New to vaping and ready to try making my own e-liquid

[GeorgeT93]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to vaping, as it seems to be helping me quit smoking (I haven't had a cigarette since last Wednesday after being a 35 year pack or more a day Marlboro red smoker!!) While I'm still very new to this whole vaping scene, I feel more confident than ever that I could actually live my life without traditional cigarettes. I've tried a couple of different tobacco-ish juices that taste good, but as I started learning more about the e-liquids, I was amazed to find that people could just make them at home!

In any case, I've decided that I want to try my hand at making some of my own e-liquid. I plan on starting out with small batches (10ml) to try some of the different recipes I've come across online, and have my cart loaded up with some flavors, 48mg nic (pg), pg and vg. Now I'm planning on getting 250ml of the nic, and 500ml of each (pg and vg), which I figure should give me a good amount of bases to work with while I'm getting started. My question is really centered around storage. I know I should store the nic in a tinted glass bottle, with as little air as possible in a cool, dark place (freezer). What I don't know is does this mean I *have* to use the brown bottles, or are the cobalt ones ok? Also, do the same storage rules apply to the pg and vg bases, or should those not be frozen or put in glass bottles?

Thanks for any tips or pointers.
-George

 

[Smoky Blue]

I know I should store the nic in a tinted glass bottle, with as little air as possible in a cool, dark place (freezer). What I don't know is does this mean I *have* to use the brown bottles, or are the cobalt ones ok? Also, do the same storage rules apply to the pg and vg bases, or should those not be frozen or put in glass bottles?

Thanks for any tips or pointers.
-George

I make sure mine can all seal correctly, lids on tight. I do use glass, but colored or not, it gets wrapped in tin foil.
I keep it in the freezer.

PG/VG can be kept out in a cool dark spot in your hours, along with flavors.

 

[AndriaD]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to vaping, as it seems to be helping me quit smoking (I haven't had a cigarette since last Wednesday after being a 35 year pack or more a day Marlboro red smoker!!) While I'm still very new to this whole vaping scene, I feel more confident than ever that I could actually live my life without traditional cigarettes. I've tried a couple of different tobacco-ish juices that taste good, but as I started learning more about the e-liquids, I was amazed to find that people could just make them at home!

In any case, I've decided that I want to try my hand at making some of my own e-liquid. I plan on starting out with small batches (10ml) to try some of the different recipes I've come across online, and have my cart loaded up with some flavors, 48mg nic (pg), pg and vg. Now I'm planning on getting 250ml of the nic, and 500ml of each (pg and vg), which I figure should give me a good amount of bases to work with while I'm getting started. My question is really centered around storage. I know I should store the nic in a tinted glass bottle, with as little air as possible in a cool, dark place (freezer). What I don't know is does this mean I *have* to use the brown bottles, or are the cobalt ones ok? Also, do the same storage rules apply to the pg and vg bases, or should those not be frozen or put in glass bottles?

Thanks for any tips or pointers.
-George

Hey George, welcome to VU! And vaping! And DIY! I don't know for a *fact* about the cobalt bottles for nic storage, but I have read of folks that used them for long term nic storage, and when they went to use the nic, it had turned blue! I don't know if that's true, or what it means, but I do know I stick with the amber (brown) bottles myself, since reading it. The main thing to get are the kind with the conical insert in the caps, it gives them a truly tight seal and cuts down on the air in the neck of the bottle.

I love cobalt glass personally, but I keep 'em for short term ejuice storage, a few 30ml dropper bottles I acquired at some point. They're great for that!

Also, I was wondering why you're only getting 48mg nic? If you're in England, I get it, I think the limit there is like 60mg... but it's really vastly more cost effective to get the highest safe concentration, generally considered to be 100mg -- it takes less room to store it, too.

Welcome!

Andria

 

[inspects]

Also, I was wondering why you're only getting 48mg nic? If you're in England, I get it, I think the limit there is like 60mg... but it's really vastly more cost effective to get the highest safe concentration, generally considered to be 100mg -- it takes less room to store it, too.

Welcome!

Andria

Yup.....^^^THIS^^^^...and welcome aboard....

 

[inspects]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to vaping, as it seems to be helping me quit smoking (I haven't had a cigarette since last Wednesday after being a 35 year pack or more a day Marlboro red smoker!!) While I'm still very new to this whole vaping scene, I feel more confident than ever that I could actually live my life without traditional cigarettes. I've tried a couple of different tobacco-ish juices that taste good, but as I started learning more about the e-liquids, I was amazed to find that people could just make them at home!

In any case, I've decided that I want to try my hand at making some of my own e-liquid. I plan on starting out with small batches (10ml) to try some of the different recipes I've come across online, and have my cart loaded up with some flavors, 48mg nic (pg), pg and vg. Now I'm planning on getting 250ml of the nic, and 500ml of each (pg and vg), which I figure should give me a good amount of bases to work with while I'm getting started. My question is really centered around storage. I know I should store the nic in a tinted glass bottle, with as little air as possible in a cool, dark place (freezer). What I don't know is does this mean I *have* to use the brown bottles, or are the cobalt ones ok? Also, do the same storage rules apply to the pg and vg bases, or should those not be frozen or put in glass bottles?

