Does Nicotine change how juice steeps?

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Damios

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Mar 27, 2014
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Los Angeles
I have recently been making my own juice using Capella's flavorings but have yet to add any nicotine to my batches. I am trying to get the taste right before I use what little nicotine I have.

My question is this. If I add end up adding the nicotine to later batches, after I have perfected my flavor without it, will it change how the juice steeps and ultimately tastes?

Just for reference I steep using a crock pot at 150 degrees for 3-4 hours and then bottle the juice up and leave it to sit for a couple days to a week.

I have heard that the Nicotine can add a peppery taste, but that's not what I'm getting at.

What I'm wondering is if the nicotine can chemically alter how the flavors and VG interact? Sort of indirectly changing the taste.

Can I pretty much get my recipes down and add the nicotine to later batches once I have it all figured out? Or do I have to worry that it may change how everything tastes?
 

we2rcool

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I have recently been making my own juice using Capella's flavorings but have yet to add any nicotine to my batches. I am trying to get the taste right before I use what little nicotine I have.

My question is this. If I add end up adding the nicotine to later batches, after I have perfected my flavor without it, will it change how the juice steeps and ultimately tastes?

Just for reference I steep using a crock pot at 150 degrees for 3-4 hours and then bottle the juice up and leave it to sit for a couple days to a week.

I have heard that the Nicotine can add a peppery taste, but that's not what I'm getting at.

What I'm wondering is if the nicotine can chemically alter how the flavors and VG interact? Sort of indirectly changing the taste.

Can I pretty much get my recipes down and add the nicotine to later batches once I have it all figured out? Or do I have to worry that it may change how everything tastes?

That depends entirely upon you, your taste-buddies and your ability to discern flavor nuances.

We learned early on we couldn't make test batches with 0 nic and then expect them to taste the same after adding nic...and the difference was enough to cause us to alter percentages & recipes. Yet there are lots of people that are just fine with doing the zero nic test batches. 'Tis one of the reasons we're sold on Nude Nic - it comes the closest to be tasteless.

We discern that the nic plays a major part in the steeping process, too. But that's nothing we can claim as "solid truth", just something we've noticed over the months.
 

Damios

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Mar 27, 2014
37
2
Los Angeles
That depends entirely upon you, your taste-buddies and your ability to discern flavor nuances.

We learned early on we couldn't make test batches with 0 nic and then expect them to taste the same after adding nic...and the difference was enough to cause us to alter percentages & recipes. Yet there are lots of people that are just fine with doing the zero nic test batches. 'Tis one of the reasons we're sold on Nude Nic - it comes the closest to be tasteless.

We discern that the nic plays a major part in the steeping process, too. But that's nothing we can claim as "solid truth", just something we've noticed over the months.

I'm sure you haven't had a chance to try every nicotine base that's out there but have you had any experience with the nicotine bases from EJuice4U? Because that is where I got mine from.

Ya the main reason I'm wondering is because for me, the nicotine seems to add a lot to the presence of flavor in juices I have tried. It's hard to explain, because I don't think the nicotine necessarily tastes like much of anything, but it definitely causes you to pay less attention to the flavor itself and in a way bolsters it to seem more powerful.

I haven't had a chance yet to see what it does to my own batches but I have a feeling it will definitely change them in some way.
 

patkin

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Nic oxidizes as it ages so the color will deepen proportional to the amount in the juice. I know you said you want to save "what little" you have but really you should mix a batch of nic base in the strength you vape with no flavoring so you can see what it tastes like. That should answer how much it will change the juice when added. It wouldn't be a loss for me as I like the way my base tastes without flavoring but then I'm a tobacco person though I can't imagine anyone finding the taste objectionable and, if so, probably should use a different nic vendor. But mine just tastes like a light smoke to me with more or less slight sweetness depending on how much VG I use. Try mixing a small amount so you can taste what the nic does and if you don't like vaping it plain, then just add a few drops of one flavoring you can trust.. like peach maybe or menthol if you like that.

