Shake and Vape DIY

[Wayne Swanepoel]

Good evening Ladies and gents

Seems like the upgrade in kit, especially tanks have a severe knock on effect pertaining to juice use. The better the flavour and vapour production the more juice i go through, pure enjoyment being the order of the day, thus i am looking to get into some DIY mixing.

I enjoy a nice fruity menthol (Chilled Pineapple maybe Guava) and a coffee/vanilla (think Orion Meteorite)

Can any one help me with a recipes they have tried and tested? Im waay to impatient to steep so will have to be shake and vape. Being a total noob with DIY i have not yet wrapped my head around buying concentrates and quantities, any pointers regarding supporting vendors with best stock availability would be highly appreciated.

 

[Greyz]

Subbed as I'd like to see what Shake and Vape recipes come through!.

This is a hot topic in group at times and has lead to many debates over whether there is such a thing as a SnV.
Personally I dont think such a juice exists. IMO if it gets better after a day or two then it's not a SnV but it's just a juice with a really short steep time.

 

[Effjh]

I SnV all my juices, If I want it to steep, I just make a large batch that will eventually steep as I vape through it. I find this gives me a good idea of how the flavours develop over time.

Putting a bottle away for a month..

 

[Greyz]

I SnV all my juices, If I want it to steep, I just make a large batch that will eventually steep as I vape through it. I find this gives me a good idea of how the flavours develop over time.

Putting a bottle away for a month..

I think we all SnV our mixes to test them, but they not as good after shaking as they are after a week or 2.
I think in this day and age people are less patient and want instant gratification.

I follow the teachings of the great mixer @RichJB and my juices are ahead of the required steep time.
If you thought your juice tasted great after a weeks steep - try 4

 

[KZOR]

Most of my recipes are shake 'n vape.
Heres one i have been vaping on for a few days. Nice fruity dough called "Frodo".

 

[Huffapuff]

Good evening Ladies and gents

Seems like the upgrade in kit, especially tanks have a severe knock on effect pertaining to juice use. The better the flavour and vapour production the more juice i go through, pure enjoyment being the order of the day, thus i am looking to get into some DIY mixing.

I enjoy a nice fruity menthol (Chilled Pineapple maybe Guava) and a coffee/vanilla (think Orion Meteorite)

Can any one help me with a recipes they have tried and tested? Im waay to impatient to steep so will have to be shake and vape. Being a total noob with DIY i have not yet wrapped my head around buying concentrates and quantities, any pointers regarding supporting vendors with best stock availability would be highly appreciated.

Check out the vendors on this site. They'll have all you need to get going. There are several threads for guys starting out, just browse through the DIY forum.

I haven't tried any of the juices you mentioned, but HIC has a pretty good Vanilla Nut Coffee, which also uses a few useful concentrates that are worth buying. It works as a shake and vape.

@Greyz I think you approach S&V with the wrong idea - for me it's a juice that can be vaped right off the bat, unlike a juice that tastes messy without a steep. Obviously it'll get better with time, but it's still enjoyable right after mixing. I doubt one could vape through 30ml in a day, so by the time you're down to the last of the bottle it'll be pretty good!

 

[Greyz]

Check out the vendors on this site. They'll have all you need to get going. There are several threads for guys starting out, just browse through the DIY forum.

I haven't tried any of the juices you mentioned, but HIC has a pretty good Vanilla Nut Coffee, which also uses a few useful concentrates that are worth buying. It works as a shake and vape.

@Greyz I think you approach S&V with the wrong idea - for me it's a juice that can be vaped right off the bat, unlike a juice that tastes messy without a steep. Obviously it'll get better with time, but it's still enjoyable right after mixing. I doubt one could vape through 30ml in a day, so by the time you're down to the last of the bottle it'll be pretty good!

For me a SnV is a juice that I can mix, shake and vape it right away and the flavour profile is the same after a week.

Something I mix now thats decent after a shake but better after a weeks steep, is what I call Shake and Vapable

 

[RichJB]

If vaping SnV works for you, go for it. I can't, I mix too much juice to be able to vape immediately. It's a happy situation for me as I've never found a juice that is acceptable right after mixing. I'm about 12 weeks ahead of the curve which is perfect for me. The only reason I'm not 24 weeks ahead of the curve is because I mix only 30ml max and I've also forced myself to stop buying more mixing/steeping bottles from Westpack.

@Wayne Swanepoel, I don't do menthols or coffees so I can't recommend any recipes. Regarding vendors, it's impossible to say as different people value different things and/or like different brands and concentrates. I will say that no single vendor ticks every box for me. I use a wide variety of concentrates and nobody has them all. Not because their service is lacking in any way but because there are too many DIY concentrates to stock everything. Then there's price, collection/delivery options, range of DIY accessories, specials/sales, etc. So I tend to shop around based on what combination of concentrates I want.

