Netvaper
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Drake’s had been making NETs since 2014 but new stock has not been available for quite some time. The good news is they’re back and their UK produced NETs are now available on their website with an extension range of pure and hybrid NETS plus for the first time a range of concentrates in 30ml bottles so I opted to try a couple of those (Burley and Cavendish) and mix them on my new pocket digital scales as opposed to using syringes. Hopefully this review may be of interest to anyone considering mixing their own juice or who just likes NETs.
Dilution/Steeping/Mixing
Drake’s recommend a dilution of 20-30% for their PG concentrates. Their NETs are cold steeped for 6-9 weeks so I just left for a few days and they were good to go. Both concentrates are paler in colour than their pre-mixed juice counterparts which may suggest a different filtration process.
I normally vape 3mg 50/50 juice and decided to mix 30ml of both as I wasn’t sure if a 20% dilution would be ok and I hadn’t tried the Cavendish before. A 20% dilution was fine for me though I may also try 25% at some point. I used a recycled Darkstar 250ml base bottle to mix in and then decanted into a recyled shortfill bottle to vape.
Whatever your recipe is or what you use to mix it in apart from scales all you need are; concentrate(s), nicotine (if using), VG and PG base liquid, a bottle with a wide top you can easily pour into, labels to record what/when you mixed, a paper towel and an online calculator to work out the weights of the ingredients and maybe a funnel. There are quite few online calculators available some of which, including the one on POTV, let you store recipes which is handy. You may find different calculators give slightly different weight results to each other no doubt due to the formulae used.
A 20% dilution, 3.6mg, 50VG/50PG 150ml recipe for Burley and the calculated results are below using a calculator from our own @Richard Winter As I’m anything for an easy life I went for this recipe as I only needed to weigh the PG and VG.
Mixing juice on scales is a bit like mixing a cocktail, especially if you add vodka, just add all the ingredients and shake or stir. Put your scales on a flat surface with the mixing bottle (with funnel if using) on top and turn them on, it will zeroise itself. Take your time and add each ingredient slowly one by one as per the weights in your recipe ensuring you don’t put any weight on the scales and press the Tare button after adding each ingredient to zeroise the scales until you’ve added everything and that’s it. I didn’t worry about being super accurate with the weights as it will make very little difference to the overall mix.
Other things to note are;
What juice you like is very subjective and is all about what your taste buds tell you and this is just what I thought of these two.
Burley – described as “a smooth, warm tobacco taste that is accompanied by a gentle sweetness evident throughout your draw. In addition, on the exhale you will taste subtle notes of nuttiness.”
Very pale in colour with no real smell from the bottle or when vaped which is typical of most NETs. It’s smooth with very nice tobacco flavour, a nice sweetness on the inhale and a tad drier on the exhale, overall it’s a nicely balanced vape. The flavour profile is very similar to La Tabaccheria’s Burley but is a little drier. If you like Burley you should like this, it was for a long while my favourite all day vape so I’m very pleased it’s back.
Cavendish Blend – described as “Cavendish Tobacco refers to tobacco that has been heat treated with fire or steam and then subjected to heavy pressure in order to produce a sweet taste with a moist texture. Our British Cavendish, commonly known as unsweetened or unflavoured Cavendish brings out the natural sugars in the tobacco through pressure applied during the preparation process”.
If I recall correctly this was previously described as more of a pipe blend which is why I hadn’t tried it before but anyway I’d say it still is. Not as pale as Burley but again no smell of note, a smooth but much richer and more full bodied tobacco flavour than the Burley, the flavour profile is quite different to Cavendish from La Tabaccheria or Black Note. Not an all day vape for me, more of an occasional one for the evening to enjoy with your favourite tipple.
Final Thoughts
For NET fans it’s great to see Drake’s back and a big thumbs up for mixing on scales, it’s much easier, less messy, quicker and no cleaning up afterwards so no more syringes for me. Mixing your own juice is much cheaper as the cost comparison below shows, nicotine costs are ignored as they’ll be the same. The money you save will easily fund a set of scales for around a tenner and some more vape gear!
https://vapinghardware.com/calculators/e-liquid-calculator/
https://www.planetofthevapes.co.uk/e-liquid-recipes/mixing-calculator.php
https://darkstar.co.uk/collections/pg-vg-base-mix
Dilution/Steeping/Mixing
Drake’s recommend a dilution of 20-30% for their PG concentrates. Their NETs are cold steeped for 6-9 weeks so I just left for a few days and they were good to go. Both concentrates are paler in colour than their pre-mixed juice counterparts which may suggest a different filtration process.
