Premium vs DIY

[BrizzyZA (VapeLife)]

Hey Vapers,

I'm curious on what sets a Premium E-Liquid apart from creating your own juice.

I've only vaped premium and looking to go into DIY, but would you say that Premium tastes better or is more potent than a DIY juice?

 

[NewOobY]

dude what is to stop you from making your own juice that is premium, at least to you??
I've had juices that are termed or classified as premium, but to me they absolute toilet water.

In my opinion if you make a juice you really like, then it is premium to you - happiness...

Also man there are some really good recipes here on the forum, trust me you will find your premium DIY juice right here.

 

[Glytch]

I suppose the assumption with Premium Juices is that the recipe for each flavour has gone through a few iterations until it's palatable to the general population (the assumption is that it wouldn't sell if EVERYONE didn't like it).

DIY is a learning curve so it's possible to end up with some foul tasting juice if you're experimenting. You essentially need to do the research and development iterations yourself instead of relying on someone else.

Having said that there are tonnes of free DIY recipes which could classify as premium straight off the bat. I've made about 6 recipes that have good ratings and all were vapeable and, 2 were excellent, 2 were good and 2 just weren't my personal taste. I've started tweaking the 2 good recipes to my taste in the hope of making them excellent.

 

[yuganp]

Check out this reddit post from wayne https://www.reddit.com/r/DIY_eJuice/comments/3eos2g/the_diy_vs_premium_eliquid_conundrum/

 

[NewOobY]

I suppose the assumption with Premium Juices is that the recipe for each flavour has gone through a few iterations until it's palatable to the general population (the assumption is that it wouldn't sell if EVERYONE didn't like it).

DIY is a learning curve so it's possible to end up with some foul tasting juice if you're experimenting. You essentially need to do the research and development iterations yourself instead of relying on someone else.

Having said that there are tonnes of free DIY recipes which could classify as premium straight off the bat. I've made about 6 recipes that have good ratings and all were vapeable and, 2 were excellent, 2 were good and 2 just weren't my personal taste. I've started tweaking the 2 good recipes to my taste in the hope of making them excellent.

In general DIY is a "self" thing, so if a juice is premium to you then its a win right? Just like you said you tweaking juices to your liking, this is the essence of DIY - you can make juice exactly the way you want. This is just my opinion...

And sorry not meaning to hijack this thread. I just love DIY

 

[Rude Rudi]

Check out this reddit post from wayne https://www.reddit.com/r/DIY_eJuice/comments/3eos2g/the_diy_vs_premium_eliquid_conundrum/

Fantastic write-up!! That covers it all!!

 

[PsiSan]

Other than time to learn and master, nothing really.

 

[Andre]

No one has mentioned the most important aspect of DIY: It is a lot of FUN!

 

[BrizzyZA (VapeLife)]

In general DIY is a "self" thing, so if a juice is premium to you then its a win right? Just like you said you tweaking juices to your liking, this is the essence of DIY - you can make juice exactly the way you want. This is just my opinion...

And sorry not meaning to hijack this thread. I just love DIY

Lol I feel the passion NewOoby

I guess "Premium" is for the people that don't want to go through the struggle of making their own juice and wait for steeping time etc.

 

[Glytch]

Check out this reddit post from wayne https://www.reddit.com/r/DIY_eJuice/comments/3eos2g/the_diy_vs_premium_eliquid_conundrum/

Interesting that he mentions that people see a gap in the market and just want in on the game for profit. While I think this may be the case in the states, here in SA we are fortunate that the majority of our juice vendors were DIY enthusiasts not so long ago. I think this is one of the main reasons our local juices are of such a great quality. We should enjoy it while it lasts and I'm sure as vaping becomes more mainstream we're going to see big eJuice companies with no regard for quality and flavour.

Long live DIY!

 

[Andre]

Lol I feel the passion NewOoby

I guess "Premium" is for the people that don't want to go through the struggle of making their own juice and wait for steeping time etc.

No doubt there is a market for both. And our local commercial juice makers mix sterling juices and have a passion for what they do. DIY is not for everyone, which is fine too. No shame in trying and deciding it is not for you.

Another aspect of DIY, which I love is that you can make unique juices, which would never sell mainstream - especially in our smaller market. Like a juice based on a Corpse Reviver cocktail or a Spicy Black Tea with a touch of Chili!

 

[BrizzyZA (VapeLife)]

Do certain Premium juice makers create unique concentrates that are not available to DIY?

For example extracting the essence of a boerewors to make a unique ejuice? (Boerewors is just a random example)

 

[RichJB]

Brizzy, it's unlikely. Juice manufacturers use flavours manufactured primarily for the food and drink industries. It would be massively expensive for a juice manufacturer to extract their own flavours. So they tend to use the same commercial flavourants as DIYers use.

 

[rogue zombie]

Do certain Premium juice makers create unique concentrates that are not available to DIY?

For example extracting the essence of a boerewors to make a unique ejuice? (Boerewors is just a random example)

Yip, there are US juice companies that extract their own - Five Pawns Bourbon Vanilla is their own. Or Madagascar Vanilla... some Vanilla.

