DIY - Your first time

Raslin said:
What I meant was I use a total mix of 50/50. For example I mix 4ml pg based flavour,11ml pure pg, 6ml vg nic and 9ml pure vg to get a 30ml juice. So I only use vg based nic.
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Ah ok - nope, works out to exactly the same in the end - you still end up with a 50/50 mix with your intended nicotine strength, so no difference

In my post I do 50/50 nic and 50/50 pure to keep the calculations a bit simpler - will later on get to these mixes.
 
@Derick - firstly, thank you so much for your posts :D

No only are you giving the info but you are also putting it across in a well written, easy to follow and humorous manner.

I have a question for you regarding PG vs VG for flavour.

You were saying that PG is the main flavour carrier and that heavy VG liquids overdo flavouring to make up for this which result in that perfumed taste you mentioned.

How would one explain the way in which Bombies (as an example) manage to get such great flavour on a juice which is advertised as 'max vg'. I understand that the PG is still there so does it just come down to the flavouring that gets added?

PS sorry for the dumb question. My knowledge on diy is zero and this question entered my mind upon reading this thread.
 
Yiannaki said:
@Derick - firstly, thank you so much for your posts :D

No only are you giving the info but you are also putting it across in a well written, easy to follow and humorous manner.

I have a question for you regarding PG vs VG for flavour.

You were saying that PG is the main flavour carrier and that heavy VG liquids overdo flavouring to make up for this which result in that perfumed taste you mentioned.

How would one explain the way in which Bombies (as an example) manage to get such great flavour on a juice which is advertised as 'max vg'. I understand that the PG is still there so does it just come down to the flavouring that gets added?

PS sorry for the dumb question. My knowledge on diy is zero and this question entered my mind upon reading this thread.
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Not a dumb question at all - certain flavours you can really crank up without getting the perfumed taste, and other flavours are just strong tasting without having to use a lot, so you can get great tasting juices with high VG ratios.

Vendors that specialize in high VG juices have gone through the trial and error to find these flavours that work best with high VG juices.
 
Derick said:
Not a dumb question at all - certain flavours you can really crank up without getting the perfumed taste, and other flavours are just strong tasting without having to use a lot, so you can get great tasting juices with high VG ratios.

Vendors that specialize in high VG juices have gone through the trial and error to find these flavours that work best with high VG juices.
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Thanks for the response @Derick

I will be watching this thread closely :D it has peaked my interest with diy!
 
Yiannaki said:
Thanks for the response @Derick

I will be watching this thread closely :D it has peaked my interest with diy!
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Good stuff! :)

Also when I say that PG is better than VG at carrying flavours I don't mean that VG is totally terrible at it. It still does a good job, PG is just better, but PG has it's own downsides (increased throat hit, which some people don't like, less vapour and some people are sensitive to PG)
 
@Derick , this thread of yours is a WINNER!
Absolutely awesome!
Thank you

The Part 2 post was so well written. I loved it. Loved the health stuff.

By the way, I didnt know that cats couldnt tolerate PG - lol so thats why cat and dog food are separate. I always thought that was just a money making ploy from the pet food makers. I dont have cats or dogs so didnt know. Lol

Congrats and I am watching closely with much interest.
 
Silver said:
@Derick , this thread of yours is a WINNER!
Absolutely awesome!
Thank you

The Part 2 post was so well written. I loved it. Loved the health stuff.

By the way, I didnt know that cats couldnt tolerate PG - lol so thats why cat and dog food are separate. I always thought that was just a money making ploy from the pet food makers. I dont have cats or dogs so didnt know. Lol

Congrats and I am watching closely with much interest.
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Here's a bit more info on PG and cats for those that want the science side of things
 
Im just waiting for flavour, additives (will we discuss the unmentionable ones?) Lots of fun!
 
I am really enjoying this series. Good thing I got your DIY Kit at the Meet. I can now mix by number as you explain the concepts.

Any one else remember Bill Nye the science guy? :rofl::rofl::rofl:

bill_story_0.jpg
 
@Derick Nice series of posts. Maybe this should be stickied or added to the blogs when finished so that all the info is in one place
 
...and Part 3

Quick recap:
In Part 1 we mixed some pure PG and VG to a 50/50 mix and added some flavour to test.
In Part 2 we learnt how to mix your nicotine down from 36mg to the strength you need

Using the method in part two you can now mix yourself 10ml of e-liquid in with the strength that you require.

Now you can add your flavouring.

