DIY E-Liquid Mixology

DIY E-Liquid Mixology 

A beginner's guide to DIY e-liquid and recipes 

by Jennifer Jarvis 

Copyright 2015© 

Free Download Edition 

Recipes included in this edition Copyright 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015 

This book is intended for educational and entertainment purposes, and not meant as 

medical or legal advice. Vaping is a new industry. Health concerns and safety of this 

industry is still an unknown factor, please vape at your own risk. Handling nicotine at 

levels of 100mg is dangerous, and the proper precautions should be taken. By reading 

this book you agree to not hold Jennifer Jarvis liable for any injury that may occur now or 

in the future by handling nicotine or using the recipes or information that contains 

herein. 

These recipes/e-liquid names are copyright property of Jennifer Jarvis. The use of 

these recipes are for individual personal use only. Please do not sell liquids made with 

exact copies of these recipes, or recipe names. If you are a professional e-liquid maker 

and wish to use these recipes for inspiration that is acceptable use, but please do not 

resell these recipes as your own. If you enjoy these recipes and wish to seek out 

professional consultation for your business concerning recipe development please email

me at www.diyeliquidmixology.com to download a copy.

Introduction 

Have you been searching for an alternative to the overpriced e-liquids on the market 

today? Are you worried that eventually you may not be able to get pre-mixed flavored e- 

liquids in your state due to regulations? Are you concerned with what is in your e-liquid? 

Do you think that mixing your own liquids would be damn near impossible? Well, look 

no further. 

I am going to give you the secrets to mixing your own e-liquid in simple step by step 

instructions that are easy to follow and in the long run will save you money. 

This first volume edition is dedicated to the beginner. With minimal tools, a small 

selection of flavorings, and some simple recipes you can be on your way to mixing 

delicious e-liquids just like the professionals mix. 

I have learned many tricks in the past 4 years of mixing e-liquids. I spent a year 

mixing just for myself and a few friends and during that time I researched intensely on 

the science of taste and smell and how to create e-liquids that would appeal to a wider 

audience than just myself. After another year of developing many recipes, I started an e- 

liquid company called Marble Valley Vapors. I started out with just 5 solid recipes and 

had nearly 100 recipes in developmental stages. After a year in business I had released 

around 50 of those recipes and gained many loyal customers who found their all day 

vapes with me. 

But, with impending regulations and taxations in my own state, and the regulations in 

so many other states making it more difficult to sell e-liquid, I decided to stop selling 

pre-mixed bottles of my recipes. I wanted to share my knowledge with the vaping 

community, so I am putting together a collection of recipes, instructions, and research for 

the beginner, intermediate and advanced vapers looking to mix delicious flavor blends 

that range from simple to rather complex recipes in an easy to follow ebook format. I 

have plans for at least one more book after this one, with the possibility of three or four 

more books depending on recipes I am still developing and research as it comes 

available. I am making the ebook version of this beginner book free for download, 

however I may make a paper copy available for sale of this book. Future books will be 

available for purchase on DIY E-Liquid Mixology and most likely through various book 

dealers online.

Chapter 1 

The Basics 

To the average vaper what goes into mixing a vapable e-liquid may seem like a 

daunting task. You will be surprised to learn, however, that it can be quite simple. You 

will need some basic tools to help you achieve a liquid that you will want to vape more 

than once and may even become an all day vape for you. 

The short list of basic tools you will need to begin mixing are as follows: 

Bottles to mix into 

Syringes (1ml, 3ml, 10ml sizes) with blunt tips or even without tips 

Paper Towels 

Storage containers to hold bottles, syringes, flavoring, pg, vg, nicotine 

Disposable Gloves (especially if working with nicotine levels over 48 mg.) 

Nicotine Testing kit (this is optional and not required, but very handy to have) 

That’s it. It really is very little equipment to purchase to get started. 

Depending on the quantity of e-liquid you wish to produce, the amount of Propylene 

Glycol (PG) and Vegetable Glycerin (VG), as well as Nicotine, will vary. If you want to go 

the route of the most bang for your buck, purchasing the PG and VG by the gallon from 

vendors like Essential Depot will save you money in the long run. You will eventually use

it all and may find yourself purchasing it by the 5 gallon pail one day. We will discuss the 

differences of mixing with PG and VG later. 

Nicotine 

This is the area where most people get very confused and deterred when considering 

if they want to mix their own e-liquid. Let’s say you normally vape 12 mg e-liquid premixed 

that you buy from a local shop or online vendor. Should you purchase 12 mg 

nicotine in order to mix it yourself? The short answer: No. The long answer as to why 

this is: If you purchase 12 mg nicotine and dilute that mixture down with flavoring you 

will end up with a finish product that is closer to 8 or 10 mg nicotine, depending on how 

much flavoring is used in a recipe. 

It is far less expensive if you purchase nicotine that is much higher than what you use 

with the intention of diluting it down in your final product. Not everyone is going to be 

comfortable working with 100 mg strength nicotine, but it is going to be the lowest cost 

per bottle of finished e-liquid you can get to work with at home. I suggest, however, for 

your first experiments of mixing e-liquid at home it's best to purchase a large bottle of 48 

mg nicotine. It will save you money even if you vape 24 mg (you will be cutting the 48 mg 

in half so doubling the amount in finished product of the size of nicotine bottle that you 

purchase) and it is far less hazardous to work with when compared to 100 mg. 

WARNING!!! Avoid any nicotine that is for sale on the internet that says PURE 

NICOTINE 99.8%. Generally, this is being sold by Chinese dealers here in America and 

is actually 998 mg nicotine. An example of this I found on E-Liq.com, this vendor is 

selling 998mg nicotine, and it is very hard to figure out that this is the case by their 

descriptions on their site. I have known a few DIYers who were just getting into mixing 

accidentally purchased pure nicotine from them. I do not recommend them for nicotine. 

This nicotine is extremely dangerous and should only be used by people with proper 

fume extraction equipment, as even the fumes are dangerous and potentially lethal. To 

avoid this problem use reputable nicotine sellers when purchasing your nicotine (see 

lists at the end of the book.) Another confusing aspect of this, is that some retailers of 

nicotine list their nicotine as 99% pure in terms of material content (metals, and other 

impurities that could be contained in the nicotine solution.) So in this case, a bottle that 

is 100 mg nicotine may also say 99% pure nicotine (quality content), be sure to double 

check the milligram strength before purchasing any nicotine online. When it refers to 

quality 99% pure nicotine is acceptable, when it refers to strength do not purchase.

When using nicotine solutions higher than what you would normally vape, you will 

want to wear gloves while handling the nicotine. You will especially want to wear gloves 

and possibly have protection for your body if using 100 mg nicotine. My personal favorite 

for body protection before I got into mixing professionally was a large black garbage bag 

with holes poked in it for my head and arms. This protected my body from spillage, 

which no matter how careful you think you are can happen very easily. A lap full of 100 

mg nicotine is not fun and if this happens you will want to strip your clothes off quickly 

and rinse off in the shower before it absorbs. It is unlikely to kill you, but it can cause 

you to become ill, vomiting or extreme dizziness is a sign of nicotine poisoning. Laying 

down and drinking water to flush your system will help with nicotine overdose. But the 

best way to handle this is prevention: Gloves and some sort of plastic cover for your body 

will keep you safe. However, if you are using 48 mg nicotine or less, you will want to have 

at the very least paper towels on hand for spills. 

You will also have to decide what PG/VG ratio of Nicotine you want to use. The typical 

mixtures are either 100% PG, 100% VG or 50/50 blend. It is far easier to work with a 100% 

amount. So if you are primarily a dripping vaper, you will probably want to go with 100% 

VG nicotine as it will help keep your VG levels higher in your juice. But if you primarily 

use tank atomizers you will want to go with 100%PG as this is easier to get the PG levels 

you need for proper tank wicking. 50/50 blend might be prefered if you use both tanks 

and drippers and want a blend, but you will also have to do a little extra math when 

trying to figure out your PG/VG ratios in your end juice. 

The nicotine testing kit is a good idea to have on hand and for under $10 can save you 

from mislabeled nicotine. This can happen even with the best of vendors. A few 

milligram variation over or under is not uncommon and usually won't mess with your 

nicotine needs, but a big difference can cause you to either be well under your desired 

amount, or well over (and in turn over nic'ing yourself while vaping -- which can lead to 

dizziness, headaches, vomitting, and stomach aches.) Testing the batch of nicotine when 

you first get it in insures that you have the proper mg strength. It is also handy to have a 

titration test kit for those times when you forget if you've added nicotine to your e-liquid 

batch or not. Better to test and see that you don't have any in there, than to double dose 

yourself. 

Propylene Glycol /Vegetable Glycerine 

There is a lot of confusion and misinformation concerning PG in the vaping world. A

lot of people avoid PG like the plague with the idea that it is unhealthy or bad for them. 