Thanks for any tips or pointers.
-George

You'll thank yourself after mastering DIY-ing....it's the only way to go....Good luck, altho it's much easier than some folks think, there really isn't much luck involved, Just Go For It...!

 

[GeorgeT93]

Hi Smoky Blue and Andria, and thank you both for responding! Smoky, it never even crossed my mind to wrap the bottles in tin foil! That's a great idea, thanks for the suggestion! Andria, that is exactly the kind of thing I was worried about with the cobalt blue bottles. I thought they looked really cool, but I wanted to be aware of any possible issues before ordering. Just to be safe, I will most definitely stay away from the blue.

As for the nic strength, I'm in the states (MA), and I honestly can't say I've got a good reason for choosing the 48mg except for newbie 'fear' of working with such a high concentration without knowing if I would need to take any kind of extra precautions to handle it safely, and not wanting to pay extra shipping charges for hazmat handling.

I've just been reading and trying to learn what I'd need to get started and adding and removing stuff from my cart to put my final order together so I can get it placed and hopefully have my supplies before the end of next week. Another question about storing the nic, if you don't mind. I've read it's better to put it into smaller bottles for storage (to prevent oxygen from affecting the nicotine), but no real suggestions about the individual sizes. I've been thinking about 15ml bottles for the nic because I figure I'll probably do a number of small batches before I really find some stuff that I'd want to make in quantity for myself. I figure since I'm planning on shooting for between 9-12% nic in the recipes I've been looking at, I'd be using right around 2ml of the 48 nic liquid (for 10ml sample batches), so I figure 15ml bottles would be good since 1 bottle should net me around 7 sample batches. Since I've only been actually vaping around 4-5ml of juice a day on average, so those 7 batches would equal 70ml of samples, which would take at least a week or so for me to go through. Does that sound reasonable or should I go with even smaller 10ml bottles? I just want to be sure my math estimates are in the right ballpark.

Thanks again for the responses and tips! I'm really looking forward to ordering my supplies and making my first batches of juice!

-George

 

[GeorgeT93]

Thanks inspects! I like to cook and I like to bake and have even made my own limoncello, so when I read that I could make my own juices, I knew that was a path I was determined to go down!

 

[inspects]

I was kinda scared of the 100% nic when I first began DIY, now after several incidents, it's far less harmful than people claim. I don't wear any protective clothing gloves, nadda...if I happen to spill some on my hands, I nonchalantly wash it off...no biggie.

 

[GeorgeT93]

Ok, I'm now realizing why you guys suggested the 100mg. It didn't occur to me just *how* much more cost effective it really is! I just went and opened the recipe calculator site and changed the nic% to 100 and realized only then that I would only be using 0.9 ml to 1.2 ml to get that 9-12% I'll be targeting. So using my above estimations, that would essentially double the number of batches I would be able to get out of a bottle (assuming the same 10ml sample size, which is likely much lower than what my normal batch sizes will be when I've got a couple of recipes I like!) while only increasing my initial cost by roughly 35(ish)%! After going back into my cart and checking through (but not out) the checkout process, I saw that I was also misunderstanding what I was reading on the site about the hazmat thing. Apparently it doesn't incur an additional cost for shipping, as the free shipping option was still available to me as ground service was the only option. So I will be going with the 100mg. Thank you both for making me second-guess my choice which made me look into it a little further. Any recommendations on glass bottle size for freezer storage? Do you think 15ml is too small/big?

 

[inspects]

I bought my 100mg nic from Nude Nicotine in a 100% VG base, I've had 500ml to one liter bottles in freezer for almost five years, they came in brown bottles. I take out what I need to mix for a couple months and pour into a smaller 120-250 ml bottles to use which I keep in the refrigerator, then place back the remainder in the freezer. I have not noticed any difference in the taste texture or color of their nicotine. Damn good stuff, which has tested time.

 

[jwill]

I would recommend diving into DIY juice head first and going all in George. It will save you a lot of money over the life of vaping and will be so rewarding when you get the hang of it.

Best advice I have is
- Get a scale and start weighing the mixes from day one.
- Find a solid source for nicotine and VG (I use nude nicotine for both nicotine and VG)
- Start by mixing the recipes of others until you get the hang of things
- Stalk the mixing forums here. Everyone is super helpful and probably the friendliest people around
- Mama J's GOC. You can take that to the bank.

 

[GeorgeT93]

Thanks for the advice jwill! I already have a scale added to my amazon cart (the American Weighs Scale LB-501 that I saw recommended in another thread in this forum.) For the nicotine, I currently have the Chemnovatic 100mg (250ml) in my cart, only because I had read somewhere that it was of pretty high quality vs the PurNic brand that I really couldn't find much info on. Is the Chemnovatic considered good nicotine, or should I shop around for another brand?

