See a lot of people asking for advice on mixing. Whilst I'm no expert, I've found my own methods which seem to work for me.
As a starting point, you're going to need some safety equipment, Nicotine is nasty shit, get too much on your skin and it'll send you into orbit, especially at 72mg concentration.
Safety glasses and some gloves are the bare essentials.
These ones should give you great protection against liquids, and also give you that trendy mad scientist look
Baratec Work Safety Goggles Glasses Eye Protection Against Liquid And Dust: Amazon.co.uk: DIY & Tools
Gloves in a nice manly pink colour
Box 90 - EXTRA LARGE Pink Vinyl Gloves, Medline - Powder Free: Amazon.co.uk: Health & Personal Care
You're going to need Nicotine if you're looking to make juices with Nicotine content, obviously for 0mg nic, you can skip this expensive step
I always buy 7.2% strength nicotine, i like to get my monies worth, i notice lower strengths go for around the same price by volume, why would i want less nic for around the same price?
This is where i started when i purchased my nicotine 500ml Unflavoured E-liquid - PG VG Based 72mg Nicotine at £35.50 that's some really cheap nicotine, and that's what i've use for all my own mixes, no bad taste to it, seems very neutral.
You can find VG based nicotine if you're PG intolerant.
When you buy nicotine in that sort of quantity, it's going to take you a while to get through it, would be a good idea to split it into several bottles (10x50ml) and freeze the ones you're not using. Would be good practice to brim fill the bottles so there's minimal air inside. (Nicotine oxidises / goes off) You could even purge the bottles with Nitrogen if that tickles your fancy, but would be a bit overkill.
Next up you'll need your dilutents (Don't want to be vaping 72mg e-liquid do ya?
)
You'll be needing Propylene Glycol (PG) and Vegetable Glycerin (VG)
I usually buy mine off ebay 'cos it's cheap.
1 LITRE VEGETABLE GLYCERINE EP/USP FOOD/COSMETIC GRADE | eBay
1 LITRE MONOPROPYLENE GLYCOL MPG USP/EP GRADE | eBay
VG is very viscous, you can thin it out a bit by diluting it with Distilled Water (the very same stuff you can buy at Halfrauds for topping up your car battery)
You'll only be using 10% in your VG so you won't need a big bottle of this.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Glass-Dis...Equipment_Lab_Supplies_ET&hash=item1e9389ec20
Mix 90ml of VG with 10ml of Distilled water, now you have 100ml of AVG (Aqueous Glycerin)
You'll need some mixing equipment too, when dealing with large amounts of PG or just diluting down large amounts of VG with water, i like to use a graduated boroscilicate glass beaker
http://www.biriecig.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=5&products_id=21
Then when i've measured it out, i'll decant into a 100ml bottle so it's ready to go whenever i feel like getting my mix on
http://www.biriecig.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=5&products_id=145
For measuring out your shit and putting into bottles, you're going to need some syringes.
I use a 1ml syringe for concentrates, and a 10ml syringe for PG and VG, but i'm finding when i mix up a 30ml bottle of liquid, it often calls for 15ml of VG, so a 20ml syringe would be handy.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Terumo-1m...plies_Disposables_ET&var=&hash=item27d23572da
You'll find that the markings will wear off those plastic syringes with use, you can paint them with clear nail polish or cover them with cellotape, they're cheap enough though so just make sure you buy about 5 of each so you have some spares.
Next up you'll want some flavourings, and fuck me there's a whole world of them out there
If you're considerate about postage costs, there's one particular site in the UK that offers flavourings from loads of different manufacturers http://www.chefsvapour.co.uk/
The ones i find offer the best bang-for-buck are Inawera (1-5%) and FlavourArt (2-10%)
Most flavourings are PG based, so it's unlikely you'll be able to eradicate PG all together is you're PG intolerant.
Finally there's another world out there, additives!!
Ethyl Maltol: This is a candyfloss type flavour, many people use it as a sweetener, but it's not really sweet as such, it dulls down flavours and rounds them out somewhat.
Sucralose: This is a powerful sweetener, about 500x sweeter than sugar, this really does impart sweetness on your mix, only needs a few drops.
Bitter Wizard: If something is too sweet, you can add bitter wizard to try and tame it, sometimes PG or VG on their own can be a little too sweet, and some flavours are already sweet, use this to kick them into chape.
DNB (Dirty Neutral Base): Imparts a certain 'ashtray' flavour, can be used to improve some of the milder tobaccos.
Now you'll need to work out what ingredient goes where, and how much of it? The tool i use is the POTV mixing calculator on the Android app store, the forum based version just doesn't cut it for me.
Steeping: I just throw a lid on and leave in a dark drawer for a couple weeks, i'll give it a shake every day and squeeze the old air out and let new air in.
Some flavours don't really need steeping (Menthol, fruits) but deserts and tobaccos can take 2-4 weeks.
And i'll throw in a free recipe whilst i'm here.
Here's how to make my Banana Milkshake(30ml / 18mg):
PG based 7.2% Nicotine - 7.5ml
VG - 13.5ml
Distilled Water - 1.5ml
PG - 1.8ml
Capella Sweet Cream - 3ml
TheFlavourApprentice Dairy/Milk - 1.5ml
TheFlavourApprentice Ripe Banana - 1.2ml
5 drops Ethyl Maltol
That should make 50/50 PG/AVG, Steep for 2 weeks.
