DIY Journey

[Rivera]

Making a space here to keep track of my journey with DIY juice If any experienced mixers notice bloopers in my posts/recipes here, please feel free to come along and correct me!

I think fruit mixes are more forgiving when you getting into DIY, or just returning back to it like me. Luckily I like fruits the most, so mixing these over something like desserts is my preference.

I have a horrible habit of mostly avoiding current recipes in favour of my own concoctions. I am drawn to the satisfaction in having come up with a successful mix purely of my own creation. However, I do stick to mixing up small batches in case they turn out awful I may just be a fussy customer. If I see one or more ingredients in a recipe I feel I will probably not like, I abandon it entirely. I do like taking inspiration from recipes out there though.

I've been adding a small amount of meringue to my mixes, because I read that this concentrate helps make fruit flavours pop. Also happy to be mixing fruits as in most cases, they only need 2-3 days to steep I popped a couple bottles in hot water to speed up the process, as I recall someone else doing this back in the day.

I'm really liking the low sweetener content of my mixes over the insane amount of sweetness in commercial juices! It is actually quite sickening how much is added

I decided to add raspberry to my strawberry and apricot mix yesterday, so I'm looking forward to trying it! I kicked up the sweetener from 0.5 to 0.8%, just a small boost should be enough.

I also have a banana and apricot vanilla custard steeping, but that is still just short of 2 weeks away from testing. Might have added slightly too much banana Will see.

What other concentrates aside from meringue and black ice, are nice additives for fruit recipes? Fresh cream kills my chest, and I don't particularly like the heaviness of most creams.

 

[Rivera]

Mixed up strawberry, raspberry and lime.

This one is a little more, "technical" for me of sorts. Added concentrates I am hoping may work nicely together and with each other in this mix. Some for contrast, some for smoothness. This is the fun part of DIY, experimenting and learning. Fingers crossed!

 

[Rivera]

Side note: Pineapple INW doesn't seem to work well, for me at least. Something muted my other fruits, and the pineapple itself was barely there, so I can only think the pineapple INW was the culprit here as I added nothing else that would do that to flavours in a mix. I have a different pineapple coming anyway, so will get on to that.

 

[vicTor]

try this

sweet guava (cap) - 4%
cactus (inw) - 0.3 %

 

[Quintusson]

However, I do stick to mixing up small batches in case they turn out awful

A simple, yet very pertinent thing for DIY'ers and I encourage others to take note. I still do this as well as I have had my times of 'oh my greatness, this is gonna be sooo good' and then mix up 50ml (or even, yikes, 100ml) of it just to throw it away after a few puffs. 10-20ml is more than enough to test a new recipe and from there you can decide if you want to continue on the path with that flavour.

I've been adding a small amount of meringue to my mixes, because I read that this concentrate helps make fruit flavours pop.

Meringue does help indeed. If you want a fruit to be a bit 'thicker' as some fruits do tend to taste very thin (weird, but true), add marshmallow. 0.36 - 0.5% is more than enough. Also helps with sweetness a bit, which brings me to the next one...

I'm really liking the low sweetener content of my mixes

As mentioned, marshmallow. But if you want to use less sweetener, you can always use some Pear. Again, no more than 0.5% needed as you do not want it to be a prominent flavour. Also adds some depth to some flavours when used right. I find FA Pear works best.

It is actually quite sickening how much is added

Scary thing, I've heard that some international juices have up to 8% Super Sweet!

What other concentrates aside from meringue and black ice, are nice additives for fruit recipes?

Mentioned above, but also do not overlook the following:
Brown Sugar (again, sweetener replacement, but not suited to all fruits)
Cactus (looow percentage as it takes over very quickly! Like 0.16 - 0.36% and yes, it does make a difference at such low %'s)
Champagne, Citrus Punch, Soda Base and Fizzy Sherbet (low percentages it's an enhancer, higher it's supposed to add fizz-type vibe but I've never experienced it)
Powdered Sugar or CLY Honey (same as brown sugar, more versatile in fruits)
ClyroEnhance, Smooth, Vape Wizard (tones down the harshness of some fruits, e.g. orange. Low %'s again (0.36 - 0.5) else it mutes a flavour. There are various ones in this category, e.g. Jammy Candy Wizard, Sour Wizard, etc)
Whipped Cream or Ice Cream (CLY or SSA) (seeing as Fresh doesn't work, this may be the one for you)
Lemon (same as Cactus, but not Lemon Sicily, pure lemon, e.g. CLY Lemon)
Menthol (actually goes well with some fruits, just don't mix too much as it can take over)
Mint (same as menthol, but also note that with both, if you steep it too long, 3 months or over, you will only taste menthol or mint and nothing else)
Lemonade (adds a different dimension, quite nice with fruits)
Note: Things like Sour or Malic Acid brings a sour note, but not so much a hit-you-in-the-side-of-your-cheek sour but also not a sour milk.
CAP Sweet Candy (sweetness and slight candy note)
TFA Vanilla Bean Ice Cream (not CAP, too creamy and not FW, too much dairy)