The fact of the matter is that very few e-liquids are completely without PG content. Most 

flavorings are PG based, much of the nicotine is PG based, and if you use tank atomizers 

using 100% VG style juices may result in frustrating dry hits due to VG’s dense viscosity 

and lack of wicking. 

It is true that a small portion of the population is going to find PG to be irritating to 

their throat, skin and eyes. An even smaller portion of the population may even have a 

genuine allergy to PG, but for the most part, those that experience some level of irritation 

when inhaling high PG level juices, it is due to the hygroscopic nature of PG(meaning it 

drys your mucus membranes out) not an actual allergy. 

PG in your e-liquid is going to do a few things, it will thin the juice enough to be 

wicked properly in tanks, it is going to increase your perception of the flavoring, and it is 

imparting a mild antibacterial/viral/fungal property to your liquid. In a sense it actually 

helps preserve your liquid. PG is a more effective carrier for flavoring in vapor than VG, 

though VG is not horrible, but many who vape high VG juice find they must increase 

flavoring ratios in order taste the somewhat muted flavor. 

You will get more throat hit with PG and less vapor. So it is good to use it in balance 

with VG in order to achieve the amount of throat hit, flavor, and vapor that you desire. 

Vegetable Glycerine is not necessarily a healthier choice for vaping, but it also isn't 

necessarily unhealthy either. These are just the two carrier liquids we have a choice of for 

our vapor products. VG will give you far more vapor, it is denser than PG both in terms of 

liquid state and vapor state. Some people may experience a heavy feeling in their chests 

when vaping high VG juice, causing a mild amount of coughing up phlegm. This is due 

to the density of VG and it's hygroscopic nature. It may not feel like you are as dry while 

vaping VG as you do with higher PG content, but that is because the coating that VG 

leaves on your mucus membranes, it is just as drying as PG and you should be sure to 

intake enough water when vaping anything to keep from being dehydrated. 

Another question often fielded from new DIYers, what is the difference in brands of 

PG and VG. To be honest, not much of anything. There are only a couple manufacturers 

of PG and VG in the USA, but hundreds of distributors and vendors selling the same PG 

and VG with different labels and price points. There are some that claim to sell organic 

VG, but it could be questionable as to if it is truly produced from organic plant materials. 

If you question the validity of the claims of organic, email the company and ask to see 

their certification information. There is a difference between soy based VG and palm or

coconut based VG. You will get a slightly different flavor/scent from each of them. Also, 

if you are looking to avoid soy, you will want to find palm or coconut based VG brands. 

I have always purchased my PG and VG supply from Bulk Apothecary and Essential 

Depot. When purchased in gallon sizes or larger your cost per bottle (based on a 30 ml) 

for PG/VG will be less than 20 cents per end unit. There are a ton of other suppliers of 

PG/VG, so when you are first starting out it might be easier to simply order a smaller 

bottle from the same company you are ordering flavoring from. This won't always be the 

most cost effective, however it can save time over ordering from multiple locations. If 

you live near a tractor supply store, you can also save time and shipping costs and 

purchase both PG and VG from them by the gallon, along with 3ml, 5ml, and 10ml 

syringes. 

These are the basic supplies you need to get started on your e-liquid creating journey. 

In the next chapter I will cover some of the basics of flavors and how they work in 

recipes.

Chapter 2 

The Basics Continued 

Flavoring 

E-liquid is all about the flavoring. There are so many companies out there selling 

various DIY flavoring it is hard to know which brand of flavoring to pick, who’s flavoring 

is actually repackaged flavoring, and what types are safe to vape...let alone what tastes 

good and what doesn’t. 

In my experience flavoring is a highly subjective subject. If you ask a room full of 

vapers what flavor is the best vape experience you will get a room full of different 

answers. Everyone ends up with their own favorites. In the world of mixing your own 

liquids the task of purchasing the raw flavors to blend together can seem scary, because 

there are so many choices and so many opinions. 

My opinions are just that, my opinions. But as a former juice vendor I can say that 

flavorings I mixed together were taste tested by a lot of people and their opinions were 

also pretty on par with my own as far as how good a flavoring was. Before I ever sold a 

finished e-liquid recipe it went through my own taste testing and several beta taste 

testers as well. 

As for me, I’m a super taster. Yes, this is a real thing. I have a heightened sense of 

smell and taste when compared to the general population, therefore my sensitivity to 

flavoring leads me to being very picky when it comes to what I buy and use. Due to my 

sensitivity, as you mix my recipes included in this book, you may find you need to 

increase the measurements in order to taste the flavors, or that some of the subtlety of 

recipe is lost on your palate. Some vapers are better off with simple recipes that they can 

taste rather than complex recipes that don’t do anything for them. This is all fine and 

part of the process of learning what is right for you, so don’t be disheartened if you can’t 

taste something, just means you get to keep experimenting.

What You Need to Know About Flavoring 

Flavoring that is used most commonly in e-liquid is artificial flavors. There is a 

reason behind this. Artificial flavors are chemical components that are well known 

within the flavor world and thus are easy to combine and create a flavoring that is pretty 

close to the original chemical compound of the natural flavor. Natural flavors (extracts 

from the actual plant/fruit/item) are still chemicals, despite whatever preconcieved 

notition you may hold about the natural vs artificial. You will find chemical breakdowns 

into long unpronouncable words in natural flavors just as you will in artificial. All 

artificial flavorings are man made chemical compounds. 

There are a few different variations to what types of flavors are available. 

Artificial = man made chemical compounds made to mimic the brain’s perception of 

the natural counterparts. 

Nature like = Exact replicas (man made) of the chemical compounds found in natural 

ingredients, this means the exact same chemical compound found in a natural flavor has 

been created in a lab rather than extracted from the natural source. 

Natural = Is extracted directly from the source and is made up of the natural state 

chemical compounds found in the product it is extracted from. 

What does this mean in terms of vaping? 

While it might seem to most people in our current health conscious world that 

natural flavors are probably the best way to go, it greatly depends on the extraction and 

processing of those natural flavors. Artificial flavors and nature-like flavoring may be 

better to vape in the long term, especially verses questionably extracted natural flavoring. 

What do I mean by ‘questionably extracted’? I mean natural flavors extracted in ways 

other than a full chemical lab, like on a kitchen table, or a back room of a vape shop. Just 

sticking items, fruit, coffee, tea, in PG and steeping it for a time will result in many oil 

esters and sugars being present in the flavoring. Even flavoring produced in lab settings 

may have some oils in them as well. Oil is NOT recommended to vape. However, that

said, every vaper has a choice about what they are willing to and not willing to vape. If 

you choose to vape something that has an oil content that is your choice, just as it is your 

choice to vape something that contains diacetyl, acetyl propinional, or acetoin. What level 

of risk you are willing to take for the sake of flavor in your vapor is your choice. I don’t 

advise vaping high risk flavors, but on the other hand there are a few flavors I use that 

could be considered risky, because I like them. As you will see in the recipes I will make 

notations of flavors that may contain the possibly dangerous chemicals listed above. 

A note about vaping sugar: Vaping sugary substances, be it natural sugar content of a 

natural extraction or vaping a straight up sugar substance to sweeten juice, is not a good 

idea. Acetaldehyde is the natural compound that is found in alcohol, fruits, coffee, 

simple carbs and sugars. Why is this important? Acetaldehyde recommendations for max 

exposure in the workplace is 50ppm. Reactions to acetaldehyde can occur at 200ppm. It is 

an irritant to mucus membranes and skin. It also has been classified as a carcinogen. 

We are often exposed to acetaldehydes in our indoor environments from various 

pieces of furniture that may release it and other sources. It is often considered an indoor 

air pollutant. While this is not currently a component in flavoring that is being tested for, 

as right now the focus is on diketones (which is a sister compound to acetal) it will likely 

be focused on in the future. We do not want to increase our exposure to this substance by 

intentionally vaping it. However, everything in this world is a choice, and you are free to 

make the choice to vape liquids made from full fruit extractions, but I don't recommend 

it. I also don't recommend trying to do extractions at home, because of these potential 

dangers. 

Not all natural flavoring that is commercially produced will have oils or sugars in 

them. But, this is the reason I foresee artifical and nature-like flavoring molecules being a 

safer choice in the long run. Mixing these molecules to create a flavoring gives the 

flavorists control over the molecules being used, unlike what you would see in a natural 

extraction situation. As time progresses and vaping becomes a bigger market, we will see 

flavoring companies coming out with natural flavors that are safe to vape -- most likely 

with using natural molecules and nature-like molecules, as with all new markets when 

something becomes very popular and the consumers begin to demand certain things, the 

manufacturers will respond with new products that meet those needs. Currently, 

companies like Flavour Art are seeing that they have a large vaping market now using 

their products and are working towards making their flavorings vaping safe. Nature's 

Flavors also appears to be moving in this direction with their natural flavorings. The 

biggest thing you can do as a consumer of flavorings is to do your research on the

company you are buying your product from, and contact companies before you buy to 

ask questions of their flavorings. If you are purchasing repackaged DIY products from a 

vape shop, make sure you know who the actual manufacturer is and that you can trust 

that manufacturer. If a vape shop refuses to tell you who the supplier is, then it is 

probably not a good idea to purchase your DIY flavoring products from that shop. 