When experimenting, make small samples, 3-5ml, this way if you create something ungodly, it won't be a lot to throw away and start over
I may come back and edit this post as i find out more useful stuff, but this should be a good starting point for anyone out there
As a starting point, you're going to need some safety equipment, Nicotine is nasty shit, get too much on your skin and it'll send you into orbit, especially at 72mg concentration.
Safety glasses and some gloves are the bare essentials.
These ones should give you great protection against liquids, and also give you that trendy mad scientist look
Baratec Work Safety Goggles Glasses Eye Protection Against Liquid And Dust: Amazon.co.uk: DIY & Tools
Gloves in a nice manly pink colour
Box 90 - EXTRA LARGE Pink Vinyl Gloves, Medline - Powder Free: Amazon.co.uk: Health & Personal Care
You're going to need Nicotine if you're looking to make juices with Nicotine content, obviously for 0mg nic, you can skip this expensive step
I always buy 7.2% strength nicotine, i like to get my monies worth, i notice lower strengths go for around the same price by volume, why would i want less nic for around the same price?
This is where i started when i purchased my nicotine 500ml Unflavoured E-liquid - PG VG Based 72mg Nicotine at £35.50 that's some really cheap nicotine, and that's what i've use for all my own mixes, no bad taste to it, seems very neutral.
You can find VG based nicotine if you're PG intolerant.
When you buy nicotine in that sort of quantity, it's going to take you a while to get through it, would be a good idea to split it into several bottles (10x50ml) and freeze the ones you're not using. Would be good practice to brim fill the bottles so there's minimal air inside. (Nicotine oxidises / goes off) You could even purge the bottles with Nitrogen if that tickles your fancy, but would be a bit overkill.
Next up you'll need your dilutents (Don't want to be vaping 72mg e-liquid do ya?
)You'll be needing Propylene Glycol (PG) and Vegetable Glycerin (VG)
I usually buy mine off ebay 'cos it's cheap.
1 LITRE VEGETABLE GLYCERINE EP/USP FOOD/COSMETIC GRADE | eBay
1 LITRE MONOPROPYLENE GLYCOL MPG USP/EP GRADE | eBay
VG is very viscous, you can thin it out a bit by diluting it with Distilled Water (the very same stuff you can buy at Halfrauds for topping up your car battery)
You'll only be using 10% in your VG so you won't need a big bottle of this.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Glass-Dis...Equipment_Lab_Supplies_ET&hash=item1e9389ec20
Mix 90ml of VG with 10ml of Distilled water, now you have 100ml of AVG (Aqueous Glycerin)
You'll need some mixing equipment too, when dealing with large amounts of PG or just diluting down large amounts of VG with water, i like to use a graduated boroscilicate glass beaker
http://www.biriecig.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=5&products_id=21
Then when i've measured it out, i'll decant into a 100ml bottle so it's ready to go whenever i feel like getting my mix on
http://www.biriecig.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=5&products_id=145
For measuring out your shit and putting into bottles, you're going to need some syringes.
I use a 1ml syringe for concentrates, and a 10ml syringe for PG and VG, but i'm finding when i mix up a 30ml bottle of liquid, it often calls for 15ml of VG, so a 20ml syringe would be handy.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Terumo-1m...plies_Disposables_ET&var=&hash=item27d23572da
You'll find that the markings will wear off those plastic syringes with use, you can paint them with clear nail polish or cover them with cellotape, they're cheap enough though so just make sure you buy about 5 of each so you have some spares.
Next up you'll want some flavourings, and fuck me there's a whole world of them out there
If you're considerate about postage costs, there's one particular site in the UK that offers flavourings from loads of different manufacturers http://www.chefsvapour.co.uk/
The ones i find offer the best bang-for-buck are Inawera (1-5%) and FlavourArt (2-10%)
Most flavourings are PG based, so it's unlikely you'll be able to eradicate PG all together is you're PG intolerant.
Finally there's another world out there, additives!!
Ethyl Maltol: This is a candyfloss type flavour, many people use it as a sweetener, but it's not really sweet as such, it dulls down flavours and rounds them out somewhat.
Sucralose: This is a powerful sweetener, about 500x sweeter than sugar, this really does impart sweetness on your mix, only needs a few drops.
Bitter Wizard: If something is too sweet, you can add bitter wizard to try and tame it, sometimes PG or VG on their own can be a little too sweet, and some flavours are already sweet, use this to kick them into chape.
DNB (Dirty Neutral Base): Imparts a certain 'ashtray' flavour, can be used to improve some of the milder tobaccos.
Now you'll need to work out what ingredient goes where, and how much of it? The tool i use is the POTV mixing calculator on the Android app store, the forum based version just doesn't cut it for me.
Steeping: I just throw a lid on and leave in a dark drawer for a couple weeks, i'll give it a shake every day and squeeze the old air out and let new air in.
Some flavours don't really need steeping (Menthol, fruits) but deserts and tobaccos can take 2-4 weeks.
And i'll throw in a free recipe whilst i'm here.
Here's how to make my Banana Milkshake(30ml / 18mg):
PG based 7.2% Nicotine - 7.5ml
VG - 13.5ml
Distilled Water - 1.5ml
PG - 1.8ml
Capella Sweet Cream - 3ml
TheFlavourApprentice Dairy/Milk - 1.5ml
TheFlavourApprentice Ripe Banana - 1.2ml
5 drops Ethyl Maltol
That should make 50/50 PG/AVG, Steep for 2 weeks.
When experimenting, make small samples, 3-5ml, this way if you create something ungodly, it won't be a lot to throw away and start over
I may come back and edit this post as i find out more useful stuff, but this should be a good starting point for anyone out there
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