Stay away:
Cotton Candy (imho it's just terrible)
Any Guava except for CAP Sweet Guava. Rest are horrid
Koolada. Worst ice enhancer there is. Has this zing to the flavour.

Side note: Pineapple INW doesn't seem to work well, for me at least. Something muted my other fruits, and the pineapple itself was barely there, so I can only think the pineapple INW was the culprit here as I added nothing else that would do that to flavours in a mix. I have a different pineapple coming anyway, so will get on to that.

I actually quite like INW Pineapple, it's one of my two go-to Pineapples. I typically use it when I want a fresh pineapple flavour more than canned or candy

 

[Quintusson]

I typed this up a few years ago for a FB post. Most of it you should know, but FYI:

1. My first comment is going to be ridiculed by some, but I prefer using a scale vs. syringes. Personally, it is easier, accurate (before the comments come running in, in my opinion equally accurate vs syringes) and in the long run cheaper than needing to buy new syringes every now and then. And then lastly why I prefer it is because once I am done mixing, I just pack my scale away and I am done, no need to wash syringes, sterilise them, etc.

2. Put nicotine in first. That way if you mess up, then you do not need to redo everything. If you add a little too much of a certain flavour, you can work around that by upping the general quantity of the mixture you are busy with.
2.1. Adding to the above, if you add a little too much of a concentrate, gauge how much too much you added. If, for example, the juice you are making called for 0.5% FLV Rich Cinnamon and you added 1% by accident, then double the rest of the quantities and make double the juice. But if the recipe called for 6% TFA Vanilla Bean Ice Cream and you added 6.5%, it's not the end of the world, just continue as normal.
2.2 Same goes for PG and VG, but slightly less strict. So you overshot on the PG and now your mix is a 65/35 instead of 70/30, that's not too bad. If it was more like 55/45 or such, then I would say adjust your recipe and add more ingredients to bring you back to 70/30.

3. Before you buy too many concentrates, look up some recipes you like and plan around that. DIY can save you money, but it can also cost a lot more than commercial!
3.1. There are general flavours which you can buy initially, e.g. CAP Vanilla Bean Ice Cream, FA Strawberry Red Touch (I am not a big fan of the TFA ripe version), INW Biscuit, TFA Blueberry Extra, INW Creme Brulee, CAP Vanilla Custard V1, FA Marshmallow, TFA Brown Sugar, FA Meringue, FW Butterscotch, etc. Solid flavours, all of them. But stay away from the likes of FW Blood Orange, TFA Acai Berry, FA Dark Bean Espresso, etc. until you know what you're doing.
3.2. Also try and find recipes with ingredients you can use in a couple of recipes. Just because one recipe you would like to make contains, for example, Cherry Crush @0.5% go out and buy a 10ml Cherry Crush. You will be stuck with the flavour for a while without anything else to use it in.

4. Keep notes! I cannot stress this enough. Once you start working on your own recipes, you will need the notes of previous ones and what worked and what not.
4.1 If you have the will and patience to do it, make 5-10ml samplers of each individual flavour concentrate and then make notes on them. Note however that flavours interact with each other during steeping and profiles change slightly, but it is good to know the general base of the flavour.
4.2. Sites like e-liquid-recipes.com is also very helpful as almost all flavours out there has a profile on the page with people posting reviews on their perception of the flavour.

5. Watch some DIY flavour review videos on Youtube. DIY or DIE is brilliant and helped me a lot initially. Wayne knows his stuff. Then again, keep notes of all he says about the flavour profiles so that when you start developing you will know that CAP Vanilla Custard V1 is a rich, creamy vanilla whereas FA Custard is a basic custard with a slight lemon zing. Both useful, but worth knowing what to use when. New Amsterdam Vape is also very helpful and gives lots of help to new mixers and the group called 'Noted' (found under DIY or Die's YouTube channel) talks a lot about the various flavours and their nuances.

6. If you are unsure about a recipe, make it in a 10ml initially. Do not waste 30ml worth of ingredients on a hunch. If it is good, then remake in bigger quantity.