For this example I'm gonna say that we made 10ml of 12mg and we are adding 1ml of flavour - so it is a nice 10% mix to keep the numbers simple.

But wait, didn't we now dilute our 12mg by adding 1ml of flavour? (flavour that does not contain nicotine) Yep, sure did, but this is the easy (not so accurate) method and this is where the not-so-accurate part comes in:

If you do the math (and I'm not) you will see that you now brought your 12mg nic content down just a tad - in fact, you now have an 11mg mix (or thereabouts). Is this a problem? Not really - you are honestly not going to notice 12mg vs 11mg when you vape. If however you do notice, then I recommend you mix your nicotine base a mg or so higher than what you want to end up with, and after adding your flavour, you will be closer to the mix you intended.

Unfortunately this is not the only part that is not-so-accurate. Most flavourings are PG based. Meaning, that when you added your 1ml of flavouring to your perfect 50/50 PG/VG mix that you slaved over in Parts 1 & 2, you increased your PG content. So you are no longer sitting at 50/50.

You now have 5ml of VG and close to 6ml of PG in your mix, so higher PG than VG for sure (yeah, still not doing the math)

Ok fine, to satisfy your OCD - math works out to a ratio of 45.5%:54.5% PG/VG (kinda, because your flavour does of course not contain just PG, the actual flavour components are in there too, and there we don't know how much, as that would be the manufacturers secret recipe)

Will you notice the slight shift to PG? - I seriously doubt it, but if it does bug you, then by all means, mix your base flavour about 5% heavy on the VG side and it will get closer to a 50/50 mix once you add your PG based flavouring.

So, using the easy method you can see that you get a ready to vape e-liquid that is almost the mg nicotine you require and almost the PG/VG ratio you intended to have.

If you mix a big batch of pure PG/VG and a big batch of 36mg PG/VG, you can combine these two in the right ratio's to make yourself a nice large batch of your own preferred level of unflavoured e-liquid (6, 12, 18 or whatever you prefer).

Now all you have to do when you want to try out a new flavour, is to pour out a small sample of your e-liquid mix, add some flavour and it is ready to vape.

So BIG recap of everything - There is a lot of fluff in these posts to explain concepts, safety etc, so it might seem like a lot, but when we distill it down to the essentials you can see that it is actually quite easy

1. Add all your pure PG to all your pure VG = 50/50 PG/VG mix with no nic.
2. Add all your 36mg PG to all your 36mg VG = 50/50 PG/VG mix with 36mg nic.
3. Work out how many parts of the pure 50/50 you have to add to your nic to get it to the target (desired) level and mix.
4. Add Flavour to a small batch and vape.

We know it is not 100% accurate as far as nic level or PG/VG ratio is concerned, but it is pretty damn close, close enough that it should not be noticeable.

And that is pretty much the easy method done.

But what about steeping?

STEEPING
Steeping is actually a bit of a misnomer. If you look up the word steeping, you will see that it refers to soaking a solid in liquid to either extract flavours from the solid, or to soften the solid. Clearly this does not explain what we do to e-liquids, steeping is what you do to tea.

The term originated on forums such as this and has stuck around despite various attempts by various groups to have a renamed to 'curing' or a few other, just as unsuccessful terms.

These days people realize it is wrong, but everyone knows by now what you mean when you say 'steeping' in the context of e-liquids.

So what does steeping do?
The simplest explanation is that it can make your flavours better. Notice I said 'can'. Sometimes steeping does squat. Sometimes it just wastes your time, but a lot of times it can make a good flavour great, or a not-so-good flavour pretty good. It will very, very rarely make a crappy flavour great however.

Why does it do this?
Nobody knows - not for sure anyway. No actual scientific studies have been done when it comes to e-liquid steeping, but there is a good theory or two that sounds plausible ( I can't say/read/hear the word plausible without thinking of Mythbusters :) )

