As my long term readers and followers know, I have been Vaping now since October 2013, and been working may way on my Vaping journey, there have been a couple of distinctive landmarks along the way, switching over to box box mods, from cig-a-like. Building my first Coils.
Over the last few weeks, with the looming TPD legislations and the growing frustrations behind the restriction on bottle size, I have been looking into and researching my next land mark, 'mixing my own Ejuice,' and when you start researching DIY Ejuice and Mixing, you can't help but end up at the Alchemist Cupboard, one of the UK leading stockists of DIY
About Alchemist Cupboard.
Established in September of 2012 by a father and son, they began with e-liquids, after rapid growth in 2013 they invested in a lab & clean room, Around the same time they started to supply DIY bits! Since then Alchemist Cupboard as established itself as one of the UK's leading DIY Ejuice retailers, stocking originally blended Ejuices, concentrates, DIY Mixing kits & supplies. Based out of their headquarters in NORWICH, Norfolk.
After researching to whole subject of DIY Ejuice mixing it is clear that there are two distinct categories :
Mixing your Ejuice blend from Scratch.
Combining together Propylene Glycol (PG),Vegetable Glycerine (VG),Nicotine Base (suspended in PG or VG) and flavouring, to create your perfect blend and flavour, using an mixing calculator, to determine the correct quantities, to create the desired flavour
Mixing your Ejuice using pre-mixed flavourConcentrates.
Flavour Concentrates or Shots, have been uniquely crafted and formulated for the home brewer, to create a deliciously perfect e-liquid to the levels of the professionals, for just a fraction of the cost.
The Perfect Choice.
As a first time mixer it seemed sensible to try out the Concentrate method first, to try my hand a DIY Ejuice. Alchemist Cupboards have spent years perfecting their range of pre-blended concentrates, to bring the home brewer, the best possible Vaping experience from DIY mixing, and the Money Shot (One shot) Concentrate was born.
Money Shot concentrates have been uniquely crafted and formulated for the home brewer, to create a deliciously perfect e-liquid to the levels of the professionals, for just a fraction of the cost.
The complex ‘One Shot’ concentrates are designed for usage between 15-25% (Subjective to preferential levels of taste).
Suitable both for High VG mixes & conventional 50/50 mixes (or anywhere in-between)
As part of the mixing process Alchemist Cupboard advise for a 2-3 weeks steeping process , to allow the true flavour profile to develop., but appreciate that some fruits types may be suitable sooner, with the opposite applying to creamier, dessert custard types.
All flavours are Mono-Propylene Glycol (PG) based and are originally designed and suited for use in the genetic make-up of E-liquids.
Money Shot Concentrates come in a choice of four flavours, to suit all Vaping palettes.
Dough One Shot Concentrate
Creamed Coconut sandwiched between a digestive cookie base.
Loot One Shot Concentrate
A beautifully sweet traditional Apple & Blackcurrant Juice,
Moolah One Shot Concentrate
An exotic Passionfruit & fresh Mangos served in sweet Cornish cream.
Smackers One Shot Concentrate
A wobbly sweet jelly topped with yummy ‘Proper Custard’
The Money Shots come in a choice of either 30ml or 100ml bottles ranging from £7.99 to £22.99, which is amazingly good value, considering that the 30ml bottle will make up 120ml of finished ELiquid.
What you will need.
As well as purchasing the Money Shot Concentrate, you will need to draw up a bit of a shopping list, and begin to put together your very own DIY Mixing kit, a lot of the base ingredients and kit that you buy, can be used to produce multiple batches of Ejuice, as well as the base ingredients to try and mix up some of your own flavours.
5 x Empty 30ml Bottles £3.00
A pack of 5 Empty 30ml Soft Squeeze Plastic Dropper Bottles.
(each pack consists of 5 empty bottles, 5 dripper inserts and 5 childproof caps)
These are nice squeeze high quality bottles, the same ones we use for our concentrate ranges.
The bottles are suitable for the storage of homemade e-liquids and are ideal for decanting from larger bottles of e- liquid stock, an ideal size for carrying some spare juice in your pocket or for experiments when making your own juice.
100ml Measuring cylinder (Plastic) £2.99
This robust 100ml measuring cylinder is ideal for a host of measuring work. With a capacity of 100ml in 1ml increments it is particularly ideal for measuring your homemade DIY Mixtures and is the perfect addition to any vapeologist’s equipment cupboard.
