Steeping Question

[tipsyturtle]

I just got my first bottles of e-liquid through the post today.  
                                                                                   

I'm not quite sure about how to go about steeping them... I shook them, and put them in a cupboard, but I don't know if I should leave the lids off or not?
and about how long should I leave them for?


I still have some left of the bottle I was given when I bought my kit which ought to last me for another three or four days, (I hope). I know from what I've read the longer I wait the better, but I might have to dip into one of them by the middle of next week if I run out. Any tips appreciated! (oh... and do I need to shake them every day??      I did open them just to smell them... a couple of them are really nice!

[Pepperty]

Fruits should be fine within a day or so? bakery, custards and the likes will need a few weeks to come to their best but if you run out you can just vape them!

[Deleted]

No need to shake or leave caps off ... Just leave them in a drawer or such for as long as you can. Some flavours are good to go after a few days (mints, aniseeds, menthols) and others like custard and tobaccos need at least 3 weeks or longer.

[qsplan]

Take a look at that... www.thealchemistscupboard.co.uk/page/steeping

The steeping duration, depends on your juice... fruity ones might be ready within a couple of days, sweet ones take about a couple of weeks and smokey ones about a couple of months...

personally, if the solvent of my concentrates is alcohol, I take off the lids usually for 3-5 hours... if not, no need for that...

what i do, is give them a gently shake for a long time, until I see bubbles in the liquid, take off the lid, let the juice rest for an hour, shake it again and store it in a dark and chilled place...

doing the very same thing for as long as I think it will take it to be ready.... in the meanwhile, I am driping a bit of it, just to see if it's ready or not...

[tim]

Sept 11, 2015 20:29:21 GMT tipsyturtle said:

I just got my first bottles of e-liquid through the post today.  
                                                                                   

I'm not quite sure about how to go about steeping them... I shook them, and put them in a cupboard, but I don't know if I should leave the lids off or not?
and about how long should I leave them for?


I still have some left of the bottle I was given when I bought my kit which ought to last me for another three or four days, (I hope). I know from what I've read the longer I wait the better, but I might have to dip into one of them by the middle of next week if I run out. Any tips appreciated! (oh... and do I need to shake them every day??      I did open them just to smell them... a couple of them are really nice!

Generally, if you buy your juice pre-made, it will be steeped by the time it arrives. As has been said, fruity juice needs almost no time to steep, and if you buy a complex mixed custardy/bakery/spicy type juice, the supplier will send it ready to vape. The steeping really only applies to us skinflints who mix our own. Although some vendors will make up a different quantity / pg/vg ratio / flavour strength that would require steeping (ageing), but will tell you to leave it to steep for x amount of days/weeks.

[buggritt]

You will find people go on at length about this. Don't bother reading loads of bumf, unless you like doing that. My home made gets a shake, once, then used.

[tipsyturtle]

It was a sample pack of five little 5ml bottles from one company, (brandy, coconut, Jamaican rum, VY3 tobacco, and Long Island Iced Tea) and a bigger 15ml bottle of maple waffle from a different company.  I read on the website of the company that I got the maple flavour from about steeping, but I wasn't sure for how long.

Thanks for all the info- I didn't realise that different types might need different lengths of time. All of the flavours smell nice, except for the tobacco one with is a bit strange... I might leave that one for a week or so, and hope it improves.

That link was very useful, Qsplan... I've bookmarked it.

Would the coconut one count as a fruity flavour? That's the one I'd like to try first!



PS. The samples are all 50PG and 50vg... the bigger bottle is 100% vg and is much thicker.

[chykensa]

tipsyturtle - If they are pre-made juices I would be tempted to just go ahead and vape them. They would have been made up at least a week ago, and the flavours you have will probably not need much more.
The coconut would be steeped enough first, so a good one to try. Sometimes tobacco flavours don't smell of much until you vape them.
VG is a much more viscous liquid, so 100%VG will be much thicker in consistency. OOI, what tank are you going to use that in?

[tipsyturtle]

The only one I have is my One Kit from the UK Ecig Store... I'm a complete novice, (only been vaping consistently for about 2 weeks now- only had one roll-up yesterday!)

[chykensa]

OK - that's fine, but just be aware that smaller tanks, especially those with silica wicks, like the clearomiser on your kit, might have a problem keeping up with the demands of vaping a high-VG juice.
Don't try to chain-vape, and give the liquid a good slosh to the top of the tank bit by inverting the whole thing from time to time to make sure that enough juice gets to the coil.

I know you've only just started, but if you want to use high-VG stuff, you may want to think about upgrading your tank and battery once you are sure that vaping is for you (which it certainly sounds as though it is, BTW!). Please ask us for advice before hitting a 'pay now' button though

[tipsyturtle]

When I first started trying to vape, I coughed and ended up with a sore throat... I read that some people can be allergic to the propylene glycol, so I got paranoid and ordered the 100% vegetable glycerin liquid. I didn't realise it would be so thick!

What if I were to (after it's steeped) add it to what's already in the tank, (the freebie that came with my kit, which is a tobacco flavour 70pg-30vg) would that help to thin it down? I don't mind the flavours being mixed a bit, and the freebie has a slightly sweetish aftertaste so it might be quite nice.

I'll definitely come here to ask for help before I upgrade to anything new- the variety out there is just too vast for me to even know where to start!  

[chykensa]

No problem with mixing juices; you might even end up with a pleasant combination! You could try the middle ground when you buy your next juice and go for 40/60 PG/VG - enough PG to bring out the flavour, but the VG will give you a sweeter taste and more vapour.
Many people experience coughing when they start vaping - the vapour particles are larger than those in tobacco smoke, and they can irritate the back of your throat to begin with. You'll be surprised how quickly your body gets used to things though, and this may not present a problem after a few weeks. Try holding a mouthful of vapour in your mouth for a couple of seconds before inhaling - this will ease the effect on your throat. It's all slightly different to smoking until you get accustomed to it.
Raising the VG will also help of course, but many of the cheaper juices use at least 50/50, if not a significantly higher proportion of PG to VG, which does make the juice much more runny and can irritate more. The extra PG is often added to try and enhance cheap flavourings

[naDiel]

As for making VG more runnu there are two way that I read up on and implemented with 100% sucess.
Although I am aware that some might not agree but if you use deionised water (cheap big bottle of tesco one works a treat) will give you consistency you desire if added gradually into your liquid. Doing this also enchaces the vapour production.
The second way is to dilute it with vodka. This will require you to leave the liquid for approx 4-5 hours with lead open for the bulk of the alcohol to evaporate. This on the other hand will improve flavour production.
This is what I have used personally and been satisfied with

[tipsyturtle]

Sept 12, 2015 21:56:14 GMT naDiel said:

As for making VG more runnu there are two way that I read up on and implemented with 100% sucess.
Although I am aware that some might not agree but if you use deionised water (cheap big bottle of tesco one works a treat) will give you consistency you desire if added gradually into your liquid. Doing this also enchaces the vapour production.
The second way is to dilute it with vodka. This will require you to leave the liquid for approx 4-5 hours with lead open for the bulk of the alcohol to evaporate. This on the other hand will improve flavour production.
This is what I have used personally and been satisfied with

I think I would prefer the vodka method... but about how much do you think I should add to a 15ml bottle?

[naDiel]

tipsyturtle add as much as you need - my method basically is to add about 2ml and mox it and then see if I'm happy with the consistency. If not add a bit more and stir again and then repeat the process until you're happy with it.
I never write things like that down and that is why it takes me longer to do stuff... But at the same time it is an adventure each and every time