 

[AndriaD]

Hell, I was scared of my 6mg ejuice when I started. But with the 100mg, really the main things to be concerned about are, pets and little kids -- don't leave it out where the latter can get at it, obviously, and if you drip any, be sure to wipe it up ASAP. But even getting a bit of it on your fingers is no huge deal; just rinse it off with cold water (warm opens pores, so it would be able to be absorbed faster... but even that is no real issue, with a tiny amount). And be sure to not lean over it too closely; if it gets into your eyes, it burns like acid! Just be sure to label it clearly in the freezer, so that no one gets it by mistake -- also a good idea to put the stored-date on it, so you'll know how old it is when you use it -- I'm using some currently that I stored in 2015, and it's clear when I first open a 30ml bottle; doesn't even begin to show any yellow tinge till right near the end of the 30ml.

Smoky Blue mentioned the foil, but I just store my bottles in the same box they came in, which gives one more layer of light protection.

Andria

ETA: about the labelling -- I've tried every kind of pen there is, and even permanent marker is vulnerable to PG -- I always use pencil on labels for labelling nicotine; PG doesn't smear or destroy it.

 

[AndriaD]

Thanks for the advice jwill! I already have a scale added to my amazon cart (the American Weighs Scale LB-501 that I saw recommended in another thread in this forum.) For the nicotine, I currently have the Chemnovatic 100mg (250ml) in my cart, only because I had read somewhere that it was of pretty high quality vs the PurNic brand that I really couldn't find much info on. Is the Chemnovatic considered good nicotine, or should I shop around for another brand?

Chemnovatic is fine. But, you might wanna start with a smaller amount; Vaperstek.org has it in 120ml. If you're one who's sensitive to the taste, the Chemnovatic might be a bit harsh to you; vaperstek also has some ultra-purified which is much smoother, I hear, but I have never been able to tell any diff between this or that nicotine (most folks can't, unless they're using a very high mg level).

Andria

 

[AndriaD]

Any recommendations on glass bottle size for freezer storage? Do you think 15ml is too small/big?

I've got mine stored in anything from 30ml to 120ml, but I prefer the 30ml, since I can get thru a bottle of it without much oxidation, even after the bottle has been opened quite a few times for mixing (I keep the bottle I';m using from, in the fridge; not quite as good as the freezer, but it keeps it cool which does help, and mostly dark, which also helps). When I get to the larger bottles, I'll probably decant some into smaller bottles for use and put the bigger bottle back into the freezer.

15ml is fine, but it will take a lot more room to store, and be more costly to buy, since you'd need so many of them.

Andria

 

[jwill]

Thanks for the advice jwill! I already have a scale added to my amazon cart (the American Weighs Scale LB-501 that I saw recommended in another thread in this forum.) For the nicotine, I currently have the Chemnovatic 100mg (250ml) in my cart, only because I had read somewhere that it was of pretty high quality vs the PurNic brand that I really couldn't find much info on. Is the Chemnovatic considered good nicotine, or should I shop around for another brand?

I only recommend Nude Nicotine because it is what I use and I have never had a bad experience. You could ask ten different people and get 10 different answers. Its all preference really.

 

[GeorgeT93]

That's great advice, thank you. I plan on clearly labeling the bottles with brand, date and all other relevant information, and I'll be storing them in my basement fridge. We have no kids and our pet rabbit is always supervised when she's out and about running around the house, and doesn't have access to the basement anyhow (though she's a bit of a freshie, so she would get down there if she could lol!)

As for the harshness, do you mean the way it feels in my throat or the way it makes mixes taste? I don't mind harshness after coming in from smoking Marlboro reds for 35 years, so if it's the throat kind of harshness, I kind of want that (at least for now) as it does make it feel more like smoking a cigarette, which helps when the cravings hit (at least in my mind lol!) The site I'm looking at, I can order the nic in 60ml and 150ml bottles for sizes smaller than the 250ml, I just figured the 250ml was simply a cheaper option cost-wise. Should I only get a 60ml to start, or should I at least get the 150ml? I've checked Vaperstek, but I was trying to shop for as many items together at as few sites as possible (at least for my initial startup) so that the costs would exceed the $50 minimum for free shipping on the site I chose to use, not counting the extra stuff I'm ordering from amazon like the scale, pipettes and a set of erlenmeyer flasks for mixing.

 

[AndriaD]

As for the harshness, do you mean the way it feels in my throat or the way it makes mixes taste? I don't mind harshness after coming in from smoking Marlboro reds for 35 years, so if it's the throat kind of harshness, I kind of want that (at least for now) as it does make it feel more like smoking a cigarette, which helps when the cravings hit (at least in my mind lol!) The site I'm looking at, I can order the nic in 60ml and 150ml bottles for sizes smaller than the 250ml, I just figured the 250ml was simply a cheaper option cost-wise. Should I only get a 60ml to start, or should I at least get the 150ml? I've checked Vaperstek, but I was trying to shop for as many items together at as few sites as possible (at least for my initial startup) so that the costs would exceed the $50 minimum for free shipping on the site I chose to use, not counting the extra stuff I'm ordering from amazon like the scale, pipettes and a set of erlenmeyer flasks for mixing.

if you like TH, you'd be fine with any nicotine. What people say is that some nic "tastes peppery", which I totally don't understand; it doesn't taste like any kind of pepper I've ever tasted. (When you rinse out a bottle that has contained nicotine, it actually smells a bit like a wet dirty ashtray.) I always wonder if they mean the tingle, not the taste. I like TH too! I usually get vaperstek's TH nicotine, just because I do like it. In fact, since I've always needed fairly low nic, even when I started (10mg max, at first), I used an additive called Flash -- which is actually made with the active ingredient in black pepper, piperine... but over the years, it started bothering my nose more and more -- as if I'd just inhaled black pepper dust -- it made me sneeze. So I don't use the Flash anymore, but I've gone up from the 3mg I was vaping, back to closer to 5mg -- both for the *real* TH, and to help that "tip of the tongue" problem I started having after a couple years at 3mg -- after 39 yrs of coffin nails, I guess my brain just needs a certain level of nicotine to function well, even if I never get any withdrawal symptoms.

