DONALD BLAKELY PG VG & NIC OH MY! DIY E-LIQUID BEGINNERS GUIDE. Miller Creative. Publishing

Transcription

1 PG VG & NIC OH MY!

2 DONALD BLAKELY PG VG & NIC OH MY! DIY E-LIQUID BEGINNERS GUIDE Miller Creative Publishing

3 PG VG & NIC! OH MY! Copyright 2015, by Donald Blakely All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be used, transferred or reproduced in any manner without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. This book is intended for smokers of legal smoking age and is not intended as a substitute for medical advice. Although every precaution has been taken to verify the accuracy of the information contained herein, the author and publisher assume no responsibility for any errors or omissions. No liability is assumed for damages that may result from the use of information contained within. First Edition, February 2015 Easy Vaping Guides Miller Creative Publishing Paperback ISBN:

4 CONTENTS Introduction... 1 Base Liquids 2. Base Liquids Guide Mixing Base Liquids Flavourings 4. Flavouring Concentrates Flavour Extracts Ingredients to Avoid Essentials Additives 8. What Are Additives? Sweeteners Enhancers Stabilisers (or Blenders) Preparing to Mix 12. Equipment & Accessories Glass and Plastic Storing Liquid Ingredients... 60

5 . Creating E-liquids 15. Understanding Recipes How to Use a Recipe Calculator Mixing Testing and Adapting Creating Your Own Recipes E-liquid Recipes Conclusion Acknowledgements Further Reading

6

7 1 Introduction So you ve tried a few premixed e-liquids and you may be thinking I can do better than that! or you may want to spend less money on e-liquids. You may even be having dreams of creating your own line of e-liquids with more flavours and extravagance than Mr Willie Wonka could have ever imagined. Whatever your reason, you ll find that making your own e- liquid or creating your own recipes will be an uphill struggle at first but the rewards are worth it! What? Ok Maybe you didn t want to hear the uphill struggle part. Maybe what I should have said is that it s going to be super easy and you ll have lots of fun. Every day will be filled with roses and your life will be filled with wonderful delicious tasting e-liquids that YOU made Yay! After all you just throw some ingredients into a bottle and you re done right? Well that s what I thought when I started making my own e- liquids, but I was wrong. There s a bit more to it than that. EASY VAPING GUIDES 1

8 Why did I write this book? I wrote this book because when I finally did get my mixing right I realised that if someone had guided me through the various processes and how ingredients interact with each other, I would have saved myself a lot of time, money and horrific memories of vile tasting mixtures. When I began I really didn t understand or appreciate the importance of the other elements of mixing. I ploughed ahead with failure after failure. Eventually I sat down and decided to research, discuss and experiment with EVERYTHING I could; as if my life depended on it. I slowed my pace and went right back to basics. I REALLY didn t want to go back to tobacco cigarettes and I didn t want to keep spending money on premixed e-liquid that never suited my taste. Now my mixes are smooth and tasty and I can confidently mix up a batch of a complex recipe within ten minutes; from prep to cleaning up. There are five main sections in this book covering everything from equipment, software, ingredients, mixing, health and safety precautions and other important considerations. And it s a combination of all of these elements that leads to successful mixing. If you re new to making e-liquid or you ve started but your mixes keep failing, this book is for you. The main focus is on the effective use of flavour concentrates and precise measuring with syringes; although we touch very briefly on extracting your own flavours. 2 PG VG & NIC OH MY!

9 A few recipes have been included in this book to ensure that you have a small collection of working recipes to build on. Using the information in this book will help to ensure that you DO NOT make the same mistakes that I made and get you to the enjoyable stage of mixing in a short space of time; without wasting money by making consecutive failed mixes. This book is all about giving you the actual facts and proven methods to making your own e-liquids. So on that note, let s get started. EASY VAPING GUIDES 3

10 BASE LIQUIDS

11 2 Base Liquids Guide E-liquid is made up of several ingredients. But there are three main ingredients which form the base of every good e-liquid. These are Nicotine, Propylene Glycol and Vegetable Glycerine. In fact, if you re not keen on flavours, you can mix these three ingredients together without needing anything else. But that would be boring! You may be wondering why would need to know so much information about these ingredients. But could you imagine a good chef not knowing every minute detail about every single ingredient they were putting into their creation? In this section I m going to explain, in detail, what these ingredients are, their advantages and disadvantages as well as what to look for when buying. Propylene Glycol (PG) Propylene glycol allows atomisation (the reduction of a liquid to fine particles) to take place at substantially lower temperatures than required for a tobacco cigarette and also helps to deliver nicotine when vapour is inhaled. 6 PG VG & NIC OH MY!

