Published on January 16th, 2015 | by AJ
24How to Steep E Juice – Get More From Your Juice
E juice is made from a mixture of flavor extracts, vegetable glycerin or propylene glycol, and optionally nicotine juice. Some flavor mixing can negatively impact the flavor of the liquid.
Freshly made e juice (like that from Mt Baker Vapor – read e juice reviews) needs time to mellow before being used at their optimal flavor, and steeping is a method of unlocking the deepest flavors of an e juice by allowing the ingredients to combine and spread evenly throughout the juice. With that introduction, you must be wondering…..
What Exactly Does Steeping Do?
Steeping is the process where the separate parts within the e-juice (PG or VG base, water, nicotine juice, flavors) bond, while at the same time absorbing oxygen.
This oxidation changes the appearance of the ejuice as well as the chemical makeup of the ingredients used.
Replacing more volatile elements that can make juices taste “perfumey” or trigger off notes in the flavor with oxygen which delivers a more uniform flavor profile.
Simply put, steeping allows oxidation in the same general manner as aging a wine, and the process is most effective with deep and complex flavors such as custom blends.
The Steep Learning Curve
Steeping can be accomplished with or without water, but usually involve heat and/or lengthy exposure, and many vape enthusiasts swear by the difference it makes.
Many common pre-made juices may not need it at all. Regardless, few can deny that letting a premium e-juice mature for a few days makes a significant difference in flavor.
Because of the heat and other factors involved in most widely used steeping methods, it is always recommended that steeping be performed on glass bottles. Glass bottles retain more heat than plastic bottles and also are immune to melting, unlike plastic.
If you’ll likely be steeping your e-juices on a regular basis, it may be a good idea to keep several empty glass bottles around for just such an occasion.
Personal Taste
Steeping your e juice is one of the fastest ways to bring out your juices best flavors. Of course, everyone’s taste buds are different, and what you might think is the “perfectly steeped” bottle of juice, might not be what someone else thinks.
For this reason, it’s a good idea to test the flavor of your steeping e-juice every so often so when the perfect flavor profile is reached, you can stop the process right there and enjoy your finely aged liquid.
>>Check out our How To Improve the Flavor of Your E juice article for more flavor tips<<
How to Steep E-Juice
There are many commonly used methods of steeping e-juice, and many people experiment with multiple processes to see which of them works for their favorite liquid. The simplest of them is to take a new bottle of fluid, remove any plastic shrink wrapping as well as the cap, and store it in a cool, dry location for a few days.
Water is used to steep everything from foods to teabags to release more intense flavors, and so several popular methods involve a water bath.
To steep your e-juice in a water bath, prepare a container of very warm (not hot or boiling) water filled enough to submerge your e-juice bottles halfway. Remove the caps of the bottles you wish to steep, and then set them upright on the bottom of the container.
Allow the bottles to stand until the water is room temperature, then dry the bottles and replace their caps. When the bottles are ready, store them in a cool, dry area for several days or until ready to vape.
Storing Your Steeped E-juice
So you’ve properly steeped your e-juice, and now you have all these bottles and nowhere to put them!
At some point in a vaper’s life, you run across the issue that you’re running out of space to put all your vaping supplies.
I have seen tons of different things people have improvised using to store all their vape gear.
This includes vape stands, tackle boxes, and even some classy wooden boxes.
For extra storage space for your steeping e juice, I would suggest grabbing a 2-tray tackle box.
This is deal because the bottom of the tackle boxes are deep enough to hold multiple bottles of e juice and the upper compartments are ideal for storing all your other vaping accessories like drip tips, extra wicks, etc.
E-Juice Steeping for the Impatient
Notice
Anyone attempting to follow the advice in this article are doing so at their own risk. Bestclearomizer.com cannot be held responsible for any damaged or over-steeped e juice!
If you don’t have a few days or simply can’t wait to try the newest creation from your favorite juice vendor, there are a few faster methods of achieving the effect of steeping.
The vape community is an inventive bunch, and quick ways to steep come in almost as many flavors as the juices themselves. One of them involves the dryer, which is a source of heat that may not immediately come to mind.
To steep your juice in the dryer, place your sealed bottle of e-juice into a bundle made from two old socks, then place the bundle in the dryer on low for 15 minutes, ensuring the cap is screwed on as tightly as possible.
The heat and agitation work together to perform much of the same work as a full week-long steeping process, but if you don’t have access to a glass e-juice bottle be sure to keep an eye on the dryer to ensure a plastic bottle does not melt and leave a real mess in your dryer.
A crock pot is another useful tool for quickly steeping e-liquid.
- Seal the bottles you want to steep in a plastic bag and tie it off at the end.
- Fill a bowl with water and place the bowl inside the crock pot.
- Place the juice in the bowl you placed in the crock pot.
- Cover the crock pot and leave the juice to steep on the crock pot’s lowest setting.
- Checking it every few hours until you are satisfied with the flavor.
You can also steep e-juice quickly using nothing but a large cup of hot water and a couple of Ziploc bags. Simply place your e-juice bottle in a bag, seal it, then place the bag in another bag and seal it. When the bags are tightly sealed, place them into the cup of hot water until the water cools down and repeat until juice is steeped.
Even water can take a while to heat, and so the hot rice method is another commonly utilized way for impatient vapers to quickly steep a bottle of e-juice. To perform this method:
- Fill a microwavable bowl with enough rice to cover your e-juice bottles completely.
- Warm up the rice in the microwave until hot to the touch.
- Bury the glass bottles in the rice and wait for it to cool.
- Repeat until liquid is fully steeped.
A space heater, radiator or baseboard heating can be other useful tools for quickly steeping e-juice. To steep e-juice using this method, fill a large mason jar halfway with water and place the liquids you want steep in an airtight plastic bag.
When the bag is sealed, put the bag in the mason jar and place it 8-12 inches from the heat source. Leave the jar to heat the e-juice, testing it every few hours to check the progress of steeping.
Final Thoughts
If you’re finding that a new e-liquid or an old favorite doesn’t quite taste like you expected, consider steeping it. Steeping can effectively “finish” an e-liquid, giving a freshly prepared blend an honest chance to be at its best.
The basic process couldn’t be simpler, but if you don’t feel like waiting, there are plenty of shortcuts to unlocking the true potential of a juice. For more information on e juice and what it’s made out of click here.
Share Your Thoughts
If you steep your e-juice, or about to try it for the first time, we want to hear from you! Please share your experiences in the comments below.
Thanks again for reading, and vape on!
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