Looking for good VG & PG bases.

[cliveh2]

Thanks guys, some very helpful tips there. I like the Vapable suggestion if you've used them for years and know the quality and more importantly the taste of their base is OK. I'm not a heavy enough vaper to make it worth buying large quantities as the shelf life is only 6 to 12 months and I wouldn't use all that. Also sticking to 500ml bottles I think would be easier to decant from.

So far I'd only found Vape Hut and Chefs Kitchen for concentrates and Chefs looked better and cheaper, plus they had all the branded flavours mentioned in the recipes I found. If you all think their VG base should be OK I'll probably try theirs first and I can always go to Vapable if I don't like the Chefs one.

As for getting close the the original Lava flow it seems to me that the nice thing with DIY is that you can keep tinkering until you can find the perfect taste to suit your own individual pallette and possibly end up with something even better than the original. Anyway it'll be fun trying.

Cheers guys.

Tmb notes is pretty cheap for small quantities of vg as the postage is ony £1.99 if I remember correctly

 

[MarylinC37]

People keep mentioning Vapable so I thought I'd try a little comparisom with Chefs Kitchen. I haven't placed an order yet but I just made the identical shopping cart with Vapable (same brands and quantities) with the same 10 items currently in my Chefs cart.

Total with Chefs is £39.90 while Vapable is £43.30 both with free delivery. Using their 5% discount code it comes down to £41.14.
Don't have a code for Chefs but they are still cheaper for the same products but free delivery is over £30 against £10 for Vapable.

Just thought that might be helpful for some of you.

[EDIT] Just found a 10% discount code for Vapable here on POV which makes their cart now only £38.97. Can't find any discount codes for Chefs but I don't know if the POV code can be used again in future so Chefs may still be cheaper in the long run.

 

[mattyk2010]

People keep mentioning Vapable so I thought I'd try a little comparisom with Chefs Kitchen. I haven't placed an order yet but I just made the identical shopping cart with Vapable (same brands and quantities) with the same 10 items currently in my Chefs cart.

Total with Chefs is £39.90 while Vapable is £43.30 both with free delivery. Using their 5% discount code it comes down to £41.14.
Don't have a code for Chefs but they are still cheaper for the same products but free delivery is over £30 against £10 for Vapable.

Just thought that might be helpful for some of you.

[EDIT] Just found a 10% discount code for Vapable here on POV which makes their cart now only £38.97. Can't find any discount codes for Chefs but I don't know if the POV code can be used again in future so Chefs may still be cheaper in the long run.

AAEC for chefs

 

[MarylinC37]

Thank you so much mattyk2010. That brings my Chefs cart down to £36.30.

 

[MarylinC37]

Just want to say huge thanks to everyone who has helped me so far with advice.

I finally mixed my first recipes yesterday. I did a clone of Naked Lava Flow I found on e-liquid-recipes.com and my very first test batch came out brilliantly. In fact, having tried the proper branded version, this recipe is a huge improvement. I found the branded bottle had a fairly unpleasant chemically taste whereas the DIY recipe was just lovely.

In the end, I decided to buy two makes of VG and PG bases (Darkstar and Chefs). They both seem excellent and a whole world away from the VG base I bought a few years back which was vile.

I’ve slightly modified my Lave Flow recipe to my own taste and now it is completely gorgeous.

My other recipe for a Mint Choc Chip Ice Cream wasn’t so good so I need to play around with it to try and get it how I want it but I’ll figure that out by just looking at the different flavours and brands others have used in their recipes until I find what I want.

I took the advice of some of the people on here and bought myself a very accurate kitchen scale. I also use the POTV recipe calculator. That has enabled me to start off by making very small 5ml test batches. Then once I have the recipes they way I want them I can start making 120ml bottles.

 

[Lee James 27]

Just want to say huge thanks to everyone who has helped me so far with advice.

I finally mixed my first recipes yesterday. I did a clone of Naked Lava Flow I found on e-liquid-recipes.com and my very first test batch came out brilliantly. In fact, having tried the proper branded version, this recipe is a huge improvement. I found the branded bottle had a fairly unpleasant chemically taste whereas the DIY recipe was just lovely.

