DIY NET Tobacco (Cold Maceration) Experiment

[jtc]

Great read that was and fair play to use that are mastering this technique and satisfied

[Deleted]

Apologies for the lack of updates. Unfortunately real life threw some curve balls at me and vaping matters had to take a back seat. Luckily I had about 3 years worth of various ready made DIY juice on hand (whoop), so I have still been able to vape like a trooper, just not do anything DIY related.

I'll be honest, I was going to throw away my NET concentrate experiment yesterday, as it has been sitting there so long in the cupboard un-aired and unloved etc, but when I went to take it outside to the drain I had second thoughts. It still looked great and passed the sniff test with flying colours, so this morning I found the time to get to work.

I first took the whole wet tobacco mix and forced it firmly but gently with the bottom of a desert spoon through an old flour sieve, which separated pretty much all of the solid mass from the liquid. I then used a double coffee filter in the aeropress and pushed the liquid through, which was harder to do than I expected (even with PG), but the end result left a very clear golden dark brown coloured extract. I couldn't see any sediment at all and it was so clean looking in fact that I decided not to filter it again, which may be a mistake, but we will see. Other tobacco concentrates I've bought look much cloudier than mine for sure.

I bottled this up and I got about 140ml of concentrate, which I'm pretty pleased with, but I don't know what strength it will be. Time will tell on that one.

Unfortunately I do not have any VG or PG here at the moment to make up a test batch of juice, so this will have to wait until the new year now. I've put the bottles in the dark steep cupboard for the time being.

So that's me all up to date. I have to say that the concentrate smells and looks great and I can't wait to make some juice up and test it next year when I get the chance.

I hope you all have a great Christmas and best wishes for the new year!

[yourgurnard]

Sorry to hear that You've had Real Life intruding...........!
'Nearly threw it away'...?!!! No...just NO!! 2month steep with Old Holborn should give You a great concentrate.
Filtered once thru' coffee filters will be fine; I've packed cotton wool into a syringe & squirted it thru' that but NET will be a gunker, whatever. The fact that You'll have to let the concentrate sit 'till You've got some PG/VG is prob. helpful in that if any visible particles have slipped past the filter paper, they'll settle at the bottom & You can draw liquid from the top of the container when You're ready to mix.
Hope it's to Your taste M8, O/H is still one of My favourites as a NET!

[Deleted]

Cheers yourgurnard. Good point about letting it settle as the first thing I normally do when I grab a bottle of concentrate is shake the bottle - I'll have to remember not to do that when I make some juice up next year

Happy Christmas to you and yours - Have a great one!

[yourgurnard]

Bump!
@hondo C'mon Man, You've had loadsa time to obtain PG/VG!!
Can't believe You've been vaping arti-stuff since last year!!!
( )

[Deleted]

Hehe yourgurnard you read my mind - I ordered from Darkstar on Monday, so it might be here today :-)

I'm making up a litre of juice in this batch. I bought enough fresh Nic for this batch, but didn't buy another freezer pack as planned - instead I'm dropping from 7.2mg to 3.6mg Nic to extend the life of my frozen Nic reserves.

Home NET
100ml of Hondo's Holborn @ 10% Home NET
100ml of Hondo's Holborn @ 10% Home NET + 2% RY4D (just curious)

Others
100ml of Holborg @ 12%
100ml of Old Captain @ 12%
300ml of Rhodonite @ 15%
300ml of RY4D 10% + 1% AP

Has @yinyang reported in yet on his experiment. I'd love to hear how he got on as well.

[Deleted]

I have been vaping only Net since the middle of December @hondo ... Old Holborn from ryo, red & gold Virginia from cut leaf and Peterson's pipe tobacco ... All mixed at 25%.
I also have another batch of Old Holborn and Peterson's macerating ATM which I will let steep until all my current Net concentrate is used up which will probably be about 6 months or so ... Just to see what effect long term macerating has.
All my concentrates are very clear (not in colour but in absence of tobacco particles) and I am able to easily get a full 5mls through the Kayfun v5 before dry burning and rewicking. All I did was squish the mulch through the coffee jug thing (I really must find out the proper name for that lol) and strain the liquid through a lab filter once. I then let the liquid settle for a week before syphoning off all but the bottom quarter inch which I dumped. I think that the secret to clear concentrate is not to get greedy trying to squeeze every last ml from the mulch.
So good is the eliquid from these Net concontrates, that I have given all my other concentrates and eliquid to my grandsons ... NET only for me from now on. 😁

[Deleted]

Wow @yinyang that's awesome news, great job mate!

