Taking Care of Your E-Juice
With more people buying different flavors at the same time to create a 'rotation' of juices, many of our customers have asked us, 'How do I take care of my juice?'. We've finally written this guide to help everyone out.
Following the initial care question, there are additional questions that vapers have: Why is my juice harsh? How do I steep my juice? Why does my juice darken? How long will my juice last?
Read on, and we will address these questions in this article.
I just got my juice, now what?
Once you get your bottles of juice, we highly recommend that you steep your juice. While some juices may already come pre-steeped by the manufacturer, a little extra love won't hurt.
If you crack open that bottle of juice, you may notice that some bottles will have a level of harshness to it. This may mean that your juice just needs to steep. Once your juice has steeped, you will find that a reduced level of throat hit remains--the desired level of throat hit depends on the vaper's preference. If a highly recommended juice hits too hard for you, you may want to step down (or reduce) your nicotine level. If that is still too harsh, you may just not like the juice. Really, there is nothing wrong with that.
Other factors that may affect harshness or 'throat hit' include the PG/VG ratio besides the nicotine level. One brand's 6mg juice may be smooth to someone, and harsh to another.
Where do I put these things?
So you steeped your juice, and now you'd like to maximize the shelf life of your juice. Well, there are a few best practices out there.
First, you'll want to find a cool dark place to store your juice. While we do recommend using heat to 'speed up' the steeping process, try to avoid long term exposure to heat. Too much heat and/or sunlight will cause a breakdown of your juice. Heat is bad, and sunlight is worse. Those same UV rays that are bad for your skin are bad for your juice. Sunblock will not help.
Second, you'll want to minimize the number of times you open your bottle of juice. That means if you have any bottle larger than 30ml, transfer the juice into a smaller bottle (e.g. a 15ml or 30ml bottle). Not only is it easier to carry, but you'll minimize the bigger bottle's exposure to air, which can accelerate oxidation (basically a chemical reaction to air).
Third, avoid refrigeration and freezing of your liquid. There are no benefits to this, and you may end up with some flavors being muted in your juice.
Why did my juice get darker?
Oxidation is inevitable and does not have any effect on your juice in the short term. Most people vape small bottles of juice before oxidation can break down your liquid. You may however, notice that your juice darkens over time. That's just oxidation kicking in (science b*tch). Some flavors and higher nicotine levels will get darker than other juices, but this is completely normal. You should still have the same great tasting juice if you keep your bottles stored properly.
What's the shelf life of my juice?
If you've followed our guide, some people may start to wonder, 'how long can I keep my juice?'. While there are no hard and fast rules about juice expiring, many manufacturers will recommend consuming the juice within a year of the born date. This is due to PG, VG, and nicotine breaking down anywhere from 1-2 years. We recommend following the guidelines set by the manufacturer. But if you're like us, a good bottle of juice won't make it past a week...
Last notes:
Nicotine is classified as a hazardous product and your juice should be treated that way. Make sure you store your juice away from pets, children, and even irresponsible adults (we sure know a few :)).
There you go! Follow the guide and you'll have great tasting juice for many months to come. If you have any further questions about the care of your juice, feel free to reach out, and we'll be happy to help. Thanks for reading, and vape awesome everyone!