12 PG has been vilified in the media as being an ingredient in antifreeze. But what they failed to mention in these reports is that the PG that these reports were referring to was industrial grade PG, which is used to make non-toxic antifreeze. There are three main grades of propylene glycol. There is industrial grade (which is the lowest), food grade and pharmaceutical grade (which is the highest). The only grade that we should be using in e-liquids is pharmaceutical grade. Propylene glycol (USP) and Propylene glycol (EP) are both pharmaceutical grade liquids. USP stands for United States Pharmacopeia and EP stands for European Pharmacopoeia. This is the grade of propylene glycol used (or should be used) in health-sensitive applications, such as food products, animal feed, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and e-liquids. It fulfils the strict quality specifications and safety & hygiene regulations required by authorities responsible for health and safety worldwide. It has been deemed safe for human consumption; including inhalation. What is Propylene Glycol? Propylene glycol is a chemical produced from the reaction of propylene oxide with water. It is clear, nearly odourless; practically tasteless and retains low viscosity (thickness). It is used as a stabiliser, as it is good at binding and transporting other substances together whilst also keeping them from evaporating. It also keeps food moist. EASY VAPING GUIDES 7

13 Advantages of Propylene Glycol PG is a fantastic flavour carrier and because it is practically tasteless it does not interfere with any flavours that are added to a mix. PG is quite thin (due to its low viscosity) which makes it easy to handle when using syringes and when filling your tanks. Its low viscosity also means that it is absorbed much faster by wicks and polyfill material in RBAs, clearomisers and cartomisers. Another benefit of low viscosity PG is that you get less gunk building up around your coils or in your tanks, which accumulates over time. PG, along with nicotine is responsible for throat hit, so the more PG in your e-liquid, the stronger the throat hit achieved. It also takes less time and power for PG to achieve optimal vaping temperature. Disadvantages of Propylene Glycol (PG) A very small percentage of people are allergic or sensitive to PG. Symptoms include suffering from a rash, loose bowel movements, or having night sweats. Many people who have experienced problems with PG have started vaping 100% VG e-liquids to combat their sensitivity or allergy. We ll discuss how to achieve 100% VG e-liquids later. Some of the other rare side effects are muscle pain, a sore throat, and strong smelling urine. Since PG collects moisture the throat can become dry and potentially sore. It can also result in an increase of lactic acid produced by the body causing muscle aches that will occur more often than normal. 8 PG VG & NIC OH MY!

14 In order to eliminate these rare side effects, an increase in fluid intake is recommended. This will flush the lactic acid from the body much more quickly; it will also help with curing a sore throat which normally disappears after a few days. Vaping can cause dehydration, which is why most people drink more water than they did before they started vaping. And this is why most people do not experience the side effects above. Vegetable Glycerine (VG) Vegetable Glycerine (VG) is the ingredient that produces smoke like vapour when you exhale. More attention has been paid to the way PG affects the body than VG. However, studies show that VG is a harmless organic liquid. Just like PG, you should only use pharmaceutical grade (USP/EP) VG, although many people use glycerine bought from food stores which is food grade and not recommended. What is Vegetable Glycerine? Vegetable Glycerine (VG) is a natural liquid generally extracted from plant oils, in particular, soy, coconut oil, and palm oil. It is typically clear, odourless, has a slightly sweet taste and is of high viscosity (thickness). VG is used in cosmetics, in food products, as an artificial sweetener and in e-liquid and it has been deemed safe for human consumption (including inhalation). Advantages of Vegetable Glycerine High VG based e-liquids produce significantly more vapour than high PG based e-liquids. Many people are attracted to EASY VAPING GUIDES 9

15 the thick clouds of vapour that VG can produce and are prepared to sacrifice flavour over vapour. VG does not cause allergic reactions or irritations. Disadvantages of Vegetable Glycerine (VG) VG has a slightly sweet taste which can make the e-liquid slightly sweeter; this makes the flavours harder to detect and duller. VG does not produce any throat hit, so a high percentage VG e-liquid will equal less throat hit. VG is a considerably thicker liquid, compared to PG; making it more difficult to handle. On rare occasions people have complained about phlegm building up in their throat after using high percentage VG based e-liquids. Another disadvantage of VG is gunk residue. Because of the high viscosity of VG you will notice greater and faster gunk build up around your coils and on the inside walls of your tanks. This is why high VG is more suited to use with RBAs. High VG based e-liquids require more power and more time to achieve optimal vaping temperature. And when using in devices with polyfill and wick materials, you should allow additional time for refilling and resting; so that the e-liquid can be properly absorbed, before starting to vape. Aqueous Glycerine (AG) Aqueous glycerine is VG that has been mixed with between 10-20% distilled water. This produces a better consistency for use in e-liquids. You would add distilled water, vodka or PGA to VG in order to thin it. But this is premade with the purest pharmaceutical grade ingredients and is widely available from DIY mixing suppliers. 10 PG VG & NIC OH MY!

16 You can actually make AG yourself, by mixing VG and distilled water; 15% AG is the average. But it must be distilled water and nothing else; you cannot use tap or bottled water. Most people use VG and add a thinner rather than buying it ready made. But AG is becoming more popular as a replacement for VG plus water, as it is a higher quality mix, the consistency is more suitable for clearomisers and it still retains the sweetness of 100% VG. AG produces a decent amount of vapour and is added PG to create e-liquids in place of VG. Although AG can be mixed with just nicotine, it is not the smoothest vape. For beginners I would advise buying a small bottle (100ml) to determine whether you prefer 100% VG or VG thinned with water. Nicotine Nicotine is an alkaloid (chemical containing nitrogen) which is made by several types of plants, including the tobacco plant. Nicotiana tabacum (or cultivated tobacco), is found in tobacco plants, and comes from the nightshade family i.e. tomatoes, potatoes, red peppers, eggplant etc. Nicotine can also be produced synthetically. When nicotine is inhaled it is absorbed through the lungs and reaches the brain in roughly seven seconds. Nicotine can also be absorbed through the mouth if not taken into the lungs. Nicotine works by mimicking the actions of a naturally occurring brain chemical called acetylcholine, activating the pleasure zone and we enter into a state of euphoria, leading EASY VAPING GUIDES 11