Anyway, Flash is made by FlavourArt; you can find it at EcigExpress, and I think BullCity started carrying it too. It's pretty strong stuff; I always made a "pre-mix" of it, to be able to measure it into my mixes more carefully; at first it was a 20% pre-mix, and as my nic level gradually declined, I upped it to a 25% pre-mix, and by the time I got to 3mg, I was using a 35% pre-mix -- usually I used about 5%-8% of whatever pre-mix, in a recipe.

Speaking of recipes -- I highly recommend this DIY calculator: EcigVape -- for a couple of reasons: first off, you have all your recipes stored online, so that anywhere you go, as long as you have internet, you'll always have your recipes handy -- which beats the hell out of "oh halp, I lost my recipe notebook/my house burned down/some asshole stole my stuff/etc". And also because it lets you set both the nicotine, and the PG/VG, for every single ingredient you add -- which is great if you're very particular about how your final mix ends up, the nic level and the PG/VG ratio.

Andria

 

[GeorgeT93]

Thanks for all the tips and info! I just placed my orders (went with the 150ml 100mg chemnovatic nic in PG for the throat hit) as well as a bunch of 10ml flavors, 500ml of both pg and vg, bottles (both for storing nic and larger ones with droppers for the stuff I'll be mixing up), scale pipettes and flasks. So when my stuff gets here by hopefully the end of next week, I'll be ready to start mixing! The only thing I almost bought but decided to hold off on is the magnetic stirrer. I figured it wasn't worth buying yet since I'm only planning on making 10ml test batches to start.

I like the calculator that you've linked to, but I can't figure out how to measure the stuff out by weight. It seems to only give in volume. Am I missing something (since I plan on mixing by weight)?

 

[AndriaD]

Thanks for all the tips and info! I just placed my orders (went with the 150ml 100mg chemnovatic nic in PG for the throat hit) as well as a bunch of 10ml flavors, 500ml of both pg and vg, bottles (both for storing nic and larger ones with droppers for the stuff I'll be mixing up), scale pipettes and flasks. So when my stuff gets here by hopefully the end of next week, I'll be ready to start mixing! The only thing I almost bought but decided to hold off on is the magnetic stirrer. I figured it wasn't worth buying yet since I'm only planning on making 10ml test batches to start.

I like the calculator that you've linked to, but I can't figure out how to measure the stuff out by weight. It seems to only give in volume. Am I missing something (since I plan on mixing by weight)?

Hmm, no, I hadn't really thought of that, since I always measure liquids with liquid measures. Maybe you could just substitute "mg" for "ml"... I dunno. As I've pointed out to these weight-measurers quite often, I've never bought 8 lbs of milk, nor a gallon of bacon. I use syringes to measure small amounts, and I have a 50ml graduated cylinder for measuring the PG/VG/nic (I mix 58ml at a time, in 60ml bottles, to give enough room to shake it well).

Andria

 

[GeorgeT93]

After watching the tutorial for mixing by weight, I figured that would be the easiest way for me to go. I've been putting recipes I want to try into private (not shared since they're not mine) recipes on the e-liquid-recipes site to get the amounts and flavors that I was going to need to make my first supply purchase. It has (what appears to a novice like myself) a pretty good calculator that gives the weight and volume, so you can mix either way. It also let me save the recipes I put there for myself so I can access them at any time from any web browser, and they're easy to change the amount you're looking to make, and will give you the weights (and volumes) to maintain the correct percentages for the recipes. Between the information that calculator gives, and the video about mixing by weight, I stopped thinking I'd need to be a lab technician to make my own juice, and realized it was something that I could actually do for myself.

 

[wildgypsy70]

Welcome to the rabbit hole! Everyone has said what I would have said so good luck! There’s a wealth of knowledge here. Ask questions.....do research.....don’t give up if your first mixes suck. We have all been there. I’ve been mixing a while and I still make mixes that are garbage.

 

[GeorgeT93]

I fully expect I'll make quite a bit of trash along the way, but I also expect it to be a lot of fun! I'll just stick with small batches (10ml) when testing and playing with recipes, so I won't get too heartbroken if I have to dump a few bad batches.

 

[MWorthington]

I remember the first batch of juice I mixed up. Since I'm one-handed, my wife had to help me with the syringes so we both had on glasses and gloves, another layer of clothing to catch any splashes or spills, and measured everything right down to the ml; washing the syringes between each step. I was using 18 mg 50/50 base.

