How to Make Your Own E-Juice — And Why You Shouldn’t Bother

If you have crawled out from underneath your rock anytime during the last six months, you must have recognized that e-cigarettes are unequivocally a thing. Smokers all over the country — not to mention the world — are stubbing out their furry-tipped friends in favor of a potentially cleaner, cheaper, and tastier alternative that can go virtually anywhere.

These fun, potentially more healthful gadgets have almost always been fully customizable in look, strength, and flavor which allow vapers to create a totally one-of-a-kind experience that fits their desires perfectly. Now, vapers are experimenting with a new way to tailor their e-cigs: mixing their own e-juice.

Ingredients

Like any good, educational recipe, this one for e-juice is totally flexible to the cook’s preferences. That means that the amounts of the following required ingredients are largely up to your discretion.

• Propylene glycol
• Vegetable glycerin
• Nicotine
• Flavoring

Both the glycol and the glycerin should be food-grade substances, which means they have been formulated and packaged for internal use.

You may notice that “tobacco” is nowhere on this list. If you haven’t heard, e-cigarettes are unmistakably not tobacco, which means they don’t have the disastrously toxic chemicals inside them that traditional cigarettes do.  Most high-quality e-juice available for purchase contains varying levels of these three, simple ingredients, so you don’t have to worry about what you’re inhaling.

You may also want to procure the following tools to ensure proper measurement and minimal spillage:

• Measuring cup
• Funnel
• Pipette
• Empty bottles

Method

Some glycol and glycerin rated for use in e-cigarettes will come suffused with some amount of nicotine already. Depending on your daily nicotine requirements, you may or may not need to augment this amount with additional nicotine. Here are the general nicotine levels of pre-mixed e-juice:

• Low: 0 to 10 milligrams
• Medium: 11 to 16 milligrams
• High: 17 to 24 milligrams
• Extra high: 25 to 36 milligrams

Calculating the proper ratio of ingredients for the desired amount of nicotine — and to make sure you don’t exceed 36 milligrams of nicotine, which can be exceedingly toxic — you should consider downloading or using an e-juice calculator.

Once you understand the needed quantities of your ingredients, you can begin mixing. Using the pipette, slowly and carefully pull the appropriate amounts of glycol, glycerin, nicotine, and flavoring out of their bottles, measure them as accurately as possible in your measuring cup, and dispense them in your empty container. After everything has been added, you should shake your new e-juice vigorously to combine the liquids. Then, you must leave your new e-juice alone for at least a week for the contents to blend and the flavor to mature.

Downsides

You can probably already spot a few of the more egregious obstacles of creating your own e-juice, but I’ll outline them here for simplicity’s sake.

• DIY e-juice isn’t cost-effective. Because you must buy the ingredients, tools, and containers at higher quantities than you need, you will end up spending much, much more per bottle of hand-crafted e-juice than you would purchasing a pre-made bottle. Plus, you’ll likely have quantities left over that can’t be used, which is a small waste of your investment.
• DIY e-juice is dangerous. While you may not hear of smokers overdosing on cigarettes, nicotine poisoning is a very real, very deadly health crisis. Initial symptoms may be as minor as headaches and nausea, but they will soon develop into paralysis, coma, respiratory failure, and death. If you mix your e-juice incorrectly, you will suffer these consequences.
• DIY e-juice isn’t as tasty. Unless you are willing to invest ample time and money into the hobby, you likely will only be able to mix basic flavors, like vanilla, cherry, or mint. In comparison, smoke shops offer complex, deeply flavorful pre-mixed e-juices in myriad strengths. Choosing to make your own is like electing to cook mac and cheese every night instead of ordering a Michelin-rated meal.

Alternatives

If you’ve come to you senses and decided that making your own e-juice isn’t for you — congratulations! You have opened yourself up to a wide world of opportunity for excellent vaping experiences. The best way to find your favorite e-juices is to head to your nearest smoke shop and ask for samples. Most shops are more than willing to provide a few drags of every flavor they offer. You can also investigate top e-cigarette flavors online to see what pros in the industry absolutely love. Once you’ve compiled a list of preferences, you should try to find the e-juices online in bulk so you’ll never run out of your top picks.