Ooops.. first sentence qualifying... depending on the storage/steeping conditions.
 
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we2rcool

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Nic oxidizes as it ages so the color will deepen proportional to the amount in the juice. I know you said you want to save "what little" you have but really you should mix a batch of nic base in the strength you vape with no flavoring so you can see what it tastes like. That should answer how much it will change the juice when added. It wouldn't be a loss for me as I like the way my base tastes without flavoring but then I'm a tobacco person though I can't imagine anyone finding the taste objectionable and, if so, probably should use a different nic vendor. But mine just tastes like a light smoke to me with more or less slight sweetness depending on how much VG I use. Try mixing a small amount so you can taste what the nic does and if you don't like vaping it plain, then just add a few drops of one flavoring you can trust.. like peach maybe or menthol if you like that.

Ooops.. first sentence qualifying... depending on the storage/steeping conditions.

Agree! It won't be a 'waste' to mix up a batch of unflavored - it's something everybody should do to test their pg, vg, & nic anyway.

We're vaping right now at 10% (edit - OOPS, make that 10mg/ml) - so we keep a quart jar of our base w/nic mixed in the 'fridge. We vape that occasionally as unflavored, and we use it for any mix that totals 8%-10% flavoring or less. That makes it SO much easier on 'mixing days' (not having to measure nic & base individually) - and since the nic percentage is not thrown off that much by less than 10% flavoring (and since our goal is to 'quit smokin' - ie, stop being addicted to anything)...having a bit less than 10% nic in our juices makes it easier to make the next cut in percentage.

The taste is not objectionable - it couldn't be compared to stinkies! However, there are some flavors it 'goes with' better than others...and vaping unflavored and 'getting to know it' is very beneficial for deciding how to weight the various flavors in your recipes.

Great quote, patkin!
 
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Damios

Full Member
Mar 27, 2014
37
2
Los Angeles
Thanks for catchin' that (I just changed it) - it's a leftover from the incorrect phraseology we learned when we first started vaping).

Haha I was gonna say! Sounds good though, I will have to dilute my base and keep it handy then so I can try a few things out. Im anxious to see what kind of difference it will make.
 

Damios

Full Member
Mar 27, 2014
37
2
Los Angeles
That depends entirely upon you, your taste-buddies and your ability to discern flavor nuances.

We learned early on we couldn't make test batches with 0 nic and then expect them to taste the same after adding nic...and the difference was enough to cause us to alter percentages & recipes. Yet there are lots of people that are just fine with doing the zero nic test batches. 'Tis one of the reasons we're sold on Nude Nic - it comes the closest to be tasteless.

We discern that the nic plays a major part in the steeping process, too. But that's nothing we can claim as "solid truth", just something we've noticed over the months.

So after you added the nicotine to your batches, did you generally have to add more flavor (I heard nicotine can dull the flavor over time) or did you cut some of the flavor away?

Or did it kind of vary from recipe to recipe?
 

we2rcool

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So after you added the nicotine to your batches, did you generally have to add more flavor (I heard nicotine can dull the flavor over time) or did you cut some of the flavor away?

Or did it kind of vary from recipe to recipe?

Oops-delay - didn't see this 'till just now.

To us, the nic has a flavor (albeit, slight) that affects the final flavor. The more flavors used (or the higher the percentage), the less the nic is noticed. To us, it just made sense to mix our testers 'with nic' so that we'd have no surprises in our final mixes/decisions.

Edit: we go for nic that's as 'unflavored' as possible. We'd used ECX primarily and then found Nude Nic (ECX has now changed and the posts/reports are not good). WZL is highly recommended, so we tried that, too. It seemed very strongly flavored to us - but it's very good for tobacco recipes. So we mix all our tobaccos (trial/test size and final mixes) with the WZL lab nic, and everything else gets the Nude Nic.
 
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