Okay guys, I’m REALLY new to DIY and here’s my issue; I’ve only got about 12 flavors (all from Liquid Barn); Strawberry, Green Apple, Sour Gummy, Dew Mountain, Cola Freeze, Peach, Cream, Creme Brulee, Cappuccino, & the “Flavor Enhancers”; Sweetener, Sour, and Menthol… Which believe it or not is a big step up from the LorAnn “oils” that I started with, lol…
So, with just those flavors, there aren’t any recipes on here (that I’ve seen) that I can make… So, I’ve been mixing up small 10 ml batches and using the recommended mix percentages on those single flavors and trying them out individually to familiarize myself with them…
To my shame, I’ve never steeped a single recipe… But in all fairness, what would I steep? I guess I need to just buy a TON of small bottles, and start making up simple 2 or 3 ingredient recipes, puttin them back to steep, and just use the current flavor that I’m trying as my daily vape… See? This is kinda confusing, lol… But I haven’t had a cigarette in 8 weeks and I’m gonna keep it that way, dammit! Lol… But commercial juice is STUPID expensive and out of ALL of them that I’ve had in the past couple months, I’ve only REALLY liked about 3, which were; Naked’s “Amazing Mango”, Karma’s “Twist” (White Gummy Bears), and my ABSOLUTE favorite is Candy King’s “Strawberry Rolls” (Strawberry Fruit Rollups)… So, obviously I’m a candy/fruit dude, lol… Maybe if I gave creamy dessert type stuff an honest try, I’d dig it, but normally I don’t dig cream/milk/cheesecake…
Any advice at all would be appreciated, as I said, I’m BRAND new at all of this… Or simple 2-3 ingredient mixes of the flavors I’ve got…
Oh yeah, I like 3 mg of nicotine and I’m currently using a Voopoo Drag Mini, and a Freemax Twister as my mods, with a FireLuke 2 tank with the 3X mesh coils… Thanks, guys… Love the forum…
Correct me if I’m wrong …isnt the LB cream VG base???
combos I wld try are
1
Strawberry 7pct
Green apple 3.5pct
Sour gummy 6pct
Sweetener 1pct
2
Strawberry 7pct
peach 4pct maybe 3
Cream 1.5
Sweetener 1pct
3
Peach 7pct
Menthol 1.5pct ( im not into menthol so not 100pct)
Sweetener 1
4
Green Apple 4pct
Sour Gummy 6pct
Sour 1pct
Sweetener 1pct
5
Strawberry 7pct
Sour gummy 6pct
Sweetener 1pct
With the strawberry peach combo try to reverse the main profiles , so first mix would be Strawberry say 5pct Peach 1pct Cream 1pct Sweetener 1pct or so then another mix would be opposite where the peach is high and the strawberry is low
Oh, and I’ve been using an 80/20 mix, and of the single flavors that I’ve tried, the “Dew Mountain” has been my favorite, and I’m actually contemplating just committing and mixing up a 30 ml batch of it as my current “go-to” as I experiment… The “Cola Freeze” wasn’t bad as a single flavor SNV, but the Cappuccino… Not so much, lol…
See? You guys are SUPER sharp! Lol… Yeah, as a matter of fact, “Cream” AND “Creme Brulee” are both VG/PG mixes…
Great ideas, hoss… Thank you… So that’s what you’d do? Just continue what I’m doin and come up with some simple mixes (not EVEN gonna call 'em “recipes” yet) and just see what I like? It’s fun and all, and outta the 15 or so mixes I’ve tried, I think only 1 has been a total bust (the “Cappuccino”, but I know if I lower the % and let it steep, it’d be usable/better)…
But one thing that I’ve REALLY wanted to ask someone knowledgeable about is the recommended mixing percentages… If I’m tryin a mix, should I keep the recommended percentages that Liquid Barn lists on the bottle, or lower them a bit to compensate for an extra added flavor? I know in some cases, that I’ll HAVE to lower 'em… For an example, “Sour Gummy” has a 17% recommended starting percentage! I’ve HEARD that a good rule of thumb is to keep your flavors under 25%, but that seems really high to me…
Btw, your #1 recommendation looks amazing, and DEAD on for me and what I like, man…
Ya test the single.flavors , make sure everything is entered in your stash properly … When your creating a recipe the calculator will input a number automatically ,you can use that number but it is probably going to enter the SF pct … If you give me an hour or so I cld come back in input some pcts next to the flaves …i dont use sweetener but your use to commercial juice and they use a lot so id suggest starting at .5 to 1pct until you get more flaves …
Yyes those seem high and that why it’s so important to Sft your flaves …ive always felt LB starting percentage were high…so see what the median is for SF and mixing pcts in the notes section … If your using multiple flavors you have to figure out which is going to be on top and which is secondary … But it will take a minute until you get to know the flavor… BTW I started out with an LB DIY kit almost 4yrs ago lol
I put some pct by the flaves they can go up or down , this is only what I would do … The menthol I’m not sure and the gummy seems to be meh based on notes , you really should use these flaves to dial in your understanding of mixing … Then go shopping the choices these days along with the accuracy of the new flaves is crazy simple …I wish we had the same choices 4years ago
Shake the hell out of the recipes and vape , also dont make a final decision until they have steeped a few days at least…
I got my LB starter kit on July 1.
