silk186
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How to steep, how long to steep, what is the best method, sun/dark, breathing???
Questions about steeping regularly come up on the POTV forum. Some have better answers than others but in general, it is not consistent as people don't want to keep answering the same questions. For new users, searching threads is not easy as different people have different ideas. An ideal solution is to collect all of this information in one location when users feel that a more detailed answer will be constructive to the community, especially to new and future members. I would encourage everyone to contribute your experience and what you have found works best. Especially if you have conducted your own experiments.
Slow Steeping
Shake'n'vape is the most simple method. Add nicotine to a shortfill, shake and let it sit for a short period of time (20 minutes to a couple of hours).
Dark cupboard is the simplest slow method. Leave the juice in a cool dark place for 2-8 weeks and let it age naturally.
Shake and store combine the dark storage with shaking. It is recommended to shake daily (until juice looks cloudy)
Shake and breath this method adds oxygen to the bottle to promote oxidization. Gently squeeze the bottle to introduce fresh air before shaking once per day and store in a dark place.
warm bath an ultrasonic bath is a more active approach utilizing an ultrasonic bath to agitate the liquid and warm water to speed up the reaction.
Speed Steeping
Breathing leaves the cape off for up to a couple of days, introducing oxygen and speeding up oxidation. It is not believed to significantly reduce nicotine but has been reported to mute certain flavours. Breathing or airing the juice is recommended if it contains alchohol. This is not longer a common additive and breathing has become much less common.
Heating using some form of heat from a warm bath, rice cooker, crock pot, microwave, sun, car in the summer or radiator in the winter to keep the juice at a warm temperature. Some have suggested using a tumble dry cycle. In many cases, it is recommended to place the bottle in a ziplock bag, with the cap off in some cases.
Stir place juice in an open container and stir to expose a large surface area to oxygen. Best done with a magnetic stirrer.
This guide has a list of speed steeping methods link
I'm assuming the most only use speed vaping in an emergency, most likely while travelling.
POTV does not seem to have a consensus on steeping methods other than it takes time, and in general, the longer the better.
General consensus: Keep your e-liquids in darkened drawers, boxes or cupboards – sunlight is your enemy. Regularly shaking the bottle will speed up the process but may not be necessary if left for longer.
Maillard reaction or caramelization juice can darken over time to an amber, orange or brown colour. The darkening over time has been attributed to the oxidization of nicotine and that higher nicotine levels will turn darker and that juice will get sweeter as it does. I'm uncertain if this will occur in 0mg juice.
Oxygenation was thought to have an added benefit of removing alcohol, but it seems the juices sold in the UK do not contain any. Many are labelled: alcohol-free, halal, vegan.
Sunlight is said to speed up this process through this is not typically recommended. It has been suggested that even in room temp in a window sill (sunlight) and an open bottle after eight weeks, the nicotine degradation is extremely minimal.
Different steep times:
For Menthol flavours: Shake and vape
These flavours do not seem to benefit noticeably from a long steeping time. It would still be ideal for leave for 1-2 days.
For Fruit flavours: 1-3 days but no longer than 2 weeks
Either shake and vape, or leave up to 2 weeks. Most fresh fruit and menthol flavours won’t require much, if any, steeping before use. Many of these flavourings react poorly to breathing in particular, and can lose flavour when this is done for too long. However, more “creamy” fruity flavours such as Mango or similar can benefit from a week or two of steeping. The same goes for very complex fruit mixes, as this allows time for each component to “bond” and create the desired overall flavour profile.
For Tobacco flavours: 1-4 weeks
Shake and Vape, or leave for 2-4 weeks. The majority of Tobacco flavours will benefit from a couple of weeks steeping. They tend to be quite complex flavours, and require this bonding time to really pick out the subtle flavour notes. On the other hand, most tobacco eliquid vapers tend to be happy with the flavour when freshly mixed. This does differ with Tobacco e-liquid containing flavours such as Caramel and Vanilla, as most people will notice the benefit and flavour improvement steeping for 2 weeks or so.
For Custard, Cream, and Bakery: 2-4 weeks
2-4 weeks is usually ideal. However, some flavours can be left even longer. Some people argue that these flavours continue to improve after several months of steeping.
Some suggest that flavours can improve for up to 6 months but I would expect diminishing returns after 8 weeks.
A small steeping experiment link
*** I will update this post as new information is posted
I hope that this and other threads on batteries, MTL tanks, DTL tanks, cotton, coil types can be stickied and kept up-to-date as it can often be hard to find comprehensive threads with search, leading to the same questions being asked again and again. Hopefully, a stickied thread will lead to more detailed and constructive contributions from members in easy to locate threads.
Image Credits: CC Vaping Daily and Ashtray Blog: An Electronic Cigarette Blog
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