Steeping, can we be honest?

[Lethalp]

Ok I know the whole steeping debate has gone on and on. Maybe I missed it some place?
I see ppl saying how great their juices are "out of the mail" or fresh made and I have to ask, is that true?
There has been at least 2 vendors in the past 8 months I have ordered from and honestly i found the liquid UN vapeable.
Hurricane vapors, i bought back in September after the spinfuel review. I vaped it after i got it, didn't like any of the 3 so I re capped and set them aside. A couple weeks ago I got the galleta dulce out, have it a shake and dripped. Hey, this was pretty good! It tasted like choc ice cream. I have now vaped the whole 15 and was thinking I wanted more but....6 month steep?? Am I nuts?

I see that some of you who vape tobacco are willing to steep for long times, sometimes months. I also know that the custard and vanilla needs a long steep, depending on the personal tastes of the vaper.
How long are u willing to wait?
And what do u vape for months while u do?

I will do this steeping if I have to, but I don't have the back log to start.
And the reason I said be honest, is because I know there is no way it can be that good without it. So either its been steeped and now loved or, the truth is being s t r e t c h e d

 

[Alac]

I think what you are asking depends on what point on the yummy scale you place the "unvapeable" line.

"This is great, I'm never gon'na vape anything else" (highst level, few have found this level e-liquid).
"I can vape this for days easily"
I'll go out of my way to order this
I'll pick this up if I'm getting something else from that vendor.
I'll finish it, but not again, unless its free.
I'll finish it because I don't like wasting money.
Just don't really like it, sounded better then it really is.
Eh, I'd rather not vape this.
OMG, people thought this was good? I'm not hungry any more.

For me, unvapeable line is just above the "OMG, people thought...." for those liquids, no amount of steeping will help.

If your unvapeable line is say just above "Just don't really like it, sounded better then it really is", steeping might help. there it might raise the bars to " I'll pick this up if I'm getting something else from that vendor."

 

[Lethalp]

You are right alac, maybe that was the wrong way to say unvapeable
Unvapeable to me may not be nasty juice. Actually I may not have many juices that are truly unvapeable to your standard. Rather not what I was hoping for or not add good as it has been hyped.
Unvapeable is a juice that if someone runs off with it, or it disappears, I would proli not notice or mind.
I have never put juices in the classys, just because I don't want to pass juice along I don't like, I figure that's not right. I'd rather give it.
Besides I also use things like sweetener or tart and sour to save a juice.

 

[Lethalp]

How long are u willing to steep?

 

[Alac]

I have liquids that have been steeping for over a month, but its just that I haven't gotten to them yet and I bought them on a whim so I'm in no hurry.

When its something I really want, a one week wait time on juices is standard, then maybe place it in my box for another month if I think it may help. After one month, I'd toss it if its still nasty. After a month, there isn't going to be much benefit anymore.
So, at least a week and up to one month.

 

[Spazmelda]

From what I'm reading in your post, you don't really know for sure if it took 6 months. Looks like somewhere between fresh and 6 months would be more accurate? It might have been only needed a week. . Now you have to order more to find out!

 

[AmandaD]

Stick it in a crockpt at 150 degrees for 4 hours You may have to leave it a couple of days to breathe after this, but it's an instant steep for juices that need it.

 

[Stosh]

How long are u willing to steep?

I have a some that have been steeping for about 3 years, one is very much better, the others, not so much....

 

[jdrewry]

How long are u willing to steep?

Depends on the vendor, and the juice.

 

[Lethalp]

Ok, do you steep every juice or do u try them all then decide to steep.
I see what u are saying spazz, I did try it one other time in that 6 month time frame. Not sure when because I didn't expect much. I think I read another review of it that said it was good. When I vaped it at the 6 month mark it was because I was debating throwing it out so I could use the glass bottle, lol..hurricane has some nice glass, fyi. Then I was like damn that's pretty good! I kid u not it tastes like melted chocolate ice cream. You know, the last couple spoonfuls in the bowl? It was heavenly.....
Now its gone.....
So if I order another bottle it may be ready by Thanksgiving??? Believe it or not I am considering it. Sometimes I think we vapers are a bit looney

 

[HoseGarden]

i posted this in another thread the other day....

the best way to steep is to try your juice as soon as it arrives!!

if its good....great

if its ok...good

if it sucks....let it steep

if it still sucks...steeping sucks

one aspect of steeping which i find isnt mentioned nearly as often as it should be.....steeping is not always for the juice itself. sometimes leaving your juice alone for a few weeks will actually change your expectations of the juice and you will approach it with more of a "blank canvas" type of mentality. steeping allows the vaper a more objective view of the liquid in question. And that, my friend, is the real magic of steeping!

 

[patkin]

My ADV and some other juices are good out of the mailbox which doesn't mean its not steeped at all... it takes time to ship it and arrive here. Now, if a juice tastes bad... like of chemicals or perfume... in my experience, no amount of steeping is going to change that. If alcohol is the problem, with the lid off it may evaporate. But any complex juice that tastes good even is going to change over time like anything else that's flavored including food or even scented as with colognes. With juice, you may like that change and you may not so its not necessarily a good thing. Some notes will fade or die off completely while others strengthen so what you like best is there out of the mail and a month later gone ... yeh, vape it up and don't try the various methods of accelerating a steep. Its true that tobacco flavors usually take time to develop but that doesn't mean there are none that taste good to some people, like myself, when they're young.. especially if they're blends. Its kind of like wine... I like Beaujolais which drunk young but also a vintage year Merlot. I vape a complex tobacco and have to vape my ADV at least in a month or what I enjoy so much about it will be gone. I still like what's left but not as much. So, summarizing... any kind of liquid that's flavored or scented, ejuice or another product that's moist or liquid, is going to change over time. That may mean, subjectively, better for some and not for others.