Sometimes it requires a lot of shopping around. I'm on a bit of a Flavor West bender atm so the concentrates I've been targeting recently have been Bananas Foster, Butterscotch Natural, Cheesecake, Horchata, Marshmallow, Toffee Dream Cream, Vanilla Bean Ice Cream and White Chocolate. No vendor has all of those and I doubt that any combination of two or even three vendors has them all. So I take what's available, re-prioritise, shuffle, reschedule. It's all part of the DIY journey.

 

[DominionZA]

I now mix up about 2L (100ml bottles) at a time. About a month before I am through them, I mix up the next batch.
Enables me to have a decent steeping time.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

 

[Greyz]

It would be interesting to see a Poll or Vote on whether Shake and Vapes actually exist. I for one would be interested in getting other DIY'ers opinions on the matter.
My experience has been that DIY'ers are very divided on the subject.

 

[Vino1718]

Subbing so long. Will add a few menthol recipes hopefully today. One i came up with whilst working nightshift. Will test it and post if it's to my liking.

Sent from my HUAWEI VNS-L31 using Tapatalk

 

[Wayne Swanepoel]

Thanks for the responses guys, i agree that DIY'rs are divided where shake and vape is concerned. Another quick question, is it ACTUALLY cheaper to DIY juices?

 

[craigb]

Another quick question, is it ACTUALLY cheaper to DIY juices?

Short answer : yes
Long answer : absolutely

Even with the upfront costs involved with DIY, it's much cheaper.

 

[haruspex]

Thanks for the responses guys, i agree that DIY'rs are divided where shake and vape is concerned. Another quick question, is it ACTUALLY cheaper to DIY juices?

Yes it is. One flavour SnV with 6mg Nic costs around R20 - 25 (rough calculation) depend on what you paid for the ingredients


Sent from my HUAWEI VNS-L31 using Tapatalk

 

[aktorsyl]

Thanks for the responses guys, i agree that DIY'rs are divided where shake and vape is concerned. Another quick question, is it ACTUALLY cheaper to DIY juices?

Absolutely. But as @craigb said, the upfront costs are steep (especially the concentrates). Once you've got that sorted, it's smooth sailing from there.
Generally (and i say GENERALLY), I work on a DIY "production" cost of R1 per 1ml. That factors in the flavour concentrates, bases, nicotine, bottle, etc. It obviously varies widely though.

 

[Christos]

@Wayne Swanepoel I have a nice strawberry, orange menthol that I SnV. The strawberry only comes out a few days later but it works. 30ml doesn't last me very long.
Use your own discretion for % and strength.
TFA strawberry ripe +- 4%
TFA Crème de menthol +- 1.5%
TFA Menthol +- 1.5%
FA orange +-0.5%

 

[RichJB]

Another quick question, is it ACTUALLY cheaper to DIY juices?

Yes, very much so. I get where you're coming from, the "they also told me vaping was cheaper than smoking, shyeah right" angle. The commercial v DIY scenario is similar in that some discipline is required to overcome FOMO. But even with that, I struggle to see how I could spend as much on DIY as I would on commercial juice. To unpack the figures, let's assume daily consumption of 12ml of 'middle of the road' juice @ around R150 per 30ml bottle. So not budget juice lines but not Cuttwood either. This consumption of commercial juice will amount to 360ml per month which = 12 x 30ml bottles which = R1800. Without spending any more than R1800 in any month, let's see how far that will get you in DIY. I've assumed roughly average costs from DIY vendors.

Month 1
100ml of 36mg nic @ R150
1l VG @ R90
100ml PG @ R20
Scale @ R240
20x30ml HDPE dropper bottles: R100
30x10ml bottles of concentrate @ R40 each: R1200. These would be the cheaper FA, FW, TFA concentrates which are fine to start with.
Total: R1800

A 30ml bottle of 70/30 3mg nic DIY juice with 15% total flavouring will contain:
Nic 2.5ml
PG 2ml
VG 21ml
Flavouring 4.5ml

So with your first month's supplies, you could make 40 bottles of 30ml DIY juice and have:
No nic left
Very little PG and about 150ml VG left over
Around 120ml of your original 300ml concentrates total left over, divided among your 30 flavours (average 4ml left in each)
At 12 bottles per month consumption, those 40 bottles would keep you going for three months, even if you had to ditch four of the bottles because the juice wasn't good.

For month 2, you would not need to buy nic, VG, PG. You also don't need to buy a scale again. But you may want to buy some amber glass steeping bottles rather than mixing directly into the HDPE droppers. So:
20x50ml amber glass mixing/steeping bottles: R150
Concentrates: R1650. You could now start getting some of the more expensive concentrates (Cap R45, Inw R45-55, JF R60, Flv R75) while continuing to increase your staple FA/FW/TFA stock. Let's assume average cost of R45 per 10ml. You could get 36 x 10ml bottles. You don't need to use any of this because you're still vaping the juice you mixed in month 1. So your concentrate stock will increase to 66 concentrates and around 480ml of total concentrate stock.

