Old or Steeped

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edyle

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Whats your opinion on how old juice gets before it is no longer well steeped, but is just plain old. I received a couple of bottles today that are dated about a year ago and it got me wondering.

plastic or glass bottle?


if you had a dripper , you'd just try some.
 

Debadoo

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Hope you got it from someone else and not a vendor. I would say if it looks and smells ok, then it's probably fine. Most say it's good for 1-2 years. Here's a video about juice that has really gone bad. Not saying it wouldn't be bad BEFORE this point in some cases, but this is definitely bad.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwGXX8yz8rs
 
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93gc40

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I don't buy into 'steeping' unless the vendor used a lot of alcohol which needs to evaporate off. Letting juice sit it isn't going to get ingredients which haven't been mixed properly to 'marry'. They will just settle. Shaking seems to be more appropriate...


UM steepingf, ageing or whatever you call it isn't about mixing INGREDIENTS, it's about venting solvents and allowing FLAVORS to marry and mature.
 

ckquatt

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I don't buy into 'steeping' unless the vendor used a lot of alcohol which needs to evaporate off. Letting juice sit it isn't going to get ingredients which haven't been mixed properly to 'marry'. They will just settle. Shaking seems to be more appropriate...

Go buy a bottle of "The Virus". Try it on day 1, 10, 20, etc, then try it again after 60 days. Come back with your results. We'll wait.
 

CloudZ

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Go buy a bottle of "The Virus". Try it on day 1, 10, 20, etc, then try it again after 60 days. Come back with your results. We'll wait.
I've done this. IMO it is done improving by day 10. By day 60 or so it has gotten really dark and starts gunking coils really bad. That's just my experience... Maybe my storage conditions aren't ideal but I keep all my juice in the closet in my bedroom. That said, the Virus is an excellent vape from the 2nd week to the 8th week or so.
 

ckquatt

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I've done this. IMO it is done improving by day 10. By day 60 or so it has gotten really dark and starts gunking coils really bad. That's just my experience... Maybe my storage conditions aren't ideal but I keep all my juice in the closet in my bedroom. That said, the Virus is an excellent vape from the 2nd week to the 8th week or so.

Regardless of the coil gunking after day whatever, you proved my point. I was using 60 as a random even end number. The point was it noticeably changes after letting sit to age, and not "settling of improperly mixed ingredients" like Steve says...
 

ckquatt

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I'd rather buy from vendors who know how to make e-liquid which is ready to vape...

They're all "ready to vape" straight out of the mail, but get better with age. I bet when you're dining in Prague in your $1000 restaurants you'd want to have a 30 year old bottle of wine with your meal. Or do you ask your waiter for a bottle from a wine maker that's bottled "ready to drink". Bet you'd get some funny looks if you did... Because those other guys apparently don't know how to make wine.
 
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CloudZ

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Regardless of the coil gunking after day whatever, you proved my point. I was using 60 as a random even end number. The point was it noticeably changes after letting sit to age, and not "settling of improperly mixed ingredients" like Steve says...
Yep, I agree it changes. I don't understand why people rave about how much better old juice is compared to stuff at the 2ish week mark, to me it has always been about the same or much darker and gunky. I will accept that everyone has their preference, they really enjoy their thoroughly aged juice, and I'm happy to leave it at that :). It's just to me it has never been "OMG way better" after 2+ months, and often its been "OMG yuck" and I begrudgingly vape my way through the rest of the bottle, thinking "they say this is good... they say this is better".

Sorry, just my opinion. It is completely wrong to you dedicated steepers (agers) out there.
 

ckquatt

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Yep, I agree it changes. I don't understand why people rave about how much better old juice is compared to stuff at the 2ish week mark, to me it has always been about the same or much darker and gunky. I will accept that everyone has their preference, they really enjoy their thoroughly aged juice, and I'm happy to leave it at that :). It's just to me it has never been "OMG way better" after 2+ months, and often its been "OMG yuck" and I begrudgingly vape my way through the rest of the bottle, thinking "they say this is good... they say this is better".

Sorry, just my opinion. It is completely wrong to you dedicated steepers (agers) out there.

LOL! I'm in agreement with you, not arguing. Steve as usual, never gets why anybody does what they do if it's not something he does already.

I was using Virus as an example of fresh from the mail it tastes one way and with the benefit of some time it changes. Drastically enough that you can tell the difference. That it's not the result of "poor vendor mixing" and more to do with allowing an eliquid to "mature" so to speak. To be honest with you their stuff is just as good with a year on it as far as flavor goes. Do I have to rewick my Odin every 30 minutes? Sure! But hey its just KGD, right! LOL!

And I know all about some that don't benefit from aging. Theres one vendor that I LOVE that does NOT age well! If you buy their stuff, vape it up in a month or two because WOW! It was terrible!!!

No worries CloudZ!
 

CloudZ

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No worries CloudZ!
Yeah, same to you :). I probably didn't have to go into so much detail about my personal thoughts about aging juice, but I just wanted to put it out there for the sake of discussion.

Oh yeah, and the Virus wasn't a juice that necessarily tasted bad after 2 months, but nothing tastes quite right after it gunks your coil. The transition from "starting to gunk" to "fully carbonized flavor", then the frequent rewicking, is the begrudging part.

As for what exactly happens during the aging process is the mystery to me and it might vary depending on the components of the mixture. I know the nicotine and flavorings oxidize to some extent, and maybe the "magic" flavor changes come from slow chemical reactions between flavor molecules. No idea what those reactions are. I think the PG and VG themselves are pretty stable and don't change much. All I know is that from my personal experience is that only one juice I've ever vaped out of many (must be over 100 by now) actually continued to get better the longer I let it sit. Everything else that actually became good, stayed at about the same level of good after only couple weeks. Oddly enough, that one juice was the cheap RY4 from ECBlend. It started off as straight vanilla, then eventually became rich caramel tobacco with a noticeable hint of vanilla. My experience differs from others, and everyone should just do whatever makes them happy as long as it isn't cigarettes.

Never mind me, just bored (procrastinating other things) and rambling now...
 
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