Making your own vape liquid with CBD is easier than you would think. If you have the proper ingredients and some tools you are good to go. In this article we will show you exactly how to make your own CBD vape oil at home.
High concentration Cannabidiol e-liquids tend to be quite expensive regardless of the brand, and many people simply cannot afford paying $100 for a single 30ml bottle. But what if there was a way to enjoy them for a more reasonable price? If you don't mind a bit of DIY work, here are 5 easy steps to make CBD vape juice at home.
1. Get ingredients necessary for CBD e-liquid
Any standard vape juice is made out of four main components: Vegetable Glycerin, Propylene Glycol, Nicotine and Flavorings. CBD eliquids are made using roughly the same ingredients, only that they swap the nicotine for CBD isolate.
CBD isolate is cannabidiol in its purest form. It's a crystalline substance, that looks and feels like a fine white powder. It has a concentration of 99% and it contains virtually no THC or any other substances. It also doesn't include the terpenes and organic compounds which naturally occur in the plant.
You can also find CBD isolate in the form of small translucent slabs. In this case you will need a pestle and mortar to mash up the slab into something that’s close to a powder.
Isolate should have a bright white color, and if it doesn’t then it’s probably not 99% pure. There’s nothing wrong with vaping 90% pure CBD powder, however this might have minute traces of solvents used in the extraction process or even some terpenes that might alter the taste of your juice.
CBD isolate is not soluble in Vegetable Glycerin; however VG is required to smooth out the vapor. A purely PG based e-liquid would be very harsh and intolerable for most users. This is why the isolate needs to be diluted in Propylene Glycol first and then add the rest of the ingredients.
Getting the right PG/VG mix is crucial in order to prevent the CBD from recrystallizing. We recommend going as high as 60PG – 40VG, although some users also use 50-50.
And while you can buy pre-mixed PG/VG bases for e-liquids, we recommend purchasing the both the PG and VG separately. This way you have a lot more room for error and if you’re not satisfied with the result, you can give it another try.
Note: we are aware that some online sources indicate oil based carriers like MCT for CBD isolate as the more natural way to go. And that might be true if you intend to use the CBD as a sublingual supplement or if you want to rub it on your skin. But when it comes to vaping, natural oils are very dangerous for the lungs. This is why we always recommend sticking to PG/VG based juices regardless if we are talking about vaping cannabidiol or nicotine.
2. Get the supplies you need to make CBD juice at home
To make your own CBD e-liquid you only need a handful of supplies:
- pure VG
- Pure PG
- CBD isolate
- An empty 30ml glass bottle
- A blunt needle syringe
- Some flavoring
How much CBD should you add to your vape juice?
We recommend adjusting the quantities depending on how much juice you want to make. For testing purposes it's a good idea to go for the smallest possible supply bottles.
You can find VG and PG in the DIY section of all major online vape shops. This is also the place to look for empty glass bottles, syringes, and flavorings. We found that lemon flavors generally work great with CBD but you can pick whatever you enjoy the most. For testing purposes you can even leave the juice unflavored, however – depending on concentration - it does tend to taste quite bitter.
CBD isolate needs to be purchased separately and you will usually find it in 500mg or 1000mg containers. The amount of CBD isolate you dissolve in the e-liquid will give its concentration and for starters we recommend going for the 500mg option. It's also the cheapest, with a price tag of around $15.
3. Measure out the quantities
We decided to go for a 30ml glass bottle because they are easy to find and easy to work with. It will also give you a good estimate of how much money you save compared to store-bought CBD juice.
For the 60PG – 40VG ratio you will need to measure out 18ml of Propylene Glycol and 12ml of Vegetable Glycerin. If you decide to use flavorings, these are usually PG based and you will need to subtract the amount of flavor from the amount of PG. For instance 10% flavor is 3ml, therefore we only need to use 15ml PG and 3ml flavoring.
Keep in mind that these proportions don’t need to be measured out with mathematical precision. You shouldn’t stress yourself too hard when filling up the syringe. It’s not the end of the world if you accidentally added one extra milliliter of VG or PG to the mix. It won’t make that much of a difference if we are talking about a total of 30ml of cannabis isolate juice.
500mg of CBD isolate mixed in 30ml of VG-PG base will give a concentration of 16.6mg/ml – which is perfect for both testing and day-to-day use purposes. At the same time it means that the whole 30ml bottle has a total concentration of 500mg.
4. Mix the ingredients in this particular order
The key to crystal clear CBD e-juice is to dissolve the isolate in PG and add the rest of the ingredients afterwards. For this you will need to pour the 18ml of PG inside the bottle – or the 15ml PG + 3ml flavoring – and then add the isolate crystals. Put on the dropper cap and vigorously shake the bottle for about a minute or so.
Dip the bottle in a container filled with hot water and leave it for around 10 minutes. Shake vigorously and repeat the process until the solution is transparent and there are no visible crystals. You can also leave the bottle overnight and continue the next day.
Once the isolate has been fully incorporated in the PG it's time to add the 12ml of VG. Give the bottle one final shake of about 2 minutes and your CBD vape juice should be ready to vape.
5. Vaping your DIY CBD e-liquid
Make sure you prime the coils and fill your tank with e-liquid, just like in the case of standard nicotine juice. We recommend a mouth to lung atomizer at first and if you're OK with the flavor then swap it for a direct lung device.
The taste of CBD can be quite bitter and it's a good idea to take slow pulls until you get used to it. Also due to the high PG content, the juice might feel harsh on the throat. Some flavors – like lemon – can better mask the bitterness and allow you to enjoy the full benefits of Cannabidiol even better. Some people even like to add terpenes to their DIY CBD juice for a more natural feel. If you plan to do so, make sure that the terpenes are plant derived and compatible with vaping.
Only terpenes derived from cannabis or hemp are safe to be vaped and they ensure the best possible experience. Just make sure you are using the right flavor profile and most importantly: the right amount. Terpenes are much more potent that flavor concentrates and only a very small amount is enough to make their presence felt. Ideally you should start with somewhere between 0.5 – 1.0% and give the mix a try. If the flavor still is not strong enough you can add a bit more terpenes, but as long as you don’t overdo it.
The most popular terpenes for making cannabis juice are the mixtures that mimic the flavor profiles of actual weed strains. Unfortunately these can get quite expensive. However you can still achieve very good results even with individual terpenes like Alpha-Pinene, Caryophyllene, Beta-Pinene, Limonene, Linalool, or Myrcene. From our experience the terpenes most suitable for beginners are the ones with a citrusy flavor like Limonene.
The one thing you need to remember when vaping terpenes is that these compounds are highly volatile. This is why we recommend to enjoy them on low output devices with high atomizer resistance. The experience will be much better when vaped on a 15-20W pen with 1.2 – 1.5 Ohms resistance than on a 50W device at 0.5 Ohms.
In the case of re-crystallization, you either need to use less VG or you can fix it by dipping the bottle in hot water again and shake it thoroughly until it becomes fully transparent.
DISCLAIMER: The text above represents our opinion or personal experience and cannot be considered medical or legal advice. Make sure CBD is legal in your state before making your own e-liquid. Always ask your doctor before using any type of CBD product and consult other sources for a better understanding of the substance and its effects.
