good luck spacey.

Vape Wizard is a flavour rounder, knocks back any rough edges in a mix, it's unlikely to add any extra ' creaminess ', for that you'd be better using some Dulche de Leche/ French Vanilla Deluxe/ Vanillian/Bavarian Cream at say 1% as a starting point.

Although it's useful to ' have in ' . . . I'm a firm believer in the just in case philosophy.

As Pepperty has said, I'd wait until a mix has fully infused before you start adding extra anything - it's the way to spoil a perfectly nice eliquid if you do that.

Extra sweetener won't need extra steeping . . . . but extra flavour will. Although I'd be careful being too heavy handed with sweetener as the more you use, the quicker your coils with gunk up.

Don't be tempted to make vast quantities of anything, until you're certain it's for you.

Have fun.

[chykensa]

spacey - you've had some great advice above, so I'll say best of luck, it really isn't as scary as you think it is. Once you've got your first mix done, you'll stand back for a vape and think "is that all there is to it!?"
A few things to empahsise:-
1) Always write recipes down. If you use the calculator at the top right of this page, and register an account, you can save all your recipes as you do them, even marking those 'private' until you are satisfied they can go on 'general release'!
2) Err on the side of caution with percentages - you can always add more, but it's a damned sight more difficult to lower a flavouring.
3) Use other people's recipes to start with; you can work on developing your own much later on, especially as there are just so many good ones here in the Forum.
4) Mix regularly; you will need to build up a stock of 'vape ready' juice, after steeping, so mix little and often. That way in a month or so you will have some juice ready to vape, and some needing more time. Try some of the T-Juice or Pink Spot one-shot mixes which will be ready to vape a lot sooner, and could be mixed in larger quantities.
5) If you can afford to, buy nic base and PG in the largest quantities you can - the savings are considerable. If all goes belly-up in 2016 you will also be future-proofed a bit too!
6) If you have a mix that just doesn't tste right, consider sending someone a small 5ml bottle of it and ask them to taste for you. Another set of taste buds often identifies something obvious that you have overlooked. Alternatively take it to a Vapemeet - no-one is going to laugh at your attempts, and you will get lots of helpful advice.

Let us know how you get on - mix some fruity ones too, which will be good to go after a couple of days

[spacey]

Vape Wizard is a flavour rounder, knocks back any rough edges in a mix, it's unlikely to add any extra ' creaminess ', for that you'd be better using some Dulche de Leche/ French Vanilla Deluxe/ Vanillian/Bavarian Cream at say 1% as a starting point

Perpetua - in that case, is it good for adding Vape Wizard after the juice has steeped completely? For example, if I made the mix, waited a couple of weeks, then it tasted a bit harsh - would I then use a bit and it would make a difference instantly?

Have now got all the above concentrates (yep, maybe should of started with a couple but hey ho!) and am going to try the butterscotch bliss recipe you posted for me the other day

chykensa Thanks! Loads of sound advice there I do feel prepared now to have a go...

sleedale the vanillan just arrived Thank you again, much appreciated - now I have to re-read on how to make it into liquid!!

[Deleted]

Aug 23, 2014 10:00:52 GMT Pepperty said:

The biggest issue spacey is that taste is subjective, many members can love an e-juice made up at 20% but that doesnt mean you will.....?
I have an excel spread sheet in which I note down all the recommended percentages and note whose recipe and I work out whose taste buds I match as a guideline of where to start.

For example, @johanino makes her juice up in 3/4/5% only but Perpetua goes for around 20% on many, so I match her recipes more. But at least my spreadsheet has notes on each brand and each flavour so I have a baseline idea of my starting point.

I make it at 2% and I rarely steep the e-liquids just the concentrates...and I don't do fancy recipes (way too much hassle)...just one shot things. If I like it - good. If not it gets given away/binned

Most of the time (like 99.9% of the time) anything above 2% is just vile!!! LOL

[spacey]

Aug 23, 2014 15:35:57 GMT @johanino said:

I make it at 2% and I rarely steep the e-liquids just the concentrates...and I don't do fancy recipes (way too much hassle)...just one shot things. If I like it - good. If not it gets given away/binned

Most of the time (like 99.9% of the time) anything above 2% is just vile!!! LOL

You steep the concentrates before making a mix? Does that make a difference?

Have just made a simple 5ml custard tester and put it away for a couple of weeks Butterscotch bliss next...

[Deleted]

Well I can't speak for anyone else spacey but tis what I do......steep the concentrates for about a week before using them. Find they taste better....

Don't know if this is what anyone else does and remember I vape at a 2% mix

[spacey]

Ahh, ok . Thank you - was worried I'd missed a vital step!!