Steeping -- Pet Peeve

[vernhall]

Steeping is something I just found out about and it solves all the questions and concerns I had about 'Tobacco' based vapes!

I'd had no probs with the stick-type PV I'd started out with so when I got my first real PV (non-stick type) with I merrily cracked the seal on a bottle of Tobacco eliquid, filled up the ol' clearomizer, and started to merrily vape away only to have my palette ripped raw by alcohol flavors and my ears assaulted by crackling sounds. Marked it up to a bad batch of vape and tried another bottle with the same results. By then I was pretty upset with the whole vaping thing, but decided I'd try one of the wife's very-berry concoctions she prefers and bingo -- beautifully delicious flavors with no alcohol backlash...

Which brings me to my pet peeve -- steeping! And, thank goodness for ECF or I'd've never even known about the concept and may have given up completely on e-Cigs because I love the taste of tobacco!

Any way, to make a long story longer, I stumbled across the concept of steeping while reading over the Forums and it quickly dawned on me the prob I was having wasn't with the PV, it was with the rawness of the Tobacco blends I had gotten. Fortunately for me I'm a miser and didn't just pitch the ones I'd tried so, hopefully, in a few more weeks they'll be vapable. But, really, how is a newbie supposed to know these things if the e-liquid manufacturers don't tell them?

Wouldn't it be better to have a disclaimer prominently displayed on your website explaining that certain blends of your juices require some time for them to mature before use rather than have people buy them, try them, hate them, and decide to never buy from you again? I know I'd be more than happy to buy a product knowing it needed a little time to ripen, as it were, before I could use it...

So, knowing your mileage may vary, what do you think about the situation?

 

[Fizzy-Penny]

Hey Vern! Some vendors do have disclaimers that this or that will mature with age, I think. I mainly vape tobacco flavors myself, but I haven't experienced the same problem you've described. While my juice does improve with age, it's certainly vapable (is that even a word?) as soon as it arrives and I've never had the "alcohol flavor" you've mentioned in any of them.

Maybe it depends on the particular 'baccy flavor and/or the vendor where you got yours? Does this happen with several different flavors you've tried?

As to steeping, I hear that using an ultrasonic cleaner will speed up the steeping process on DIY juices; there's no reason it wouldn't work on one you get from a vendor that you want to work right now, but needs steeping.

Glad you found vaping ... it's a life saver!
~Fiz

 

[markfm]

There's a difference between needing to evaporate something off and classic steeping.

If you have a strong perfumey/alcohol smell or taste, then you need to evaporate stuff off. Remove the cap and the dropper (most of them snap off if you push the tip sideways), and leave it open overnight, so alcohol will evaporate. Try it the next day

Steeping is just letting the bottle sit on the shelf out of light, a cool place, giving the flavorings time to meld. Give the liquid a week or so, then shake it and try it. If you're in a rush, you can try shaking the bottle a lot, then test it, but some nuances to mixes just seem to take some time to come out.

Some of my DIY is ready to vape immediately, some takes a week, some takes two weeks (and gets better for the next few weeks).

 

[Vapoor eyes er]

Agree with markfm. Some of my DIY is ready to vape immediately while others improve with time/ age. I now vape flavorless with menthol but when I first began I learned very quickly the importance of having juice and accessories on hand long before I needed them.
As for vendors and the info they supply us with I agree that it is lacking in many areas. Without ECF and the advice given here vendors would be overwhelmed and swamped with questions.

 

[VapnWitch]

Thankfully, I knew about steeping before I got my first batch of juice. Unfortunately, it's still trial and error to figure out how long to steep a lot of them. I agree that things would be a little easier if they would give some info on steeping and maybe some general time frames to seep each flavor for best results. I've seen those things listed for some shops, but I wish they all did it.

I haven't encountered the alcohol taste, yet, but that may be because I don't try my juices for a few days after they arrive. I let my juices sit in a cabinet for about five days, shake daily, and then I try them. If they taste weird, I let them sit a couple more days before I try them again. Some of my juices are ready right away, and probably would be from the moment I recieve them, but I like to let them steep a bit anyway.

 

[ChaoticRamblings]

I would LOVE to get steeping recommendations for all juices. I noticed a big difference on a couple after only 2 days.

 

[Trick]

Taste is subjective... While you may think a particular juice improves with age, someone else may think it gets worse.

 

[markfm]

If they're a vendor on ECF, just ask in their forum area or individual sales thread. The ECF Suppliers tend to have pretty active forum areas, you can often ask in their equivalent of a Chit Chat thread for thoughts on a particular eliquid, including if people like to steep it.

 

[Johnnie Price]

One reason I fell in love with Mt. Baker Vapor early on is that they include a printed sheet with every order explaining the concept of steeping. Though my flavors taste just fine straight out of the box, they certainly only get better with age.

 

[xanderxman]

I have ordered from two vendors who include steeping instructions. Mt. Baker and ECBlend both tell you about how long a juice should steep before using it. Mt. Baker is not juice specific but ECBlend is. If you order one of their juices and steeping is required, they tell you. Mt. Baker does include a very nice sheet explaining steeping and it is probably a little more suited to slightly more experienced vapers.

I can also highly recommend both of these juice vendors. Turn around on orders, price and customization options at both vendors are great.