 

[wonkeypickle]

sometimes leaving your juice alone for a few weeks will actually change your expectations of the juice and you will approach it with more of a "blank canvas" type of mentality. steeping allows the vaper a more objective view of the liquid in question. And that, my friend, is the real magic of steeping!

probably the most important thing you're gonna read in this thread.


i have juices of various ages, steeping seems to burp off the perfume that builds up after it's made, that's about it for me.

 

[Beast_Biter]

I like to steep all my juices in a warm bath...with scented candles...and some Enya on softly in the background. Sometimes my juice will still end up tasting like crap but at least it is clean and very relaxed.

 

[lasttango]

I never steep... I really don't - nothing has ever tasted good later if it tasted bad now... to me anyway... in fact, I enjoy how the profile changes as I vape it over weeks... but I think it's fairly overrated and people pay entirely too much attention to steeping.

With that said, there really are some juices that really change - but they never go from bad to good for me... maybe from bad to worse or worse to better... but nothing drastic.

some people swear by it and it really makes a difference for them... and I think there's enough info out there to be able to predict if what you are buying requires steeping...

Last point, sometimes we change as much as the liquids... what tastes bad now may taste better months from now because of us... not the juice.

 

[freeatlast!]

I don't steep either, and have juices that are 6 months+ old, others that are a matter of days old....I do think the flavors deepen over time but I have not done a systematic study at all. I have a handful of faves, and then all the rest. Some of the "rest" I didn't much like at first, or couldn't taste well, and think those have become better with time . But as others have said, sometimes the passage of time has changed what I like or how I experience it, I'm pretty sure, so it's not always just steepage.

 

[jonhall2]

for me steeping happens. just because i couldn't possibly vape all the juice i have in 6mos./year? i have noticed vanillas don't age well and can turn to caramel. also, i never heat a finished liquid that contains nicotine. it will break down. 10mg with my setups keeps me satisfied enough not to smoke. nic is the most important element of my juice and justly protected from exposure to heat. i do use heat to help blend pg/vg base in an ultrasonic cleaner. once i add flavoring/nic to base i use the UC cold to blend and steep at warp speed. ready to vape after two 8min. cycles and better after 24hr. rest. leave the steeping to tea bags.

 

[GrandSam]

Don't stress yourself with the whole "Steep for X amount of days" junk. It seems like someone tried it, found that it worked, posted it, and everyone hoped on the bandwagon. This is what I do:
-Order the juice and wait until it arrives
-Once it arrived, try all of the new juices.
A. It tastes bad, decent, not the greatest, good, but could be better - See next step
B. This is exactly what I wanted, tastes amazing, I'm pretty sure this is steeped - Begin vaping it, or let it sit for an extra 48 hours, just to make sure...this is your call.
-A cont...: Set the juice aside, forget about it, vape your other juices
-Check on juice every day/every few days (again, this is your call to make)
Once it reaches the point where you want it, vape it.

In sum? Get juice, taste it, if good - vape, if bad - steep until good, then vape.

 

[GrizzlyAdam]

Oh I will throw my 2 cents in... I try all my juices right out of the mailbox, generally they have at minimum 3-5 day steep on them just from shipping. (We all know how fun USPS is when it comes to shipping...) Generally I find most are good, in the 9 months I have been vaping only a few went right into the trash bin. If you feel there could be more flavor or they flavor is off, let it steep. I feel all my juices get better over time, not that they taste better, or they get stronger, they just seem to "smooth out" Is the best I could describe it. They just seem to blend all together and you get all the subtible little hints of other td.hings you might not taste right off the bat Any tobacco, true tobacco your NETS stuff that has been extracted from tobacco leaves themselves always seem to need time, some are good right out of the mailbox but I find these the long you can let them sit the better and more true to their flavor they get. Thats not to say they are not good right off the bat either, they are, but they flavor get better the longer they wait, like a fine wine (I hate that analogy it gets way over used in the vape world) but its about they only way I can really explain it. Generally I find the stuff I dont like is usually the sample stuff I get, its just not my kind of vape that I like. Im kinda picky, in a way. My juice has to have good flavor and be true to its name, if it dont taste like it should, or what its described as I feel like I was cheated. Like always taste is subjective, what I might like you might find absolutly vile.... Vape on my friends!

 

[IronsideSamurai]

One Week??? ..... I've just started DIY and have found that expecting to get the "true" flavor of your mix immediately is impossible. I have my first 6 batches going and mixed them at 10ml per bottle. I've found that I get a truer taste of how my batch came out after steeping for 24 hours. It is good that I read this thread because now I understand that my chocolate caramel tobacco mix may not be tasting good because it needs to steep longer.... Not sure about the marriage of flavors on this one yet. I guess 24 hours or longer is the golden standard.

I have liquids that have been steeping for over a month, but its just that I haven't gotten to them yet and I bought them on a whim so I'm in no hurry.

When its something I really want, a one week wait time on juices is standard, then maybe place it in my box for another month if I think it may help. After one month, I'd toss it if its still nasty. After a month, there isn't going to be much benefit anymore.
So, at least a week and up to one month.