Your take on steeping - Mt. Baker / Yaeliq, others

[KillaB3E]

Okay everyone,

I'm still relatively new to vaping (started in Sept) and have been doing some research on steeping and there doesn't seem to be any consensus as to whether you should steep your juice / liquid or not. Some say yes, I do it with every bottle and others say that there isn't anything scientific about it and that it just makes your juice go stale faster.

I purchased several bottles of Yaeliq last month and just bought five 30ml bottles from Mt. Baker this week. The Yaeliq bottles have been steeping, lids closed for a few weeks in the cabinet. I just tired one today and I really didn't taste much of anything (Butter Pecan). The only one that has decent flavor is Cinnamon Roll. (I bought extra flavor boost for each and have added about 20 drops to each bottle so far, shaken them up and put them back in the cabinet - lid closed)

As for Mt. Baker, I've read that you have to steep it at least a week or two. I haven't received my vape mail yet, but will probably try them all out before steeping.

In fact, I've been leaving all of my e-liquids in the cabinet now (cap on). I take out what I need and then put it back. It seems like it works for some flavors, but it could just be a mental thing too???

Also, I've read that there are several ways to steep, anything from partially submerging the bottle in warm / hot water for a few minutes, shaking and letting it sit, cap off over night, to just letting it sit in the dark for weeks or months with cap on / off.

So if you steep, what is your method of choice? Does one way work better than the other?

So what's your opinion on the matter? To steep or not to steep, that is the question!

Thanks for your input,

 

[NCHornet]

Usually people steep with lids removed. I have noticed a difference with some flavors and not with others. It all depends, Mt. Baker is good to go in my book.

 

[KillaB3E]

Thanks for the reply @NCHornet. How long do I steep my liquids for? 24 hours, a week, or months?

 

[BillW50]

The rule of thumb is to try it, if it doesn't taste good, steep it. That is pretty much it. Everyone is going to have a different opinion as it is personal taste. There are some flavors that most people generally agree on steeping to make them better. Custards are one that most people usually say are better steeped.

 

[zaroba]

I try all my juices right away.

I don't steep on purpose, but I have so many juices and I vape several different flavors every day so it takes me a month or more use up a single 30ml bottle.

 

[NCHornet]

I agree, you just need to try it, if it doesn't taste like you thought, leave the cap off and place in a dark cabinet, out of reach of direct sunlight and let it sit for a few days and try it again. If it has improved, you can leave it like that, or try longer. There is simply not one rule that works for all e-juices.

 

[SusanP4]

Some companies age the juice for you. Some flavor companies' flavors also benefit more than others. For example, I think Flavor West flavors need some time. Flavor Art less so.

I believe I heard that Mt. Baker uses FW so if the bottle doesn't have have a date, some time might be indicated.

On the other hand, I live fairly near Gaslight Vapors. His juices are already aged for you. A bottle I bought last month was made in August.

 

[Uncle Kojak]

I've tried various methods to accelerate the steeping process, warm water baths, ultrasonic baths, milk frothers, all with various degrees of success & failure. Today I just let my final mix steep naturally in a dark cupboard or drawer, there's no substitute for time, when it's done, it's done.

 

[mjag]

The one juice line that really benefited from steeping came from Vapewild.com but that was with my initial order and they were all 50/50 with 3mg. Right out of the box they gave me a harsh throat hit. After about 2 weeks of daily shaking then popping off the tops and placing them in my ultrasonic the throat hit subsided. I placed a second order but this time went with 65 vg blend and it was good out of the box, still steeping though as I am hoping the flavor improves.

Yaeliq's Mothers Milkshake in a 50/50 with 3 mg was great right out of the mail, no steeping required. Still my favorite strawberries and cream flavor and when it is available for the SOAD again I am ordering 6 bottles, 4 for me and the other 2 for friends.

 

[Uncle Kojak]

funny you should mention Yaeliq, I ordered some of their Zoosha Tobacco which is shipping right now, I can't mix a good tobacco but I love tobaccos, spent a fortune vaping Charlie Noble Tripoli, never found a recipe for it, so now I'm trying Zoosha and will probably let it steep when it gets here.