7. Do not skip steeping times. A lot of people want a shake and vape recipe and though there is merit to some (note: SOME) of them, best flavours come out over time.
- Fruits, generally 2days to 1 week. I have a fruity that needs 5 weeks though
- Creams/Desserts - 2 weeks minimum, preferably 3-4 weeks
- Tobaccos/Coffees - 4 weeks minimum, preferably 5-6 weeks

8. If it tastes like $%#@, throw it away. BUT, do not throw away a juice you made last night, tried this morning and now it tastes horribly. Let it stand first, but then if after time it tastes bad, toss it and accept it as a learning curve (I have had many, many of them over the time #greatjuicecullingof2017, 2019 and 2020).

9. Calculators... essential! You can use the calculator on e-liquid-recipes.com or download one on your phone or tablet or PC. I use the one found here: diyjuicecalculator.com. You need to download it to your PC but it is a awesome app. Irrispective, use a calculator, and one where you can store recipes you have made so you can reference them again.

10. Lastly, the sky's the limit. Make weird mixes, you never know. You will mess up sometimes, it is part of learning. Above all, enjoy!

 

[Rivera]

@ivc_mixer you are the best!!!!! Thank you SO much for all of this!

I am actually waiting on Marshmallow to add to one of my mixes

So interesting about using pear! I’m going to get some for sure.

Thank you for listing so many great additives to try, I’m super excited now! Mint and lemonade sound especially great to me, will think about recipes to add them to. Whipped cream should be a much better option for me, thanks!

Regarding the INW pineapple, I might try again with an adjusted recipe. I trust you when you say it’s good, so I’m sure I messed up somehow

Great to see you mix like me!!! I also use a scale over syringes! AND I also add nicotine in first I use e-liquid-recipes.com

Such great info here, you are awesome

 

[Rivera]

What I’ve also found very helpful if I feel I need to dilute a flavour, is this calculator.

https://www.physiologyweb.com/calculators/dilution_calculator_mass_per_volume.html

 

[Rivera]

try this

sweet guava (cap) - 4%
cactus (inw) - 0.3 %

Thank you Victor!!!! I was trying to remember this one after seeing it mentioned in the What Did You Mix Today thread! I’ll give it a try

 

[Quintusson]

I use e-liquid-recipes.com

I use a desktop app called Recipe Calculator (http://diyjuicecalculator.com/). I've tried many various ones over the years but this one just works best for me.

 

[Rivera]

Marshmallow, Cactus and CAP sweet guava coming soon! Cannot wait to test out the cactus in particular

 

[Rivera]

Mixed a second bottle of juice for a relative. They loved the first one I made for them, so that made me feel really proud Little achievements like this motivate you to keep at it and keep improving.

Going to mix up some cactus and sweet guava soon! This one seems popular so I simply must try it myself!

 

[Rivera]

Here's a vanilla custard mix I made that I enjoy. The banana and strawberry are a bit more on the subtle side yet still clearly there, which I like. So steep longer if you want them to pop more, but I like them slightly less strong in here.

Banana (HS) 2.6%
Strawberry Red Touch (FA) 3%
Meringue (FA) 0.4%
Vanilla Custard v1 (CAP) 3%
Sweetness (FLV) 0.6%

 

[Paul33]

Marshmallow, Cactus and CAP sweet guava coming soon! Cannot wait to test out the cactus in particular

Cactus is great cause it adds a "juiciness" to your mix but too much is kak.

its a versatile flavour to add to other mixes around 0.1-0.2% to give your mix a juicy mouthfeel without changing things too much.

 

[Rivera]

Cactus is great cause it adds a "juiciness" to your mix but too much is kak.

its a versatile flavour to add to other mixes around 0.1-0.2% to give your mix a juicy mouthfeel without changing things too much.

So I've heard! I added a tiny amount to a relative's mix and also to my own mix recently

 

[Quintusson]

Here's a vanilla custard mix I made that I enjoy. The banana and strawberry are a bit more on the subtle side yet still clearly there, which I like. So steep longer if you want them to pop more, but I like them slightly less strong in here.

