Longer term storage of Copper Creek & steeping?

[schismz]

Quick question.. I thought I'd ask since I'm experimenting with Copper Creek juices.

What's the recommended/optimal way to store Copper Creek juices for longer periods of time? I generally let stuff that I've just received sit out for about 2 weeks to let it steep (and in my case, "steep" means that I open the bottle, let it breathe, then close it back up and let it sit for a while). Once it has steeped, I usually refrigerate juices, and then take them out a day or two before I plan on using them.

I tend to do this unless the vendor specifically states "do not refrigerate!"

Would this produce the optimal situation for Copper Creek? Also, I tend to remove the liquid out of the glass bottles prior to actual use. I know that dark-glass bottles are the optimal storage system (it's the same thing Johnsons Creek uses, perhaps every vendor with "Creek" as their second name, is obligated to use higher-end "perfect" bottling techniques since you two are the only two I've found that do this), alas when I'm actually using the juice, I need to put them into larger plastic bottles with lug-luer syringe tips, in order to inject the liquid into tanks. The eye-dropper is ... kind of useless for getting the liquid into tanks and glass bottles aren't squeezable.

I am using mostly Smoktech 1.7Ω "resurrectors" and Boge 2.0Ω cartos on Super T Precise and GG's (mechanical mods with or without voltage regulation depending on whether or not I'm using the Kick), and Boge 3.0Ω cartos on ProVari.

Many thanks!

 

[FlyingV]

Hi!
I suggest shaking them well, as they are mixed directly into the bottle, and storing them closed at room temp. There really is no benefit to opening first or refrigerating IMHO. A number of people do transfer the juice to a squeeze bottle for filling tanks, etc. We chose dark glass for less light penetration, and to keep the flavors pure in storage.
Personally, I steep my juices about 2 weeks.
And thank you!
FV

 

[schismz]

Hi!
I suggest shaking them well, as they are mixed directly into the bottle, and storing them closed at room temp. There really is no benefit to opening first or refrigerating IMHO. A number of people do transfer the juice to a squeeze bottle for filling tanks, etc. We chose dark glass for less light penetration, and to keep the flavors pure in storage.
Personally, I steep my juices about 2 weeks.
And thank you!
FV

Many thanks for the fast answer! The overall answer for why refrigerate, based upon the lab testing that has been done to date, is that nicotine itself breaks down at room temperature and loses potency at a rate of about 1% potency per 30 days of unrefrigerated storage. Doesn't really matter if you use your juices on a regular basis, starts to matter when you leave stuff around and a year has passed. Although, based on what I've tried so far, this probably won't be happening with Copper Creek. Really liking the House Blend!

 

[FlyingV]

I'll find the link for you, madvapes has been testing juice in different scenarios. So far the only one losing nic strength is the one sitting open. Back in a bit with that....

Here's the last one that I have, of course they may have more updated info.
http://www.madvapes.com/Newsletter-52512_b_69.html

Edit: I stand corrected. Long term, they show in the fridge is holding out the best.

 

[violetvoo]

nicotine by itself is best stored in refrigerator but juice
is best stored at room temp unless your room is extremely
hot...Madvapes test even showed room temp same as fridge...
if bottles in dk glass they are protected from light but should be
kept away from sun still...
Unless a juice contains alcohol ...and CC juices don't....they should
never be opened to breathe as this can degrade flavor and totally unneccessary

as a side note 3 yrs ago a bunch of vapers on here were experimenting
with juice in fridge and some juices developed a green slime after awhile....um yuck!...


just my

 

[schismz]

nicotine by itself is best stored in refrigerator but juice
is best stored at room temp unless your room is extremely
hot...Madvapes test even showed room temp same as fridge...
if bottles in dk glass they are protected from light but should be
kept away from sun still...
Unless a juice contains alcohol ...and CC juices don't....they should
never be opened to breathe as this can degrade flavor and totally unneccessary

as a side note 3 yrs ago a bunch of vapers on here were experimenting
with juice in fridge and some juices developed a green slime after awhile....um yuck!...


just my

Hmmm... Okay, so now I'm slightly more confused than usual...

I vape because, well, it's an excellent drug delivery system that works for me. I'm addicted to nicotine, I have no desire to stop using it, because I like the effects it has on me. I'm not someone who would be walking around vaping on 0-nic juice, I'm here for the drugs The fact that the vape has nice taste/flavor is ... good, but secondary to me, if the e-juice market of planet earth fell into a black hole tomorrow, I'd still be vaping pure (diluted down to 24mg/mL) nicotine.

So ... nicotine itself, breaks down at room temperature, I hadn't seen the madvapes thing before, but according to that, it's actually breaking down faster than a 1%/month rate at room temp.

