Every wonder what vaping 6-year-old liquid is like?

[ThunderPumpkin]

I was recently planning on quitting vaping, so I let my supply of e-liquid slowly run out. And then, when I was down to a bottle or two, I changed my mind and ordered some more of my old standby for the last five or so years, Goodejuice's RY4.

But I live outside the US, so shipping can take a long time. And to make matters worse, customs struck for the first time ever, and demanded a prescription for my e-liquid. I actually got the prescription and sent it in, and... that was three months ago. Seems my order is stuck in limbo.

Meanwhile... gotta vape! So I happened upon a box with old e-juices that I couldn't bring myself to throw away, but which I hadn't wanted to vape since finding my gold standard daily juice.

I had purchased them all in late 2013.

So... 6-year-old e-juice! Not appealing, but better than nicotine withdrawal, and way better than smoking again.

My findings?

None of the e-juices were appreciably darker than they were after the first 6-12 months I had them. It seems that darkening process (perhaps oxidation) happens once, fairly early on (by my standards, at least), and then stops.

None of them were noticably thicker or gooeyer than they had been either.

So I started vaping them. They included juices from Ahlusion (Caramel Pear, Vanilla Wildwood, Maple Wildwood, Ginger Apple Tea and some others), Goodejuice (RY4, Patriot Tobacco, Apple Shisha), Alien Visions (Chocolate Mint, PG Chai, Strawberry Shortcake) and Mt Baker Vapor (scads of fruity things).

And much to my surprise, they were all pretty much as I remembered them from years ago.

The Goodejuice RY4 was still marvellous, while their Apple Shisha was okay and their Patriot Tobacco struck me as unpleasant -- just as in 2013.

I actually took a great liking to the Alien Visions Chocolate Mint and Strawberry Shortcake, even wondering why I hadn't kept vaping them long ago. PG Chai continued to be... odd.

The Ahlusion juices still had an indescribable taste that I found unpleasant both then and now, though now they also coated my tongue with what felt like a sickly sweet layer of oil -- so much so that they made we want to brush my tongue.

And Mt. Baker Vapor... well, that stuff is indestructable. And most of their juices don't even seem to darken with age. It's the same middle-brow stuff I started off on. A working man's e-juice.

Finally, not one of these juices seemed to have lost their throat hit at all. Alien Visions Strawberry was weak in this department, but I remember it being weak back then, too.

So if there's a moral to this story, it's don't throw out your old juices! They'll be just fine. Hell, maybe your kids will be able to vape them one day.

 

[Fredman1]

Now that is very interesting. I've often wondered how long is to long as I have some in the stash that's approaching 3 yrs and is still fine. Good to know that 6 yrs still isn't to long....

 

[vaper1960]

Just curious... about what temperature was the room there were stored at (highest/lowest)? The room I keep my juices in gets very hot in the summer (often use a "swamp" cooler and most goes to other rooms... and the sun hits the wall in that room) The only issues I had were juices I got from a subscription service (who knows how old they were already) Turned dark and flavor went to crap. Now that the weather is nice and cold, no issues at all.

 

[Blitzdonlife]

I have flavors that stood the test of time like that. Not pre-mixed juice, but it's good to know your juices have worked in the long-term. If it works that far south of here, that is a positive indication it will work here as well.

 

[Ricky Vapes]

Depend on the juice for sure . Nicotine content as well. Nicotine degrades over time and may make a 6 mg only hit you like a 3 mg juice. But it will probably be harsher than the usual 6mg. Less nicotine hit with more throat burn

I remember buying some naked Lava flow which I love and it was also the first flavour I ever vaped . I tasted it at home in my RDA (3mg) and the stuff was so harsh I couldn’t hardly vape it. It was gross and nothing like I remembered. I eventually seen it was 3 years old and the expiry date was for 2 years. I made a complaint to the shop and was told to come in and exchange it.

I got there and it turns out it was the owners son who messaged me . They both run the shop and the dad was there telling me his son shouldn’t have said that because Juice doesn’t go bad it’s like a fine wine only gets better with age. He said it’s presteeped you should be thanking us considering some pay more for pre steeped juices.

Needless to say I never went back and wrote a nasty review. They were so arrogant they couldn’t believe something may be off with that expired juice.

 

[ThunderPumpkin]

Just curious... about what temperature was the room there were stored at (highest/lowest)?