I always recommend going directly through the flavor house (this is what 

manufacturers of flavors are called) or if you can’t purchase directly, purchase flavorings 

from a distributor that labels as is -- an example of this would be FlavourArt or Inwera 

flavorings sold here in America by distributors as it is expensive to import these directly 

from those flavor houses. You are also going to find that a lot of flavor houses don’t sell 

directly to the public and many are not even selling to distributors yet. We will likely see 

this change as time goes on and some DIY vape shops may begin carrying flavors from 

flavor houses that we don’t have access too. This will be a good thing for us DIYers but I 

still stress finding out who the manufacturer is simply for your own peace of mind and to 

know that you are not being ripped off with poor quality flavorings from questionable 

origin for premium prices. 

Taste Is Subjective, but Good Flavoring Is Not 

We all know taste is subjective, however quality of flavoring is not always just a 

subjective opinion. When you have a lot of people all agreeing a certain flavor or flavor 

company's line tastes horrible, the likelihood that you’re going to make a good vape out 

of those flavors is very, very low. Some flavoring is simply poor quality or poorly crafted. 

That being said, some people have next to no taste buds and with such a poor palate 

you’re going to get some opinions on poor quality flavoring that may be positive. 

What I have found is that with each of the popular flavor companies you are going to 

ultimately get some wonderful flavors and then some flavors that are so bad one vapor 

puff makes you nearly gag -- yes, I’ve even vomited from some flavors! There are some 

instances though, of flavors that may seem bad at first, but with further experience in 

mixing a way may be discovered on how to mix those flavorings. 

My ranking for flavor companies based on the flavors I have tried from them are as 

follows: 

98% FlavourArt 

80% Capellas

65% One on One Flavors 

55% The Perfumer’s Apprentice (or commonly known as The Flavor Apprentice 

TPA/TFA) 

20% Fairies Finest 

20% Nature’s Flavors 

10% Vaping Zones SC Gourmet and Super Concentrates (SC Gourmet = Baker Flavor/ 

SC = Chinese flavoring unknown source) 

5% Flavor West 

5% Inawera 

The percentage represents how many flavorings out of what I have tried were what I 

consider good quality flavoring. Not necessarily what I like, as there are many flavors I 

don’t personally vape, but that others find delightful. I have plenty of flavors and recipes 

that I only vaped a 10ml of and never vaped it again, simply because the flavors are not 

ones that are my All Day Vapes (ADV.) 

I have discussed with many vapers who have average to above average palates and 

they generally agree with my conclusions above. However, folks with below average 

ability to taste/smell tend to like companies like Flavor West and TPA because they can 

not taste the chemical aftertaste and the strength of the flavors work well for them. So if 

you have trouble tasting and smelling flavoring as to what the profile is supposed to be 

then you may enjoy the lower quality flavorings just as much as the higher quality 

flavorings, often times seeing little to no difference between them, except price. 

How To Pair Flavors Together 

I had this conversation with another mixologist at a vape meet one time. We both 

laughed that our method for picking flavors that go together was same. Pick up the 

flavor bottle, sniff, pick up another flavor bottle, sniff...and then hold both together and

wave them under your nose and SNIFF. Sometimes I’d end up holding six or eight 

bottles, three or four in each hand, waving them back and forth like a lunatic trying to see 

if the scents work together, my teenagers would laugh at me when I got a new shipment 

of sample bottles in the mail as this was my typical flavor shipment day ritual. 

When I create a recipe as I am mixing flavors into the bottle I am sniffing my mix 

bottle, then sniffing other possible flavor ingredients to see how they may interact with 

the flavor I am mixing. I do have some more complicated reasons to my blends as well, 

but I will get into those theories in later books. 

Before You Mix 

To be completely honest, I skipped this step most of the time simply because I am 

sometimes impatient and often don’t need this step, at least not any more. But, for 

beginners this can be an important step in learning what you like and don’t like, before 

you ever begin to pair up different flavors. 

Start with a single flavor in whatever blend of PG/VG you want. I usually mixed a 3ml 

or 5ml bottle when doing samples. Begin with the lowest % of the chosen flavor, 

generally 0.25%-0.5% if it smells strong, 1-3 % if it smells about average, and 5-10% if it 

seems rather weak. Dripper atomizers are the easiest to test in, either a 306, 510, or a 

rebuildable. Test the flavor immediately. A good flavor is going to taste pretty good right 

away, though some may be muted in flavor. If it isn’t horrible on your first taste, continue 

vaping it for a few minutes. If it doesn’t make you gag then set the flavor aside (sharpie 

marker a number on the bottle and note down which flavor is which number on a 

notebook) and test it once a day. You will find that with most fruit flavors they will 

change a bit by day 3 and will be about fully ripe between day 7 and day 10. Tobaccos 

may be good right away, but will continue to mature for about 10 days. Dessert and most 

drink flavors take at least 10 days and up to a month (custards especially) to fully mature 

into their final stage of flavor. Candy and floral flavors mature in the least amount of 

time, often shake and vape, or mature in 3 to 5 days.

You don’t have to waste these sample bottles either, once they matured you can blend 

them together in a larger bottle, add nicotine if you vape nicotine, and vape away. You 

may notice a small change in the blended flavor over the next few days, but it is a fun way 

to try out blends in small batches. 

Also, as a way to speed up mixing, you can always blend up large batches of single 

flavors in your typical pg/vg blend to have fully steeped when you go to mix new recipes. 

You can also mix concentrate blends of your recipes (which I will provide concentrate 

blends for the recipes in this book) and allow those flavors to steep together, cutting your 

steeping time often in half or more when it comes time to mix yourself a bottle of your 

favorite juice. 

Should you invest in DIY kits or buy everything separately? 

Personally, I was never one to buy the kits. Many of the the suppliers of these kits 

mark up the pg and vg significantly for the quantity they are giving you, as well as the 

nicotine, and your flavor choices are often limited to TPA, Lorann's and Flavor West. As 

you saw above, I am not a huge fan of any of those, though if you're going to do a kit, 

look for the TPA flavors that I use in recipes and go for those flavors. If you are looking 

specifically for creams and custards, getting them in a kit is probably not the best choice. 

For creams and custard flavors I recommend trying multiple companies to find the brand 

that suits you best. My personal tastes, I did not like TPA or Flavor West for these 

products, instead I prefer Capella's, One on One Flavors, or Flavour Art. You are unlikely 

to find these companies flavors included in DIY kits. 

For questions on flavor safety and other beginner questions check out the FAQ 

chapter.

Chapter 3 

Steeping E-liquid 

This is often a topic of hot debate in the DIY mixing community. Even the phrase 

“steeping” is called into question, because technically nothing is steeped like it is with a 

cup a tea. Steeping is not actually the correct chemistry term for what is happening with 

your e-liquid, as such there can be some misconceptions as to how to proceed with this 

endeavor. 

VG is extremely viscous. PG is slightly viscous when compared to water. When mixing 

PG and VG together (along with any other flavorings --which are also likely in PG or 

alcohol) they are considered miscible substances -- meaning they will mix together, 

unlike oil and water. Mixing anything oily would be creating an emulsion. 

When you pour your mix into your bottle you will likely see that your flavorings, PG, 

and nicotine will float on the VG, no matter what order you put them into the bottle in. 

Without getting into large amounts of science as to why this happens, the easiest way to 

understand is that VG is heavier, more viscous than all other liquid you are going to put 

in your e-liquid. This is also the reason why you will always want to shake or stir your VG 

based nicotine as the nicotine can separate from the VG creating pockets of higher 

strength nicotine in the VG. Also if you keep your vg based nicotine in the fridge or 

freezer you will want to bring it to room temp before shaking it and mixing your liquids 

with it. Cold vg is even more viscous. 

What people consider “steeping” is actually the slow blending of the molecules from 

the flavoring into the VG or PG. PG only juices are going to see a significant time 

reduction for the flavor molecules to open up in the-liquid. This is because the flavor 

molecules are normally already in PG and mixing two like substances will make the 

release of the flavoring much faster. When using any level of VG it is going to be a much 

slower process unless extra steps beyond just shaking the bottle are taken. 