 

[mjag]

I hope it works out for you Kojak, to be honest Mother's Milkshake is the only juice from Yaeliq I really like. I tried there Israel Coffee which was OK but there watermelon was awful and the caramel was not too good either. Luckily I only ordered the last 2 flavors as 11 ml samples, the Israel Coffee was 100 ml and it lasted me awhile but I mixed it with some good caramel or vanilla flavors and that was great.

I love Mother's Milkshake though, hands down my favorite Strawberries and Cream. I went through about 80 ml in about 2 weeks and saved the last 20 ml to compare to other S&C, MM still wins out every time.

 

[retrox]

As a self-proclaimed mixologist of just over two years, here are my observations about "steeped" juice versus fresh:

If a juice tastes medicinal or floral, or if it seems more harsh than your other juices at similar nic levels, it needs two things: Air and time. It is likely that the flavoring used in the concoction contains ethyl alcohol or some other diluent used in the extraction process that needs to evaporate before you vape it. Adding heat into the equation will expedite evaporation of undesirable diluents and decrease the amount of time needed. Vigorous shaking also serves to aerate the liquid to an extent, but there is no substitute for a good, regular supply of fresh air. Always leave the cap off for the duration of the evaporation process so any undesirable diluents can escape.

Some flavorings tend to fade over time, and some more noticeably than others. Generally, "steeping" a juice is just allowing the most dominant flavoring components to relax (or fade) into the mix, and changes in the overall profile may be minimal or drastic depending upon what flavorings they are and how long you let them rest. If a juice utilizes one or more dominant or acidic flavors like citrus, cinnamon, apple, or banana, it will almost always benefit from a few days on a shelf somewhere in the dark unless it's only used in an accentuating role. For instance, my Caramel Apple recipe requires a solid week on the shelf before any caramel can be detected when it's vaped. However, I use the same apple flavoring in an Apple Pie recipe that can be vaped immediately after being mixed because the apple is used in a lesser amount as more of a support note for the other flavorings.

In my experience, the fact that many creams and custards benefit from steeping has little to do with the cream or custard flavoring itself; rather, aging a complex mix that contains one of these allows the more dominant flavorings present to "fade" into the mix, allowing the more subtle flavoring to occupy a greater portion of the overall profile.

In short, there is no right answer for every juice out there. The best you can hope for is to find someone who knows a particular juice well enough to advise you on whether or not it will benefit from aging. But even then, subjectivity will be your worst enemy. The frustration of dealing with unknowns like this is one of the reasons why I turned to DIY in the first place, and I haven't looked back since. I might not know exactly why these various chemicals react with one another the way they do, but at least now I know exactly how they will react in the stuff I make myself.

 

[Uncle Kojak]

I got Yaeliq Zoosha & Butter Pecan coming which are flavors I think I may like, If I do order more I'll probably add a few samples next time, his prices are right, just the long delivery time. I saw some great reviews for his Mother's Milkshake but I've vaped too much Strawberries & Cream already.

 

[PickNic Basket]

I answered "No, there's no point" but with a few considerations.
I don't wait to taste something. Shake it & vape it.
If I don't like it, it goes in a cabinet with all of the other juices.
I may revisit it later, and it will have aged, but I wasn't intentionally steeping it.
Some things may seem better, many still are not good.

If you want to vent off alcohol, leave it with the cap off no longer than overnight.
There are also other ingredients you may lose by leaving the cap off, such as menthols.
The exposure to air will also speed oxidation of the nicotine.
In addition, with the cap off dust may get into your juice. While this may also happen when filling a tank, dripping, etc. there is a greater chance sitting for extended time open. There's no danger of vaping the dust, but that addition of a solid can bring about a reaction that will cause precipitation of solids from a solution. More likely to occur with some flavors than others, but a possibility.

As far as whether you should steep or not, do whatever works for you.
Test it yourself. Store & steep a bottle. A week or 2 later, buy another. Taste & compare them.

 

[f1r3b1rd]

I steep but I DIY and buy one or two bottles of juice a month to change it up.
I have a bottle of mt baker going in 2 years steeping and it still tastes like baby vomit.
I tried yaliq and its nit bad