# Locally Sourced Ingredients



## devdev (4/12/13)

Hey everyone,

Alright so I gather that finding a local source of affordable nic liquid is still proving to be a challenge, but what about the rest of the stuff?

- VG (Glycerin BP) is easiest (I am using with 5% distilled water to thin it out)
- PG I have asked around at my local chemists and none have it. Dischem Woodmead are supposed to be ordering it for me, but so far nothing has arrived

Flavours:

Well I purchased a whole bunch of stuff at PnP, but from what I see on the forum those flavours are not going to be strong enough. I am still experimenting though, who knows, maybe something will come from it.

I have found powdered vanilla at my local spar (Vanilla Man) and I will experiment with that. 

I am also working on my Jerepigo (Dessert wine) experiment. I have so far reduced the whole bottle of Jerepigo to a thick syrup, but unfortunately it boiled at one point, so it has a strong burned sugar after taste, although the initial taste is delicious. 

I have added some syrup to 9ml of VG and leaving it to steep for a week before trial. Over the holidays I am going to try reduce another bottle, this time with gradual heat and not letting it boil. I think the flavour should be worth it.

Anyone got some other ideas for flavourants?

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## Andre (4/12/13)

Vapour Mountain has some DIY stuff: http://www.ecigssa.co.za/index.php?threads/vapour-mountain-premium-e-liquid-and-diy-mixing-kits.70/
Skyblue has some flavours, but I think they ran out of caps for bottling: http://www.ecigssa.co.za/index.php?threads/which-health-cabin-flavours-would-you-like.196/

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## Riaz (4/12/13)

is this the proper PG one is supposed to be using?

this is what dischem had

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## Andre (4/12/13)

BP - British Pharmacopoeia and USP - United States Pharmacopeia
So your PG complies with the standards of BP, and should be fine to use.


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## Riaz (4/12/13)

thanks Matthee

i didnt buy it tho, they only had an open bottle which was 75% full.

i ordered a new bottle, and some menthol crystals.

still waiting on them to call me to confirm the stock has arrived.

price on the PG was pretty cheap, at R18 for 100ml.

the menthol crystals were R80 for 25grams i think.


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## CraftyZA (4/12/13)

devdev said:


> I have added some syrup to 9ml of VG and leaving it to steep for a week before trial. Over the holidays I am going to try reduce another bottle, this time with gradual heat and not letting it boil. I think the flavour should be worth it.
> 
> Anyone got some other ideas for flavourants?


I think PG will work better for you. PG is a known flavour carrier, and VG is known to not carry flavour so well. 

I've bought my PG from dischem. I just went to the main chemist, then asked her to organize me some. It was there to be picked up 2 day later.

One thing I want to try is to extract the bitter from orange peel. Will tackle that task during winter. 
That orange zest will do wonders with brandy I think...


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## devdev (4/12/13)

I spoke to the more senior chemist type person at dischem Woodmead and he said he would order me some. Problem is I didnt really get the feeling he would actually order it. Here's hoping though.

I wonder if dropping some vodka in the mix would help to carry flavour (probably not, but I am clutching at straws here, without PG)

Crafty have you tried making a brandy reduction? I think I may be on to something with the Jerepigo idea, and orange would be an awesome addition to the flavour

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## CraftyZA (4/12/13)

Reducing real brandy?? Never... except for drinking it very fast. 
I did manage to get some Brandy flavour from Health Cabin via Skyblue. Just trying to finish the 200ml of juice scattered around my "lab" before i do more mixes.

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## Silver (4/12/13)

To change the topic slightly, does anyone know where we can easily get PG with nicotine? Ie premixed - flavourless at say 36mg.

I only see the VG based nic on eCiggies and VapourMountain

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## CraftyZA (4/12/13)

I'm planning on making my self some. I managed to get one of the last batches of 100mg nic in vg. Now adding all 60ml of that into 100ml PG will give me a 63% PG and 36% nic base to work from. From there I can either add vg, or PG down to 18% nic.

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## Silver (5/12/13)

Ok then, not much response. Does anyone know if nic comes in a PG base at all? Or is there a reason why its VG based?

I found out that Vapourmountain can mix me pG based nic, but only at 18mg. 

ECiggies also doesnt have it. I checked with them. 

Hmmm....