 

[rogue zombie]

But yes, a majority of juice makers will keep it simple and use whats mass available.

Funny thing is, quite a few US juice co.s have been releasing recipes of late, because of the FDA freeze... and you know what, they look like our recipes.

I have noted one recurring factor that helps them create a sort of unique flavour - the often use more that one concentrate for a certain flavour.

So for Peach - they would use White Peach and Normal to get a more complex peach. So in the end it is what I've always said, it is all about the recipe.

 

[Spydro]

Store bought premade liquids is someone else's idea of what the widest base of customers will like and so buy. Generic Joose. Almost all the "hyped" premade's I bought were not for me.

With DIY you can learn to make exactly what YOU personally like the best for YOUR personal tastes and style of vaping.

 

[PsiSan]

@Spydro , that is very ture. I have yet to have a custard that is better than the one I make myself

 

[RichJB]

I suppose it's no different from food. Some people will want to buy a raw chicken and cook it at home, some will buy a roast chicken from the rotisserie at the supermarket, some will buy a heat-and-eat chicken meal from Woolies, some will buy KFC or Nando's, some will pay R800 to have chicken and a smear of something on the plate at a Gordon Ramsay restaurant. Different strokes.

The best thing about DIY is that you get to talk like HIC. Before starting DIY, I used to have Ginger Nuts with my tea and I'd say "Mmmm, Ginger Nuts, I smaak it broken". Now I say "Mmmm, a full-bodied bakery flavour, sharp but not overpowering ginger on the inhale giving way to delicate top notes of cardamom and clove on the exhale. For authentic Scandinavian oven-smoked gingerbread, I should add 0.25% FA Black Fire and a drop or two of Acetyl Pyrazine."

 

[Patrick]

I suppose it's no different from food. Some people will want to buy a raw chicken and cook it at home, some will buy a roast chicken from the rotisserie at the supermarket, some will buy a heat-and-eat chicken meal from Woolies, some will buy KFC or Nando's, some will pay R800 to have chicken and a smear of something on the plate at a Gordon Ramsay restaurant. Different strokes.

The best thing about DIY is that you get to talk like HIC. Before starting DIY, I used to have Ginger Nuts with my tea and I'd say "Mmmm, Ginger Nuts, I smaak it broken". Now I say "Mmmm, a full-bodied bakery flavour, sharp but not overpowering ginger on the inhale giving way to delicate top notes of cardamom and clove on the exhale. For authentic Scandinavian oven-smoked gingerbread, I should add 0.25% FA Black Fire and a drop or two of Acetyl Pyrazine."

You're not joking even! Last night I added lemon zest to a slow braised trinchado I was making because it needed "hidden but niggling top notes". I seriously caught myself thinking that.

 

[Silver]

Loving this thread!!

But those DIY spreadsheets are haunting me...
Will have to wait a bit

 

[RichJB]

Why weren't we like this with smoking? Did anybody here light up a [insert your brand here] and think "Oh yes, I'm getting that woody vanilla top note, but I think they went a bit heavy with the Virginia on this batch"?

Then remember those cig ads on the old Springbok radio where the oke with the deep drawly voice would say "... a blend of gold leaf and rich Burleigh tobacco..." And I would think to myself "Wtf? Stop talking kack and kap 'n skyf, boet." Now, forty years later, I finally know what the oke was talking about.

 

[NaZa05]

Loving this thread!!

But those DIY spreadsheets are haunting me...
Will have to wait a bit

But why? Your premium mix would be easy.

20% menthol, PG/VG Nic.

 

[BrizzyZA (VapeLife)]

What do you guys believe makes a flavour good and tasty?

For me its a flavour that I can vape all day long and not feel nauseous or get "dik" of it too quickly. For example I got a 100ml bottle of a certain flavour (not saying names) and I could only vape 10ml before feeling like it's too sweet.

But Orion The Belt is one flavour I can never get enough of because its subtle yet always delivers flavour vape after vape without muting out like most flavours.

 

[NewOobY]

I know some people extract there own tobacco flavours with some success. There's a post somewhere on this forum about it. But extracting boerewors flavour on a scale of 0..to..Deal - I can't even. I can't imagine vaping that, even though I love boerewors.

In terms of what makes a DIY/Juice good for me, is that it mustn't be too sweet and even if the juice is absolutely awesome, but then it gunks my coil in 2 days - it's a no no. I'm lazy and don't like having to re-wick every second day. So for me a good juice is a combo of things, taste is one of them but there others too - you know.

 

[Raindance]

Why weren't we like this with smoking? Did anybody here light up a [insert your brand here] and think "Oh yes, I'm getting that woody vanilla top note, but I think they went a bit heavy with the Virginia on this batch"?

Then remember those cig ads on the old Springbok radio where the oke with the deep drawly voice would say "... a blend of gold leaf and rich Burleigh tobacco..." And I would think to myself "Wtf? Stop talking kack and kap 'n skyf, boet." Now, forty years later, I finally know what the oke was talking about.

Must admit, my last smokes were (occasionally still are) hand rolled creations consisting of various tobacco blends. Wonder what would happen if I added some flavour concentrates to these...?