A plain milk chocolate bar is hard to beat: creamy, sweet and uncomplicated, with Hershey’s at the top of my list. Getting that same taste out of a vape juice is much harder. Over the years I have come across a handful of chocolate e-liquids that smelled and tasted like actual chocolate. Truffleberry by The Milkman Delights and Half Vaped by Banger eLiquid were the two I liked most, and neither can be found any longer. Mixing your own is the way around that, so I went looking for well-liked chocolate DIY recipes and picked three candy-inspired ones to share here.
If you have mixed e-liquid before, or read my earlier DIY articles, skip ahead to the recipes. Newer and intermediate mixers may want the refresher on finding recipes, buying supplies and reading a recipe first.
Finding recipes without getting lost
A quick Google search turns up plenty of recipe sites. The two I use most are E-Liquid Recipes and All The Flavors. The trouble is volume: there are so many recipes that browsing gets overwhelming fast, and without a flavor profile in mind it is easy to wander off or decide that DIY is more effort than it is worth. That is why I have been posting a small themed set each week. End of Summer flavors came first, First Day of Autumn flavors followed, and chocolate is this week’s theme.
E-Liquid Recipes is my preferred site because of its customization tool. Recipes are often written for a nicotine strength I do not use, or for a smaller batch than I normally get through. Clicking the wrench icon recalculates everything, so I can experiment without second-guessing my own math. Its search is also precise enough to narrow things down by type of chocolate. I was not after German chocolate cake or chocolate rice pudding; I wanted candy, and the search led me to a Hershey chocolate cream pie and a Heath bar e-liquid.
The site lets you measure in grams or in drops as well. Drops are the easier route when you are starting out and do not own a kitchen scale, as long as you do not lose count partway through. A scale is worth getting once you know you will be mixing fairly often.
Supplies and flavorings
Picking a recipe is the point where the shopping list shows up. You will need:
- Mixing tools: e-liquid mixers, beakers, cylinders and bottles
- Base liquids: vegetable glycerin (VG) and propylene glycol (PG)
- Nicotine: optional, for anyone who wants some throat hit
- Flavorings: the specific brand-name concentrates the recipe lists
Nearly any vape supplier carries the tools, VG, PG and nicotine. I buy mine from Liquid Nicotine Wholesalers. They sell flavorings too, but most recipes ask for particular flavors from particular makers, and those I get from The Perfumer’s Apprentice website. No single site stocks every flavoring, so expect to order from more than one place.
Recipes identify the flavor maker with an abbreviation, and you may have to look a few of them up at first. The common ones become familiar quickly: FLV is Flavorah, PUR is Purlium, CAP is Capella and SA is Solubearome.
Steeping
Every mix should steep before it goes into a tank. Some of the recipes I post do not give a steep time. In that case, plan on a week at minimum unless a commenter on the recipe says otherwise. Longer steeping brings out more flavor, and trying different steep times is how you find what you like.
Three chocolate candy recipes
Snickers bar
Snickers is my favorite candy bar of all, so it goes first. Plenty of Snickers recipes exist, but this was the only one I found where four members had rated it and called it a spot-on match. The flavor list covers caramel, nougat, peanuts and milk chocolate, the same parts as the bar itself. As written it uses 1.5 mg of nicotine and makes roughly 15mL, so treat it as a trial batch. The blend is 60/40 VG/PG, not far off the popular 70/30. If it suits you, adjust the nicotine, the VG/PG ratio or the batch size to taste.
Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
My second favorite chocolate candy also has many versions, from a cereal take to a candy one with a touch of tobacco. I chose this recipe for its short ingredient list and because two members gave it 5 stars. It is mixed at 70/30 VG/PG with 3mg nicotine and yields 60mL. With only three flavors in it, this is a good first recipe for beginners and for anyone who loves chocolate candy.
No-bake Hershey chocolate cream pie
The last one is for Hershey fans, and it comes with a memory. My college dorm did not allow ovens, stoves or hot plates, which left us a microwave and no-bake desserts. Around Christmas, when we missed home baking, one of those desserts was a no-bake Hershey chocolate cream pie. I ran into this recipe while hunting for a plain Hershey’s bar, and kept it for the end for that reason.
The flavor list is long: seven flavorings, some from brands I had not heard of before (MolinBerry and INAWERA). It has a very detailed description and several comments praising it. The recipe is 70/30 VG/PG at 0mg nicotine and makes 30mL, which leaves plenty of room to change the nicotine and the quantity. If you mix it, tell me how it turns out.
Wrapping up
Some of these recipes use flavorings you would never think to combine, and that is the appeal of DIY: somebody has already thought of it, mixed it and improved on it, and you only have to make it. There are many more chocolate recipes out there. Three will do for now, and we may come back to the subject around Halloween when the candy flavors are in season.
Chocolate is something of an acquired taste in e-liquid, but you may like it more than you expect. Tell us in the comments which chocolate e-liquids you enjoy, homemade or store bought, and whether you have tried any of the chocolate flavors on our site. Questions are welcome by phone, email or social media. Next up is a review of Chocolate Pudding by Country Clouds.