Now, I use 100mg, 100% pg base, and scales. As long as it's within a few hundreths of the percentage, it's golden, and with the scales I just squeeze the drops out of the bottles directly into whatever I'm gonna mix in. I use a disposable pipette to measure out nic and pg, and dispose of it when it develops cracks in the bulb and won't pick up liquid anymore. I just rinse it out when I'm done mixing.

I'm not suggesting that anybody mix this way, but this ain't ebola virus we're dealing with. Handle your nic safely, but don't obsess over it either. As long as you use reasonable care, you'll be fine. I only mix for myself and my daughter, and we haven't had any problems whatsoever, although if I was mixing for somebody else, depending on the nic level, I might use a separate pipette for nic and pg.

 

[OcagePH]

Welcome to VU! I am new to the forum and DIY too. I wish you all the good luck and you can ask anything here because all of them are ready to throw out the information and details you needed.

My DIY progress is still on going. One thing I noticed in DIY is the temptation for a perfect juice to suit your own taste it is really annoying specially when you steeped them like 2 and so on weeks but things really don't go the way you wanted, patience is a really big key to this art. Since you are a red marlboro smoker too I'm really assuming you to have loads of tobacco ejuice arsenal. I love tobacco too . Your experience with cooking is a really big plus I think, because my tongue is not that accurate when tasting food or ejuice itself.

I wish you the best sir

 

[GeorgeT93]

Thank you, OcagePH! I'm still waiting for my nic and flavors to ship, but my scale and pipettes arrived today, so my goodies are starting to arrive! For flavors, I did get a number of tobaccos as well as a couple of flavors I thought may be complimentary to tobacco (liquors, caramel, a couple of different vanillas). Although I do hope to one day move on to actual flavors, right now I still crave the taste of tobacco, so that's where I plan on focusing for now. I've found quite a few tobacco recipes that I want to try, and I plan on mixing them up at about 10ml at a time. I'm definitely not using even 5ml a day, so each 'test' batch should give me a bit over 2 days of vaping to see how I like them. I plan on mixing about 5 different recipes at first, then letting them all sit for at least 2-3 weeks (since, from what I've been reading, tobacco flavors really need the steeping time). Then I plan on hitting them a bottle at a time and trying to decide on hopefully 1 or 2 that will be worth making at least a 30ml bottle of. Once I've got a tobacco recipe or two that I really like, then I'll start playing with flavors to see if I can find something that I could potentially vape all day that doesn't taste like tobacco, but again, I'm not quite there yet, and if I never get there, well that's ok too! lol! No matter what, it's far, far better than cigarettes as far as I'm concerned!

I wish you all the best with your DIY as well, and look forward to hearing your progress as well as sharing my own (once I've got an inkling of what I'm actually doing!)

-George

 

[MWorthington]

Thanks for the advice jwill! I already have a scale added to my amazon cart (the American Weighs Scale LB-501 that I saw recommended in another thread in this forum.) For the nicotine, I currently have the Chemnovatic 100mg (250ml) in my cart, only because I had read somewhere that it was of pretty high quality vs the PurNic brand that I really couldn't find much info on. Is the Chemnovatic considered good nicotine, or should I shop around for another brand?

For future reference, I've used both the Chemnovatic and PurNic. They are both great.

 

[OcagePH]

(once I've got an inkling of what I'm actually doing!)
-George

I will surely wait for your tobacco recipes, I love them. Again goodluck and have fun mixing, don't let disappointments bring your hands down.

 

[GeorgeT93]

I'm actually vaping my first tester (5ml of FA RY4 @ 3%, 40PG 60VG with nic at 9mg). I only let it steep for 3 days, but the flavor is very weak, so much so that it barely has any taste at all. I'll have to do another tester of this flavor at a stronger % so I can get a better idea of its actual taste lol. But... at least it's vape-able! lol!

 

[SteveS45]

In any case, I've decided that I want to try my hand at making some of my own e-liquid. I plan on starting out with small batches (10ml) to try some of the different recipes I've come across online, and have my cart loaded up with some flavors, 48mg nic (pg), pg and vg.

Welcome @GeorgeT93 and I hope you enjoy your stay~!


I would just like to say start with a slightly larger size and I started with 10MLs and it doesn't give you enough liquid to rush that first taste and have enough to infuse long enough to really know how it will taste. Also something I just noticed in my last batch of DIY that the 15ML bottles took a bit longer to infuse than the 60ML bottles. I need to test this with controlled conditions to be 100% sure about this though. Good Luck my friend~!

 

[SteveS45]

(5ml of FA RY4

My experience has shown me Tobaccos need a longer period of time to properly infuse and bloom so to speak.

 

[AndriaD]

I'm actually vaping my first tester (5ml of FA RY4 @ 3%, 40PG 60VG with nic at 9mg). I only let it steep for 3 days, but the flavor is very weak, so much so that it barely has any taste at all. I'll have to do another tester of this flavor at a stronger % so I can get a better idea of its actual taste lol. But... at least it's vape-able! lol!

Or wait 3 wks instead of just 3 days -- seriously, tobaccos take 3-6 wks to steep properly.

Andria

 

[SteveS45]

seriously, tobaccos take 3-6 wks to steep properly.

Heating to 100°F can cut that to 3-4 days based on personal experience.

