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Steeping not working?

So I've recently started making my own liquids. Getting all my stuff from legit places. Most of my concentrates are from Vampire Vape and the VG and PG is from somewhere secret but is both 99.9% pure. So I've been steeping my liquids for about 3-4 days and I have been using appropriate measurements but it's not seeming to go well. What is the best way to steep?

What I make: 10ml in total

4ml PG
4ml VG
2ml Concentrate
 

Letitia9

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Some flavors need a longer steep. Let us know what flavors you are using, include brand please. It is standard to post your percentages rather than mls.
 

Letitia9

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P.S. Welcome to VU. Lot of good people here to help you along the way.
 

The Cromwell

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Most steeping takes between 1-4 weeks.
Some even longer for best results.

The higher level of VG used the longer steep time required is one basic rule as well.

1-3 days is basically for Shake n Vape recipes to make them a bit better.
 
Most steeping takes between 1-4 weeks.
Some even longer for best results.

The higher level of VG used the longer steep time required is one basic rule as well.

1-3 days is basically for Shake n Vape recipes to make them a bit better.
Some flavors need a longer steep. Let us know what flavors you are using, include brand please. It is standard to post your percentages rather than mls.

I'm using Vampire Vape Concentrates from the Flavor Factory. 30ml each. I just don't really know the best way to steep. Like using an ultrasonic cleaner or just shaking it or what. Mostly fruits, sometimes sweet flavors
 

Letitia9

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What fruits and what sweets, name the flavors.
 

The Cromwell

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Not familiar with those flavorings.
however I am kind of old fashioned on steeping.
the most I will do aside from just shaking and wating is to shike the mix well and plop the bottle in a container of hot tapwater.
Remove when it has cooled to room temperature. Shake again and put on shelf to wait.
 

Letitia9

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Some brands of grape and berry will be good in a few hours, some in a few weeks. Usually anything with a cream is a two week minimum, some need 4-6 weeks. I would add another percentage to the grape and berry mixes that don't have creams. Shake and leave over night before tasting.
 
Some brands of grape and berry will be good in a few hours, some in a few weeks. Usually anything with a cream is a two week minimum, some need 4-6 weeks. I would add another percentage to the grape and berry mixes that don't have creams. Shake and leave over night before tasting.

So roughly how long do you suggest I leave it to steep for and which method? breeting? or just normal cap on sort of thing
 

Carambrda

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So roughly how long do you suggest I leave it to steep for and which method? breeting? or just normal cap on sort of thing
My TFA Pralines And Cream at 8.5% with 83 VG, 17 PG and 3mg nic has been steeping for several months now. I started by shaking vigorously. Next, I kept flipping the bottle a couple hundred times per day instead of just shaking, for fear of too much air bubbles interfering with the flavor over time. After some weeks I grew tired of that and moved to shaking non-vigorously for 10 - 15 minutes, usually more than once per day. Then I grew tired of that too so I just left it sit in the drawer for days on end without touching it. It took about 2.5 months before it started to taste more or less good, but still nowhere near excellent. So back in the drawer it went... it's been in there for almost 4 months now. I tasted it a couple days ago by vaping. Much, much better now. But nevertheless the vape still smells a little bit like cat pee. (No joke.)

Finally, not too long ago I grew tired of all of the above mentioned. So then I made the plunge and got a Nitecore Flavor Factory Series Liquid Mixer, but still haven't tested it yet... I have a grocery bag full of store bought premium juices some of which I haven't actually even bothered tasting yet because I'm always feeling so tired.
 

Letitia9

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So roughly how long do you suggest I leave it to steep for and which method? breeting? or just normal cap on sort of thing
I just shake now and then. Puff a drip every week or two until it's ready. For testers I use a higher % to get a sense of the flavor.
 

hellcatrydr

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So roughly how long do you suggest I leave it to steep for and which method? breeting? or just normal cap on sort of thing

Listen GD... straight up. Many of us have been DIYing for 5 - 10 years and Im'a tell ya
Your flavoring is suspect right outta the gate. Our flavors (in the US) are available from all over the world and I've never heard of it.
There are so manny long established, quality flavoring companies... Why are you using this "brand"???

Also... there isn't any such flavor mfg as VampireVape afik. What you are buying is mixed / diluted flavorings made by someone else.

Annnd.... Pre-mixed concentrates are not DIY.

Next... 20% flavoring is insane.

Bottom line is that no amount of steeping will turn bad juice into good juice. :(

My advice is to dump Vampire flavorings and invest in flavorings that vapers actually use... and develop recipes for...
and can give you experience based steeping advice on.


