Hi gang. Some of u may know me from the BWB fanboy thread. Which means I am by no means new to RY4 and Ejokers Blend. I was hoping though that you wouldn't mind if I tossed in my 2 cents.
First of all, and I know you have read this before but taste is a very subjective and individual thing. One need only look at the proliferation of juice vendors and flavors to know this be true. That said, the bottom line is, vape it when it tastes best to you.
Now that I have that disclaimer out of the way, let's talk about steeping (or aging or whatever u prefer to call it). It's simply the "process" of letting your juice mature. Why is this necessary? Well, in a lot of cases it isn't. Steeping seems to be a bigger issue when dealing with "real" tobacco flavors. Here the word "real" means that the tobacco was extracted in some way, as opposed to using a flavourart or other brand of flavoring. Steeping also seems to help the organic juices whether they are tobacco flavors or not. The idea behind steeping is this: tobacco flavors are more complex and need a bit of time to mature to peak flavor. Ok so what is peak flavor? Or, more to the point, when is peak flavor? Unfortunately this is not an easy question to answer. It now starts coming down to individual taste preferences again. As I was reading posts in this thread I see a number of responses that range from 2 weeks to a month. I agree that most juices will reach maturity in that timeframe.
That said I have done some fun experiments with long term aging with some very nice results. So far the longest I have managed to keep a batch of RY4 around is 18 months. And yes, it does continue to change over that much time. An 18 month old bottle of RY4 will pretty much kick u on the teeth with tobacco flavor up front. On exhale u finally get back some of that sweetness. I found my 12 month old bottle to be just about perfect for me. Tons of upfront tobacco but still a balance with the sweetness that was lost by 18 months. Is it really necessary to horse juice this long? Of course not. Is it fun to experiment? Yup! It sure is.
To summarize this somewhat lengthy post: 1) steeping is more important for tobaccos/organic juices than other flavors. 2) length of time to steep is an entirely individual subjective issue. When it tastes good to you, vape it!
3) if you have a good stash of juice, set one aside, have fun experimenting. It's your hobby as well as your habit, may as well enjoy it to the fullest!
First of all, and I know you have read this before but taste is a very subjective and individual thing. One need only look at the proliferation of juice vendors and flavors to know this be true. That said, the bottom line is, vape it when it tastes best to you.
Now that I have that disclaimer out of the way, let's talk about steeping (or aging or whatever u prefer to call it). It's simply the "process" of letting your juice mature. Why is this necessary? Well, in a lot of cases it isn't. Steeping seems to be a bigger issue when dealing with "real" tobacco flavors. Here the word "real" means that the tobacco was extracted in some way, as opposed to using a flavourart or other brand of flavoring. Steeping also seems to help the organic juices whether they are tobacco flavors or not. The idea behind steeping is this: tobacco flavors are more complex and need a bit of time to mature to peak flavor. Ok so what is peak flavor? Or, more to the point, when is peak flavor? Unfortunately this is not an easy question to answer. It now starts coming down to individual taste preferences again. As I was reading posts in this thread I see a number of responses that range from 2 weeks to a month. I agree that most juices will reach maturity in that timeframe.
That said I have done some fun experiments with long term aging with some very nice results. So far the longest I have managed to keep a batch of RY4 around is 18 months. And yes, it does continue to change over that much time. An 18 month old bottle of RY4 will pretty much kick u on the teeth with tobacco flavor up front. On exhale u finally get back some of that sweetness. I found my 12 month old bottle to be just about perfect for me. Tons of upfront tobacco but still a balance with the sweetness that was lost by 18 months. Is it really necessary to horse juice this long? Of course not. Is it fun to experiment? Yup! It sure is.
To summarize this somewhat lengthy post: 1) steeping is more important for tobaccos/organic juices than other flavors. 2) length of time to steep is an entirely individual subjective issue. When it tastes good to you, vape it!
3) if you have a good stash of juice, set one aside, have fun experimenting. It's your hobby as well as your habit, may as well enjoy it to the fullest!