 

[GeorgeT93]

I know I rushed it, but I was just hoping to get a feel for the taste, and well... I got impatient lol! That's why the first tester batches I made (1 for each tobacco flavor I bought) are just solo flavor 5ml samples. I did mix up 2 sample bottles of a couple of tobacco recipes I wanted to try, but those had multiple flavors in each which I figured wouldn't help me identify what notes were coming from which flavors, but both recipes have recommended steep times (2 and 3 weeks, respectively), so those won't be touched until my schedule on my phone reminds me when they each become ready lol! But at least I know the nicotine I'm using isn't giving me any unpleasant or unexpected flavors (same with my pg and vg! LOL!)

 

[SteveS45]

I always recommend starting with stand alone flavors first then doing a tank mix. Properly infused e-Liquids can be mixed in a tank that way you can see how they work together. Still make 15 MLs at the least so you have something to work with. Good Luck my friend you seem to be headed down the right path of the rabbit hole.

 

[GeorgeT93]

This is a rabbit hole that I think I'm going to enjoy my journey down!

 

[AndriaD]

I know I rushed it, but I was just hoping to get a feel for the taste, and well... I got impatient lol! That's why the first tester batches I made (1 for each tobacco flavor I bought) are just solo flavor 5ml samples. I did mix up 2 sample bottles of a couple of tobacco recipes I wanted to try, but those had multiple flavors in each which I figured wouldn't help me identify what notes were coming from which flavors, but both recipes have recommended steep times (2 and 3 weeks, respectively), so those won't be touched until my schedule on my phone reminds me when they each become ready lol! But at least I know the nicotine I'm using isn't giving me any unpleasant or unexpected flavors (same with my pg and vg! LOL!)

It's definitely good to learn that... but seriously, single-flavor vapes are vanishingly rare... I can think of only 1, right offhand, TFA/'s Banana Nut Bread.. but even that one was better with a smidge of sweetener -- or so I thought, 3 yrs ago. I don't use sweetener anymore, so it would probably be just fine without it. But even cigarettes have a lot of different added flavors -- I always thought Marlboros tasted like chocolate, and I couldn't find a Virginia that was an exact match of VA slims, so I added some apple cider and cinnamon smidges to it, along with FA's Bitter Wizard, et voila, it tasted a great deal like VA Slims.

If you're trying to get a true cigarette flavor, definitely get some of that Bitter Wizard, and also Inawera's Dirty Neutral Base, and one or more of INW's Tobacco Absolute flavors. I crafted a Camel flavor for my son, with:

FlavourArt Desert Ship 1%
Inawera Dirty Neutral Base 1%
Inawera Tobacco Absolute 1%
FlavourArt Bitter Wizard .5%

Steeped for 3-6 wks (vapable after 3 wks, best after 5-6) -- he loved it! It got him right off the nasty cigarettes.

Andria

 

[MWorthington]

.

 

[MWorthington]

It's definitely good to learn that... but seriously, single-flavor vapes are vanishingly rare... I can think of only 1, right offhand, TFA/'s Banana Nut Bread.. but even that one was better with a smidge of sweetener -- or so I thought, 3 yrs ago. I don't use sweetener anymore, so it would probably be just fine without it. But even cigarettes have a lot of different added flavors -- I always thought Marlboros tasted like chocolate, and I couldn't find a Virginia that was an exact match of VA slims, so I added some apple cider and cinnamon smidges to it, along with FA's Bitter Wizard, et voila, it tasted a great deal like VA Slims.

If you're trying to get a true cigarette flavor, definitely get some of that Bitter Wizard, and also Inawera's Dirty Neutral Base, and one or more of INW's Tobacco Absolute flavors. I crafted a Camel flavor for my son, with:

FlavourArt Desert Ship 1%
Inawera Dirty Neutral Base 1%
Inawera Tobacco Absolute 1%
FlavourArt Bitter Wizard .5%

Steeped for 3-6 wks (vapable after 3 wks, best after 5-6) -- he loved it! It got him right off the nasty cigarettes.

Andria

Andria, you're right about the ban. nut bread needing a smidge of sweetener. I keep a small bottle of it mixed up all the time and I use 5 drops of tfa sweetener in 30ml. Not much, but just enough to boost the sweet a little on the front.

I'm gonna order the stuff to try your tobacco recipe as soon as I can. Is that a short camel cig, or camel filter?

 

[SteveS45]

single-flavor vapes are vanishingly rare...

I disagree with this since people who can actually taste things like myself and a few friends love a good Single Flavor Vape like a Coconut for instance or an Orange.

 

[AndriaD]

Andria, you're right about the ban. nut bread needing a smidge of sweetener. I keep a small bottle of it mixed up all the time and I use 5 drops of tfa sweetener in 30ml. Not much, but just enough to boost the sweet a little on the front.

I'm gonna order the stuff to try your tobacco recipe as soon as I can. Is that a short camel cig, or camel filter?

Well, my son smoked either regular Camel filters, or sometimes the Wides -- which may explain why he prefers a really open-draw vape. Also, I see that I didn't mention the flavor of TA I used -- I already had some Virginia TA from when I was making my own version of Virginia, so I used that. But I think the Garuda might also work; isn't that like an eastern/oriental/turkish kind of tobacco flavor?