1. Evaporation
Some of the flavourings are quite volatile (they evaporate easily - they have to, as the better they evaporate, the more flavour molecules will be released for you to smell and taste.) So by letting your e-liquid stand a few days, the more volatile flavour components will evaporate faster than the not so volatile ones and your flavour will become more rounded - i.e. the components that were sharper to the taste will soften a bit, bringing the background flavours out more.
This explains why a couple of the wacky steeping methods works so well
1. Heat - heating your e-liquid will speed up the evaporation process
2. Shaking - there are people that put their e-liquid in one of those vibrating paint mixers and they have reported good results - shaking will increase evaporation as you are exposing more if the e-liquid to air.
3. Ultrasonic cleaners - they basically vibrate the e-liquid at high frequencies, just another variation of shaking, but more of the e-liquid is introduced to air and agitated.
4. Opening the bottle and squeezing it - if you leave the bottle closed, eventually the evaporating molecules will saturate the available air in the bottle - i.e. it will get to a point where there is too much of the flavour molecules in the available air, and no more flavour will evaporate. By opening the bottle and squeezing it, you are squeezing out the evaporated flavour and introducing fresh air into the bottle, so your e-liquid will steep (evaporate) some more.
5. Rubbing your elbow on a potato while howling at the full moon - does nothing, sorry guys, except waste some potato and possibly giving you warts on your elbow.

2. Mixing (as in steeping is actually just mixing the flavours well)
All the above under evaporation can actually also be explained by the theory that all these things that we do, is actually just causing the flavour (or flavours) to mix evenly within the PG/VG mix and nicotine - in which case squeezing the bottle will not help, other than to make your flavour a bit weaker.

So which method to use?
Firstly let me just say that if a method works for you, then use it. Even if it means you have to keep the neighbours awake with your howling and clean up raw potato mush in the mornings.

There are some side-effects to some of the methods though:
1. Heat breaks down nicotine - not into anything dangerous, but it will drop your nicotine concentration - some tests done by one member on Reddit found that the nicotine level dropped as much as 20% after 3 hours at 45C
2. Oxygen breaks down nicotine - so the more you shake it, blast it with ultrasonic waves, or squeeze fresh air into the bottle, the more nicotine is exposed to Oxygen and the lower your nic level will be.
3. Light breaks down nicotine - so if you steep it in the sun, you will end up with lower nic levels again.

So taking all the above into account, we can see that your best steeping method is probably to just put it in a cool dry place for a few days and leave it alone. :)

Ok, stopping here for the night again, but at this point you should be ready to start mixing some simple flavours.

Next part I will talk a bit about flavouring, Unfortunately there is no "Easy method to create the best tasting flavour in the world. Ever" If there was, I'd keep it to myself and sell the flavour :)

BUT - I can give you a few pointers and explain some of the terminology - in the end though, making a good tasting liquid takes a lot of experimentation, testing, some luck and even a bit of artistic inspiration.

As before, feel free to ask question about this part or the previous ones, will answer as I see them

Derick
 
Thanks again Derick this is excellent information and very well forth the time to read.
 
Thanks @Derick ...this is my favourite new show. I love reading each new installment :D

I think a lot of this is quite logical and not at all that difficult, but having someone trustworthy explain it in plain language (even if just to confirm our suspicions, or what we've read elsewhere) goes a long way to boost confidence. I also think this will create quite a few DIYers, after reading your excellent and easily understandable instructions :clap:

Looking forward to the next episode :rock:
 
free3dom said:
Thanks @Derick ...this is my favourite new show. I love reading each new installment :D

I think a lot of this is quite logical and not at all that difficult, but having someone trustworthy explain it in plain language (even if just to confirm our suspicions, or what we've read elsewhere) goes a long way to boost confidence. I also think this will create quite a few DIYers, after reading your excellent and easily understandable instructions :clap:

Looking forward to the next episode :rock:
Click to expand...
Honestly, when I decided to start this guide, it was just because I saw a lot of the same questions and misconceptions being posted repeatedly and thought it would be cool to have a sticky/blog/pdf somewhere that we can point people to. Something that does not overwhelm you with math, formulas and e-liquid calculators.

But yes, it definitely has had the side-effect of getting more people interested in DIY - we have definitely seen a spike in enquiries about DIY kits, so that's nice :)

I hope though that I have shown that it is easy and when mixing for yourself, you really don't need an e-liquid calculator and that it is pretty safe to do so. There are risks yes, but in my opinion no more than cleaning your own house (bleach + ammonia for example).
 
Ooooooo the inherently OCD chemist in me is screaming! Very nice and simply put @Derick I will try to control the OCD response. I must comment on the heat steeping method as a person that heat steeps and has personally evaluated the degradation of nicotine. I seriously doubt 45 degrees will degrade nicotine by 20%. I would expect a lower rate of degradation at 60 degrees even. Heat definitely degrades nic but it is much more stable than it is made out to be, if it wasnt every couriered bottle of juice, or ones that get shipped would have serious problems. As would all vapers trying to get a nicotine hit for that matter.

