Steeping refers to the method used to improve the flavour of e-liquid. This usually means allowing the e-liquid to sit for a period of time. E-liquid is sometimes shaken and (depending on the method used) exposing it to air. As we will see later in this post, a number of techniques are used to speed up the process. Just like a fine wine, this process is supposed to improve the flavour of the e-liquid.E-liquid is mixed from different ingredients.

The primary ingredients are usually propylene glycol, vegetable glycerine, nicotine and flavourings. It may also include other ingredients such as distilled water and alcohol. The idea behind steeping is to better combine these different properties. Steeping is particularly important when you are dealing with raw e-liquid.Raw e-liquid is a just-mixed e-liquid that may have little flavour.Streathing is the process of testing your e-liquid to determine the perfect steeping time.

Usually combined with a method such as warm bath steeping, it involves testing the e-liquid at different stages in the steeping method. Ideally, you’d keep taste notes on a spreadsheet to identify the perfect steeping times.Breathing e-liquid is when you take the cap off to allow air to mix with the e-liquid in the bottle. When food browns, it is undergoing the Maillard reaction. This is a chemical interaction between amino acids and reducing sugars that gives the food different flavours. Examples include bread, toasted marshmallows and seared steaks. Some vapers believe that steeped e-liquid changes taste because of the Maillard Reaction. It is also referenced in our expert interview below.

There’s no question that steeping changes the property of e-liquids. (Some even change colour.)

But does it improve the taste?

We’ve done some experiments in the past. In a blind tasting test using different flavours with 4 colleagues, we were able to distinguish between steeped and unsteeped e-liquids 70% of the time. (At times, though, we thought the unsteeped e-liquid was better.) For this blog post we decided to run the test again. This time, we used experienced but independent vapers. We only tested one flavour and one strength, and we didn’t send anyone two unsteeped or two steeped e-liquids.

We know that some e-liquids respond better to steeping than others, so these results are unlikely to apply to all e-liquids. In addition, bear in mind that everyone has a different capacity to taste e-liquid. It would be interesting to do this experiment with super tasters, who would be more likely to be able to taste the difference. (Fortunately, our Halo Tasting Panel does include a wine taster!) We only managed to get nine tests completed. If anyone wants to repeat the test on a larger scale, it would be interesting to see how the results are affected by including a larger range of flavours, strengths. It would also be interesting to see if you could receive different results when you sent out exactly the same e-liquid.

How to Steep E-liquid

Firstly, you would usually keep your e-liquid away from heat and sunlight. These may lead to your e-liquid getting darker, and could speed up nicotine degradation. (This is not the case for accelerated steeping.) The other thing to bear in mind is that if your e-liquid is exposed to air, impurities could get into your e-liquid. The propylene glycol in your e-liquid should kill any germs off, but it is still something to bear in mind.

The first method simply involves periodically shaking your e-liquid, and the rest of the time leaving it in a cool, dark place. Most people will either remove the cap and leave the cap off, or periodically take off and replace the cap. However, E-Liquid Zine references an interesting experiment where steeping was carried out without removing the cap. The results were the same!

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