VG/PG base | Which base for which DIY recipe

In a shop, the base takes ten seconds to choose, usually out of habit or because it is what happens to be in stock. Then comes the recipe, and the mix is not what you expected. Too dry in the pod, too thick in the tank, or a flavour that fades away. A VG/PG base is never a good choice in the abstract. It is a good choice for one recipe, with its concentrate, its nicotine shot and the device that will vape it.

Which VG/PG base for which recipe

The right VG/PG base is the one that gives the ratio you want once every ingredient is in, not the one whose label shows that ratio. Concentrates and shots bring their own liquid, and the more room they take in the recipe, the more the base has to compensate.

The recipe	Starting base	Why
Low flavour rate, no nicotine, tight draw pod	50/50	Little else goes in, so the base is close to the final ratio
High flavour rate (15 to 20 %), airy draw	30/70	Offsets the carrier liquid of the concentrate
High strength nicotine shot in a small volume	50/50	The shot fills a large share and already sets its own ratio
Cloud heavy recipe, tank below 0.5 ohm	30/70 or added max VG	Raises the VG share without switching base
Correcting a mix already made	Pure PG or pure VG	Moves the ratio in one chosen direction

The table rests on a simple principle. First decide the final ratio you want, which depends on the device, then work back to the base that gets you there.

50/50, the base for busy recipes

The 50/50 ratio is a staple of UK DIY ranges. It suits recipes where the other ingredients already add plenty of liquid, because it pushes the mix neither one way nor the other.

It also weighs the same as a 50/50 nicotine shot, about 1.15 g/ml. When you mix by weight, base and shot use the same conversion, which cuts down on arithmetic errors at the scale.

Its weak spot shows with high rate concentrates. A flavour carried in propylene glycol and used at 20 % pulls the finished mix towards PG, as our worked recipe for Red Astaire concentrate shows.

30/70 and max VG, to compensate

A VG heavy base is less about “making clouds” than about rebalancing a recipe. It soaks up the PG brought in by the concentrate and the shot, and pulls the finished mix back to the ratio you were aiming for.

30/70 as a working base

A 30/70 base is the simplest option for flavoured recipes meant for an airy draw. Being thicker, it draws poorly into a syringe and clings to the barrel, which is a good argument for weighing it, at around 1.19 g/ml.

Max VG as an adjusting ingredient

Pure VG is rarely used alone, because its thickness makes mixing slow. It is mostly an adjusting ingredient. Blending equal parts of 50/50 base and pure VG, for instance, gives a 25/75 base without buying another product.

Reading a UK VG/PG base label

UK labels hold two traps. The first is the order of the figures. Many UK suppliers quote VG first, as in 70VG/30PG or 50VG/50PG, while others write 30PG:70VG. Always check which letter sits next to which number before you calculate. On this site, ratios are always written PG first, so 30/70 means 30 % PG and 70 % VG.

The second is nicotine. Under the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016, nicotine-containing liquid can only be sold in bottles of 10 ml or less, so every large VG/PG base sold legally in the UK is nicotine free. Nicotine only ever arrives through 10 ml shots, which is why the shot has to be counted in the ratio.

Formats are generous. UK DIY suppliers sell pure PG, pure VG and premixed bases from 100 or 250 ml bottles up to 1 or 2 litres, and some list VG in 2.5 and 5 litre containers.

Bases with water, an addition you dose yourself

None of the UK base pages we read list water as an ingredient. Some mixers still thin a very VG heavy base with a little distilled water, which adds no flavour and no extra vapour but makes the liquid less viscous in the wick.

If you go down that route, use distilled water only, weigh it like everything else (1 g per millilitre, near enough), and write the amount in your log. Water also dilutes the concentrate, which may mean nudging its rate up slightly.

Pharmaceutical grade, what USP and EP mean

Base labels often carry letters few mixers read. USP refers to the United States Pharmacopeia, EP to the European Pharmacopoeia. Both set purity requirements for propylene glycol and glycerol. DarkStar, for example, describes its PG as USP grade and its VG as EP grade, while Make My Vape states that its PG is USP/EP pharmaceutical grade with a purity above 99.9 %.

A vague “pharmaceutical grade” with no reference says less, since it does not name the pharmacopoeia the raw materials meet. Between two bases, the one that quotes its standard gives you something you can check.

“Plant based” or “vegetable” applied to PG describes how it was made, not a different molecule. Propylene glycol is the same compound whether it comes from petrochemical or plant feedstock.

Work out the final ratio before you choose

The surest way to choose a VG/PG base is to calculate the real ratio of the recipe. Take this site’s reference mix, 50 ml with 10 % concentrate (5 ml), a 10 ml 50/50 nicotine shot and 35 ml of base, assuming a PG carried concentrate.

With a 50/50 base, total PG comes to 5 ml from the concentrate, 5 ml from the shot and 17.5 ml from the base, so 27.5 ml out of 50. The finished mix sits at 55/45. With a 30/70 base, PG drops to 20.5 ml (5 + 5 + 10.5) and VG rises to 29.5 ml, a 41/59 mix.

The same bottle therefore behaves differently depending on the base, without touching the concentrate or the nicotine. Two minutes of arithmetic save you a liquid that does not suit your device.

FAQ

A few questions come up whenever a base is being chosen or used.

How much base does 10 ml of concentrate need?

It depends on the rate. At 10 %, 10 ml of concentrate makes 100 ml of mix, 90 ml of which is base and shot. At 20 %, it makes only 50 ml, 40 ml of which is base and shot.

What is plant based propylene glycol?

Propylene glycol made from plant derived feedstock. The molecule is identical to standard PG, only the production route differs.

What size of base should I buy to start with?

A small one, while you confirm the ratio suits your device. Bases are sold from small bottles up to litres, and the large sizes only make sense once the recipe is settled.

Does the base change the nicotine shot maths?

No. The volume of shot depends only on the target strength, the final volume and the shot strength. The base simply fills the bottle, although its ratio combines with the shot’s in the finished mix.

How should I store an opened base?

Cap tight, away from light and heat, with the opening date written on the bottle. Glycerine draws moisture from the air, which is why the bottle should not sit open throughout a session.

Choosing your VG/PG base from the recipe

A base is chosen backwards, starting from the ratio your device needs and allowing for what the concentrate and the shot add. 50/50 covers most cases, 30/70 and pure VG compensate, water and pure PG stay as adjustments. With that reasoning, a VG/PG base becomes a setting in the recipe rather than just another consumable.

From the same recipe book

Editorial guide for adult readers only. Vaping products usually contain nicotine, which is addictive, and nicotine vaping products are not for sale to anyone under 18 in the UK. This guide describes a mixing method and is not a buying recommendation.