Mixing Syringes – Twin Syringe Pack £2.59
1 x 10ml BD Syringe
1 x 5ml BD Syringe
2 x 14 gauge (1.5″ long) Blunt Dispensing Needles Ideal starter pack for the DIY Mixer, accurate measurement of liquids is the key to success when making your own E-Liquids. The syringes are manufactured by Becton, Dickinson (BD), who are renowned for producing the finest quality disposable syringes.
250ml Vegetable Glycerine (VG) £4.00
is also used to dilute the concentrated nicotine liquid to the desired strength. VG is smoother and gives less of a throat hit, but creates more vapor. It is often too thick to be used by itself, however, most suppliers will offer a pre diluted VG, sometimes called AVG, this is simply VG diluted at about 10% with a pure Lab Water to make the consistency more easily used with vape equipment.
50ml 72 Mg/ml Nicotine Liquid £11.48
72mg/ml Nicotine (7.2%) in VG as the Nic Base ingredient preferably of Pharma grade and from a reliable source. Such as NicotineUK, which is the sister company of Alchemist Cupboard
Nicotine is an addictive substance, as well as giving you the “Throat Hit” associated with a cigarette, it also satisfies your “Nicotine Hit” craving.
Price & Costing
As the majority of what you buy for you first mix, you will keep, as you build up you mixing DIY kit. You will only end up replacing it as and when you use it up.
To make up a 100ml of your favourite Money Shot Flavour works out as follows:
4ml of 72mg Nicotine (VG) £0.91
71ml of Vegetable Glycerine (VG) £1.14
25ml of Money Shot Concentrate £6.65
Total cost of 100ml Money Shot Ejuice £8.70 - yes I said only £8.70 - plus the intial cost of your bottles and syringes etc. That truly is amazing value for money. And if you opt for 100ml Money shot, it brings the cost down to £7.79
Mixing method.
As your making up your own mix you can adjust the quantities to suit, on levels of nicotine and flavour. And because of the One Shot flavour, all the tricky flavour blending and trial and error as been done for you. So you know that as long as you follow the mixing guide, your going to end up with premium professional grade Ejuice.
The following workings are for a 25 PG / 75VG @ 2.88mg Nicontine, making 100ml of finished Ejuice, using 25% flavour inclusion.
Recipe
4ml of 72mg Nicotine (VG)
71ml of Vegetable Glycerine (VG)
25ml of Money Shot ‘One Shot’ Concentrate (PG)
And that's it, it really s that simple, so now you have your DIY mixing supplies and the recipe, we are just a few steps away from mixing up our first batch of DIY Ejuice.
Before we take over the kitchen, like a seen out of a mad scientist film, I just want to cover off a few safety issues.
Safety Precautions.
Always choose a clean & Safe working environment away from distractions, children, pets, etc. As the chemical you are using can be harmful.
The 72mg Nicotine base requires respect. It can be extremely toxic and is easily absorbed through the skin, it can be absorbed even more easily when diluted with water etc, so great care should be taken when using it, When handling Nicotine base always wear gloves.
Protective clothing and safety items, they suggest an apron, nitrile gloves, and some eye protection as a minimum. - as it better to be safe than sorry.
Plus if like me your a little accident prone, a Spillage clean up kit which would include some kitchen paper towels, bowl of fresh water, which will be good to keep on hand.
Making the mix.
Carefully following the recipe that Barry sent over, starting off with the VG
Carefully tipping in exactly 71ml of VG into the 100ml Measuring Cylinder.
Next I added 25ml of the Money Shot Concentrate,
I found it easier to use the 10ml syringe, to ensure I got exactly 25ml out of the 30ml bottle.
Then using the smaller 5ml syringe, I drew 4ml out of the 50ml 72mg Nicotine (VG) bottle, which can then be squirted into the top of the mixing cylinder.
Making the mixture upto the full 100ml.
The mixture can then be decanted into the 100ml Ejuice bottles.
Then firmly screw on the cap and give it a good shake, to mix all the components together. And that it, your first batch is made, and you are official a home brewer.
The labels on the Money Shot bottles peel of really easily, so could be easily swapped onto the 100ml juice bottles.
Once I had mastered it, I decided to make up the there Money Shot Concentrates.
Alchemist Cupboard recommend that you leave your mixtures to steep for 2 to 3 weeks, to allow the full flavour to develop. During the steeping process.giving then a good good shake again daily with a short breather and air replenishment.
During the steeping process we will test the juice each week, and note down the change in flavour profile , which we will report on in part two of this review, along with a full detailed review on each flavour.
To start you DiYEjuice Mixing then head over to Alchemist Cupboard, I would defiantly recommend starting with the Money Shot Concentrate .