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First concoction

Fleabag

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When people talk of 50/50 PC/VG mix, do they mean 50/50 of the entire blend (taking into account the PG based other ingredients) or 50/50 of the dilutant (resulting in closer to the 70/30 PG/VG that seems to be a standard recommended ratio)?

I mixed my first blend tonight. Had to throw out the first tiny amount because:
a) I put far too much mango in, which clearly overpowered the other flavours even just on a sniff-test
b) I was working in drops and made the mistake of believing all fluids form a uniform sized drop, even when dropped from a blunt needle syringe

I ended up with a mix that probably had the full "dose" of flavours (because they have dropper tops), but the entire total fluid of 100 drops only amounted to 1.4ml, when I should've had 5ml.

It also smelled pretty ropey, and I think buying 30ml of Mango may have been a mistake, as I doubt I'll be needing it (I may still use it, but it seems so strong, I can't see me using much).

I went back to the drawing board and chose to go with 16mg of nicotine instead of 18mg (because it resulted in all quantities all multiples of .5ml - easier to measure with syringes in .2ml increments and finish with PG/VG measurements I could work with).

I aimed for the 70/30 PG/VG ratio, simply because I wanted to stick to as close to the pre-mix ratios on the first go.

So my final blend was 1.5ml VG, 1ml PG, 1.5ml nic (PG base) 10 drops rum, 9 drops coconut & 1 drop pineapple (as you can see, I was VERY cautious with the fruit this time).

There was no way I was going to let that sit for days, so I'm using it now, and I'm pretty happy with the result. The pinapple is just discernable through the coconut rum - it definitely tastes like something I'd drink.

Initially, I felt it perhaps had a little more throat hit and a little less vapour than the pre-mix, and maybe I'd push up the VG next time, but it seems to be improving a little as I use it (maybe my imagination). I'm keen to find a base balance I like so I can make up some larger quantities and speed up the process.

All in all, after the initial hitch, I think it was a successful first attempt.
 
It's typically a percentage exluding the flavours. So, yes it may be closer to 70/30 is looking for a 50/50 mix (assuming flavours are at around 20%). However, given that it's not always easy to find makeups of flavours (in terms of PG / Flavour ratio) it seems to be the best option.
 
Interesting. I tend to assume that flavour is pg so when diy'ing. I would use 20% flavour, 30% pg and 50% VG meaning a 50/50 mix.
 
Mango is always quite an over powering flavour regardless of which brand. The other mix sounds really nice. I always used to class my mixes as 100% vg until I thought about it a realised there was a sneaky 20% getting in with the flavour :)
 
Blend 2 - went a little smoother than the first.
As throat hit isn't really the primary need for me in relation to mimicking the smoking experience, but high vapour definitely makes it feel more like smoking, I decided to try a higher proportion of VG and pushed it up to 40% (keeps everything at easy multiples of 0.5ml, even at 5ml).
Far too impatient to steep. As mentioned in another thread, I first tried to test it for flavour in a carto, but got no flavour out of it, so went ahead and popped a small amount in the eGo to test.
Flavours were fine and I think I like it smoother and with more vapour. I suspect I may have found my ideal ratios that I can mix up in larger batches for flavour addition later (I'll hold off for a while though and put both blends through their paces until I bite the bullet). I may want to try a 50/50 mix just to see if it's better still (though aware higher VG will reduce the strength of my flavours).

So today's creation was 10 drops coffee, 3 butterscotch, 3 maple, 3 rum and 1 cinnamon (I have 6 new Clearos on order, so think it now may be safe to try the cinnamon). Tastes like a weekend in Amsterdam!

I know I'm not steeping as I should, but I take the view they'll steep before I've used them up - especially if I have a range of flavours to switch between. At least it'll give me a true impression of how flavour changes after steeping.
 
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