In the end, I decided to buy two makes of VG and PG bases (Darkstar and Chefs). They both seem excellent and a whole world away from the VG base I bought a few years back which was vile.

I’ve slightly modified my Lave Flow recipe to my own taste and now it is completely gorgeous.

My other recipe for a Mint Choc Chip Ice Cream wasn’t so good so I need to play around with it to try and get it how I want it but I’ll figure that out by just looking at the different flavours and brands others have used in their recipes until I find what I want.

I took the advice of some of the people on here and bought myself a very accurate kitchen scale. I also use the POTV recipe calculator. That has enabled me to start off by making very small 5ml test batches. Then once I have the recipes they way I want them I can start making 120ml bottles.

I’m pleased to see that you are doing well with your mixing and if you get stuck just give us a holler and someone will help you out. As for your Mint Choc Chip Ice Cream how long did you steep it for?

 

[MarylinC37]

I’m pleased to see that you are doing well with your mixing and if you get stuck just give us a holler and someone will help you out. As for your Mint Choc Chip Ice Cream how long did you steep it for?

To be honest I didn't steep it at all. I was just making a 5ml test batch so I just gave it a good shake. I know steeping is normally an important part of the process but when you're just making such small test batches it's a bit impracticle to have to keep waiting 2 weeks before you can vape them.

The recipe I used called for 5% vanilla bean ice cream, 4.5% creme de menthe and 4.5% chocolate fudge brownie.
When I vaped it, it had quite a sharp unpleasant menthol taste, particularly on the exhale, but I couldn't really taste any real mint or chocolate flavours.

I'm thinking of trying to add some TFA peppermint and a bit more chocolate and drop the vanilla bean down to 2% to reduce that menthol taste.

 

[Mr Ripple]

To be honest I didn't steep it at all. I was just making a 5ml test batch so I just gave it a good shake. I know steeping is normally an important part of the process but when you're just making such small test batches it's a bit impracticle to have to keep waiting 2 weeks before you can vape them.

The recipe I used called for 5% vanilla bean ice cream, 4.5% creme de menthe and 4.5% chocolate fudge brownie.
When I vaped it, it had quite a sharp unpleasant menthol taste, particularly on the exhale, but I couldn't really taste any real mint or chocolate flavours.

I'm thinking of trying to add some TFA peppermint and a bit more chocolate and drop the vanilla bean down to 2% to reduce that menthol taste.

Creme de Menthe is technically a mint cream and @4.5% it's very high.
1.5% in a mix is where I'd be.
I'd also say plain vbi is not really ice cream enough imo so I'd recommend Liquid Barns Vanilla Ice Cream for that part.

 

[iqon]

To be honest I didn't steep it at all. I was just making a 5ml test batch so I just gave it a good shake. I know steeping is normally an important part of the process but when you're just making such small test batches it's a bit impracticle to have to keep waiting 2 weeks before you can vape them.

The recipe I used called for 5% vanilla bean ice cream, 4.5% creme de menthe and 4.5% chocolate fudge brownie.
When I vaped it, it had quite a sharp unpleasant menthol taste, particularly on the exhale, but I couldn't really taste any real mint or chocolate flavours.

I'm thinking of trying to add some TFA peppermint and a bit more chocolate and drop the vanilla bean down to 2% to reduce that menthol taste.

you should make a 5ml batch up and leave it for 4 weeks before altering. Taste will improve over the 4 weeks

 

[MarylinC37]

Creme de Menthe is technically a mint cream and @4.5% it's very high.
1.5% in a mix is where I'd be.
I'd also say plain vbi is not really ice cream enough imo so I'd recommend Liquid Barns Vanilla Ice Cream for that part.

Thanks for that. I'll see if I can find it.

you should make a 5ml batch up and leave it for 4 weeks before altering. Taste will improve over the 4 weeks

That's a good idea. I want to see if I can at least make sure I'm going in the right direction first but I'll definitely try that.