The label on the DNB says it's also a version of tobacco absolute, but honestly it doesn't smell a thing like tobacco to me, as the Virginia TA most definitely does. *shrug* I didn't use the DNB when I made my virginia, but mostly because I didn't know about it, and also, Tobacco Express Virginia (not their Golden Virginia, that's much too "vegetative" tasting/smelling, like Hangsen's Virginia -- smells like rotten celery to me!) plus the VA TA and Bitter Wizard, plus very tiny percentages of Pipe Sauce's Oak Barrel Cider (very cidery!) and an even smaller percentage of cinnamon redhot, made that Virginia nearly a dead ringer for the Slims I smoked for 30+ yrs -- sometimes when I'd take a hit, I'd think, OMG I'm in the house... oh wait, I can do THIS in the house! It was also a very unusual tobacco vape in that it really needed no steeping, or at most, only a few days -- definitely odd, but I've heard from others that some tobacco vapes don't need the long steep that most really require.

Andria

 

[MWorthington]

Well, my son smoked either regular Camel filters, or sometimes the Wides -- which may explain why he prefers a really open-draw vape. Also, I see that I didn't mention the flavor of TA I used -- I already had some Virginia TA from when I was making my own version of Virginia, so I used that. But I think the Garuda might also work; isn't that like an eastern/oriental/turkish kind of tobacco flavor?

The label on the DNB says it's also a version of tobacco absolute, but honestly it doesn't smell a thing like tobacco to me, as the Virginia TA most definitely does. *shrug* I didn't use the DNB when I made my virginia, but mostly because I didn't know about it, and also, Tobacco Express Virginia (not their Golden Virginia, that's much too "vegetative" tasting/smelling, like Hangsen's Virginia -- smells like rotten celery to me!) plus the VA TA and Bitter Wizard, plus very tiny percentages of Pipe Sauce's Oak Barrel Cider (very cidery!) and an even smaller percentage of cinnamon redhot, made that Virginia nearly a dead ringer for the Slims I smoked for 30+ yrs -- sometimes when I'd take a hit, I'd think, OMG I'm in the house... oh wait, I can do THIS in the house! It was also a very unusual tobacco vape in that it really needed no steeping, or at most, only a few days -- definitely odd, but I've heard from others that some tobacco vapes don't need the long steep that most really require.

Andria

That all sounds very interesting. Years ago, I was playing clubs in Chattanooga, and the keyboard player's wife smoked Virginia Slims. I would bum one from her on occasion, and it was a good tasting smoke. I smoked Doral lights myself because of the price.

One of my daughters that lives with us and a friend of hers sits on the porch at night and smokes. Sometimes I get a whiff of the smoke that comes in when the door is opened. It's got me craving a cigarette. I really would like to have a good tobacco vape that would kinda mimic the taste of a burning cigarette to hopefully satisfy the cravings. I've been clean for just about 3 years and I'm gonna stay that way, but it's tough sometimes.

 

[AndriaD]

That all sounds very interesting. Years ago, I was playing clubs in Chattanooga, and the keyboard player's wife smoked Virginia Slims. I would bum one from her on occasion, and it was a good tasting smoke. I smoked Doral lights myself because of the price.

One of my daughters that lives with us and a friend of hers sits on the porch at night and smokes. Sometimes I get a whiff of the smoke that comes in when the door is opened. It's got me craving a cigarette. I really would like to have a good tobacco vape that would kinda mimic the taste of a burning cigarette to hopefully satisfy the cravings. I've been clean for just about 3 years and I'm gonna stay that way, but it's tough sometimes.

The only time I find it tempting is if I'm near someone when they first light up -- then I have to GET AWAY! RUN FOR MY LIFE! And vape like it's my profession! But after that very first waft of smoke, it just smells like a fire in a porta-potty to me, with a burning tire thrown in for spice.

The Bitter Wizard and the TA are what made it really believable, to me. With the Camel flavor, my son liked it with the addition of the DNB -- I tried several recipes, and the combo of the VA TA, DNB, and Bitter Wizard, along with the Desert Ship, was what nailed it for him. I never could quite make it believable, for myself, till I tried adding the Bitter Wizard -- VA slims had a definite bitter edge, rather than sweet like Marlboros -- Winstons even more bitter. Though I vape a really high percentage of PG and very little VG, it's still sweeter than something on fire -- Bitter Wizard adds that bitter whang you get from actual smoke.

Andria

 

[MWorthington]

The only time I find it tempting is if I'm near someone when they first light up -- then I have to GET AWAY! RUN FOR MY LIFE! And vape like it's my profession! But after that very first waft of smoke, it just smells like a fire in a porta-potty to me, with a burning tire thrown in for spice.

The Bitter Wizard and the TA are what made it really believable, to me. With the Camel flavor, my son liked it with the addition of the DNB -- I tried several recipes, and the combo of the VA TA, DNB, and Bitter Wizard, along with the Desert Ship, was what nailed it for him. I never could quite make it believable, for myself, till I tried adding the Bitter Wizard -- VA slims had a definite bitter edge, rather than sweet like Marlboros -- Winstons even more bitter. Though I vape a really high percentage of PG and very little VG, it's still sweeter than something on fire -- Bitter Wizard adds that bitter whang you get from actual smoke.