Some vendors such as Ms. T's, KBV, etc, recommend storing their juice in a fridge prior to using it. And quite honestly, when I've left some of their products out without refrigeration, after a month or two, what's in the bottle, is starting to look ... really gross. No green slime, more like this strange purple color that makes me ... not want to vape it at all. I am 99% sure that this isn't the nicotine, but rather whatever flavorings it is being mixed with. It happens with some flavors, but not others. It has never happened when I refrigerate (also, no green slime, despite having kept some juices in the fridge for a year+).

Other vendors such as Halo very specifically state DO NOT REFRIGERATE on everything. (Apropos of nothing in particular, they also ship in light-resistent, blue glass bottles.)

I appreciate the, "don't bother letting it 'breathe' tip" but now I'm back to being unsure about CC and longer term storage in particular. The purpose of "steeping" is to allow the molecules in the different ingredients time to interact with one another, the purpose of "breathing" would be introducing additional oxygen to that mix, but I'm unsure if it does much of anything. I guess I can experiment and just leave it out, in a relatively cool dark place (I mean it comes in glass amber bottles, which is the recommended storage method for nearly every regent, research chemical, whatever, that I have ever ordered from labs, so that's solid).

So I guess I'm curious, without systematic objective data -- no lab test I'm aware of is testing "smoke juice" they are testing nicotine -- what's the overall anecdotal/hearsay version.

Refrigerate or not? What do people who like Copper Creek do to store their juice overall? I don't mean people who re-up every month and just go through it, but say I want to stockpile/horde stuff (which I tend to do awaiting the potential apocalypse/annoyance the FDA may bring into all our lives this summer).

I am personally thinking I will just stick with the fridge for longer-term storage, and not worry about it if it's going to be used up within the next 30 days.

Feedback and personal experiences appreciated.

 

[FlyingV]

I have juices that date back up to two years. They are stored in a closet, all are fine.

 

[efirdj]

I didnt know it was possible to keep Copper Creek juice that long. I seem to go through it way to fast to worry about long term storage.

 

[Allazar]

I didnt know it was possible to keep Copper Creek juice that long. I seem to go through it way to fast to worry about long term storage.

He might be thinking about preparing for a zombie apocalypse James... what if he had to buy enough to last a few years before the zombies got him?

 

[schismz]

I am, I am. Bomb shelter, weapons, 200K rounds of ammo, every Apple product that exists, gold bars (buried in a hole, none of that "you own <x> lbs of gold in a line in some database that's gonna vanish" bs), drugs, food, 100 containers of polish to shine up the Super T and GG mechanical mods that will outlast ProVari's... hmmm, ohhh, snap, I forgot batteries, pardon me, gotta go re-up bats and 27 rebuildable attys.

Seriously, I have a LOT of juice, actually stored in its' own fridge at this point, and it's not that uncommon for me to toss something in there, and then forget about it for a year. And... I can't say I've ever had a bad experience with it. I also have f--ktons of pure nicotine, but I'm personally saving the DIY trip for post-apocalypse. In the here and now, I'm more of a, "here's my credit card, send me stuff that vapes good!" kinda guy.

 

[efirdj]

I am, I am. Bomb shelter, weapons, 200K rounds of ammo, every Apple product that exists, gold bars (buried in a hole, none of that "you own <x> lbs of gold in a line in some database that's gonna vanish" bs), drugs, food, 100 containers of polish to shine up the Super T and GG mechanical mods that will outlast ProVari's... hmmm, ohhh, snap, I forgot batteries, pardon me, gotta go re-up bats and 27 rebuildable attys.

Seriously, I have a LOT of juice, actually stored in its' own fridge at this point, and it's not that uncommon for me to toss something in there, and then forget about it for a year. And... I can't say I've ever had a bad experience with it. I also have f--ktons of pure nicotine, but I'm personally saving the DIY trip for post-apocalypse. In the here and now, I'm more of a, "here's my credit card, send me stuff that vapes good!" kinda guy.

HA! Sounds like you may just be on the way to almost ready for it!

 

[violetvoo]

I have juice thats over 3 yrs old that has been in a cooler bag
in a dark closet and it and the nic is fine....I too vape for the nic
and after 3.5 yrs am still vaping 24mg with no plans to reduce it...


if you notice Madvapes chart the room temp and refrigerator have no loss
of potency....its the heat and open bottle that degrades it!..

to each his own...store it anyway you choose and allow others the same
courtesy...you the op asked the Vendor who mixes the juice from her own recipes
how best to store it...she answered you and you argue its wrong...
I guess my question is if you have your mind made up...why ask??..

I applaud your stock piling as its a reasonable thing to do....

 

[schismz]

Probably a lot of the nuances of communication get lost when writing short, fast messages on an online forum. I'm thinking out loud and having a conversation. That's significantly different than "arguing."

With regards to Copper Creek juices in particular, I'm actually taking the advice I solicited and will just keep 'em in a cool dark place. But if I wind up ordering 10 of something, then I'll probably just refrigerate it anyway, because I don't see the downside.

