Hi all, my name is Josh ex long time smoker, been vaping steady now for 6 months with very few set backs. I use a smok alien mod with cloud beast tank. I have switched over to building my own coils and am currently trying to switch to making my own juice.
So I watched the YouTube video by liquid barn I believe for making my own juice and have all the thing I think I need to make juice. I bought vg and pg and 100mg nic (pg based) and flavors (pg based) from NicLabs. Prior to making my own my favorite flavors have been simple either green apple or a grape soda from vapin usa (I believe a local store). Normally max vg.
So I have tried to make my own now starting over a week ago. First batch was a grape by itself and a green apple by itself at a 70/30 ratio. From watching videos i took that the fruit flavors don’t need to steep for very long so I tried them after 4 days. The taste was ok but very dry I guess is the word. I thought maybe too much pg.
Made a second batch at 80/20 and a little less nicotine and again steeped for a couple days. A little better but still dry.
Now I made one (yesterday) with max vg (only the nic and flavor were pg). I couldn’t wait and tried some today. Still feels a little dry. Side note is every time I have tried them I put new coils and cotton in to make sure I getting a true sense of what they taste like.
The store bought stuff I have always bought have been sweet and fruity, mine are dry and somewhat fruity.
So my questions are, did I not let them steep long enough? Would you recommend making them differently with vg based nic and flavors? Maybe buy from somewhere other than NicLabs?
Thank you in advance. And hello!
Try adding some Inawera cactus or FlavourArt Fuji apple, they add juiciness to a mix.
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Without knowing nothing about the liquids you used to vape, I would still dare to say that they are probably a mix of flavors even though it’s called Green Apple ie. So adding additional flavors would make your mix better.
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Sweetener… Most store bought juice has loads of sucralose and ethyl maltol. And both of the major sweetener brands also have distilled water in them with the propylene glycol. You can buy Sucralose powder and mix it at 10% in pg, or a 50/50 blend of physical and distilled water. And use that at 1-5% in your recipes. I’m not sure that a little bit of distilled water would make a huge difference. But I’m going to experiment with that soon.
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Yep if you’re trying to get close to a store bought juice you’re likely missing a load of sucralose. Not that I recommend using it (gunks up the coils pretty bad)… I recommend Pyure brand stevia drops between .2-.5%. It goes really well with fruit flavors.
I ordered a sweetener and some other flavors to try and blend. Would this do the same thing? Also, does anyone have thoughts on what the “dryness” would be coming from. And thank you to the folks that have given there thoughts.
If it will do the same thing will depend a little on the flavors you’ve bought, I’ll say. Some flavors are more juicy than others, some feels a little dry and some feels full. You get the best out of them if you find combinations which compliment each other that way, like dry and juicy ie.
The sweetener will probably get you closer to the result you want too. Please let us know how things work out for your new mixes. 
So I think my problem is nicotine. Made a batch today with no nic in it and did a S and V. No harshness at all. So either I got a bad batch from nic labs or didn’t shake enough?
So what to do with the batches I made already? Will the harshness come down with steeping over time? Or should I just junk them?
Unfortunately I don’t think they will come around even with a long steep, but if you start over with new nic you can always let the other mixes steep and then test again in a while.
So with the two new ones that I SAVed, not harsh but flavor was on the weak side. Will steeping enhance the flavor or should I think about increasing percentages on the flavors?
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That will depend on the flavors in the recipe and how long it’s already been steeping for.
I just mixed it and vaped.
Then my suggestion will be to leave it for at least two weeks if you have creams in your mix. Or test it in a week, but leave some for test at two weeks. The flavors will not get any stronger if it isn’t already at fourteen days imo, so you can consider adding to it then.