So what are the best ways to steep your liquid? Ultimately what you want to do with

your VG/PG based liquids is excite the VG molecules into relaxing and allowing the flavor 

molecules to open up and unpack in the more viscous VG liquid. You can do this in 

many different ways, some more effective than others. 

Heating -- You can simply warm your liquid up once it has been mixed causing the VG 

to reduce its viscosity and allow better flow. Warmth coupled with shaking of the bottle 

by hand can blend the-liquids together, though it is not the most effective method. Hot 

water baths for an entire day may shave off several days needed for flavors to mature. 

This is the easiest and cheapest method. Heat, however, can be combined with other 

methods to increase your liquid’s mixability. A crockpot with liquids in mason jars works 

well too, as you will not have to keep changing the water, however remember to check 

your water levels as water does evaporate. Another thing about using heat, add your 

nicotine after heating, especially if using the crockpot method. Long periods of time in 

heat can degrade nicotine far faster than normal, so it is best to add it once your liquid is 

back to room temp. 

Ultrasonic Vibrations -- Usually an ultrasonic jewelry cleaner is used for this purpose. 

The micro vibrations of the ultrasonic cause the VG to heat up (only slightly) and make it 

less viscous. If you shake your liquids before placing them in the ultrasonic device and 

take them out and shake them several times during the time in the ultrasonic, it will 

work to mix your flavorings into the VG. As many have found through experimentation, 

long steeping flavors like dessert flavors, after a few hours in the ultrasonic will be ready 

in only a few days to vape, as opposed to 1-2 months of sitting at room temperature with 

minimal shaking. Ultrasonic is more effective when hot water is used in addition to the 

vibrations. Warning-- glass should not be used in an ultrasonic machine as it can cause 

the glass bottle to explode. 

Electric Drill -- Some people have taken to taping bottles to an electric drill and 

spinning them in order to mix their liquids. I can not attest to the effectiveness of this 

method, though in theory it could work. I would not call this the most effective method 

of mixing though. If you were mixing large batches of liquid, a paint stir attachment for 

your electric drill, however, would be an effective method to mix your liquid. But for 

smaller than liter sized batches, this is a bit of an overkill. 

Milk Frother -- Along the same lines as the electric drill with a paint stir attachment, 

this little hand held device works for smaller batches up to about 500mls depending on 

the container that you are mixing in. It will introduce air bubbles into the mix at a much 

higher rate than a magnetic stirrer. For this reason, I recommend if you are going to use a 

milk frother add your nicotine in after you've mixed your flavors, vg/pg. Let the bubbles

settle in the mixture before adding your nicotine. This may take up to 24 hours for the 

liquid to return to clear rather than the cloudy mix you will have after using a frother. 

Once it has gone clear you can add your nicotine, give it a shake, and set it aside to 

continue the aging process. 

Magnetic Stirrer -- This technique is going to result in the vortex mixing method, 

which with viscous VG liquid is the most effective method of fully incorporating a less 

viscous liquid -- water, PG, and Flavorings. 

Lab quality magnetic stirrers start out at around $100 and go up from there. If you 

don’t want to invest that kind of money into a stirrer, then you may want to look around 

online for different DIY plans for making your own magnetic stirrer. There are different 

ways to make them, some don’t even need to be soldered to work. Usually you can build 

a stirrer for less than $20. The stir magnets are around $5 each and then you will want to 

pick up some beakers for stirring in, though mason jars work for this as well and are 

cheaper than lab beakers. Mason Jars also work well for storing larger batches of liquid 

as long as you have them as full to the top of the jar as possible. 

Last, but not least, Time. This is the cheapest and easiest method to steep your juice. 

Store juice at room temp somewhere dark after mixing. Give your bottles a shake once or 

twice a day, and wait. For many of us we are impatient and this method is the hardest for 

us as waiting for a month for that awesome flavor to be ready to vape can sometimes be 

excruciating. I have found the best way to be patient is to mix some shake and vape 

recipes, a few recipes that take 3-5 days to steep, a couple that take 14 days, and then 

larger batches that take a month or 6 weeks to be fully ready. This way I always have some 

juice ready to vape when I need it. 

If you are mixing sample juices of new recipes the time option can be horrible on you. 

Just remember though, with new recipes, time is the best way to steep, because then you 

know how long it takes for a juice to be ready when you try the new flavor once a day and 

get to know how it changes. 

Recipes Notes

I will cover my most basic recipes in this beginner book. Most recipes will have 3 to 5 

ingredients and many are even shake and vape. We will start with tobacco blends in 

chapter 4 and then cover Fruits, Candy and a simple Dessert in chapter 5. 

My go-to flavor house for tobacco flavors has always been FlavourArt of Italy. To me, 

they have the most tobacco like flavors without the horrible floral or peanut tastes that 

many of the Chinese and American flavor makers seem to have. As you will see most of 

my blends use at least one to several FlavourArt flavorings. 

As with all the recipes that I create they are not just a simple one flavor types. You 

may see in some DIY circles that people use things like saline, sweeteners, and 

FlavourArt’s MTS. I don’t use any of these things in the recipes I provide here, however, I 

will be including a possible option if you find that the recipe is lacking something that 

one of these “finishers” may possibly provide. But, given that most of my recipes have 

been tested not only by me and my testers, but also paying customers, you will likely not 

need finishers on my recipes. 

p>You will find a few "Stone" recipes in this beginner book. What the "Stone" part means 

is a reference to the Philosopher's Stone -- It was once said that this tincture or powder 

sought by alchemists could turn base metals into gold. Well the "Stone" recipes in DIY e- 

liquid crafting aren't exactly going to turn base metal into gold, but they are, in a way, 

going to be gold in your e-liquid recipe mixing repertoire. In chapter 6 I will cover how to 

blend concentrate mixes. This will be an important skill for mixing my more complex 

recipes in the next book, as some use different stone recipes in finished e-liquids. But for 

now, these stone-liquids can be used as stand-alone-liquids such as the PeachStone and 

StrawberryStone. 

Figuring amounts by percentages 

All recipes in this book are written as a percentage. If you already know how to figure 

these numbers out please skip ahead. For those of you who need a bit of help here's the 

breakdown. 

Let's use an example to help us out. You are planning to mix a 10ml bottle to sample a 

recipe. The recipe calls for 4% of one ingredient, 2% of another and 1% of another. With a 

10ml bottle this is easy to figure out 4% of 10mls is 0.4mls. On a calculator you would do 

10*4% = 0.4 or you can figure it out the long way, 4/100=0.04 0.04*10=0.4 mls. It's pretty

easy with 10 mls so what about a different amount? Say you want to mix up 60 mls, you 

would do pretty much the same math, either 60*4% = 2.4mls or 0.04*60= 2.4mls. And 

there you have it. If you don't happen to have a juice calculator app on your smartphone 

or a computer near by, but have a calculator or a piece of paper and a pen you can do the 

math and figure out how much to add. Of course this procedure doesn't necessarily work 

the same if you are measuring by weight. That is a whole other ball game and requires 

that you know the specific density weight of each flavor. The calculators on e-juice me up, 

and e-liquid-recipes.com both now function in weights -- and e-liquid-recipes site had 

weights for many of the popular flavors. I will be covering using weight measurments in 

the next book, as it is more of an advanced method for experienced DIYers.

Chapter 4 

Tobacco Recipes 

Flavorings to purchase for these recipes: 

FlavourArt Brands(FA) 

Maxx Blend 

Tuscan Reserve 

Shade 

Black Fire 

7 Leaves 

Royal 

Latakia 

Burley 

Desert Ship 

Ultimate CamT blend 

Cuban Cigar Supreme 

Oakwood 

Oba Oba 

One on One Flavors 

Bavarian Cream** 

Bakto Extracts 

Real Vanilla extract PG based (alcohol free)

Red Rump -- 

A Marlboro Red Pack type of flavor, smooth creamy and rich with that punch of tobacco. If 

you are looking for a Marlboro light type of flavor, add in the optional flavoring of toasted 

marshmallow -- increase the tuscan reserve by 1% and decrease the Maxx Blend by 1%. 

Maxx Blend---4 % 

Tuscan Reserve --1.5% 

Oba Oba -- 1% 

Bavarian Cream --1% 

Vanilla -- 1.5% 

Optional addition TPA Toasted Marshmallow 1% 

The Missionary Position -- 

Plan tobacco flavor -- oba oba adds a smoothness rather than any real flavor. 

Maxx Blend ---4% 

7Leaves -- 2.5% 

Black Fire -- 5% 

Oakwood -- 0.5% 

oba oba --1% 

Ride’er Cowboy -- 

More robust tobacco blend, dry and smoky with a light hint of nuttyness from the Tuscan 

Reserve blend. 

