How to reduce steep time

[Cliffyboy1962]

I consider myself a custard fanatic. 90% of everything I vape, is DIY custard related. I have been mixing for 3 years now and I still don't get what all the fuss is about steeping. I simply don't do it. My own personal findings are that the difference between a day old mix and a month old mix is......virtually nothing. I love the flavour of a freshly mixed batch of custard and I love the flavour of an old batch (although not quite as much tbh)

I hope you all find your own vaping nirvana but quite frankly, I think steeping is overrated.

 

[memzey]

Wow - controversial. I like it. Fascinated to see where this goes and whether there are others that feel the same.

 

[Richard Winter]

Wow - controversial. I like it. Fascinated to see where this goes and whether there are others that feel the same.

A lot of folks have their own ways of mixing.....be that all in at once or flavour with Nic then leave then pgvg, then others that shake, others that stir., in my opinion no one way is wrong.
With steeping, some juices are fine with a shake then vape. Others need time to develop.
I don't worry if my juices have steeped for 1 week or 3 weeks. If I want to vape it and I like it, I will do. Sometimes the flavour is not as strong as I'd have expected, so will leave it a bit longer. I usually find that after another couple of weeks on that flavour it will improve.
That's my pennieworth

 

[ELTIEN]

There are several ways to mix, people do it differently, no one way is right or wrong. Pick the way that suits you best.
At the end of the day, as long as you've put all the stuff in the bottle and shaked or stired and left it a while to steep that's good enough.

I agree totally Richard. Once I've made my mix I usually sit it on the radiator for a while and its good to go; have had no problems with flavour etc.

 

[RAPTOREX]

I consider myself a custard fanatic. 90% of everything I vape, is DIY custard related. I have been mixing for 3 years now and I still don't get what all the fuss is about steeping. I simply don't do it. My own personal findings are that the difference between a day old mix and a month old mix is......virtually nothing. I love the flavour of a freshly mixed batch of custard and I love the flavour of an old batch (although not quite as much tbh)

I hope you all find your own vaping nirvana but quite frankly, I think steeping is overrated.

Could that be more the flavour type of your juices. I've read a number of people say, some desert mixes can lose flavour with time. One suggested they can drop as soon as 3 weeks after mixing?

 

[Cliffyboy1962]

Could that be more the flavour type of your juices. I've read a number of people say, some desert mixes can lose flavour with time. One suggested they can drop as soon as 3 weeks after mixing?

Yes absolutely. I would say that all mixes change over time. 1 to 4 weeks seems to be the most significant period for that change. Some would call this steeping. I would call it flavour degradation, a kind of softening of the overall impact of the flavour on your taste buds. If your mix starts out a bit unpalatable, then this time period can result in an improvement. However, IMHO, if your mix is good to start with then this period usually sees the flavour going downhill.

As an addendum, I just thought of one example where a softening of the flavour was in fact, a good thing. I make a caramel custard using Molinberry Melty caramel, for the caramel element, and this one was a bit harsh for the first week and did indeed benefit from flavour degradation (steeping) However, I woudn't wait a week to vape it, as it wasn't that much of a problem.

 

[memzey]

Very interesting. Very interesting indeed.

Another thought crossed my mind last night; in this thread we describe the act of steeping as involving a reaction between the nic and the flavours. Seems to make sense, to my feeble mind at least. My brother likes minty, fruity liquids so I’m going to try to make one for him. Only thing is he has weened himself off the nic and vapes at 0mg. May not be too big of a question with a fruit liquid as that is shake and vape but what about if he were into deserts? How would steeping occur with no nic in the mix?

 

[zouzounaki]

@memzey the short answer is, it wouldn’t.

 

[Richard Winter]

@memzey the short answer is, it wouldn’t.

I'm looking forward to the long answer lol

 

[memzey]

@memzey the short answer is, it wouldn’t.

Yes - logically that would be the case as there would be no nic for the flavours to react with so whatever process occurred could not accurately be considered steeping. So does that mean no flavour enhancement can occur when nic is not present or does it lend credence to @Cliffyboy1962 's theory of degradation taking harsh notes away over time? Cliff - do you use nic in your mixes or do you vape at 0mg?