FlavorArt, Perfumer's Apprentice, Inawera and others are all on the Continent.

... (unless ya just wanted to shill the vamp stuff)
 
Last edited:

Carambrda

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Listen GD... straight up. Many of us have been DIYing for 5 - 10 years and Im'a tell ya
Your flavoring is suspect right outta the gate. Our flavors (in the US) are available from all over the world and I've never heard of it.
There are so manny long established, quality flavoring companies... Why are you using this "brand"???

Also... there isn't any such flavor mfg as VampireVape afik. What you are buying is mixed / diluted flavorings made by someone else.

Annnd.... Pre-mixed concentrates are not DIY.

Next... 20% flavoring is insane.

Bottom line is that no amount of steeping will turn bad juice into good juice. :(

My advice is to dump Vampire flavorings and invest in flavorings that vapers actually use... and develop recipes for...
and can give you experience based steeping advice on.


FlavorArt, Perfumer's Apprentice, Inawera and others are all on the Continent.

... (unless ya just wanted to shill the vamp stuff)
Vampire Vape is a multi-award winning flavoring manufacturer in the UK. They're actually quite famous... even outside the UK.
 

Letitia9

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I know who Vampire Vape is, just don't order from UK.
 

eStorm

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I posted this in a other thread couple weeks ago about quick steeping, I'm going to quote myself since I don't want to retype it. Give it a try, but as others have mentioned if your flavors or the pre mixed base you're using is bad, nothing is going to help with that.

I am no expert, but I'll post what works for me personally, other people might have a different opinion. So please keep that in mind.

When it comes to store bought juices or simple diy's, that have a specific flavor already but are very mild or lacking some of the advertised sub nuances, mostly when it comes to custards or cakes and creams, I'll fill 5-15 ml in a separate bottle and put it for 2-6 hours through my ultrasonic cleanser.

But you can do it with hot water bath too, fill some in a glass bottle or use a plastic bottle you know won't dodge when heated lol. Grab a pot/pan/bowl whatever and heat some water. Do not exceed 140F or your nicotine starts to fade, very noticeable if you do a couple of steep runs that day. Anyways, fill that water into a container, mason jar, bowl or anything you can seal, place your bottles in it and check every 30-45 minutes. If the water cooled down by a lot exchange, rinse and repeat. In some cases that can be sooner than my indicated time above.

Do that for 2-4 hours and you're set. Everytime you exchange the water, shake your bottle but don't open it. After the last round of the water bath, shake and open, let stand for 5 minutes not longer, then reseal and shake again. Now you can either use it, or put it in a dark place and let it steep more, but if you're planning on doing it via time anyways, then there's no reason to use the quick steep method to begin with lol.

Things to look out for or to mention:

If you have time on your hands and not desperately on your last drop of juice, steep it regularly aka dark place and wait 2-8 weeks.
Do not steep a whole 30/60 or 120 ml bottle of juice via quick steep at once, the result will be not very satisfying.
Use a bottle that you know won't crack/melt etc.
Do not soak the bottle tops in water. If you don't have a container small enough put your bottles into water repellent zip lock bags and then place them in the water. Last thing you want is getting your juice mixed with water lol
This method does not work very well with tobacco flavors or juices that are not potent enough by itself, custards can be tricky as well, especially if you have some multi layered custard, this method is just to bring out flavor profiles already existing in your juice, but not fully developed yet due to the store not pre steeping or made fully fresh etc. If your juice has barely or none flavor, this is not going to fix it, but it helps if you want to test a new juice or diy, or need to see were its at, for you to determent how long it would have to steep via dark place and time.

I hope it helps or makes somewhat sense lol.[/QUOTE
 

Letitia9

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See I'm in the UK and like not many good places here do good vape juices
Have you tried ordering flavors directly from say Flavourart. I know shipping from US would be steep, would it be as high from Italy? There are some UK diyers here on VU. Maybe cruise the diy threads and find a few. Or start a new thread calling out to UK diy mixers, that would be be quicker.
 

Carambrda

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Have you tried ordering flavors directly from say Flavourart. I know shipping from US would be steep, would it be as high from Italy? There are some UK diyers here on VU. Maybe cruise the diy threads and find a few. Or start a new thread calling out to UK diy mixers, that would be be quicker.
I paid 19.90 Euros in shipping cost for just 20 bottles of 10ml, from FlavourArt Italy to Belgium. Probably the best way would be to go to Chefs Flavours Ltd in the UK because I've heard really good things about them, and they seem to have almost everything. https://www.chefsflavours.co.uk (Just click on 'concentrates' or 'one shot concentrates' right below their logo.)
 

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