What is steeping?

[Banger696]

Hi all

Bit of a newbie to vaping but seen this on a couple of vendor and DIY sites, but what is steeping and how long does it go on for?

 

[ChelsB]

Hi all

Bit of a newbie to vaping but seen this on a couple of vendor and DIY sites, but what is steeping and how long does it go on for?

I'm sure someone will come along with a more in depth explanation but essentially it is a process where you let the flavors meld together and develop. Over time, some flavors become more pronounced. Like I said, this is a very simple explanation. Someone will be by with more/better info.
Good luck![emoji4]

 

[Rule62]

To be honest, 'steeping' is a word that has been adopted by the vaping community, for years; but is technically incorrect. What we are doing with some liquids, particularly tobacco flavors, is 'aging', not steeping. Steeping more accurately refers to extracting flavors from a solid, by soaking in water, or some other liquid, usually warm. Making tea is an example of steeping.
Never the less, some e liquids require time, between the time they are mixed, and the time they are vaped, for the flavors to meld together. There are those who use various methods to try and speed up the time: Vigorous shaking every day, leaving the cap off for periods of time, putting the bottle in a pot of warm water, using ultrasonic cleaners, etc.
My experience has been, there's no substitute for time.

 

[sofarsogood]

Hi all

Bit of a newbie to vaping but seen this on a couple of vendor and DIY sites, but what is steeping and how long does it go on for?

There are a lot of different flavorings used in eliquid. Some of them may improve by just letting e liquid sit around for a while. For many or most may be it makes no differrence. I mix 200 ml about once a month with a small amount of one all in one flavoring (I'm not a flavor chaser). If I need to use the freshly mixed liquid immediately I do. May be the liquid improves over time because it mixes more thoroughly. May be it tastes better over some weeks. Then again may be not. Lately I've been keeping my mixed diy in the frig. It appears to change color slower. I prefer a clean wick and fresh wire. I think I also like the taste of fresh liquid that might be staying fresher because it's kept cool.

A lot of vapers are shying away from mixing because they think it has to be complicated. It doesn't.

 

[Frenchfry1942]

Get yourself one...

Just like fine wine...

 

[Banger696]

To be honest, 'steeping' is a word that has been adopted by the vaping community, for years; but is technically incorrect. What we are doing with some liquids, particularly tobacco flavors, is 'aging', not steeping. Steeping more accurately refers to extracting flavors from a solid, by soaking in water, or some other liquid, usually warm. Making tea is an example of steeping.
Never the less, some e liquids require time, between the time they are mixed, and the time they are vaped, for the flavors to meld together. There are those who use various methods to try and speed up the time: Vigorous shaking every day, leaving the cap off for periods of time, putting the bottle in a pot of warm water, using ultrasonic cleaners, etc.
My experience has been, there's no substitute for time.

Many thanks for the detailed explanation!

 

[Rule62]

There are a lot of different flavorings used in eliquid. Some of them may improve by just letting e liquid sit around for a while. For many or most may be it makes no differrence. I mix 200 ml about once a month with a small amount of one all in one flavoring (I'm not a flavor chaser). If I need to use the freshly mixed liquid immediately I do. May be the liquid improves over time because it mixes more thoroughly. May be it tastes better over some weeks. Then again may be not. Lately I've been keeping my mixed diy in the frig. It appears to change color slower. I prefer a clean wick and fresh wire. I think I also like the taste of fresh liquid that might be staying fresher because it's kept cool.

A lot of vapers are shying away from mixing because they think it has to be complicated. It doesn't.

Agreed. Most everything I make these days is 'shake and vape'. The only liquids that I find mellow with age are tobacco mixes; especially tobaccos that contain alcohol in the flavoring. When this is the case, leaving the cap off the bottle for a day or so seems to smooth out the flavor, due to evaporating out the alcohol.

 

[icharus29]

There are several youtube videos that dive pretty deep into various steeping methods and the results obtained. Personally, I use an ultrasonic cleaner that has a built in heating element on my mixes that are known to get better with time. Pretty much anything custard/creme. The hot water thins the juice a bit and the agitation helps in mixing it. At least that's my take on it. After a couple of hours, the juice darkens. I run two cycles of heating/agitating and cooling. My results have been pretty good. Imo, it's a quicker way to blend the flavors. A crock pot is also suitable.

 

[Rin13]

Steeping- let your eliquid sit in a cool dark place so the flavors develop. Some eliquids need it, others don't.
Steeping does NOT mean uncapping the eliquid and letting it breathe. That is something else entirely and most eliquids, IMO don't need that.
As far as how long to let your eliquid sit... That depends on many things. Does the place you purchased from mix their eliquids fresh/to order or do they make big batches? Many places have a mixed on date labelled somewhere... so if it's a month or older, you shouldn't need to further steep it. However, if its a bakery flavor and was just mixed a week ago, it MAY need to sit. Generally I will always try my eliquids straight out of the mail and if they don't taste "right" then I let them sit for upwards of a month. If after a month it still isn't good... I just tend to forget about it after that.

 

[67Tele]

My experience has been, there's no substitute for time.

Especially with NETs. I have two cigar liquids that after a 12 week steep and mixing in July they are just now developing their flavor. It was worth the wait though.