I heat steep at 45-50 degrees, this allows easy mixing and evaporation. I have evaluated the degradation using a modified titration type experiment which seems to work well. Here is a method which can be adjusted to test it: http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/blogs/mikepetro/6202-effects-heat-nicotine-degradation.html

The OP got it wrong in his measurements cause he misread the burette, but that is the simplest explanation of a method to test that I have found (my own notes arent simple). He also did one set of samples and a control so even without misreading, his results could have been due to dilution errors. Here is a better explanation of the method actually: http://www.bob-r.com/ENI/Small Scale HCl.pdf
I modified this method to make it truer to methods I have found in books on the organic chemistry of tobacco (For example it is mentioned in "the chemical components of tobacco and tobacco smoke, 2 nd edition).

My tests have shown in over 52 sample sets no statistically significant differences between samples steeped at temps up to 55 degrees and controls from the same dilution batches. I ran trials at a number of time intervals and found no significant differences between exposure time groups either. So there were of course differences between samples in each batch but the data when put through statistical analysis revealed those differences to be insignificant, most likely attributed to errors in dilution etc.

Hope the info is useful and not just confounding, tried to explain simply. For the home mixer this means putting your bottle in warm water to help mix it is probably not going to hurt, in fact for high VG blends it could be essential to preserving your elbows (shaking up those blends can be agonising). The safest of all methods is of course as you say put in cool dark place and wait, but figured the info wouldnt hurt.
 
Danny said:
Ooooooo the inherently OCD chemist in me is screaming! Very nice and simply put @Derick I will try to control the OCD response. I must comment on the heat steeping method as a person that heat steeps and has personally evaluated the degradation of nicotine. I seriously doubt 45 degrees will degrade nicotine by 20%. I would expect a lower rate of degradation at 60 degrees even. Heat definitely degrades nic but it is much more stable than it is made out to be, if it wasnt every couriered bottle of juice, or ones that get shipped would have serious problems. As would all vapers trying to get a nicotine hit for that matter.

I heat steep at 45-50 degrees, this allows easy mixing and evaporation. I have evaluated the degradation using a modified titration type experiment which seems to work well. Here is a method which can be adjusted to test it: http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/blogs/mikepetro/6202-effects-heat-nicotine-degradation.html

The OP got it wrong in his measurements cause he misread the burette, but that is the simplest explanation of a method to test that I have found (my own notes arent simple). He also did one set of samples and a control so even without misreading, his results could have been due to dilution errors. Here is a better explanation of the method actually: http://www.bob-r.com/ENI/Small Scale HCl.pdf
I modified this method to make it truer to methods I have found in books on the organic chemistry of tobacco (For example it is mentioned in "the chemical components of tobacco and tobacco smoke, 2 nd edition).

My tests have shown in over 52 sample sets no statistically significant differences between samples steeped at temps up to 55 degrees and controls from the same dilution batches. I ran trials at a number of time intervals and found no significant differences between exposure time groups either. So there were of course differences between samples in each batch but the data when put through statistical analysis revealed those differences to be insignificant, most likely attributed to errors in dilution etc.

Hope the info is useful and not just confounding, tried to explain simply. For the home mixer this means putting your bottle in warm water to help mix it is probably not going to hurt, in fact for high VG blends it could be essential to preserving your elbows (shaking up those blends can be agonising). The safest of all methods is of course as you say put in cool dark place and wait, but figured the info wouldnt hurt.
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Awesome info, thanks @Danny

I know the titration method for testing nic content well, we used it extensively in the beginning when we were sourcing our nicotine and testing out our diluting methods :)

Good to know about the heat degradation of nicotine, I have not done any tests there myself, just going by what I read, so I'm glad that it does not degrade the nicotine as much as the reddit user reports - I often use a heat method when making juices for myself (an old baby bottle warmer works perfectly :) )

I always thought that one of those magnetic stirrers would be the perfect steeping device, if a bit pricey - and you would have to do large batches of course. There are a couple of DIY threads around in the beer brewing forums where you make them from old hard drive magnets and an old PC fan, still something I might attempt when I go on leave... maybe.
 
A pleasure to be able to contribute @Derick . If you get the time to DIY a stirrer they really are fantastic, Im spoilt rotten where I work, have a digital stirrer and heat block (set the time, set the temp and set the speed. Go to the beach, do the shopping, anything at all and come back later). Probably the best after that is a dry heat bath that can be programmed to shake which is great for small samples.

