How to Mix Your Own E-Liquid: By Weight and By Volume

• Four ingredients: PG, VG, a flavour concentrate and, if you want nicotine, a 10ml nic shot of 18mg or 20mg.
• Mix by weight if you can. A digital scale is quicker, cleaner and more accurate than syringes.
• The densities that matter: VG weighs about 1.26g per ml, PG about 1.04g per ml; most calculators treat concentrate as 1g per ml.
• Worked example: 60ml at 3mg, 70/30, 15% flavour takes 10ml of 18mg shot, 9ml concentrate, 6ml PG and 35ml VG.
• Follow the concentrate maker’s percentage, shake well, then let it steep before judging it.

The four ingredients and what each does

Every e-liquid, homemade or bought, is built from the same short list. Understanding what each part does makes it much easier to adjust a recipe that is not quite right. If you want the basics first, our explainer on what e-liquid is covers the ingredients in more depth.

Beyond the ingredients, you need a digital scale that reads to 0.01g, or a set of clean syringes if you mix by volume, an empty bottle big enough for the finished batch, labels and some kitchen roll. A 60ml bottle such as the Chubby Gorilla 60ml V3 bottle suits the recipes below. Gloves are sensible when you handle nicotine.

Weight or volume: which method to use

By volume means measuring each ingredient in millilitres with syringes or graduated bottles. It needs no maths beyond percentages, which makes it a friendly place to start. The drawback is VG: it is thick enough that it clings to the inside of a syringe, so you lose a little every time and your ratios drift. You also need a fresh syringe for each ingredient, which adds mess and washing up.

By weight means pouring each ingredient straight into the bottle on a scale until the reading hits a target. It is faster, cleaner and more accurate because nothing is left behind in a syringe. The only extra step is converting millilitres to grams, and that depends on density:

A free online e-liquid calculator will do these conversions for you. Enter the batch size, target strength, ratio, flavour percentage and your shot strength and ratio, and it gives grams for each ingredient. The worked examples below show what those numbers look like so you can check the calculator is set up properly.

Worked recipe: 60ml at 3mg, 70/30

This is a typical sub-ohm recipe: 60ml, 3mg/ml nicotine, 70% VG and 30% PG, with flavour at 15%. It uses one 10ml nic shot at 18mg/ml with a 70/30 VG/PG base, and a PG-based concentrate.

Nicotine: 3mg x 60ml = 180mg needed. 180mg / 18mg per ml = 10ml of shot. Flavour: 15% of 60ml = 9ml. Target VG: 70% of 60ml = 42ml, of which the shot supplies 7ml, so add 35ml. Target PG: 30% of 60ml = 18ml, of which the flavour supplies 9ml and the shot 3ml, so add 6ml. Check: 10 + 9 + 6 + 35 = 60ml.

Same bottle at 6mg: you need 360mg of nicotine, so 20ml of 18mg shot. The shot then supplies 14ml of VG and 6ml of PG, so the recipe becomes 20ml shot (23.88g), 9ml flavour (9.00g), 3ml PG (3.12g) and 28ml VG (35.28g). The finished bottle still weighs about 71.28g and still totals 60ml. Both strengths sit well below the 20mg/ml legal maximum. Keep homemade sub-ohm liquid at the low end, and never put 18mg or 20mg liquid in a sub-ohm kit. Our nicotine strength guide helps you choose.

Nicotine-free version by volume: for 100ml at 0mg, 70/30 and 15% flavour, measure 15ml concentrate, 15ml PG and 70ml VG. By weight that is 15.00g, then 15.60g, then 88.20g, so the scale should read 118.80g at the end.

Mixing by weight, step by step

1. 1
   Set up and work out the recipe. Clear a flat surface, lay down kitchen roll and write down the target weight for each ingredient, or put the numbers into a calculator.
2. 2
   Tare the scale with the empty bottle on it. Take the cap and nozzle off first, place the bottle on the scale and press tare so it reads 0.00g.
3. 3
   Add the nic shot first. Pour until the scale reaches its target. Going first means any small overshoot can be corrected in the other ingredients.
4. 4
   Add concentrate, then PG, then VG. Pour each until the running total matches the “scale reads” figure. VG goes last because it is slow to pour and easy to top up by the drop.
5. 5
   Cap, shake and label. Shake for a couple of minutes until there are no swirls of thick VG left. Label the bottle with the flavour, strength, ratio and date.
6. 6
   Let it steep. A fresh mix often tastes sharp or thin. Give fruits a few days and creams or tobaccos a week or more before you decide whether the recipe works.

Steeping deserves its own guide: how steeping changes e-liquid flavour covers timings for each flavour type and the quicker methods.

Choosing concentrates and flavour percentage

Flavour percentage is the single biggest variable in DIY. Too little and the liquid tastes weak and papery; too much and it turns harsh, perfumed or sickly, and sweet concentrates gunk coils faster. Always start with the percentage printed on the concentrate label. Many one-shot concentrates are designed to be used around 10% to 20%, and at 15% a 30ml bottle makes 200ml of finished liquid.

One-shot concentrates are complete recipes from e-liquid brands, which makes them the simplest way in. Our DIY and concentrates range includes fruit blends such as Jungle Fever 30ml Concentrate by Ruthless, cooled options such as Blue Raspberry Ice 30ml Concentrate by Zeus Juice, and bakery flavours such as Scone 30ml Concentrate by Just Jam.

Once you are comfortable with one-shots, you can start blending single flavours into your own recipes. That is where layering, balance and flavour chemistry come in, and our guide to the science behind e-liquid flavour explains how recipes are built. If you want one flavour ready-measured in a large bottle, a longfill gives you concentrate in a big bottle that you top up with base and shots.

Picking the right ratio for your kit

The ratio you mix should match the coil you vape on. 50/50 suits MTL coils of 0.6 ohm and above (typically 0.6 to 1.2 ohm); high-VG 70/30 suits coils below about 0.6 ohm. That is why sub-ohm recipes lean to 70/30 or 80/20 VG/PG, while pod-kit recipes sit at 50/50 or 60/40 PG/VG. Thick liquid in a tight pod coil wicks too slowly and burns; thin liquid in a big sub-ohm coil floods and leaks. Our guide to PG/VG ratios goes into more detail.

DIY and nic shots are mostly used for sub-ohm vaping, where strengths are low and volumes large. If you vape a pod kit at 10mg or 20mg, ready-made nic salts are usually the easier option. If you simply want to add nicotine to a shop-bought shortfill rather than build from scratch, see how to mix nic shots into shortfill e-liquid.

On cost, Vaping Products Duty applies from 1 October 2026 at £2.20 per 10ml, or £2.64 with VAT, on vaping liquid whether it contains nicotine or not, and that includes nic shots. Our article on how much vape prices will go up explains which products are covered and how the duty is worked out.

Safety and storage for home mixing

Nic shots need the most care. Every UK nicotine bottle carries the warning that it contains nicotine, which is a highly addictive substance. Keep shots and finished bottles in a cupboard out of the reach of children and pets, wipe spills off your skin with soap and water, and never mix at a table where food is prepared. If anyone swallows liquid, our guide on what happens if you swallow e-liquid explains what to do.

Store finished bottles capped, upright and out of sunlight. Heat and light break flavour down over time. Our e-liquid shelf life and storage tips cover how long a batch keeps. Keep a notebook of every recipe with the percentages and the steep time, so a mix you love can be repeated and a mix you do not can be fixed.

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