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## ET (5/12/13)

you do get nic in PG base from overseas, just need to do a wee bit of digging. but since most people mix their stuff with a little VG, using a VG based nic juice should be fine. Is there a specific reason why you want it in PG?


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## Silver (5/12/13)

Thanks Denizen

I would like to try different variations of VG/PG to see what kind of throat hit I can get - yet keeping the nic level at around 18mg.
I know that throat hit is dependent on the PG as well as the nic content.

So I currently have VG based nic (36mg) and plain PG (no nic)

With these two, if I mix them up in different ratios (lets leave flavour out of it for now), as I put more PG, the nic goes down. So for example, if I do it 50/50, then nic will come out at 18mg. If I want a 70% PG ratio, then the nic will come down to 10.8 - which I think is too low for me.

I want to try to get 70%, 80% and 90% PG - but at a nic level of about 18mg. At the moment, I can't do this unless I have a PG based nic solution.

Another reason is that I have a few bottles of Synfonya liquid. So far I have found their flavour great, but their throat hit is non-existent and their nic is very low (9.5mg). I suspect they are very high in VG since the juice is very thick and the vapour is huge. So I want to test out how I can increase the nic and the PG at the same time. For that I need PG based nic.

Perhaps my efforts may turn out to be fruitless, but I thought it would be quite easy to get - so I could just try it out and see...

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## ET (5/12/13)

one method is adding a drop or three of lemon juice to your test eliquid batch, or at least i've read that lemon juice increases throat hit slightly
or a drop or two of vodka
or lowering the resistance of your atomiser
also https://www.vaperite.com/throat-hit-booster.html
other sites on da web might have similar stuff. google is my good friend

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## Silver (5/12/13)

Thanks Denizen. Great comments. 

Quite funny, one of the Synfonya liquids I want to "modify" is actually the Lemon flavour. Imagine adding Lemon drops to that. I will try...

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## Andre (5/12/13)

Thanks Denizen - that made me Google as well. Here is a little bit more information:
*What Are E-Cigarettes With No Nicotine Like?*

_When you use e-cigarettes with no nicotine, you lose the throat hit and the peppery complexity that nicotine brings to the flavor. With many e-liquids — particularly the mediocre Chinese e-liquids most companies sell — the resulting effect is slightly unpleasant. To make matters worse, the nicotine in many low-quality e-liquids covers disgusting chemical flavor notes. Those unpleasant flavors become evident when the nicotine is removed. Believe me, no one wants to taste chemicals.
So, to have a satisfying, flavorful experience using e-cigarettes with no nicotine, you need to use e-liquids designed to taste good without it. These e-liquids should have rich, complex flavors. If possible, they should have an additive that replaces the missing throat hit. Three additives that create a similar feeling in the throat and lungs are menthol, grain alcohol and capsaicin. Grain alcohol adds little flavor to an e-liquid but creates a scratchy feeling in the throat. Capsaicin — the compound that makes chili peppers hot — creates a slight burn in the throat and lungs. Neither alcohol nor capsaicin creates exactly the same feeling as nicotine when inhaled, but they’re both definitely good nicotine-free alternatives._

Reactions: Informative 1


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## devdev (5/12/13)

Ok so using vodka, which is a potato sourced liquid may aid for flavour carrier, but not for TH. 

What are the grain ones then, can only think of Whisky. Have also been wondering about chilli flavour for a few days now, but decided against it. I will let someone else get around to it first 

In other news Dischem got me my PG, so off to pick that up today. And my order of Nic liquid from eCiggies should arrive tomorrow.

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## ET (5/12/13)

http://ecigssa.co.za/index.php?threads/enhancements-to-your-diy-eliquid.452/

figured i'd actually start a proper thread on all these additives/enchaments that you can bung into your diy mix


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## Andre (5/12/13)

devdev said:


> Ok so using vodka, which is a potato sourced liquid may aid for flavour carrier, but not for TH.
> 
> What are the grain ones then, can only think of Whisky. Have also been wondering about chilli flavour for a few days now, but decided against it. I will let someone else get around to it first
> 
> In other news Dischem got me my PG, so off to pick that up today. And my order of Nic liquid from eCiggies should arrive tomorrow.


No, I think when USA peeps refer to grain alcohol they refer to neutral alcohol or vodka as we know it. Vodka can be made from any plant material (potatoes, grapes, sugar beet, etc), it is just distilled to be neutral.

I am a chillihead, so for sure going to try a chilli extraction soon!


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