A real easy way to mix up lots of small samples is to try a vortex type device. In the lab I have a real one, at home though I have started using a drill, its rough, ready and can send a sample flying across the room but it works. I made a silicone disc on the top of a sanding disc (just covered the whole sanding side in about 1cm of marine silicone, and made a slight depression towards the centre (it must be quite smooth as to not catch sample bottles when it spins underneath them). This attached to the drill set to quite low power achieves the same thing pretty much. Anchor the drill and you can mix samples by pushing them onto the spinning silicone disc. I suppose any kind of rubber disk, bowl shape could be used as an attachment as long as its smooth enough to not catch the sample bottles. Another one I have seen done also uses the computer fan idea.
 
Danny said:
A pleasure to be able to contribute @Derick . If you get the time to DIY a stirrer they really are fantastic, Im spoilt rotten where I work, have a digital stirrer and heat block (set the time, set the temp and set the speed. Go to the beach, do the shopping, anything at all and come back later). Probably the best after that is a dry heat bath that can be programmed to shake which is great for small samples.

A real easy way to mix up lots of small samples is to try a vortex type device. In the lab I have a real one, at home though I have started using a drill, its rough, ready and can send a sample flying across the room but it works. I made a silicone disc on the top of a sanding disc (just covered the whole sanding side in about 1cm of marine silicone, and made a slight depression towards the centre (it must be quite smooth as to not catch sample bottles when it spins underneath them). This attached to the drill set to quite low power achieves the same thing pretty much. Anchor the drill and you can mix samples by pushing them onto the spinning silicone disc. I suppose any kind of rubber disk, bowl shape could be used as an attachment as long as its smooth enough to not catch the sample bottles. Another one I have seen done also uses the computer fan idea.
Click to expand...
I feel an unstructable is needed, with pics! :)
 
If I have a moment this weekend I will most happily put up an instructable, and convince the hubby to video the projectile juice!
 
Part 4.

Well mixing is pretty much out of the way, so onto another interesting subject regarding DIY and that is...

FLAVOURING
Flavouring is a very difficult subject to discuss and describe. We are all so influenced by various factors that if you put 10 different people in a room and gave them a flavour to try, you would get 11 different reactions (There's always that one guy)

First a bit of background.
The flavours used in e-liquids are mostly artificial flavours - there are some companies that do natural flavours, and some DIY enthusiasts that extract their own flavours from various sources.

So what is 'artificial' and what is 'natural'?
Truth? Nobody really knows. The term 'natural' is not a regulated term anywhere that I know of.

Regulated?
The FDA and similar bodies in other countries can regulate a term or description. E.g: if you want to call your product organic, it has to comply to a bunch of rules and processes and you have to prove that you comply to these specifications before you can stick your 'organic' logo on the packaging.

Seeing as 'natural' is not a regulated term, anybody can basically slap a 'natural' label on their product and nobody can call them out on it if they disagree.

BUT, with most reputable companies, 'natural' has come to mean that the flavours have been extracted from their actual sources. So vanilla flavour came from actual vanilla beans and banana flavours from actual bananas.

Then companies started to get a bit smarter, they identified the single chemical in Vanilla that gives a flavour that smells and tastes most like vanilla (Vinallin) , and extract just that part. So Still natural - but then they found that a side product of the wood pulp process is also vinallin, and it is a lot cheaper to get (wood pulp manufacturers were treating it as waste!) So it's still natural... right?

Point I'm making is that sometimes natural is only 'natural' when you really stretch the definition of the word and because the term is not regulated, nobody can put limits on how far you can stretch the definition.

Also, remember that natural does not necessarily mean healthier for you - natural arsenic will kill you just as quickly as the synthetic stuff :)

With artificial or synthetic flavourings, they basically found a way to manufacture the chemical usually extracted from the source - this works out much cheaper and you have a lot less spent vanilla beans to deal with.

The stuff made in the lab is usually purer - in the sense that in most cases a single compound is made, whereas with natural extracts it can contain hundreds of different ingredients besides the main compound responsible for flavour (read here for Vanillin)

Sometimes though the combination of the hundreds of ingredients is what gives something its 'proper' flavours, whereas the lab made one could come out tasting flat and 'synthetic'

Flavour companies
Although there are a bunch of flavour companies around the world that make these flavours (also used in perfume) there are only 3 companies worldwide that make all of the base components for the flavours

IFF (International Flavors and Fragrances)
http://www.iff.com

Givaudan
http://www.givaudan.com

Firmenich
http://www.firmenich.com

Some flavours (like vanilla) is a single component whereas others are various components combined to create a particular flavour.