Burley -- 2.5%

Desert Ship -- 3% 


Tuscan Reserve -- 1% 

Reverse Cowgirl-- 

The Latakia flavoring can sometimes have what some people consider a grassy kind of flavor 

to it. Not all will pick up on this note in the flavor, when blended with the other flavors it offers 

an earthy kind of note. It is not a flavor that everyone likes, so please keep this in mind when 

experimenting with Latakia flavor, if the flavor is not suitable it can be removed from this juice 

and substituted with FA Virginia Flue Cured at the same %. This flavor tastes best with at least 

2 weeks steeping time. 

Latakia -- 3% 

Royal -- 4% 

7 leaves -- 4% 


Shade --1% 

oba oba -- 1% 

Deep and Smoky -- 

Nice rich cigar flavor, but very enjoyable for those who like rich smoky flavors. 

Cuban Cigar -- 6% 


Shade -- 2% 

Royal -- 1.5%

Oakwood 1% 

Camel Ride -- 

One of my personal favorites, I love ultimate camT blend. Simple recipe, works well as a 

shake and vape but does build a little bit more character as it ages. Spicy and smoky with a hint 

of dryness from the Desert Ship flavor. 

Ultimate CamT blend 6% 

Black Fire 8% 

Desert Ship 3% 

Oakwood 1% 

**May Contain Acetyl Propionyl and/or Acetoin

Chapter 5 

Fruits Candies and Desserts 

Flavorings to purchase for these recipes: 

FlavourArt Brands(FA) 

Strawberry 

Forest Fruit 

Oba Oba 

Watermelon 

Peach 

Black Tea 

The Perfumer’s Apprentice (TPA) 

Bubble Gum 

Coconut (original not double)* 

Wild Blueberry 

Ripe Banana 

Peppermint 

Koolada 

Dulce de Leche** 

Toasted Marshmallow** 

Juicy Peach 

One on One Flavors (OoO)

Watermelon 

Blackberry 

Cherry 

Peach (Ripe)* 

Bavarian Cream* 

Capellas 

Vanilla Custard V1*** 

Cinnamon Danish Swirl V1*** 

Vanilla Cupcake V1*** 

NY Cheesecake*** 

Bakto 

Dark Chocolate VG 

Vanilla (PG alcohol Free) 

Vaping Zone (VZ) 

Gourmet Super Concentrate -- Strawberries*** 

Flavor West (FW) 

Cinnamon

Red Hearts On A Vine (StrawberryStone)-- 

This flavoring can also be considered what some are calling a “Stone” flavor (creatively after 

the philosopher's stone) this is very much a StrawberryStone flavor. Pure, ripe, juicy 

strawberries is all you will get from this flavor blend. In book two this flavor and others will be 

covered and converted into Concentrate Flavors to be used with other recipes. Shake and Vape 

flavor. 

(VZ) Strawberries--2% 

(FA) Strawberry-- 7% 

Forest Fruit---4% 

Oba Oba--2% 

PeachStone -- 

This is a full on peach flavor and is the peachstone base that I use in other recipes. In order to 

get that full juicy real peach flavor it is needed to blend different companies peach flavorings 

together. This is a Shake and Vape flavor, though the peach will ripen to full flavor after 4 days. 

(TPA)Juicy Peach -- 4% 

(FA)Peach -- 3% 

(OoO)Peach (ripe) 1% 

Oba Oba -- 1% 

Blue Balls -- 

This seemingly simple recipe is delightfully good. A Shake and Vape recipe -- but flavor does 

mature after 5 days.

Bubble Gum – 3% 

Coconut – 2% 

Wild Blueberry -- 5% 

(For Crushed Blue Balls add 0.4% Koolada) 

Slippery Love Bubbles-- 

Same concept as Blue Balls -- the coconut enhances the bubblegum flavor in this recipe. Oba 

Oba is added to smooth out the ripe banana. An interesting juicy bubblegum flavor. Shake and 

Vape -- ripens after 5 days. 

Ripe Banana - 3% 

Coconut - 1% 

Bubblegum - 5% 

Oba Oba - 1% 

Bubbly Melon-- 

This flavor was invented to replicate watermelon bubbleyum brand gum. It was a favorite 

gum of mine as a kid and I thought it would be great to vape. Shake and Vape recipe -- it is the 

same as the others, 5 days for full flavor effect. 

Bubblegum --.6% 

(OoO) Watermelon --1% 

(FA) Watermelon -- 1.5% 

Brain Candy --

When I was testing out flavorings I purchased from One on One I found that their blackberry 

and cherry flavors when combined tasted very much like a cross between Sweettarts and 

Smarties. So I blended them and to cut the slight chalky kind of note that was in them I added 

Oba Oba and added a bit of Forest Fruit to even out the fruity blend and give it a hint of 

juiciness. Shake and Vape Flavor. Steeping changes the flavor only slightly. 

(OoO) Blackberry --4% 

(OoO) Cherry --- 2% 

Oba Oba -- 1% 

Forest Fruit-- 0.5% 

Mint Chocolate Chip -- 

I was on a search for a good mint chocolate chip and while I’ve made several other variations 

on this recipe with different flavorings, this is still a good blend for me. The Vanilla Custard is 

added to smooth and sweeten the dark chocolate and the peppermint makes this flavor taste 

almost exactly like those patty candies. The Koolada amount can also be adjusted to taste, from 

just a few drops up to about 2%. It can be shake and vape, but most have found 14 days of 

steeping -- with no advanced steeping methods -- before it is ready to vape. 

(BK) Dark Chocolate -- 5% 

Peppermint -- 3% 

Vanilla Custard -- 9% 

Koolada -- 1% 

A note about Mint Chocolate Chip-- You can substitute Vanilla Custard with TPA 

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream at 7% and to really make the ice cream flavor come through, you 

can add 2% OoO Vanilla Ice Cream flavor. -- Also if you don't want to use VG based 

natural chocolate flavor, I would substitute this chocolate with 4% TPA double Chocolate 

clear and 2% FA chocolate. These are alternative recipes I've mixed and they work quite 

well for many people.

Sin A Stick Danish -- 

This flavor has a few more ingredients than many of the beginner recipes here, but it is not an 

overly complicated recipe. This is my Danish/Cinnamon Roll-stone recipe. I use it as a base in a 

later recipe called Berried Danish Swirl. If you want more of a cinnamon roll flavor, add OoO 

Vanilla Frosting at 2% to give it that icing flavor. Requires at least 14 days to ripen the flavor if 

no advanced steeping methods are used. 

Cinnamon Danish Swirl -- 6% 

(BK) Vanilla --2% 

(FW) Cinnamon -- 0.25% 

Dulce De Leche -- 3% 

Toasted Marhsmallow -- 0.5% 

Vanilla Cupcake -- 1% 

Cheesecake Stone -- 

This is the cheesecake base flavor recipe. This is a concentrate flavor recipe, like the ones 

covered in the next chapter. This is used as the basis for all my cheesecake recipes. You can use 

this in combination with StrawberryStone or PeachStone to make a flavored cheesecake. Or use 

this concentrate blend starting at 10% in any combination of flavors that you would like. It will 

be a recipe used in the next book in more complicated recipes. Continue on to Chapter 6 to read 

more about concentrated flavor mixes. 

New York Cheesecake -- 50% 


(OoO) Bavarian Cream -- 18% 

Oba Oba -- 5%

* Contains Acetoin 

**Contains Acetyl Propionyl and/or Acetoin 

***Contains Traces of Diacetyl - Acetyl Propionyl - and/or Acetoin.

Chapter 6 

Building Flavor Concentrates 

How to get started 

Let's take a recipe that we have gone over in the previous chapter: Blue Balls. The 

recipe for Blue Balls looks like this per bottle: 




So now we have to do some simple math to expand this recipe into a flavor 

concentrate bottle. This is a very simple recipe to start with, the more ingredients the 

more complex the math is to figure out how to adjust your portions. 

We can see that Wild Blueberry takes up half of our recipe. So in a concentrate it will 

take up half of our blend. Coconut is 20% of our recipe, as such it will take up 20% of our 

blend. Bubble Gum is 30%, giving us a total of 100%. Once mixed into a concentrate we 

would then use 10% of this premixed concentrate batch in our finished e-liquid bottles. 

Your concentrate recipe will look like this: 




Let's try a recipe with 6 flavors instead. Sin A Stick Danish is a good mix to blend up 

as a concentrate. In the next book we will be using this as a flavor base for Berried

Danish. 



(FW) Cinnamon -- 0.25% 

Dulce De Leche -- 3% 

Toasted Marhsmallow -- 0.5% 

Vanilla Cupcake -- 1% 

The concentrate measurements will look like this (numbers have been rounded up 

and down for simplicity:) 


(BK) Vanilla --15.7% 

(FW) Cinnamon -- 2% 

Dulce De Leche -- 23.5% 

Toasted Marhsmallow -- 4% 

Vanilla Cupcake -- 7.8% 

So, how do we end up with a concentrate blend percentage? Just a little bit of math. 

