e liquid steeping method

[michael69]

sorry if this has been asked many times before, but I can't seem to find an answer.....

what do you do? just put the bottle somewhere for a week or two or longer? remove the cap? decant the whole thing.....?

People are always mentioning steeping, and I'm not sure how to do it!

Thanks,

Paul

 

[SadPanda]

I personally just let the juice mellow in the bottle for a week or so in a nice cool, dark area. Shaking it up once or twice a day or so doesn't hurt as well. Usually brings out the full flavor in a week or two using this method for me.

 

[rrayda]

Put it in a closet and forget about it for a couple of weeks. The only hard part is the forgetting about it....

 

[leftfeild]

Steeping is a bit of catch 22. If you're buying eliquid that's made fresh it can taste and smell perfumey, in which case just leave it somewhere cool for a week or two until it loses that smell/taste, but leave the lid on. From some suppliers eliquids aren't made fresh and they've been sitting in a warehouse or have been shipped from china or somewhere before they got to you so consider it well steeped.

Rule of thumb; if it tastes nice from day one vape it from day one, but if it doesn't taste nice give it a week or two and if it still doesn't taste nice it never will.

Steeping may help for certain flavours, certain mixes, one certain bottle and for others it might do nothing but make it taste flat or just do nothing at all.

 

[michael69]

thanks, so steeping is merely leaving it for while? nothing more to it than "not vaping" it...?

 

[mikespiked]

thanks, so steeping is merely leaving it for while? nothing more to it than "not vaping" it...?

Exactly... Some people have different methods, but that is the basic idea of it.

 

[michael69]

so, I've been reading up a bit here on ECF;seems to be quite a difference of opinions.... re leaving the cap on/off for one; people seem to have quite strong views on this, can somebody give me some pros and cons about whether the cap should be removed or not?

 

[michael69]

Whiskey from backwoods brew recommends NOT removing the cap (I guess she should know....) because it causes oxidization, which I would imagine compromises the flavour.
anybody leave the caps off when steeping/resting their juices?

 

[mikespiked]

People that use the "leave cap off" method would probably say that it allows the old air in the bottle to be recycled with new air or something to that extent. I would say that leaving the cap off is just causing the eliquid to degrade quicker. Whether or not you leave the cap off the liquid will always get a little darker.

 

[Mindfield]

I've heard a couple of people mention leaving in warm, heated water (I guess in a glass bottle) for a length of time to speed the steeping process. Any opinions on that?

 

[MaxUT]

I'd imagine that leaving the cap off could help in the following situations:
-the juice has a perfumey taste, and the air circulation could help to get rid of the more volatile molecules
-the juice has too much alcohol and needs to have it evaporated off

Pouring the juice out into a shallow dish and heating it a bit would accomplish this much faster.

 

[MaxUT]

I've heard a couple of people mention leaving in warm, heated water (I guess in a glass bottle) for a length of time to speed the steeping process. Any opinions on that?

Heating thins the juice and increases convection currents within it, speeding the mixing rate.

 

[seantex]

there is another guy that microwaves it in a glass bottle. Works for some liquids. Not so much for others

 

[michael69]

seems like there's no definitive answer to this... maybe someone some do a survey at some point! like how many just leave with cap on, how many take cap off, how many use "extra" measures like heating etc......

ok... I'll go start a poll myself!

 

[chingbo]

I tried to put my bottle of 5ml "adam's apple" (like an apple-mint i found off youtube)
into my teacup with strainer and let it sit and 'steep' in the hot water for a good 15 minutes, twice

I put 70% VG, but after that process it seemed more viscous, like PG.. iunno if it really did anything.

I have 2 other bottles that Im trying to shake only once a day and leave it in my sock drawer..

 

[zerominusone]

Contact the vendor. They'll tell you if their juice needs to be steeped or not. VaporBomb juices are made to order and they tell you to let 'em steep for a while. Johnson Creek juices on the other hand are pre-steeped. They told me that they let their juices sit for 10 days before selling them. Quick nic Juice is made-to-order and they also recommend that you let their juices steep for a while for the flavors to blend/mature. When I get juices from made-to-order vendors in the US, I'll take the caps off (screw cap and drip top) and let 'em sit in a dark closet for 24 hrs., then cap 'em, shake 'em, and let 'em sit in the dark closet for 7 days, then shake and vape.

EDIT: Leaving the cap off lets oxygen and fresh air to get to the juice. When oxygen and nicotine meet, they turn the juice brown. So taking the cap off will make your juice darker.