As a flavour company you can buy the separate components from these companies and mix a new flavour, or you can commission a particular recipe and have them make it for you. This is what TFA, Capella, Flavour art and all of the other smaller flavour companies do. (Even the South-African ones)

So, in the end, no matter who you buy your flavourings from, or which ready to vape e-liquid you buy, you will probably end up with the chemical components made by one of the 3 companies above. The difference is the talent of the person mixing these components in the right ratios that will appeal to the widest variety of people :)

Now onto the interesting part

Mixing your own Flavours
There is no real magic method to mix the perfect flavour. It is going to depend on your talent to determine which of these components will work well with the other components. Then it might work well for you only - anyone else tasting it might hate it. Fun right?

For the most part, mixing flavours that work in cooking, will also work when mixing flavours for vaping. These tried and tested combinations have been around for years for good reasons and duplicating them is a challenging but rewarding experience.

I can give a few hints and pointers, but ultimately the best way to learn what works, is to try and test for yourself. As you taste more flavours and more combinations, you will start to get a feel for what works and what won't and this can only be learnt through experience. So my recommendation is to start off simple.

Hints and pointers.
  • When starting out, mix with one flavour only. Mix a batch of each flavour and test them all out to get a feel for the flavour - Make notes on each flavour for later reference (taste, strength, sweetness level, anything that you find distinctive about the flavour)
  • Adjust your flavours to a level you like to vape them at - record that percentage (remember steeping will change the flavour in a lot of cases)
  • Vape at least 1-3ml of each flavour (unless of course it is horrible) to get a good feel for the flavour and its strength - a strong flavour might taste great on the first hit, but by the end of your tank it could be making you gag because it is just too strong - the goal is to create a flavour you can vape the whole day
  • When starting to combine flavours, start off with 2 flavours only in the percentages that the single flavours worked at - the goal is to either have the two flavours combine to make a new flavour, or to taste the two distinct flavours as you vape, so adjust your levels until you reach your goal. Only adjust one flavour at a time, otherwise you will adjust for ever.
  • When you have the 2 flavours process down, go to three or more flavours - once again, adjust one flavour at a time.
  • Use additives (see further below for each one and what they do) - they can save a crappy flavour or perfect a really good one.
  • Label your bottles with the percentages of your mix
  • Take notes! You can never write too much down.
I will probably think of more as time goes by and other DIY-ers feel free to comment with more hints and pointers and I will include it all in my final PDF of this series.

Additives
Sours: This is malic acid, used in baking and sweets - it is what those sour worms have on them and can give a nice acidic taste to your vape, a lot of the sourness is lost with vaping however, so you will never really get the mouth puckering sourness from sour worms, but it will add that acidic sourness you get with some fruits

EM: Ethyl Maltol, it is used as a sweetener in baking and can sweeten your vape to a certain degree - on its own it tastes like cotton candy (in fact that is all that the cotton candy flavour is). EM has the further function that it can dull some of the sharper edges on flavours and make them taste more rounded.

Menthol: Not much to say about this, pretty much everyone knows what menthol does, it stimulates the cold receptors in your mouth, making your brain think your mouth is cold. It can add a nice freshness to your vape or in strong concentrations it can clear your sinuses!

Koolada: Similar to menthol but not as strong - gives the cool sensation primarily in the back of the throat

Vanillin: Although vanilla flavour is a good vape on its own, adding vanilla to just about any mix can only make the mix better.

Sucralose: This is also used as a sweetener in vaping, and is apparently very sweet (I have not tried it myself, so going by what I've read.) Apparently if too much is used though it can lead to an unpleasant aftertaste

Stevia: Sweetener, made from the Stevia plant, Once again, have not used it, but apparently similar results to Sucralose

Diacetyl: Kidding!


And I believe this is where I will end this series. Somewhere in Late December I will take on the e-liquid calculators for those that want to mix the exact mg and PG/VG ratio for their mixes - I will also talk about other interesting and useful software available on the WWW.

Feel free to post questions - even if you are reading this guide a year from now, I will answer them as I see them

Happy mixing and feel free to post your creations and exchange recipes with others

Derick
 
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Oh and here is a flavour wheel that can help you describe your flavours in your notes - there are plenty out there, important thing is to always use the same one so that your notes are consistent - this one is actually for coffee, but it translates well to vaping

tumblr_my7zci1qc71re4b96o1_1280.jpg
 
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