Seeking some council once again from you knowledgeable elders lol. So, I have two specific topics that are making my head spin which are sort of related. I’ve searched the forum but haven’t really found the answers I’m looking for yet.
Firstly- I’m making larger batches of juice and questioning the most efficient way to do so. I’m thinking about going the route of mixing flavor / vg/pg/nic bases as well as combing everything except nic and adding to order. My problem is when using the method of mixing everything but nicotine, I question the ratios(specifically vg) being incorrect when adding the nicotine. Is there any way around this, or possibly a simpler method to mix bases for larger quantities while maintaining ratios in a final mix, especially with multiple nic options?
Secondly- This may be searching for a magic bullet, but when mixing for sale, what are some preferred methods for pre-steeping juice while avoiding degradation? Part of the attractiveness of mixing using bases, aside from convenience, is the thought of helping along the steeping process by doing so. I’ve never used a warm bath, hotplate, or any heat for that matter in fear of too much oxidization. How are commercial companies pre-steeping their juice? It would seem counterintuitive for a company to rely on time alone.
As always, any and all input is greatly appreciated.
when i mix large batchesi mix them as zero nic mix. this enables the mix to sit on shelf longer than a mix with nic. in mu humble opinion.
now when i need to mix a bottle of 3mg juice i just add the required amount of nic base (100mg pg nic base) then fill bottle with premix… yes this will throw the pg/vg ratio of a little but honestly less than a ml of pg nic wont throw the pg/vg ratio of by much
Thanks @tartarusspawn! I really appreciate the feedback. I don’t know what your avatar is, but it’s pretty awesome!
Forgot to state previously, but my nic is 100mg/100vg. I think what I’m going to end up doing is mix everything but nic and purposely leave out a couple mils of vg. That way it can be added later in the smaller batches without having too much of an effect on ratio when adding nic to order. I think that’s going to be the best way to maintain continuity throughout the mix. Although, I’ll definitely be mindful of the difference 1 mil per ltr makes when being broken down into 60ml bottles. Being able to shelve everything mixed sans nic will greatly help with steeping as well.
I mix 500ml batches using this technique. When I use the calculator, I still input my desired nic strength. Then when I mix the pg vg and flavors, I only put those three amounts in my bottle
In the end, I’ve found this is still an accurate way to mix a big batch and add nicotine as I use it.
Edit: I also use 100mg/all vg nic. If you input that into the calculator in the nicotine spot and simply donot add it, your ratios will come out correct.
That’s a great way to do it. Thank you @Laura5! I am trying to find a more efficient way to do this using multiple nic levels without having to make multiple batches per each ( 0mg, 3mg, 6mg, etc), while still maintaining at least semi-correct ratios.
I didn’t know you liked to switch nic levels! I guess you may have to be okay with a very slight variation if that’s the case! Or make multiple big batches of the same flavor. Hope it works out for you!
You could always take your 100mg vg nic and dilute it with pg to your correct ratio. For instance if you mix your recipes at 80/20, you’d want to add 20% pg to your nic which would give you 80 mg. You would obviously need to reset the calculator to reflect the 80mg nicotine instead of 100mg when adding it to a steeped recipe, but it would keep the ratios the same.
ETA: I was thinking about this, and you could mix a bottle of your preferred ratio of just vg/pg too. Then for your initial mix without nicotine, set the recipe to the highest nic level you would mix but leave the nicotine portion out. Then when you go to add the nicotine, you could either add just the nic if you’re wanting the highest level, or for lower levels you could add some of the vg/pg base mix and some of the vg/pg nic mix and you’d end up with perfectly accurate ratios every time at any strength.
As an example, let’s say the highest strength you mix is 12mg. For a 30ml 80/20 mix, you’d add 4.5 ml of the 80/20 80mg nic and be good to go. If you wanted to make 6mg juice, you’d add 2.25 ml of that nic and 2.25 ml of the 80/20 base. Does that make sense? Hopefully?! It would be a two step process for adding the nic but you’d end up with the perfect ratio and no dilution with every strength you want to make.
@Laura5 I want ALL the nicotines lol! Jk, it’s for customer’s varying nicotine orders. Thank you so much for the idea!
@Ths1MxrChk I LOVE this idea! I never thought of breaking it down to a potential three part process, but that makes total sense. Definitely going to try this. THANK YOU!
Thank you all so much for the awesome input and help. I love that everyone has such great ideas, y’all are smart! I wish I could give you all a big hug!
I mix 3 medium size batches without nicotine, because the people I mix for are all in these categories. Add more if you need more lol.
These batches are the same juice (flavorwise) and I calculate it as mentioned above. When it’s time to give out the juice, I grab bottle A or B or C (depending who called) and add the nicotine.
I have all the batch information on my pc, all I have to do is look at the amount of nicotine for either bottle A/B/C.
Obviously I don’t have thousands of customers, but even then while adjusting this method a bit, still would stick with it, because I like accuracy and want every batch/bottle the same. Not some half ass’d random nicotine numbers or flavor/vg/pg ratios like some stores do.
I’m sure you will find a way to make it “easy” for you, but works out more efficiently at the end.
