WHY STEEPER YOUR E-LIQUID?

The steep or maturation of the e-liquid is a crucial step for all DIY enthusiasts! How to allow your e-liquid to reveal all its flavours? In this article, you will discover all the tips to become an ace in steeplechase!

Steeper its liquid what is it?

Letting your e-liquid steeper comes from an English term “steeping” which means maceration. Steeper is therefore the action of letting your E-liquid rest, macerate and homogenize it when you make a mixture of E-liquid at home.

E-liquids are made of various components, propylene glycol, vegetable glycerin, nicotine, aromas, alcohol, water… which are difficult to mix with each other. This is where the Steep is essential. It will allow all the molecules to unite to allow your e-liquid to reveal all its flavors.

In the end, it’s like wine, the more it is aged, the more it is tasty and full of flavour. So we keep our evil patient, and the result will only be better.

Steeping his liquid, for whom?

Steeping generally concerns all people who make DIY, that is to say all vapers who make their own e liquids. You can leave your e-liquid steeper in the following cases:

• The liquid smells nothing
• The smell has nothing to do with the label
• Liquid tastes like cardboard, washing up liquid
• A strong smell of alcohol emanates from the bottle
• All e-liquids with gourmet flavours
• All tobacco-flavoured e-liquids

Useless for fruity mono flavors in particular, if they are based on natural flavors.

How to Steeper your liquid?

We advise you to make your mixture and store it with the cap closed, away from light, for example in a drawer or shoebox.

Shake your vial daily for a few minutes to allow all components to dilute properly. We recommend that you follow the manufacturer’s instructions for steep times.

To improve the effects, remove the cap for 5 to 10 minutes, so that the liquid can aerate and release the air bubbles. But as with wine, do not aerate your e-liquid for too long, its flavor will be altered.

How long to steep your e-liquid?

As a rule, it is necessary to rely on the recommendations of the brand. However, you may not have access to the necessary indications for an optimal steep. In this case, depending on the composition of the flavors, you can easily estimate the steeping time.

• Fruity mono-aromas: from 0 to 5 days
• Complex fruitiness: 3 to 7 days, if 100% fruit
• Mints, anise, absinthe, liquorice, coffee, spices, vanilla: 1 to 2 weeks
• Liquids containing alcohol: 2 weeks minimum
• Gourmet liquids: 2 to 3 weeks
• Custards (Custard): 3 weeks
• Tobacco: up to 4 weeks

Are you hungry for information and want to deepen your knowledge of steeping your e-liquid? We have listed all the techniques that exist.

Accelerate the steep of your e-liquid

To overcome this steep, we recommend patience, patience and more patience. There are so-called acceleration techniques, but we formally believe within the team that the taste of e-liquids deteriorates with these techniques. Everyone is free to use it or not.

Heat techniques:

All of these techniques require a glass container, not plastic, which could melt with the heat.

• Hot water – pour hot water (not boiling, around 45°) into a glass dish, immerse your vial, cap closed, for one hour, and shake the vial every quarter of an hour. Beware of labels that may come off.
• Hot rice – in a special microwave dish, pour raw rice and heat it in the microwave for 2 min 30, on medium power. At the exit of the microwave, insert your vials into the rice and wait for it to cool.
• Radiator – on a wooden shelf type support, to be placed on the radiator, let stand for an hour and shake every quarter of an hour.
• Hair dryer – blow the hair dryer 30 cm from the vial, for 20 minutes.

Vibrating techniques:

• The Wheel – tape your flask to a bike wheel, car hubcap, or centre of a fan and roll away.
• The emulsion with an electric mixer – emulsify the liquid in a glass bowl for 20 seconds, leave to stand and repeat when the liquid becomes clear. Repeat the operation a third time and wait for 3 to 4 days.
• Ultrasonic tank – use an ultrasonic cleaner

Decanting your liquid, what is it?

“Breathing” settling should not be confused with steeping. This is the action that allows the alcohol to evaporate. This technique can be used in the following cases:

If your ready-to-vape e-liquid seems unbalanced, strong or, on the contrary, mono-aroma when it should be complex or still very alcoholic

For incapable e-liquids because resolutely not good! Millions of kilometers from the description, you can try decanting for 24 to 72 hours, it can at worst catch up with it and make it vapable. But again, nothing is guaranteed.

How to do it? Do not shake the bottle. Remove the safety cap and the spout, store the bottle away from light. As the flavors can also evaporate and by definition alter the taste of your e-liquid, this process can be used for certain e-liquids. But no more than an hour, otherwise you risk seeing all the aromas evaporate and end up with a tasteless e-liquid, and that’s clearly not what we want!

We do not recommend using this technique for e-liquids prepared with natural flavours. Apart from losing taste, you will gain absolutely nothing.

There you go, now you know all the little secrets of Steeping. Don’t forget the best method remains patience, and a bit of organization to never run out of E-liquids.

Happy vaping everyone!