I was anxious to get going, so I made one of the “one shot” flavors I had ordered in addition to the singles.
I was hoping to get a quick start with vaping diy, then get cute with some combinations once that was in the bottle.
So, while I am very new also, I went through what you are going through just last week, so I can provide some newby advice.
Almost all my flavors were terrible right after mixing, and for several days later. Most tasted like burning tires and flat, harsh, lower clouds. I was pretty disappointed. But I tried to keep my chin up, because I did research and knew about steeping.
So I put my store bought overpriced juice back in my tank(s) so I’d have good flavor at work and such, and began playing with my new flavors after a few days. They were better.
My tobacco peach vanilla still tasted like NASCAR, but both my "one shots (purple delight and giant swan) had improved nicely.
Yesterday I was dragging off a tank I had put purple delight in and set aside, and suddenly now it was juicy. The flavor had come around to about 90 percent what I had hoped, and continues to improve. It just HAS to steep.
I am pretty sure that the deeper flavors like tobacco, caramel, coffee, etc, require even more time. That’s how it seems thus far over here.
So hide your cappuccino from yourself and get it out in a week or two.
I mixed my menthol alone at 10 percent into a 60 mil bottle with 6 percent nic, not to vape alone, but to get it steeped, and then I take a flavor I like that I think will go nicely with a little coolness, and I give my tank a drop or two of the menthol.
Also, just go ahead and buy more bottles.
You’re going to want more bottles.
You’ll also tire of waiting for VG to pour out of those graduated cylinders, so try to find just a few syringes with blunt ends that you can draw out the juice and measure, and then squirt it into those beakers provided. Much easier.
One other thing, and my nephew taught me this, find a flavor base to lay your flavours onto.
In other words, sugar cookie or biscuit or birthday cake, then put your higher note stuff on top, like strawberries and cream or peach and vanilla. Think of it as the “pie crust”.
I found a video on YouTube very helpful to start, and this forum even MORE helpful to get everything from tips and tricks to searching for recipes and getting help.
The YouTube video is titled “complete beginners guide to making e liquid”, by new Amsterdam vape. He explains a lot of things that beginners are confused about.
But since then I’ve found THIS site far more useful, and I’m still figuring it out!
So don’t worry, it gets better!
Well, I appreciate all the help, guys…
@Chef_Johnny, I didn’t get a starter kit from LB, I did it the hard way and ordered VG, PG, syringes, and my first few LorAnn flavors off Amazon, and my nicotine from LB… Then ordered about 10 flavors and some easy measure bottles from LB… Next payday I’ll be grabbin a good set of scales and start mixin by weight, cause tryin to pull 2 batches of 20+ ml of VG up in a 10 ml syringe is straight-up for the birds! Lol…
I just mixed up 2 30 ml bottles of a strawberry/peach/sour gummy/sweetener mix, ala @fidalgo_vapes’ recommendations … One for SNV now, and one to put back and steep… So far I’ve only made small, 10ml batches to fumble and “Magoo” my way through getting some flavors down, but I figured that nothing TOO bad could happen with a decent mix of those flavors… No matter what it’ll be vapable to me… Hopefully, lol… So I guess we’ll see how it goes…
Let us know , I love watching people grow as mixers…
One that threw me off was Peach… It’s completely VG, for whatever reason… I’ll have to remember that…
I often make 60 to 120 mph of single flavor juices when I’ve been lazy and haven’t mixed anything else that needs a steep. Hell, most of the time that was all I was vaping before the fire. I usually vape bakery and fruit flavors, so singles like Creme Brulee(INW) and Spicy Biscuit(INW) are two of my fallback juices.
For fruits, most are good to after a couple days, so waiting a month isn’t strictly necessary (unless they are a fruit cream, then let that sit for a little while)
Oooh-I think you’re going to prefer mixing by weight MUCH more than by volume! When you get to that point, do yourself a favor and grab a couple condiment style squeeze bottles for your VG & PG. It makes getting the correct amount into your bottles so much easier! Best of luck and a belated welcome to the nicest place on the internet!
Thanks for the tip! I’ll have to try that
Are you still talking about LB? I was excited for a new VG flavor, but this is on the LB Peach page:
" Flavor Description: A juicy, perfectly ripe, sweet peach extract.
Non-Flavoring Ingredients: Vegetable Glycerin, Propylene Glycol and Ethyl Alcohol"
Sorry to be phrasing things incorrectly, what I meant to say is that it’s in VG, not totally VG… Sorry 'bout that… Still tryin to get my bearings on all the terms, phrases, and lingo, lol…
Never trust a noob, man… Lol…