E-Juice as Fine as Wine

I've written several times, in these articles, about the joy of mixing your own original flavours and creating e-liquids that are exactly to your taste, but I have to admit that there is one subject that I have been remiss in covering. That is the steeping of your e-liquid.

For those unfamiliar with the term, steeping is nothing more than the aging or maturing of your e-juice so that it gives you the fullest possible flavour.

Just as wine can be drunk as soon as it has gone through the fermentation process, ejuice can be and most of the time is, consumed as soon as it is mixed. Ask any wine connoisseur, though, and they will tell you that it takes time for the chemistry of nature to work its magic and meld all of the individual ingredients together and create something that is not only good but truly magnificent.

The reason for this is that each ingredient in your e-juice has a different specific gravity or density that makes it difficult for them to form a truly homogenise whole. Think of a vinaigrette dressing.

You can just throw some spices, a little oil and some vinegar in a bottle and shake it up, but you're not going to get the best results that way. To create a truly memorable salad you need to give the herbs and spices time to infuse their flavours into the oil and the oil time to meld with the vinegar in order to get the full benefit from each of the ingredients.

The same is true with your e-liquid.

In follow-up articles, we will discuss the most popular methods of steeping e-juice and the pros and cons of each. For now, just accept the idea that best practices are to buy or blend ahead and let your e-liquid age before use.