If you are a regular vaper, you have probably read about a few of the tweaks and changes you can make to enhance your vaping experience. Steeping is one of the tweaks that you may have seen mentioned.
Steeping your e liquid could make all the difference to your vape juice or no difference at all!
It's certainly worth learning about e liquid steeping as it could help you to improve the taste of at least some of your flavours.
Steeping is the process of allowing vape juice to age for a period of time and in a controlled environment in order to bring about improvements to the e liquid's flavour. It would be more accurate to use the term "aging" rather than steeping, but the vaping community picked the term steeping, and it has stuck.
Some people find that giving an e-liquid a bit of time to age, especially if it was manufactured very recently, can significantly improve its taste. During the steeping process, the bottle is repeatedly shaken to encourage the intermingling of its different flavour components. Apart from shaking the bottle, the e-liquid is also exposed to air periodically, which allows certain undesirable compounds to evaporate.
It is important to note that most e liquids have been steeped by the manufacturer prior to being sold. It is unlikely that these e liquids will be greatly improved by additional steeping.
There was a time when many e liquid producers were small businesses that would despatch flavours quickly following manufacture without giving them time to steep. Most manufacturers would not have benefitted from mixing machines that could shake e-liquids until their ingredients reached a point of permanent suspension.
These days most e liquids that you can choose from are the products of large-scale manufacturers that do have this machinery. However, if you decide to mix your own e liquids, you will need to steep your flavours before vaping them.
If you vape an e-liquid immediately after it has been made, you may notice the following traits:
Steeping vape juice could help to improve an e liquid's flavour because the process can counteract these issues. Seeping encourages alcohol-based flavours to evaporate, and can help to soften the edges of an e-liquid that features harsh notes.
The steeping process involves shaking the bottles of vape juice and so encourages molecular bonding. For this reason, it can imbue the e liquid with a more balanced feel.
If you buy a bottle of e liquid and notice any of the issues mentioned above, particularly if you detect a strong, unpleasant alcohol note, it could be worth steeping the juice.
If you find a bottle of e-liquid that you think could be improved, here's how to steep it:
Once the flavour of an e liquid has reached its peak, it cannot be improved. Indeed, further steeping could cause a e liquid to degrade. You might find that flavours become flat and bland if subjected to lengthy aging.
Streathing is the term used to describe the practice of testing your e liquid to establish the ideal steeping time. You should test your juice as various stages of the steeping process. It best to create a spreadsheet to enable you to keep accurate records of what you discover about each different flavour.
If only there was a simple answer to that question! The ideal steeping time will depend on the nature of the flavour concerned and your personal taste.
Dessert and custard flavours – 2-4 weeks but some can continue to improve long after this time.
Menthol flavours – up to two weeks but many won't improve at all.
Fruits - most won't be improved by steeping but creamy and complex fruit flavours can benefit from 1-2 weeks of steeping.
Tobacco – 2-4 weeks and those featuring caramel or vanilla notes particularly benefit from steeping.
There are alternative steeping methods for e liquids that you could try, and these can accelerate the process:
Stirring e liquids with a magnetic stirrer mixes air into the liquids more quickly and so can reduce steeping times. However, most vapers feel that results are better when using the conventional method of steeping.
It is possible to use an ultrasonic cleaner to steep your vape juices via mixed warm and cold cycles. Results tend to be mixed and will depend on the nature of the flavour.
Some vapers pour hot water onto their e liquid bottles. Heating juice can accelerate the steeping process but if the e liquid gets too hot, it will degrade. You may need to experiment with heating your vape juices. You could also try placing your e liquids in a bath of warm water. Always put your bottles into sealed plastic bags first. Leave the bottles in the water for up to 15 minutes, then shake the bottle. Remove the cap and test the juice. Alternatively, leave your e liquid in a hot place such as your car for a few hours and then test it.
You will probably find that most e liquids from the ranges of leading brands do not require steeping. You might even discover that steeping negatively impacts your flavours. But if you mix your own vape juice or feel that something isn't quite right with your flavour, it is worth giving steeping a try.