Knowing the math behind doing these calculations helps when you don't have the 

internet handy, and only have a calculator on hand, or worse yet, just a pen and paper 

(yep doing division old school.) 

The formula for figuring this out goes like this: The total percentage of our original 

recipe was 12.75%. Let's turn that into a decimal figure rather than percentage, so you 

move the decimal over two places, 0.1275. We will be dividing each of the percentages by 

this number. 

Cinnamon Danish Swirl -- 6.0/0.1275 = 47.05 

Vanilla -- 2.0/0.1275 = 15.68

Cinnamon -- 0.25/0.1275 = 1.96 

Dulce De Leche -- 3.0/0.1275 = 23.52 

Toasted Marshmallow -- 0.5/0.1275 = 3.92 

Vanilla Cupcake -- 1.0/0.1275 = 7.84 

As you can see the math above does not equal 100%, this is because I left off the many 

digits past the decimal place that simply make it far more work than necessary. Simply 

round up a few of the flavors that are closest to the whole number, as I did with the 

cinnamon and toasted marshmallow, as well as rounding up to a whole 15.7 on the vanilla 

and rounded down to the whole number 47% for the Cinnamon Danish. I have never 

noticed that this slight variation causes any change to the finish product. If you want to 

be extremely accurate and are using weight measurements, then by all means use the 

exact numbers you get when you do your division. Exact measurments can also be 

important when you are working with nuance flavors, ones that you are adding only a 

single drop to a finished bottle in order to bring out another flavor. 

But I don't want to do this much math! 

I understand this completely. You can use a website (for as long as it is around) called 

e-liquid-recipes.com Their calculator will do pretty much the same thing I did above in 

about half the time. You sign up for an account, plug in all the numbers for your recipe 

(they even do weight measurements for the final calculations) and then save your recipe. 

Once saved the site brings you to a new page showing you your now finished recipe. 

There is a blue button with a wrench at the top of your recipe on the right hand side. 

When clicked on it will give you the option to make a flavor base recipe. It will be mostly 

accurate, though when I plugged the Sin A Stick Danish in I found that it only equaled 

99.7%, so it's not totally accurate. 

What are the different uses for flavor base concentrates? 

Mixing up your recipes as flavor concentrates has many advantages. It cuts mixing 

time drastically especially when you have blends that have many different flavors. It 

helps to blend the flavors together -- over time it will pre-steep flavorings to some extent. 

While flavors will require some time to steep once mixed with pg/vg the time needed will 

be reduced when compared to mixing all components fresh into a finished bottle. Lastly,

you can use premixed bases in other recipes. As I shared the PeachStone, 

StrawberryStone, and CheesecakeStone recipes in this book, I also have a CustardStone 

that will be in the next book. I use these premixed flavor bases in finished recipes like 

Blood Moon (strawberry custard) and Strawberry Cheesecake. I also use the Sin A Stick 

Danish base along with the CheesecakeStone and other berry flavors in Berried Danish. 

Using the flavor base method allows you to mix even more complex recipes in much less 

time.

F.A.Q 

Q. I've shaken my juice and it is now cloudy. What's wrong with 

it? 

A. Sometimes certain flavors when mixed together can cause a juice to go 

cloudy. Normally, it will settle down after a few days of sitting. If more than one 

of your flavor mixes is cloudy, it is a good idea to look at if your PG/VG/Nic is 

possibly contaminated or possibly if any of your flavorings have oils in the base. 

Some citrus and spice flavors can be oily, like anise. Just double check that you 

are using a company that lists if its flavors have oils or if they are artificial or 

natural flavoring components. 

Q. Do any of these flavorings contain Diacetyl, Acetyl Propionyl, 

or Acetoin? 

A. Yes and No. As far as I know, Flavour Art has done it's best to reduce the 

amount of Acetyl Propionyl (2,3-pentanedione) and Acetoin in their liquids and 

for the most part, they have reduced or completely cut out Diacetyl. Capellas 

has been doing a lot of work to change their formulas, but the version 1's of 

their flavors may contain trace amounts of Diacetyl and definitely contain 

Acetyl Propionyl and/or Acetoin. Supposedly their version 2's have no Diacetyl 

and may or may not contain trace amounts of Acetyl Propionyl/Acetoin. TPA 

does list on their website what contains or may contain these three flavor 

components. One on One Flavors also lists flavors as not having Diacetyl or 

Acetyl Propionyl however it is likely that some of the creamy notes may contain 

Acetoin. 

Q. So does that mean flavors with cream notes or flavors with 

Diacetyl, Acetyl Propionyl, and Acetoin in them are dangerous? 

A. Depends on what your definition of dangerous would be. As far as being

"safe" I would say no, of course it's not as safe as not using it at all. For the most 

part we're going to find that the best tasting creamy note flavors are going to 

contain at some level, one or all of these chemical notes. If you love bakery 

dessert flavors that have buttery, bready, creamy notes it's going to have some 

level of these flavor compounds. There are some companies that are claiming 

they've removed all of these flavor components, but they are replacing it with 

butyric acid. Is butyric acid safer? No one knows. On top of whether or not it's 

safe, it is also the main chemical that is responsible for the scent of human 

vomit! It is the rancid smell when butter goes bad. Yes, burtyric acid is a buttery 

flavor, it greatly depends on the parts per million of this chemical as to what 

your palate will pick up. So if you mix flavorings with butyric acid in them, be 

aware that too much flavoring will result in your liquid having that rancid, sour 

note. These flavorings you are going to want to start out on the low end of 

percentages and work your way up until you find the point you like it before it 

gets to the rancid note stage for your palate. 

Should you vape flavorings that have any of these compounds? It is up to 

you. You are mixing your own liquid and if you aren't concerned about it then by 

all means vape away. If it is something that concerns you, purchase versions of 

these flavorings that use butyric acid and attempt to blend with it. It may not 

end up as you want or like, but it could possibly be safer, but there are no 

assurances that it is, or that it's not in the end worse. The easiest way to avoid 

these flavorings components is to not vape the types of flavors that contain 

them (mostly dessert, creams, custards, and to a much lesser extent some fruits 

like strawberry.) 

There is evidence in different workplace settings where Diacetyl exposure 

has led to Bronchial Oblitoritus and there is the possibility that diacetyl 

exposure is partly to blame for cigarette smoker's incidences of COPD or other 

lung disfunctions that could be undiagnosed BO. 

Q. My e-liquid has no flavor or tastes burnt. What have I done 

wrong? 

A. If you mix a liquid and find that it has no flavor or has a burnt flavor there 

can be several separate things that could be wrong. You will have to go through 

the process of elimination to find out what the problem is.

Device and atomizer that you are using 

Flavoring ratio not right for your taste/smell senses 

Vaper's tongue (or more accurately sensory fatigue) 

The first thing to check is your device. If you are using something like an ego 

style pen battery or cig-a-like battery (Joye 510T) you may want to consider 

upgrading to the next generation devices, as the drugstore types of devices are 

poor delivery systems for tasty liquid. You will want to aim for wattage/voltage 

control device at least, or even temperature control. The next thing to look at is 

the atomizer type that you are using. Back in the day when I first started vaping 

a 510 dripping atomizer and 306 atomizers were the big thing to test juices on. 

While they still are adequate for testing juice (I prefered 1.5 ohm styles) there 

are better and more cost effective ways to test your juice. If you are using 

disposable CE5 atomizers, like the ones available at gas stations, you will 

definitely want to consider upgrading, because these are some of the worst 

tasting atomizers for sale -- which is why they are rather cheap per unit. 

The second possiblity, the flavor ratio is not right for you. I designed my 

recipes with the average taste buds in mind. I personally mix most of these 

recipes at a lower ratio for myself as I have very sensitive taste buds, and I have 

had to mix these recipes at nearly double for some vapers who had very poor 

tasting/smelling ability. There may even be some flavors you can't taste at all no 

matter what ratio you vape them at. If you already know that you have trouble 

smelling or tasting, then you can adjust the recipes anywhere from 0.25% up to 

5% extra, but start out at the lowest possible amount of increase, especially on 

ingredients that are used at low percentages. If you have an ingredient that is 

the highest percent in the recipe, say 10% or more, you can easily add an extra 

5% of that flavoring and not cause the recipe to be changed. 