Banana (HS) 2.6%
Strawberry Red Touch (FA) 3%
Meringue (FA) 0.4%
Vanilla Custard v1 (CAP) 3%
Sweetness (FLV) 0.6%

Looks good. Have you thought of maybe changing the FA Strawberry for CAP Sweet Strawberry V1? It's a brilliant strawberry but not as 'fresh' as FA Red Touch, so may work slightly better in the mix. Just an opinion

 

[Rivera]

Looks good. Have you thought of maybe changing the FA Strawberry for CAP Sweet Strawberry V1? It's a brilliant strawberry but not as 'fresh' as FA Red Touch, so may work slightly better in the mix. Just an opinion

Thanks so much for the advice IVC! I'll gladly give FA Strawberry a try

 

[Quintusson]

Thanks so much for the advice IVC! I'll gladly give FA Strawberry a try

You have FA Strawberry Red Touch in there, I am suggesting CAP Sweet Strawberry V1

 

[Rivera]

You have FA Strawberry Red Touch in there, I am suggesting CAP Sweet Strawberry V1

LOL I meant to say CAP, FA caught my eye as I was reading and typing Having a whole bunch of concentrates sometimes scrambles my brain

 

[Rivera]

@ivc_mixer Wayne from DIY or DIE said in a vid he uses CAP Vanilla Custard v1 at 8% Americans like their vape juice strong and sweet I find his vids helpful, but most of the time I scale back on the percentages he recommends

 

[Quintusson]

@ivc_mixer Wayne from DIY or DIE said in a vid he uses CAP Vanilla Custard v1 at 8% Americans like their vape juice strong and sweet I find his vids helpful, but most of the time I scale back on the percentages he recommends

I have it at 10% in one of my mixes

But in others I have it at 2-4%, it all depends on what you want the custard to do in the mix.

I do not follow the general guidelines w.r.t. concentrate percentages, I mix it in based on how I want it to perform in the juice.

 

[Rivera]

I have it at 10% in one of my mixes

But in others I have it at 2-4%, it all depends on what you want the custard to do in the mix.

I do not follow the general guidelines w.r.t. concentrate percentages, I mix it in based on how I want it to perform in the juice.

Wow haha! Yes, it's really all down to what you are personally looking for and that's all that counts

 

[Quintusson]

Wow haha! Yes, it's really all down to what you are personally looking for and that's all that counts

Every recipe is different and has different 'needs'. What I always do before I develop something is I sit back and think what I want the profile to become and what nuances, etc. I want from it. If I want something simple, e.g. iced lemonade, then I will just do lemonade, sweetener and ice. But if I want something more complex, like a Banana Strawberry Custard like yours, then I think about the three different profiles individually and then how they need to interact with each other - which one needs to be more prominent, etc. Once I determined that, then I think about supporting flavours, e.g. a custard on its own is not always that good but if you add a little french vanilla or sugar cookie, then it takes on a different dimension, but that also influences the other flavours.

Some people think DIY is as simple as take basic ingredients, slap them together and you have a juice. Sure, you'll have something, but is it something you will ADV if it comes to that? A proper juice needs time and patience. I've once spent about 4 weeks planning and making notes, adjusting levels, changing concentrates, etc. on a juice before I mixed a drop. But on the other hand, I have juices where inspiration struck me and within 10 minutes it was developed, mixed and in the steeping corner (like the naughty corner, but just for juices - and they stay there until they're good! )

 

[Rivera]

Every recipe is different and has different 'needs'. What I always do before I develop something is I sit back and think what I want the profile to become and what nuances, etc. I want from it. If I want something simple, e.g. iced lemonade, then I will just do lemonade, sweetener and ice. But if I want something more complex, like a Banana Strawberry Custard like yours, then I think about the three different profiles individually and then how they need to interact with each other - which one needs to be more prominent, etc. Once I determined that, then I think about supporting flavours, e.g. a custard on its own is not always that good but if you add a little french vanilla or sugar cookie, then it takes on a different dimension, but that also influences the other flavours.

Some people think DIY is as simple as take basic ingredients, slap them together and you have a juice. Sure, you'll have something, but is it something you will ADV if it comes to that? A proper juice needs time and patience. I've once spent about 4 weeks planning and making notes, adjusting levels, changing concentrates, etc. on a juice before I mixed a drop. But on the other hand, I have juices where inspiration struck me and within 10 minutes it was developed, mixed and in the steeping corner (like the naughty corner, but just for juices - and they stay there until they're good! )

I love this! Yes, there is often a lot of thought that goes into a mix and it is definitely not as simple as just chucking a couple flavours together. I think about what I want to stand out the most, and what will support that flavour and compliment it. I feel like I'll have a much easier time, when I am familiar with a lot more concentrates! I think once you know a range of flavours from different brands and how they taste/what kind of flavour they bring to the table, you'll have way more success with recipes in general. It takes time but I'll get there

 

[Rivera]

try this

sweet guava (cap) - 4%
cactus (inw) - 0.3 %

Steep time please?