The were stored in the dark the whole time, that much I can say. But they weren't protected from the temperature extremes -- in the summer, 80-90º is normal. And in the winter, it got down to maybe 45º.

 

[ThunderPumpkin]

Depend on the juice for sure . Nicotine content as well. Nicotine degrades over time and may make a 6 mg only hit you like a 3 mg juice. But it will probably be harsher than the usual 6mg. Less nicotine hit with more throat burn

I can't swear that my recollections of how the juices were back then are 100% accurate, but none of these juices were lacking in the nicotine department. They were all 24mg by the way. I've accidentally vaped 18mg and 12mg juices, and I notice immediately. Also, none of the juices were harsher than they used to be.

I'm no chemist, but I'd imagine that nicotine would have to actually break down for what you're saying to happen. And I'd expect that to alter the taste and perhaps color significantly. But who knows. The proof is in the pudding, as they say, and these juices kept my cravings at bay.

[/QUOTE]...the dad was there telling me his son shouldn’t have said that because Juice doesn’t go bad it’s like a fine wine only gets better with age.[/QUOTE]

While I definitely wouldn't say these e-juices got better after six years, they didn't get worse, either.

 

[ThunderPumpkin]

Just curious... about what temperature was the room there were stored at (highest/lowest)?

As an addendum: I just remembered that in my desperation I vaped two bottles of Goodejuice RY4 that had been in my glove compartment for the last two years. So they weren't as old as the other juices, but they had been constantly exposed to temperatures of maybe 110º or 120º for a good part of the year.

They were indistinguishable from the six-year-old juices, and only differed from the last new juices I had in their color (darker).

 

[Ricky Vapes]

Yea that’s cool. I guess it does depend on the juice. But there are reports of others having the same experience as me with expired juice. It is possible for them to go bad. I mean I got a juice that’s been sitting in my dark cupboard here in my room for Mabye a year and a half. It smells almost like mold or something. Just the smell made me gag. This was an okay juice but just got put to the side when I found my regulars. It used to smell really good but just was really sweet. Now it smells like a.s.s. And is much darker in colour So Mabye it has something to do with how much sweetener is used as well. Along with how it was stored the temperature etc. I suppose sitting in my room was constant room temperature or slight warmth. No effect from outside cold etc.

So just because you have had different experiences doesn’t mean that it’s not possible for other e juice to go bad and get harsher / break down over time. I know I’m not crazy I can see juice some get much darker in only a few months period while others stay the same .

Just google expired Ejuice and see for yourself.

 

[sonicbomb]

6 years is the correct steeping time for those juices it would seem.

 

[Marper]

Nic has a lot to do with it,I got this lot for 10 uk ,no nicotine, just a few weeks out of date, all are unopened and most are clear

 

[Marper]

All are 80/20 or 70/ 30,dinner lady,nasty juice, element, ect,vaping banana nut by element right now, it's so good, I just added some nic to it to bring it to 3 maybe 4 mg

 

[opal]

I have to agree with mt baker's juice... they'll be carbon dating it centuries from now. I have some from 2012 - same color as when it arrived... some 6mg.. some 12 - turns out I didn't have the flavor profile I thought I would... so the tobacco flavors never got used after the first go round.. menthol still sitting there and I am not wild about fruit flavors either. EC Blends flavor - Japanese plum.. so wretched then I wouldn't try it again.. but it is the same color it was ages ago.

 

[jdrewry]

The oldest juices I have are about 3 years old--I keep them in a small fridge, at about 45 degrees. Some have been great; others hadn't aged well at all. A lot depends on who's making it, and the types of ingredients they use, I guess...

 

[Archane]

I've bought discount juices from some vendors in the past that were past their expiring date and got them cheap. Some were way past the date but tasted just fine. I think with many juices it's not the flavors that go bad, it's just the nicotine is weaker. Not a big deal really if you enjoy the flavor.

 

[DaveP]

I have vendor juices in the closet that are several years old. I've vaped unflavored for over two years and mixed my own flavored juices before that, but there are some of my creations and some vendor juices in a box in the closet that I would try. It's definitely worth trying. If it tastes right, then vape it.

A bridgeless dripper atty would be the best tool to vape something you just want to sample. You get an idea of the flavor and then wash out the atty and try another.

What is a bridgeless atomizer, and is it better?