When it comes to steeping e juice, the longer the better. Now, don't go all overboard on me and start steeping vape juice for a year or more. We're talking days here, not years.
Believe it or not, some people can't hold their e-liquid for more than a few hours before busting it open. Honestly, there's nothing wrong with that, but it's not steeping. Using your e-juice right away can still provide a pleasurable experience. I do it too sometimes.
Some e-juices need to be steeped, others don't. If you're buying upper end vape juice that was mixed fresh, you should definitely steep it. If you're buying raunchy vape juice that was mixed last year, you don't need to steep it and you should probably throw it out.
Why Steep E Liquid
Steeping e liquid allows the various ingredients to become uniform. This spreads the nicotine evenly throughout the bottle and enhances the flavor.
When you buy a fresh bottle of e liquid, it's not as fluid as it should be. There are 2-4 main ingredients in your e-juice: VG, PG, nicotine, and flavoring. All of these ingredients have different densities.
Since each ingredient is not a drastically different color and they're already mixed up, it can be hard to notice that they aren't fully mixed together with the naked eye. That's where steeping saves the day. When all of the ingredients are uniform, the flavor will be superior. It also spreads the nicotine evenly throughout the bottle.
How To Steep E Juice
- Place your e juice in a cool dark location.
- Shake up the bottle every day.
- Repeat steps one and two for one week.
That's it. There are other things you can do in addition to the three steps above, but you don't have to.
Jump Start Your Vape Steeping
One of the extra things you can do is run your e liquid under warm faucet water.
Don't go all extreme-o and pour boiling hot water on your vape juice. By running warm water over your bottle, it'll heat up the molecules in your juice. When molecules are hot, they move faster. The ingredients in your vape juice will be able to mix easier by warming the bottle.
Even if you warm the bottle before starting the steeping process, you should still steep ejuice for a week. Warming the bottle is just jump starting the process.
Breathing
Another thing you can do to enhance your e-liquid is to give it some breathing room. Seriously, let it breath.
It is as it sounds. To let your e juice breath, all you have to do is take the lid off. You don't want to do this for too long or else the nicotine and flavoring will start do oxidize and break down. If you do it for the perfect amount of time, the oxygen will help the e-juice to age better.
Breathing is not a mandatory step to get the most out of your e-juice. You should try breathing your vape juice as well as steeping it. You may find that breathing didn't help that particular e liquid. Just because you didn't see an enhancement with one e juice, doesn't mean you won't see benefits with other juices.
Soup Analogy
Picture a pot of soup. No matter how hot you boil it, the flavor won't be fully saturated right after you cook it. When you eat leftover soup two and three days later, the flavor is more thorough.
My wife always says, “My food is better on the second day.” Basically, her food steeps overnight and tastes way better the next day. The same goes for e juice, but given the viscosity of the liquid it takes longer than a day.
Soup is very watery and homogenizes rather quickly. Vape juice is thicker so it takes about a week to finish a round of e juice steeping.
How Long Is E-Juice Good For
E-juice usually lasts six months to a year if kept out of sunlight and away from heat. If refrigerated, it can last longer than a year.
Direct sunlight and heat expedite the aging process of your e liquid. If you go through e-juice rather quickly, then you shouldn't have a problem with it going bad.
As long as you don't habitually leave it in your car in direct sunlight, you'll be okay. But if you have a variety of juices so it takes you months to get through a bottle, then store your juice cautiously.
You don't have to keep it in the fridge, a box will do. An old shoe box or Amazon box will suffice. If you're fancy than buy a box that matches the decor of your room. I'm more of a shoe box in the closet kind of guy.
E-Liquid Gone Bad
You'll know when your e juice goes bad. The consistency will change drastically. It will go from a thick juice that you can drip on your atty to a watery liquid. If your e-juice no longer drips, it might be bad. E-juice should drip, not pour.
Another indicator you can use is the color of your vape juice. If the liquid is no longer clear, it might be bad. If it turns black, it's most definitely bad. If you start to see your vape juice get darker, you might want to use it fast. It's on its way out.
Best Vape Juice Brands
Everyone will have their own opinion on which vape juice is the best. But generally, some brands produce higher quality juice than others.
If you want to experience premium e-liquid, then try Five Pawns. Their liquids are made in Irvine, California which is pretty cool. They have seasonal flavors too, so be on the lookout for those.
Now, if you're looking for good e juice that isn't terribly expensive, VaporFi e-liquids are the way to go. They have a huge selection of good quality vape juices ranging from ordinary to premium. You can't go wrong with VaporFi e juice. VaporFi also produces their e-liquid in the USA. Have fun steeping e juice!
Matt
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Cool post, thanks you for sharing vape fam. A massive shoutout to all vapers from California! Have an incredible day everyone and as always, keep your head in the clouds!
Great post! I enjoyed it quite much and learned a ton about steeping my e juice. Can’t wait to give my next order a good steeping lol
I never knew steeping would create a big difference. I always skip steeling because I always cant contain myself waiting. This time I will do it now. Happy vaping!