If you are more like I am with an extremely sensitive sense of smell and 

taste, you can cut some of the recipes in half in order to reduce an overly strong 

recipe. For myself, some recipes are just right as they are, but some flavors are 

too strong for me. In the case that you can't taste a specific flavor no matter 

what ratio you mix at, you may have an inability to taste that flavor. This is the 

case for some people who have damaged their smell receptors by inhaling harsh 

chemicals and for long term heavy smokers (20+ years,) and for some folks on 

certain medications. Medications that can cause dry mouth or nasal issues can 

affect sense of smell and taste, so this is something to be aware of. Some people

don't realize they lack in their sense of smell and taste, but if you find that you 

often have to add extra salt, or only enjoy extremely strong flavored foods and 

food without strong flavors seem extremely bland to you, you may have 

impaired sense of smell and taste. For people lacking in their sense of smell and 

taste, you will primarily miss a lot of undertones, mid and high notes in your 

juice, tasting primarily the strongest flavors and all others are lost on your 

palate. You may find yourself drawn to more single flavor juices that tend to be 

strong and sweet. If this is the case, single or a couple juice blend with either 

sweetener (sucrolose/stevia) or EM (ethyl maltol) will probably be the best 

choice for your flavor palate. Using the best tasting flavors will help you with 

this condition. 

Third possibility is something that most vapers will experience at some 

point, Vaper's Tongue. This is actually a condition called sensory fatigue. When 

you come in contact with the same scent/flavor over and over again eventually 

your brain will shut off the perception of this scent or flavor. This is how people 

can work in highly odorous conditions (like a farm, or a perfume counter.) After 

a while you will completely stop perceiving that odor at least until you are away 

from it for an amount of time in clean fresh air. You may have noticed this when 

you stopped smoking. While you were a smoker you couldn't smell the cigarette 

on your clothes or hair, but now that you are no longer around it, you smell it 

immediately when exposed to second hand smoke or people who have smoked 

recently. 

When you vape the same flavor or flavors over and over, day in and day out, 

you will eventually get desensitized to these flavorings and you will need to 

change them dramatically for a time in order to be able to taste them again. 

From personal experience, even as sensitive as my palate is, I have had some 

extreme instances of vaper's tongue over the years. I vape a lot of tobacco flavors 

on a daily basis. After a few months I won't be able to taste any tobacco flavor. I 

have to switch up with fruit flavors and in extreme instances I had to use anise 

based flavors to reset my flavor palate. In the next book I will provide a recipe 

for Green Eyed Daemon, this is the flavor I use to reset my palate. 

Q.My Juice is HARSH and has too much throat hit. What did I do 

wrong? 

A.A few things could be wrong. It could be that there is too much flavoring

in the juice for you. Scale back on the percentages used and try again. With my 

recipes in this book, most of the flavors have been used by a wide range of 

vapers and to my knowledge none of the flavors should end up harsh, but if they 

are, reduce the % and give it a try. 

Another possible problem could be that either the mg strength of nicotine is 

too high, or nicotine that has gone off, or just the quality of the nicotine you 

have. Not all nicotine is created equal. This is why I suggest investing in a 

titration kit with you mixing set up, so that you can test the level of your 

nicotine to be assured that it is at the mg strength out of the bottle that you 

expect (like 100 mg should be between 98mg and 101mg when doing a titration 

test.) The titration test does have a plus or minus error rate of 2-3 mg, just by the 

nature of how you use the test. If you nicotine is accurate, then it could be that 

you are vaping too high a mg level for the equipment that you have. If you are 

using a sub ohm dripper or tank (0.3 ohm to 0.9 ohm) you may want to consider 

dropping your nicotine levels down to 6mg or 3 mg, or even 1.5mg. If you are 

using a variable wattage/voltage device you will also want to play with the level 

of watts/volts that you are using. Turning the wattage down on your device can 

lessen harshness, but can also cause a loss of flavor. Changing wattage/voltage 

can also change the flavor of some juices. I have a couple of juices that change 

flavor profile just by vaping at a different temperature. 

Q. Can I substitute other company's flavorings or similar 

flavorings I may have on hand in some of the recipes provided 

here? 

A. You can. But will the recipe turn out the same as what I mixed? Probably 

not. There are some instances where substituting one flavor may change the 

entire flavor profile and may end up in a juice that is less than stellar. Take for 

instance substituting any of the strawberry flavors in StrawberryStone, it will 

not be the same no matter what other strawberries you put in there. I have 

tested nearly every strawberry flavor available at this time and the ones I have 

listed are the ones that make a true strawberry flavor, not candyish, not slightly 

chalky, not funky, but true strawberry flavor. But on the other hand, if you 

wanted to substitute something like a caramel flavor, you really love TPA or CAP 

caramel and that's what you have on hand, yes you could reasonably substitute a 

One on One caramel or FA caramel and it might not ruin the integrity of the

ecipe, though you may need to adjust percentages adding more CAP or less 

TPA. 

I spent a fair bit of time over the last 4 years testing flavorings from different 

companies and developing these recipes around the flavorings that I deemed to 

be close to what they are supposed to be. While taste is a subjective point of 

view, when you have a larger group (100 people let's say) all agreeing that an e- 

liquid tastes like what it is described to be, then there is a greater chance that 

each individual's subjective opinion is close to an objective reality of experience. 

I understand it may not be convenient if you don't have some of these 

specific flavors on hand and you want to try a recipe. You can substitute other 

companies and adjust the percentages, but believe me, if you try these exact 

recipes with these exact flavors you will see a difference in quality of the end 

juice.

Shopping Links 

Full Service Sites-- DIY Supplies/Flavors/ Vaping Equipment 

Ecigexpress Carries the largest selection of different flavoring brands. Also diy supplies, 

nicotine,and some vaping equipment. 

Mt Baker Vapor Carries DIY supplies and their own branded flavoring. 

MyFreedomSmokes.comCarries DIY kits, supplies, TPA, FA, Lorann's, CAP, FW and their 

own brand label flavoring, and vaping equipment. 

Vaping Zone Carries Super Concentrates (China,) and Baker Flavors (Russia) -- and their 

DIY Concentrates appear to be TFA. They also carry other DIY supplies as well as vaping 

gear. 

Mom and Pop Vapor Shop Carries their own branded DIY flavoring blends, as well as 

DIY supplies, and vaping equipment. 

Freedom Smoke USA Carries Flavour Art flavorings, DIY Supplies, and vaping gear. One 

of the higher priced vendors for FA flavorings, and they carry some of the flavorings not 

recommended by FA for vaping, like cheese flavors. 

High Desert Vapes Carries FW, INW, TFA, CAP, and DIY supplies and other vaping 

equipment.

E-Liquid Mart Carries FA and CAP flavors, and DIY Supplies. 

DIY Vapor Supply Carries FA, TFA(TDA on their site,) CAP, FW, LA, and One on One 

flavors, as well as DIY Supplies. They also have a small selection of vaping gear. 

NicVape Carries a selection of their own branded flavorings E-Flavors -- make claims that 

they are "made for inhalation",but I can not verify this claim beyond what they show on 

their website. They do have a video showing their facility, owners are founding members 

of AMSA. 

Mad Vapes Carries a small selection of flavorings, nicotine, and has DIY supplies like 

bottles and syringes. Carries a large selection of vaping gear. 

Totally Wicked US site sells UK flavoring. As far as I understand their Gold Standard 

flavoring originates from Decadent Vapours in the UK. I am unsure where their other 

flavoring is manufactured, but I do believe it is also UK sourced. Also carries DIY 

supplies and other vaping gear. 

EliquidPlanetCarries a few CAP and "Essense" (likely Chinese)Website is a little difficult 

to navigate. 

eSmokeClubCarries some Lorann, Cap, TFA, and very few FA flavorings and other 

products. 

Vapure Carries TFA, CAP, Brickford, FW, DIY Supplies, and an older selection of vaping

gear. 

Perfect Vape Carries TFA, FW, CAP, DIY supplies and other vaping gear. A little higher 

priced for flavors and supplies for others, but has larger sizes. 

Kidney Puncher Carries TPA, FA, FW, and CAP. Also carries Nicotine and DIY starter 

kits, as well as mods, attys, and other supplies. 

E-juice E-CigCarries TFA, Super Concentrate (china) and a few of their own name 

branded flavors, Nicotine, PG/VG, and some DIY supplies as well as some vaping gear. 

DIY E-Liquid Supplies Carries Nicselect nicotine, CAP, FW, LA, and TFA flavors, and DIY 

supplies. 

DIY Flavor ShackHas a large selection of flavorings -- however does not say the origins of 

these flavors. Carries nicotine, DIY starter kits, and other DIY supplies. 

International Sites 

Vapable UK site -- Carries FA, TFA, CAP, T-Juice, FW, and their own branded flavors. 

Nicotine, and other DIY supplies. Carries other vaping gear as well. 

Chefs Vapour UK Site that carries almost the full range of flavoring from USA, UK, and 

Europe, including their own branded flavoring. Also carries DIY supplies and other 

vaping items.

Cloud9Vaping UK Site -- Carries HS, DKS (Italian flavoring), and their own branded 

flavoring. Large selection of diy supplies and other vaping gear. 