There are some half-arsed regent tests for nic content such as this for instance: http://www.eliquidtest.com/Instructions.aspx

But lacking access to a GC/MS to get an accurate reading, it's pretty hard to form a reasonable opinion on what happens (x) years down the road. With pure nicotine I pretty much know - nothing, it remains stable so long as it's refrigerated and shielded from light. Hence my overall application of the same storage paradigm to "smoke juice" in general.

In another year I may borrow some lab time to access a GC/MS and do a, "before" and "after" of some stuff I've kept in the fridge, to see where it's at. I'll post the results if I follow through on this, but it's just more anecdotal stuff, because I'm not running an experiment with careful forethought and a bottle of the same thing, from the same lot, kept out of the fridge as a control.

I guess I could do this starting now too. Just take 1 and refrigerate it, and take another bottle and keep it in a cool dark place. Again, if I follow through I'll post the results.

To be honest I've never kept anything just sitting out longer than around 90 days. During that timeframe I've never vaped anything and come back with, "hey, where did my nic go? This is doing nothing!" but I have noticed significant color and viscosity changes happening with some juices as mentioned, which just make me look at it and land upon, uhm, no, no way, I am not inhaling purple sludge.

To clarify, the above statement has nothing whatsoever to do with Copper Creek juices, to which I am a pretty new convert. I just like 'em, a lot Hence my question about optimal storage which kicked this off in the first place. The reason for my question -- despite having my answer regarding nicotine itself -- is because the mixer would know if there are any ingredients other than nic, which do not fare well when refrigerated. Halo for instance knows that there are, and posts a warning label not to refrigerate on every bottle. I do not know the actual ingredients of any given thing without, once again, spinning it up on a GC/MS and having the assay tell me exactly what it contains.

tl;dr: thanks for the answer FlyingV, will stick with your advice, regarding your products They rock.

 

[FlyingV]

Well thought out, I admire that. None of the ingredients that I use require refrigeration past the mixing stage, which is what I based my answer on. I have spoken with my flavor suppliers and none recommended it. Now that this discussion has me wondering the what would happen scenario, I will refrigerate some juices to test them against the others at a later date.

 

[violetvoo]

I prep also...can't be too prepared..

 

[orchiolum]

Quick question.. I thought I'd ask since I'm experimenting with Copper Creek juices.

What's the recommended/optimal way to store Copper Creek juices for longer periods of time? I generally let stuff that I've just received sit out for about 2 weeks to let it steep (and in my case, "steep" means that I open the bottle, let it breathe, then close it back up and let it sit for a while). Once it has steeped, I usually refrigerate juices, and then take them out a day or two before I plan on using them.

I tend to do this unless the vendor specifically states "do not refrigerate!"

Would this produce the optimal situation for Copper Creek? Also, I tend to remove the liquid out of the glass bottles prior to actual use. I know that dark-glass bottles are the optimal storage system (it's the same thing Johnsons Creek uses, perhaps every vendor with "Creek" as their second name, is obligated to use higher-end "perfect" bottling techniques since you two are the only two I've found that do this), alas when I'm actually using the juice, I need to put them into larger plastic bottles with lug-luer syringe tips, in order to inject the liquid into tanks. The eye-dropper is ... kind of useless for getting the liquid into tanks and glass bottles aren't squeezable.

I am using mostly Smoktech 1.7Ω "resurrectors" and Boge 2.0Ω cartos on Super T Precise and GG's (mechanical mods with or without voltage regulation depending on whether or not I'm using the Kick), and Boge 3.0Ω cartos on ProVari.

Many thanks!

Great question. I have also been wondering about long-term storage as I am preparing for whatever eventuality as far as FDA and other government agencies are concerned. My current method is in the dark at room temperature, but I will eventually be moving them to the basement which does stay a bit cooler.

When I find a flavor I really like (which usually take some amount of steeping...1 to 4 weeks so far), I order a larger quantity of it. This is why I'm wondering about longer term storage...for those flavors I intend to have on hand for the foreseeable future. Good prepping can help to prevent a return to cigarettes. For me, this includes extra batteries, cartos/tanks, and juice.

 

[Puffythegun]

I have 6 mo old, 4 mo old, cooked a in 120deg truck & abused and finally 1 week old.
I kept 30ml of abused alone and dumped fresh into the 120ml. Perfect. tastes like 3 month old. I love it.

 

[shatner]

Well thought out, I admire that. None of the ingredients that I use require refrigeration past the mixing stage, which is what I based my answer on. I have spoken with my flavor suppliers and none recommended it. Now that this discussion has me wondering the what would happen scenario, I will refrigerate some juices to test them against the others at a later date.

Hey V, did you ever refrigerate some juice to see what storage method is best? I have a drawer FULL of juice. I don't mind keeping it in there, but I also wouldn't mind freeing that drawer up.

 

[FlyingV]

I have. So far there is no difference at all. So my personal juices are lined up in the cupboard.

 

[shatner]

Thanks, V!