Steeping Your Juice

[Cocoa-nut]

Sup everyone.. Just thought I'd share my experience with steeping juices. When I was starting out, couldn't find a good guide to this whole steeping thing and why we steep. My apologies if I'm repeating anything.

Here's a basic guide to steeping.

Step 1) Cap your juice.
Make sure it tight and leak-proof.

Step 2) Shake it. Bout a full minute does it for me. You'll see tiny bubbles throughout the liquid.

Step 3) Uncap and leave it alone in a cool and dark area. A drawer works perfect for me.

Step 4) After 24 hours, uncap that juice and vape it. See if that makes a difference.

Steeping affects different juices differently. Some juices gain a matured and well-rounded taste. Some juices grow weaker and lose that original vibrancy.

If you find that your juice has a strong perfumey taste, I'd say that's a good candidate for steeping.

Lemme know what you think.

 

[Domtine]

That's the textbook process for steeping juice. there are many variations around it.

I would say quite comprehensive nonetheless.

There are some flavours that require you to extend the duration of step 3 to 7 days.

 

[Cocoa-nut]

Woah, 7 days? Longest I've ever steeped is 3 days. Dulce de leche.
But after it's done steeping, it literally transforms into another juice...

 

[lekixik]

Thanks for sharing this.

I'm curious, how does it affect the overall throat hit, potency, and vapor production of the liquid? Call me crazy but something must be lost during the steeping process.. either through evaporation or oxidation. I'm just curious.

 

[Domtine]

Not too sure dude... seems like the "heavier" flavours need to steep longer.

seems like it needs to let the PG, VG, Nic & flavour molecules to fully mix together.

Most fresh made juice have very harsh throat hit bcos the PG and VG have not fully mix and there are reported cases of leaking cartos. Letting it sit for 24hrs is usually enough to prevent any of that happening.

 

[JIMP-er46]

From personal experience, I find that complex mixes, along with tobacco flavours or those with natural flavours, need a good steeping time. Anything between 3-14 days.

Just uncap and leave overnight. From then on, cap it, chuck in a cool, dark place and leave it. After 7 days, take a dripper and test. Some juices, like vanilla flavoured ones, takes about 2 weeks to fully mature with a distinct colour and taste change.

For a day or 3 days tops steep, would be your single-flavoured, fruity / minty / bubblegum-ey type vapes.

Btw, lekixik, nicotine doesn't lose its potency in e steeping process. It just plain oxidizes (colour change). Flavours when left to steep will increase / decrease in potency. But why e need to store in a cool dark place and capped tightly, you might ask. E reason is simple - you wouldn't want e room to be filled with dizzying amounts of nicotine, which can get concentrated and could be lethal in an enclosed room. Just sharing my thoughts, lah.

 

[JIMP-er46]

Oh, btw, that last portion was for e storage of nic bases... Left that out unintentionally.

 

[lekixik]

From personal experience, I find that complex mixes, along with tobacco flavours or those with natural flavours, need a good steeping time. Anything between 3-14 days.

Just uncap and leave overnight. From then on, cap it, chuck in a cool, dark place and leave it. After 7 days, take a dripper and test. Some juices, like vanilla flavoured ones, takes about 2 weeks to fully mature with a distinct colour and taste change.

For a day or 3 days tops steep, would be your single-flavoured, fruity / minty / bubblegum-ey type vapes.

Btw, lekixik, nicotine doesn't lose its potency in e steeping process. It just plain oxidizes (colour change). Flavours when left to steep will increase / decrease in potency. But why e need to store in a cool dark place and capped tightly, you might ask. E reason is simple - you wouldn't want e room to be filled with dizzying amounts of nicotine, which can get concentrated and could be lethal in an enclosed room. Just sharing my thoughts, lah.

It must be evaporating then, right? At least a bit. It's funny to think of getting a second-hand nicotine buzz from an unvaped bottle of juice

I've got some juices that must be a year or more old. I wonder if steeping with the cap on has changed the flavor any. An old bottle of vanilla I recently re-vaped has stained the plastic bottle brown. Maybe this is because of light exposure but I did enjoy the taste more than when I remember setting it aside.

 

[JIMP-er46]

Yes, chances of that happening is possible but not to e extent of being able to see a significant drop in e volume.

Usually, by rule of thumb, juices hv a shelf life of up to 2 years if stored properly, but I do notice that for pg, vg and nic bases, they do state that shelf life is good for a year. Not that you're gonna die frm vaping them or anything, but there's a likelihood that e molecules might hv broken down pretty badly that it could affect e way e liquid reacts/behaves/ i dunno, 5 am rambling...

 

[Cocoa-nut]

Hmm, is nicotine oxidization the same process as what makes ciggies 'lao hong'?

What I used to understand was that if you left ciggies in an open pack for too long, the nicotine oxidized, leaving you with a ciggie with a foul taste and no kick at all.

I haven't noticed a drop in a steeped juice's potency though.

For me, the only reason why I steep is to improve the flavour. Nothing else.
Have never noticed if steeping improves throat hit or vapor production also leh..