Recommend me some liquids!

[ZT]

Very helpful posts
So, how long do you really recommend to steep custards?

Personal taste!
I will literally vape anything after 24 hours - knowing that it wont be at its best for a few days, doesnt bother me .

actually tho just changed - working on something imminent - that for the first time in my career absolutely does need a minimum of three days - preferably more - a week to 10

 

[Rickster]

Hmm. I just looked this up and there are several places that say the nicotine isn't required for steeping.
It doesn't make any sense to me that nicotine is needed in order for flavourings to come out. Nicotine changes colour when it comes into contact with oxygen or light. That and the maillard reaction between amino acids and sugars is responsible for the colour change. But nicotine isn't needed for a maillard reaction. Just heat, moisture and time. Nicotine is usually a very light yellow/orange (specifically nic-b salts) and that intensifies when it's been exposed to light and oxygen and can even look brown.
Nicotine does degrade at certain temps. At 79c you will lose up to 10% of it. at 65c you'll lose up to 8% of it. That's not much and I'm fine with that.
There are plenty of vapers who don't use nicotine, such as many Australian vapers and they still steep their liquids.
Additionally, my Zeus Juice. I forgot to add nicotine to it until I realised I was vaping it (after a few weeks when it got nice) and still craved nicotine lol. That one most definitely steeped. At first it wasn't nice. I couldn't taste the advertised flavours and it was weak. Very weak. I did the hot water thing and left it out and then put it away for 2 weeks just thinking it was crap. I then thought I'd try it again and it was ten times better, so that one steeped without nicotine.
I know I'm not very experienced etc but I don't believe nicotine is needed to steep an eliquid and there are various sites out there that concur.
This is one of the companies that explains that nicotine isn't needed for steeping. It's also one of the ones (among many) that gives the warm bath method as a way for steeping.
Another one that says nicotine isn't needed for steeping & lists the warm bath method.

I think the important thing though is what works for you. The warm bath method which is listed as a steeping method on several vaping/liquid sites works for me. It's just that some flavours I got I don't like and I need to find some that I do like. I've been given plenty of recommendations to try here so I'll get some ordered.

The warm bath, cap off, was all tried years ago in an attempt to speed up the steeping process....all that happened was the liquid changed colour faster, but muted most flavours quicker.

 

[ZT]

The warm bath, cap off, was all tried years ago in an attempt to speed up the steeping process....all that happened was the liquid changed colour faster, but muted most flavours quicker.

A far more succinct way of putting what I was trying to say

 

[MarylinC37]

While I talk about questioning experts, you can also learn a huge amount from them as well so when it comes to juice mixing I certainly won't be questioning @ZT 's expertise any time soon.

 

[Netvaper]

Whatever floats your boat and works for you but I keep it simple. I mix all the ingredients (flavour, nic, PG/VG) in a bottle by weight, put the cap on, give it all a good shake, store it in a cool dark cupboard for at least a few days and vape it.

 

[ZT]

I have found sometimes that if you hold the bottle upside down at midnight on the full moon - and then runneth times 3 round the churchyard wearing nought but your skin while exclaiming, "I'm an Otter! Make me Hotter!"

It can cut the whole steeping process down by seven and a half minutes or so.

 

[DMAN]

I have found sometimes that if you hold the bottle upside down at midnight on the full moon - and then runneth times 3 round the churchyard wearing nought but your skin while exclaiming, "I'm an Otter! Make me Hotter!"

It can cut the whole steeping process down by seven and a half minutes or so.

Get your facts right. You forgot the velvet cod-piece.

 

[LordOdin]

I have found sometimes that if you hold the bottle upside down at midnight on the full moon - and then runneth times 3 round the churchyard wearing nought but your skin while exclaiming, "I'm an Otter! Make me Hotter!"

It can cut the whole steeping process down by seven and a half minutes or so.

Tried this and it works, downside was i got arrested for indecent exposure and got locked up for 30 Days.

 

[Reti]

Ive been an eliquid mixologist working on a professional level for over a decade.

Trust me - it needs nic
And water bath steeping will just get your label wet

nic and time is all it needs, there are no shortcuts.
I have seen, tested and experienced this change thousands upon thousands of times.

your choice tho

carry on what you are doing

neither of those companies are eliquid production companies by the way -

vaporesso make hardware and ukecig store sell other peoples juice.

We have done all this experimentation - we have tested it and tested it - and observed lots of different methodologies and time and nic are the only constants.

also quite simply we can have a bottle of powwow sauce on a shelf for six months and without nic it tastes like its just been mixed - add the nic and the changes start.

im not being argumentative - im not giving you opinions - im giving you verifiable fact.

when someone buys a shortfill from us - they put a nic shot in and often say “really needs a week that does!”

we have rarely just made that shortfill - we do not make to order, it will have been on a shelf most likely.

addendum : as @nwhornet said above - fruits rarely if ever need steeping

desserts and tobaccos with a few exceptions absolutely do.’
Especially custards

I also aren't being argumentative dude. It's all good. But I still disagree with you. I don't believe for one second that chemical reactions that bring out the flavour profiles of food flavouring in VG & PG is dependant on nicotine.
Obviously your experience is different to mine. My liquid intensified it's flavour without nicotine. That liquid didn't need nicotine for it's flavour to develop. That also is not an opinion, but a fact. It did exactly what you claim to be impossible. I'm not a scientist or an expert in chemistry. I just know what I experienced.
It just makes no sense to me why a food flavouring would need nicotine for it's flavour to develop. It sounds absurd to me if I'm honest.
I will do an experiment and buy 2 of the same liquids. One will have nicotine in it from the day I get it and the other won't and I'll steep them in the same way I have been doing that works for me. If the one without nicotine doesn't change at all then I'll gladly eat my words. If it does develop, just like the one I have now, then I'll know that nicotine isn't a requirement in the development of food flavouring intensity. Likewise if you can show me a scientific research paper from a reputable source that shows that nicotine is required for the development of food flavouring I'll also eat my words. But again, my juice & my experience will be difficult to explain.

As for the label falling off the bottles. I put them in zip lock bags before they go in the water, but I do save the bottles after I've used an eliquid! Though I've bought some new ones for mixing, you never know what they might come in handy for XD

 

[Reti]

A couple of points to ponder
1. fruit/mint flavoured ejuice doesn't require "steeping". Flavour will improve when vigouresly shaken to ensure all the components are mixed and then left for a few hours to combine (nic or no nic).
2. custard/dessert ejuice benefits from having nic added, shaken thoroughly and again left for asap to blend. Very few custards, for example, are good fresh with or without nic.
3. fresh nic juice, regardless of pg/vg ratio, should be clear. If it's discolouring it's either old stock or over exposed to air. A sniff/tongue test will tell you how far it's gone. A peppery smell/taste means it's past it's best.

This is from experience and vaping self made, pre mixed and shortfills.

As for good brands the ones already mentioned are among the best and if you want complex flavour profiles I'll throw in Legiox Vape (@Chris K ). The base custard, Britannia, is the closest to a vape and shake I've ever tried (and I've tried too many) but for me benefits from a spell in the dark cupboard after nic is added.

Nicotine salts are naturally a yellow/orange colour. In the low concentrations in stuff like 18mg bottles you wouldn't notice it. I can see it in the stronger stuff I have though. Just slightly.
This guy explains the colour. It's a very interesting video actually. He goes into detail about the future changes we might see in nicotine development for vaping. He says vaping is about 40yrs* behind the development of tobacco. There are various chemicals that can be added to nicotine that we haven't yet tried but tobacco companies did all that with cigarettes over the many years.


*He might have said 20yrs. Can't remember.