Like you I only filtered mine once and I was also surprised how clear the liquid is. I was expecting it to be very cloudy indeed.

Mixing it at 25% eh? Blimey, I was going to start at just 10%, but I do like a strong flavour so I'll have to rethink that then.

Thank you so much for the positive update. I can't wait to try mine now

[Deleted]

Jan 11, 2017 15:40:28 GMT @hondo said:

Wow @yinyang that's awesome news, great job mate!

Like you I only filtered mine once and I was also surprised how clear the liquid is. I was expecting it to be very cloudy indeed.

Mixing it at 25% eh? Blimey, I was going to start at just 10%, but I do like a strong flavour so I'll have to rethink that then.

Thank you so much for the positive update. I can't wait to try mine now

I went with 25% based on the 25 - 30% recommendation on the ECF thread where I first got interested in the subject of NET cold maceration ... 25% is spot on for the tobacco leaf concentrate but I think I will drop to 20% when I next mix the Old Holborn and Peterson's as they are both quite strong at 25%.

[yourgurnard]

Great stuff both!
@hondo I reckon You'll be disappointed if You only use 10%...these macerations are nowhere near as potent as commercial flavour concentrates. I use 30%....& have been known to steep 'baccy in a 50/50 nic. base & vape the result!
@yinyang 5ml. is impressive! Your filter papers & junking the bottom 1/4" must be why! You're spot on with Your comment on '..squeezing every last ml...' which was EXACTLY what I was doing!...You have to when You're working with 5g. pipe 'baccy 'samples' tho'!!
Latakia to strain/filter tonight & O/Holborn & Dominican wrapper leaf to start soaking.

[Deleted]

@yinyang and yourgurnard, thanks very much both. I think I'll start at 20% then as I can always drop in another sneaky 5% if needed without throwing out the other mix percentages too much. I've become a bit of a splish and splosh mixer of late anyways

4ml-5ml per wick seems consistent with what I'm getting with other known coil gunkers such as Manabush and Bestcigliquid. I use my Kayfun v3's exclusively for tobaccos now. Not only does the smaller tank seem to enhance the flavour of NET tobacco based juices, but I know to run no more than two tanks worth before I need to change the wick.

My Darkstar delivery didn't arrive yesterday but is due today for sure. Might not be able to mix until the weekend now, but I'll get it done ASAP

[yourgurnard]

TBH, 5ml thru' a cotton wick is good going IME.
I must admit, I junked cotton in pretty short order once I discovered NETs.
Reckon squonking is My way forward now!

[Deleted]

I managed to get this mixed up last night, along with some of the other mixes. I have to be honest and say that I was not encouraged by the smell of it at all (the other mixes smell fine). I can't put my finger on it but something seemed quite off with it once I had mixed it with the base and NIC (remember I was initially concerned that it wasn't aired for a month during maceration). I have learnt to trust my sense of smell over the years and in normal circumstances I would flush it at this point, but we've come this far so I've aired it overnight and I'll let it steep for a week before I decide whether to actually vape it or not.

In my experience most of these mixes taste a lot like they smell, and this one doesn't smell very pleasant, so If I do decide to bin this batch I will definitely try the experiment again.

Sorry it's not more positive news but we'll see in a week

[Deleted]

My mascerations were sealed in airtight jars throughput the whole 6 weeks @hondo and they are a great vape ... Whether or not they "smelled" I have no idea as my sense of smell has followed my sense of taste, my eyesight and my hearing down Old Guy Lane 

[yourgurnard]

@hondo
Don't worry too much re. the smell.........ALL of My steeps smell sorta musty/alcohol-y, the final juices suit Me just fine tho'!
Don't 'flush''em!!!