Andria

Have you ever tried this: https://www.bullcityflavors.com/dromedary-scamel-tdm-inw/ or this: https://www.bullcityflavors.com/tab-for-camel-inw/

 

[AndriaD]

Have you ever tried this: https://www.bullcityflavors.com/dromedary-scamel-tdm-inw/ or this: https://www.bullcityflavors.com/tab-for-camel-inw/

I tried both of those, and also Hangsen's, whatever it is, turkish tobacco I think -- my son didn't like any of them, or at best, though they were pitiful renditions of the Camel flavor -- the FA Desert Ship was his #1 pick.

Andria

 

[MWorthington]

I tried both of those, and also Hangsen's, whatever it is, turkish tobacco I think -- my son didn't like any of them, or at best, though they were pitiful renditions of the Camel flavor -- the FA Desert Ship was his #1 pick.

Andria

Above, you mentioned inw tobacco absolute then below that you said something about Virginia. Is this by any chance what you were talking about?

https://www.bullcityflavors.com/virginia-flavoring-inw/

I'm a total dummy about tobacco flavorings as my early experience with them was not pretty.

 

[AndriaD]

Above, you mentioned inw tobacco absolute then below that you said something about Virginia. Is this by any chance what you were talking about?

https://www.bullcityflavors.com/virginia-flavoring-inw/

I'm a total dummy about tobacco flavorings as my early experience with them was not pretty.

No, that's just flavoring; tobacco absolute is actually made from tobacco -- it's this stuff: http://www.vaperstek.org/tobacco-absolute-virginia-wg/

There's several other varieties of tobacco absolute, as well:

http://www.vaperstek.org/tobacco-absolute-garuda-wg/
http://www.vaperstek.org/tobacco-absolute-cuban-cigar-wg/
http://www.vaperstek.org/tobacco-absolute-oriental-wg/

And it doesn't actually show on the label, but reading the description at BCF, I think the Dirty Neutral Base is also a form of tobacco absolute -- it mentions the "ashy" flavor and solid throat hit, both of which are characteristic of tobacco absolutes.

https://www.bullcityflavors.com/dnb-flavoring-wg-inw/

The thing with tobaccos is that you need the flavoring, plus different additives to achieve the effect you want -- which is also how cigarettes are flavored -- BT adds all kinds of shit to cigarette "tobacco"!

Andria

 

[MWorthington]

No, that's just flavoring; tobacco absolute is actually made from tobacco -- it's this stuff: http://www.vaperstek.org/tobacco-absolute-virginia-wg/

There's several other varieties of tobacco absolute, as well:

http://www.vaperstek.org/tobacco-absolute-garuda-wg/
http://www.vaperstek.org/tobacco-absolute-cuban-cigar-wg/
http://www.vaperstek.org/tobacco-absolute-oriental-wg/

And it doesn't actually show on the label, but reading the description at BCF, I think the Dirty Neutral Base is also a form of tobacco absolute -- it mentions the "ashy" flavor and solid throat hit, both of which are characteristic of tobacco absolutes.

https://www.bullcityflavors.com/dnb-flavoring-wg-inw/

The thing with tobaccos is that you need the flavoring, plus different additives to achieve the effect you want -- which is also how cigarettes are flavored -- BT adds all kinds of shit to cigarette "tobacco"!

Andria

Thank you. I didn't know about any of this. All I knew anything about was reading where some people made concentrate from soaking tobacco to make NET and I'm not sure exactly how they use it after that. Like I said, pretty dumb on this area of diy.

 

[AndriaD]

Thank you. I didn't know about any of this. All I knew anything about was reading where some people made concentrate from soaking tobacco to make NET and I'm not sure exactly how they use it after that. Like I said, pretty dumb on this area of diy.

Not dumb, just heretofore uninformed. I haven't vaped any kind of tobacco flavor in a very long time, probably close to 4 yrs now, because I just don't like that taste anymore. However, when I first started vaping and saw all the political shenanigans around vaping, I knew that every possible kind of DIY was the only reasonable way to proceed; I felt like the sweet, "food" type flavors would probably not be too hard (boy was that wrong! ), but tobacco flavors might be harder -- which, it turns out, they kinda are -- knowing just what flavors and additives in what proportion takes some experimentation, and then there's the long steep problem -- it makes it very hard to know if what you just mixed is gonna be worth vaping, or if it needs to go down the drain. But that's one of the best things about the forum; sharing our knowledge does make it a lot easier.

I put some time and effort into figuring out ways to achieve a tobacco flavor that's actually reminiscent of cigarettes, because when I made my first few stabs at DIY, I really thought a tobacco flavor would be all I would ever wanna vape. (which is actually funny, since now I don't like 'em at all!) Some folks want to get as far as possible from smoking, including the taste, when they start out, and then there are folks like me who really had no intention of quitting, it just sorta happened... and I knew right away that if it wasn't at least somewhat like the cigarettes I really didn't want to quit, I'd never stick with it.

Andria