Leisure Liquids UK Site-- Carries wide range of flavorings, CAP, TPA,NF,FW, Seedman's, 

Tasty Puff, Pink Spot, Mom and Pop vapor shop, Vapire Vapor, and T-Juice. Also carries 

DIY Supplies and vaping gear. 

The Alchemist Cupboard UK Site-- Carries CAP, their own branded flavoring, Nicotine, 

and DIY supplies, including starter kits. 

Liberty Flights UK website, will ship internationally. Carries TFA, CAP, FA, and DV. Also 

carries other DIY supplies, as well as vaping gear. 

Everything Liquid UK site-- Carries CAP, TPA and their own brand of flavors. Large 

selection of DIY supplies and carries DIY kits. 

In Taste German website, carries large range of both American and European flavorings 

as well as supplies and vaping gear. 

Twisted Vaping German Site-- Carries Twisted (their own brand) of flavoring, as well as 

John Smith's Tobacco brand flavoring. Carries DIY supplies and some vaping gear. 

Happy Vaper Canadian website. Carries CAP, FA, TFA, and LA. DIY Supplies, and other 

vaping gear.

Cloud House Vapor French site catering to EU and UK. Carries MBV flavors (which are 

also FW) and SNG flavors (I don't personally know who that is.) Also carries DIY 

supplies and vaping gear. 

Juice Whore Australian site. You can find concentrates from CAP, FA, and TFA, as well as 

all their e-liquid line comes as regular strength without Nic, as well as doublers and 

triplers, so you can mix your own nicotine into them. Also carries vaping gear and other 

DIY supplies. 

Eciglife Australian site. Carries a small selection of Flavor concentrates as well as DIY 

supplies. Carries vaping gear. 

Vape King Australian site. Carries i-concentrates and T-Juice flavors. As well as single, 

doubler, and tripler e-liquid. DIY supplies, and vaping gear. 

Flavor Only Sources--Or Flavor and DIY Supplies 

Flavorah I have not yet tried this company's flavorings, however I am very interested in 

doing so. Watch for updates on the blog for reviews of their flavors. 

The Perfumer's Apprentice Direct order from The Perfumer's Apprentice all of their 

flavorings, if you sign up for a bulk account you can have access to the large size bottles 

of their flavorings, up to 5 gallons. 

Nature's Flavors Vaping Flavor siteThese are the flavors they consider for vaping that are 

without diacetyl. However, they may still contain acetyl propionyl and acetoin. These are 

highly concentrated flavors and should be used starting at extremely low levels, like just 

a few drops, increasing slowly until you find a level you can taste.

One Stop DIY Shop Has just about everything you need to get started. DIY kits, mixing 

supplies, nicotine, pg/vg, and flavors from FA, TPA, FW, Seedmans, Health Cabin, and 

their own branded flavorings and flavor blends (blends intended to make mixing easier 

for beginning mixers.) Use Discount code DIY for 11% off everything (with except to 

special deals, clearance, artisan kits, and wholesale.) 

Liquid Barn Carries their own brand of flavors, NicSelect nicotine and USA extracted 

Nicotine (which I highly recommend trying,) and other DIY supplies. 

Nude Nicotine Carries Nicotine, PG/VG, and their own branded flavorings. 

Heartland Vapes Carries TPA, FA,CAP, FW, Lorann's and their own brand of flavoring: 

Nicotine, PG, VG, Bottles, and other DIY supplies. They also have kits available. Their 

nicotine is clean and not usually harsh. 

Wizard Labs Carries kits, Nicotine, PG/VG, Nicotine Test kits, TPA, CAP, Lorann's, 

Seedman's, and their own branded flavorings. 

Bull City Vapor Carries FW, INW, FA, CAP, TFA, Hangsen, Super Concentrated Flavors 

(China) and Mama J's flavors. Also carry DIY supplies -- but do not carry Nicotine. 

One on One Flavors Has steadily been increasing their flavoring range over the last 

couple years. I have used a small selection of flavors from them and found them to be 

quite good. They are now supplying many vendors with flavoring for juices as well as 

rebranding for concentrate sales. 

Azure Vaping Formerly known as Blue Mist vaping, carries their own branded flavoring 

(unknown source) 

Flavor Concentrates A candy flavoring company that is now catering to the vaping 

community.

Suttons Bay Trading Carries their own brand of artificial flavoring. Their flavors are pg 

and alcohol based. 

Vapor Flavors I am unsure of the origins of their liquid. Not very concentrated flavoring, 

10% - 20% mix suggstion. 

Real Extracts Does a 3x strength NET blends. Costly at $30 a 30ml, but if you are looking 

for NET's and true tobacco taste these would work well. Also carries naturally extacted 

Tea flavors. 

Spices ECT Carries a selection of flavor concentrate extracts that are all natural 

flavorings. 

Cat House Vapor Carries FA, FW, LA, INW, and CAP, and DIY supplies. A little pricier 

than some other sites. 

My Vape Juice Carries DIY eliquid, but does not indicate manufacturer of flavoring. 

Flavoring seems less concentrated suggestions of 25% flavoring for stand alones, and 

relatively high costs at $9.99 for 17mls. Does appear to have a large selection of NET 

tobacco -- unknown extraction source. 

Vapor Renew Carries their own brand and FW flavoring and DIY supplies. 

Medicine Flower Extracts The direct site to purchase the medicine flower extracts. They 

are expensive. It is also unknown their safety for vaping.

Flavor West This is their direct site. It appears to only have 4oz bottles or larger on their 

site. There are some flavors on their site that I have not seen on reseller's sites. They do 

also have data sheets available about the diacetyl, acetoin, and acetyl propionyl on the 

left hand side of the page. It appears many of their flavors contain acetoin, which can 

turn into diacetyl when heated, something to be aware of. 

Tasty Puff Carries their own brand of flavoring. Commonly was used to flavor tobacco 

and other herbal smokes. 

Vapers Tek Carries INW, German Flavors, Molin Berry, Nicotine, PG/VG and replacement 

coils for common tanks. 

International sites 

T-Juice UK company and UK site. Their own produced flavoring. Seems to have good 

reviews from DIYers online. 

Atmos Labs Greek company- Creates their own concentrates similar to Flavour Art. 

Newer company. If you're in the US you will have a wait similar to ordering directly from 

Flavour Art. European and UK will have faster shipping time. 

Flavour Fog Canadian Site, sells FA, FW, TFA, CAP, FF, DSV Elite, LA and DIY Supplies. 

DIY E-Juice Canandian site, carries CAP, INW, TFA, FW, FA, LA, Hangsen, Super 

Concentrates(China,) Baker's Gourmet Super Concentrates (Russia-same as VZ,) Molin 

Berry (Poland,) and DIY Supplies.

Molin ShopPolish site, ships internationally. Carries their flavors and DIY supplies. 

Inwera Flavors The direct site for Inwera flavors. Ships internationally. 

Baker Flavors Russia This is a blog site and the company accepts orders in email and 

payment through western union or wire transfer. They will ship world wide. Depending 

on your location expect it to take up to 2 months in shipping, and be wary that sometimes 

US Customs may confiscate your package and there is no way to track it. 

Candy House Company in Denmark -- carries flavoring, but does not have much else for 

supplies. Only takes orders within Europe on website, all other orders must be through 

email. Will ship internationally. 

Flavour Art UK Carries Flavour Art flavoring for UK purchases. 

Decadent Vapours UK Site-- Direct source for Decadent Vapours flavouring. They also 

carry Nicotine, pg/vg, kits and diy supplies. 

Mix N Match E-liquids Cyprus Site-- Carries CAP, FW, and TPA, as well as Nicotine and 

DIY supplies. For UK residents this site carries 72mg nicotine. Ships internationally. 

Hydra Vape Cananda site -- Carries TFA and LA flavors and PG/VG/Nic. Email for 

ordering.

PG/VG Sources 

Essential Depot Carries PG and VG -- frequently runs specials that make it the lowest 

priced place to shop for VG. The VG from Essentials clean and smooth. 

Bulk Herb Store Non-certified Organic Palm extracted VG -- comparable in price with 

other VGs, but non soy based (as many are soy based.) 

Bulk Apothecary Carries PG and VG at competitive pricing. Very Clean product, I've used 

it for 4 years now. 

Mountain Rose Herbs 

Essensital WholesaleThough it is not listed, my guess would be that their VG is also Soy 

based, as that seems to be the most common. It is certified organic and kosher. PG is also 

available on their website. 

New Directions Aromatics Carries certified organic soy based VG -- also says non-GMO 

and allergen free-- A little more expensive than other VGs, but they do make all their info 

available on their webpage. 

Mods and Atomizers only 

3FVape 

Vapor Hub International, Inc.

GearBest 

FastTech

DIY E-Liquid Mixology

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