# Diy juice very harsh .......



## Zucas (9/11/15)

Hi Guys

Ok i have been mixing for a month now and its been a mountain of knowledge that i have learnt so far and still learning at a incredible rate , I am at the point where my mixes taste great , or so im told ..hehe
however they have a very solid throat hit , almost a burn rather than throat hit , I have tried two different brands of nic and believe that i now have a very pure and high quality nic , but at only 3mg its very very harsh compared to vape kings range in 3mg that has no burn and a small TH , mine is just crazy ....

Now my Question is , will this change with a loooong steep , say 3 to 4 weeks or am I doing something wrong , my mix is 70vg 30pg , and all fruity / vanilla type mixes from tfa and west concentrates between 5% and 10% +- .... 

Many Thanks Zucas


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## TheLongTwitch (9/11/15)

Welcome to the forums @Zucas 

So you're on your way to becoming a mix-master then 
I'm sure you'll get loads of advice and help from a number of forum members, but the details are always crucial when troubleshooting.

So I'll start the questions with:
What is your normal/standard steep time?
Do you keep the juices in a dark place while steeping?
Do you allow your juices to breath every day / 2nd day?
and do you use any tricks or short-cuts? (Heat steeping, Sonic cleaner/resonator, daily breathing etc.)

If you can give us a little info, we can help get you going in the right direction...and away from the "Harsh"!


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## rogue zombie (9/11/15)

3mg 70vg should be smooth.

How long are you letting it steep? because it is often needed to smooth out mixes.

Fruits do give more of a throat hit, so I would add 1 or 2% of some sort of cream to help smoothen them. Bavarian Cream is very popular with fruits, but you can use others.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Zucas (9/11/15)

Thanks for the welcome , its good to be here

My standard steep so far is 1 week , I know I know but im impatient just a little and know that I must steep longer but not interested in steeping a minute longer if Im doing something wrong but very willing if I know it will come right . I know steeping helps with flavor and sharpness but not so sure about this harsh burn i get in my throat , my 0mg mixes dont have it so can only be a nic thing ? right ?

firstly I mix my batch in a glass , and place the glass in a bowl of warm water for 30min , about 50 Deg C tap water, once its warm i mix well and pour into a 30ml bottle , the bottle stands open over night , I then close it and place it in a dark draw .

Should it breath more than that ?

Is the warm bath to aid the mixing a bad thing ?

Anyone else experience this ?

One thing I did note is that some ..not all... of local juices also have this harsh burn and I can see that they have been steeped for a long time..but its still there , like I said its a mountain to get through


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## method1 (9/11/15)

IMO warm baths are the devil - especially with nicotine added already - I know lots of people disagree.

As far as nicotine goes, SHAKE THE HELL OUT OF THE NICOTINE BOTTLE before you add it to your mix. If you've been keeping it in the freezer like a good boy, let it thaw properly before SHAKING THE HELL OUT OF IT 

Experiment, go down to 1.5 or 2mg and see if thats more what you expect a 3mg to be like. You may have a strong batch of Nic or it may just need shaking.

Unfortunately you'll have to find out for yourself 

I wish we had readily available Nicotine strength testers here, would help remove some of the uncertainty.


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## BumbleBee (9/11/15)

@Zucas can we have the recipe you're struggling with? It may be that one or two of your concentrates are too high? Have you tried the recipe without nic?

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Eequinox (9/11/15)

BumbleBee said:


> @Zucas can we have the recipe you're struggling with? It may be that one or two of your concentrates are too high? Have you tried the recipe without nic?


yeah bit limited info sounds like it could be a nic oxidisation issue or way to high % on concentrate nmaybe heat steep with out the nic and add that after and see if there is a diffrence i get a harsh hit with blackberry no matter what i do


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## Zucas (9/11/15)

Howsit

Dont have my exact recipes on me now , but here goes more or less

harvest berry tfa in 8%.........70/30 , one drop sweet and tart per 10ml , 2 drops sweetner per 10ml ,3mg nic

tfa sour apple in 10% ......................70/30 ,one drop sweet and tart per 10ml, 2 drops sweetner per 10ml ,3mg nic

fruit mix 5% tfs pomagranate 5% tfs cantalope 5% apple ...............70/30 ,one drop sweet and tart per 10ml, 2 drops sweetner per 10ml,3mg nic

VOW berry 5% ,tfa harvest berry 4% ,tfa vanilla swirl 8% ..............70/30, 2 drops ethyl vanilian per 10ml , 2 drops sweetner per 10ml,3mg nic

this is just some of my mixes but all have the same harsh TH

I have made these in 0mg and it doesnt burn , so its the nic , but its such small quantity's of nic ??


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## Zucas (9/11/15)

Also I do tend to get nic "hot spots" its a vg based nic , will shaking it before mixing it help ? or not really


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## Eequinox (9/11/15)

i have the same issue with the tfa sour apple it has a serious hit on itt trying to find my notes to see what % i used


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## method1 (9/11/15)

Zucas said:


> Also I do tend to get nic "hot spots" its a vg based nic , will shaking it before mixing it help ? or not really



SHAKE IT AS VIGOROUSLY AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE.

(caps for emphasis )


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## Zucas (9/11/15)

method1 said:


> SHAKE IT AS VIGOROUSLY AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE.
> 
> (caps for emphasis )



HEHE ok will do that


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## brad511 (9/11/15)

Hey man, After reading through this I've picked up on a few things that will all have an effect on the harshness that you're trying to rid.

Like it's being discussed, Mixing correctly with a short boil or incredible shake up is key to avoiding Nicotine 'hot spots'. A good technique for this is to pour boiling water into a cup and then place your juice into it with the water level just below the cap for about a minute or two just to help make the liquid less viscous. This allows you to shake the life out of it and mix it thoroughly while it's still warm. I've had good success on this method.

Also something to consider is the concentrates you use. I've noticed Fruity flavours, typically from TFA, can be incredibly harsh on the throat at certain percentages. A good example of this is TFA VS Capellas Dragonfruit, at 10% the TFA bosts incredibly rich flavor and a strong throat hit whilst the Capellas is smokable at 12% as it's fairly dull compared to TFA. This footing you'll find as you mix more nd more and experience various brands and consentrates.

One last note, something that I find incredibly helpful in mixing juices is using the correct calculator. If you're willing to spend R14 on the google app store permitting you have access to it. Try using a calculator called 'E-Juice Lab' it has saved me hours of effort just because of how you can personalise and store settings, consentrates you use and mixing methods in app. It's a brilliant way of documenting and mastering your mixing. It also provides good tips and tricks if you get the full version.

Good luck with the DIY bud.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Zucas (10/11/15)

Seems that another 12 hours breath did wonders.........

Reactions: Like 1


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## Gazzacpt (11/11/15)

Strong TH can be one thing or a combination of things. 
Boiling like @brad511 suggests will actually just oxidise your nic. Which may or my not cause a heavy TH but will render a nicless juice with a funky taste. 
How good it the quality of you vg and pg. I've used a BP rated vg that had a bad aftertaste and added TH.
All PG is not equal either.
Some flavours have an exaggerated TH. 
When I started DIY I would drip straight vg to check it out then mix up some pg into it and try that. Then add flavours separately to a few ml of pg/vg mix to get a feel for those. 
Mix up a few ml of the flavour I was looking to create then tweak that. 
The last step was to add nic. 
This way I knew what might be a problem along the way.
If you are bent on heat steeping keep the temp below 40 deg cel. Nic starts breaking down over 50 ish

Hope this helps.

Reactions: Informative 1


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