I normally vape 3mg 50/50 juice and decided to mix 30ml of both as I wasn’t sure if a 20% dilution would be ok and I hadn’t tried the Cavendish before. A 20% dilution was fine for me though I may also try 25% at some point. I used a recycled Darkstar 250ml base bottle to mix in and then decanted into a recyled shortfill bottle to vape.
Whatever your recipe is or what you use to mix it in apart from scales all you need are; concentrate(s), nicotine (if using), VG and PG base liquid, a bottle with a wide top you can easily pour into, labels to record what/when you mixed, a paper towel and an online calculator to work out the weights of the ingredients and maybe a funnel. There are quite few online calculators available some of which, including the one on POTV, let you store recipes which is handy. You may find different calculators give slightly different weight results to each other no doubt due to the formulae used.
A 20% dilution, 3.6mg, 50VG/50PG 150ml recipe for Burley and the calculated results are below using a calculator from our own @Richard Winter As I’m anything for an easy life I went for this recipe as I only needed to weigh the PG and VG.
Mixing juice on scales is a bit like mixing a cocktail, especially if you add vodka, just add all the ingredients and shake or stir. Put your scales on a flat surface with the mixing bottle (with funnel if using) on top and turn them on, it will zeroise itself. Take your time and add each ingredient slowly one by one as per the weights in your recipe ensuring you don’t put any weight on the scales and press the Tare button after adding each ingredient to zeroise the scales until you’ve added everything and that’s it. I didn’t worry about being super accurate with the weights as it will make very little difference to the overall mix.
Other things to note are;
- Double check your recipe input values before you use the results in mixing, the calculator will tell you if it can’t be mixed.
- VG has the highest viscosity so take a bit more care with it.
- If you forgot to press the Tare button before adding the next ingredient, I did, just add the weight of the previous ingredient to the one you’re adding from your recipe and then use the combined weight.
- Scales have a total maximum amount they can weigh so if you want to mix amounts above about 145ml get one that will weigh more than 200g.
What juice you like is very subjective and is all about what your taste buds tell you and this is just what I thought of these two.
Burley – described as “a smooth, warm tobacco taste that is accompanied by a gentle sweetness evident throughout your draw. In addition, on the exhale you will taste subtle notes of nuttiness.”
Very pale in colour with no real smell from the bottle or when vaped which is typical of most NETs. It’s smooth with very nice tobacco flavour, a nice sweetness on the inhale and a tad drier on the exhale, overall it’s a nicely balanced vape. The flavour profile is very similar to La Tabaccheria’s Burley but is a little drier. If you like Burley you should like this, it was for a long while my favourite all day vape so I’m very pleased it’s back.
Cavendish Blend – described as “Cavendish Tobacco refers to tobacco that has been heat treated with fire or steam and then subjected to heavy pressure in order to produce a sweet taste with a moist texture. Our British Cavendish, commonly known as unsweetened or unflavoured Cavendish brings out the natural sugars in the tobacco through pressure applied during the preparation process”.
If I recall correctly this was previously described as more of a pipe blend which is why I hadn’t tried it before but anyway I’d say it still is. Not as pale as Burley but again no smell of note, a smooth but much richer and more full bodied tobacco flavour than the Burley, the flavour profile is quite different to Cavendish from La Tabaccheria or Black Note. Not an all day vape for me, more of an occasional one for the evening to enjoy with your favourite tipple.
Final Thoughts
For NET fans it’s great to see Drake’s back and a big thumbs up for mixing on scales, it’s much easier, less messy, quicker and no cleaning up afterwards so no more syringes for me. Mixing your own juice is much cheaper as the cost comparison below shows, nicotine costs are ignored as they’ll be the same. The money you save will easily fund a set of scales for around a tenner and some more vape gear!
- Drake’s concentrate costs £4.99 for 30ml or £8.99 for 60ml. A 20% dilution of 60ml makes 300ml (VG/PG costs are about £1.35), a 25% dilution makes 240ml and a 30% dilution makes 200ml.
- A Drake’s 50ml shortfill bottle costs £9.99.
https://vapinghardware.com/calculators/e-liquid-calculator/
https://www.planetofthevapes.co.uk/e-liquid-recipes/mixing-calculator.php
https://darkstar.co.uk/collections/pg-vg-base-mix