 

[Silverlock]

My first order from ECBlend is in the mail and I just know I'm gonna have to try them right out of the box, fortunately I have enough pre-filled carts left to allow them a week or so to steep. (Fingers crossed that will be long enough)

 

[vernhall]

As to steeping, I hear that using an ultrasonic cleaner will speed up the steeping process on DIY juices; there's no reason it wouldn't work on one you get from a vendor that you want to work right now, but needs steeping.

My wife has one of those and I'm going to give it a try tomorrow! Will let you know how it works out! Thanks so much for the suggestion...

 

[vernhall]

Tried the Ultra-Sonic Cleaner method today and, wow, it works great! Here's what I did: Found a small plastic box that fit inside the cleaner my wife has. Took the lids off all my 'tobacco' bottles and placed them (6 at a time - which is what fit in the box) in the box and placed the box inside the cleaner. Filled the cleaner with warm water 'til just before the box started to float. Then ran the cleaner 8 times for each batch of 6 bottles. Replaced the lids on the bottles and placed them all inside my 'Tobacco' storage box.

What I found was that, as the cleaner ran, the water in the cleaner warmed up. I think this, in addition to the ultrasonic vibration, helped vape off the alcohol and blend the ingredients in the bottles. All I know is that I tried 2 different ones that yesterday had a really rank alcohol taste and today, after the process, they were both smooth and really flavorful! Will be doing this from now on with all my tobacco eliquids and, since it doesn't take all that long, with my other eliquids too...

Really appreciate the suggestion!

 

[Northmankato]

Thanks for the thread, I had no idea before reading this.

 

[Jaseruckus]

I was the same too. Had no Idea what steeping was. The first 2 bottles I got were great out of the bottle. So Thought that it was like this with all the juices. So when I ran out of juice I ordered 2 other flavors. One of them was fine while the other one was nasty. I thought it must of just been a bad mix but when I went back to the vendors website and read the reviews, they mentioned that it had to be steeped in order to get the best flavor. "Steeped!? What the heck is that?" So after reading all about steeping, I think for now on I'm gonna have to read the reviews or start buying the juices ahead of time and stock up so I can always have juices ready while others are steeping in the closet.

I do admit that it's irritating only because I'm very impatient. But I'm still a noob in all this and steeping is just necessary like marinating food.

 

[Yokymo]

I agree, with more vendors gave you a heads up about steeping.. I know if it wasn't for ECF i would of probably been disappointed in ALOT of great juices.

2 juices I got today that actually tell you to wait, Fancee juice packaged a order slip that gives you a best after date... and Ms T's actually has on their pamphlet to try it when you receive it and then steep it 3-10 days... I personally like that these companies actually inform you. (use these as examples cause I just got them today)

Grant it not all juice needs steeped, some people like them right out of the box, But yea...I think just a lil steeping notice would be great.. even if it just says something like *Best if steeped for 2-10 days* just so you know that it may not be ready now.

 

[vernhall]

Just a quick update in the 'ultrasonic cleaner' solution... At the time I'd posted the initial note on this I'd only gotten 6 done and tried 2... Now I've got my complete collection done (all 18 varieties - like I've said I'm a Newbie) and tried 6 -- all have tested out (drip method) smooth as silk and tasty as all get-out! Am working now on my Wife's collection (larger than mine, of course) of fruity sweet flavors... They all seemed to be fairly mature -- although she hadn't tried them all -- but I thought if the process helped the tobacco so much it couldn't hurt to run it on hers too...

 

[Vapoor eyes er]

Good job in reporting back on your success
For those that don't own an ultrasonic cleaner this is my "quickie" method:
Place bottle in hot tap water for 45 mins. Shake and place in dark cupboard.
Next a.m. shake bottle and remove cap to allow in air in. Recap and place back in cupboard.
Next a.m. remove cap and place uncapped bottle back in cupboard.
Next a.m. vape.

Just a quick update in the 'ultrasonic cleaner' solution... At the time I'd posted the initial note on this I'd only gotten 6 done and tried 2... Now I've got my complete collection done (all 18 varieties - like I've said I'm a Newbie) and tried 6 -- all have tested out (drip method) smooth as silk and tasty as all get-out! Am working now on my Wife's collection (larger than mine, of course) of fruity sweet flavors... They all seemed to be fairly mature -- although she hadn't tried them all -- but I thought if the process helped the tobacco so much it couldn't hurt to run it on hers too...

 

[cieless]

Just a quick update in the 'ultrasonic cleaner' solution... At the time I'd posted the initial note on this I'd only gotten 6 done and tried 2... Now I've got my complete collection done (all 18 varieties - like I've said I'm a Newbie) and tried 6 -- all have tested out (drip method) smooth as silk and tasty as all get-out! Am working now on my Wife's collection (larger than mine, of course) of fruity sweet flavors... They all seemed to be fairly mature -- although she hadn't tried them all -- but I thought if the process helped the tobacco so much it couldn't hurt to run it on hers too...

Fantastic. Another toy I'm going to have to add to my vaping collection wish list.

 

[Grobie]

I too have seen on a few sites stating "This needs steeping" but I have learned from this site well in advance the benifits of steeping and how to do it, so even before I ordered my first juice, I was ready incase I felt it needed it. I have a bottle now steeping even though it tasted good straight out of the mailbox, felt steeping it would only improve the already good taste.