For month 3, you are still set for juice. This month, you decide to buy some storage for your growing concentrate stock.
Storage: R300
Concentrates: R1500. At R45 per bottle, that will get you another 33 bottles. So you now have 99 concentrates and around 810ml of total concentrate stock.

For month 4, the juice you mixed in month 1 is now finished so you need base and nic again.
Nic R150
VG R90
PG R20
Concentrates: R1540. At R45 a bottle, that is another 34 bottles. So your total stock grows to 133 concentrates and 1150ml. But you use 180ml to mix up another 40 bottles of juice (4.5ml average per 30ml bottle), so your total concentrate stock is at 970ml.

For months 5 and 6, you are once again set for juice so you can dump your entire budget into concentrates.
Concentrates: 40 x 10ml bottles @ R45 each = R1800. So, over the two months, you add another 80 concentrates to your range and another 800ml for a total concentrate stock of 1770ml. You will by now have bought 213 concentrate bottles. Of course, some of them will have been used up and you will have re-stocked them. But you should have at least 150 different flavours in your stock by now.

At this point, you can settle into a maintenance routine. Each month, you will need about R90 of nic, VG, PG and about R270 of concentrates. That is to maintain your 12x30ml bottles of monthly consumption. So your monthly expenditure could be:
Nic, VG, PG: R90
Concentrates: 8x10ml @ R45 each = R360
You will be using 60ml of flavouring a month but buying 80ml. So, over time, your concentrate range and total stock will keep growing gradually.

Executive summary: if you spend the same on DIY as you do on commercial juice for 6 months, you will have built up a really broad range of concentrate stock which allows you to make literally thousands of different recipes. Thereafter, your juice budget can be slashed from R1800pm to just R450pm, a 75% saving. Remember as well that you get nothing left over from your R1800pm commercial juice, it is all vaped out. With DIY, you have the 'asset' of a large concentrate stock that keeps growing. After six months, you will have amassed 1770ml of concentrate stock. That is enough to make 393 bottles of juice, more than 32 months of juice consumption. So even though you have spent the same amount, you have a lot more to show for it. In that sense, DIY is like running a shop. You can't just look at monthly inflow and outflow. You must also factor in the value of your stock. It is, in every sense, the best deal in vaping.

 

[playa4life]

My initial purchase of 500ml PG; 500ml VG; 100ml Nic and 3 x 10ml concentrates could see me going for a bit. My initial mix is still steeping. Lucky for me I still have some "bought" juice left to keep me going during the steeping time. Will keep on topping up on concentrates in the meantime.

 

[Sheryl]

Just yesterday, while off sick at home, no vape juice, locked inside the house, I decided to DIY, but my husband is predicting gloom and doom with the whole "do-it-yourself" mission I'm on.

I REFUSE to buy anything other than Orion/Affiliation and Paulies (personal biased decision) so I'm pretty stuck if I run out in the middle of the day, or late at night. I know it's bad planning on my part, but that's me. So I want to make my own. Am I going to regret it? How many batches more or less do the noobs like myself go thorough before creating something vapeable?

Oh, and my patience level is between 1 and non existent, so steeping for the first batch is like asking pigs to fly... hoe nou?

 

[RichJB]

There are no shake and vapes. I'm just vaping a whole bunch of single flavour testers I forgot about for three months. And every one of them is 50% better now than they were when I tested them at two weeks. On MixLife on Sunday, ConcreteRiver vaped FA Yogurt which had been steeping for six months and found it quite vapeable (it isn't when it's fresh).

DIY can be good right off the bat if you make a known and popular recipe. If you're trying to mix up your own recipes, brace yourself for some disappointments. Mixing isn't the sort of thing you just fluke into.

 

[Rude Rudi]

What he said.

 

[Sheryl]

There are no shake and vapes. I'm just vaping a whole bunch of single flavour testers I forgot about for three months. And every one of them is 50% better now than they were when I tested them at two weeks. On MixLife on Sunday, ConcreteRiver vaped FA Yogurt which had been steeping for six months and found it quite vapeable (it isn't when it's fresh).

DIY can be good right off the bat if you make a known and popular recipe. If you're trying to mix up your own recipes, brace yourself for some disappointments. Mixing isn't the sort of thing you just fluke into.

Yeah, I figured I wouldn't try my own thing just yet, and stick to maybe pre-mixed concentrate as someone suggested earlier.
I'm still not keen on the steep time though I'll vape store-bought till mine's ready.

Thanks!!!

 

[Sheryl]

What he said.

You guys are crushing my dreams here But, I've heard it from various sources now. I suppose no better way to learn to be more patient

 

[Raindance]

Hi @Sheryl, i noted your conversation on the chat page. Have not read all of the above though but it seemed like a similar topic. Have a look here.

Hope its of some help to you.

Regards

 

[Sheryl]

Hi @Sheryl, i noted your conversation on the chat page. Have not read all of the above though but it seemed like a similar topic. Have a look here.

Hope its of some help to you.

Regards

Thanks, that's the review I came across I'm just not keen on the steep (new curse word in my dictionary ) Still think I'm going to try the premixed concentrates though.