How To Steep E-liquid

By Rosa Bell

August 18, 2026

Steeping your e-liquid is one of the key steps when mixing your own e-liquid, whether you are adding flavour concentrate to an e-liquid or going fully DIY. Read on to learn more about how to steep your e-liquid and why this often neglected step is so important.

What is steeping e-liquid?

The basic idea of steeping e-liquid is letting the e-liquids ingredients mix together and mature fully. Vaping separated e-liquid can both taste unpleasant and may lead to an overly harsh throat hit, uneven nicotine delivery, and e-liquid residue may be more likely to build. There are a variety of methods you can use to do this including: 

  • Seal and sit: Once your e-liquid has been mixed together, seal it and leave it to sit for a while. The length of time you need to leave it for depends on the types of flavors in your e-liquid.

  • Breathing: Alcohol based ingredients may require you to remove the cap and dropper to let the e-liquid breathe, allowing the alcohol to dissipate fully. Typically you should let your e-liquid breathe for a couple of hours.

  • Bathe: Place your sealed bottle of e-liquid into a waterproof bag and submerge it in warm(not hot!) water. This is the fastest way to steep your e-liquid and should take around 20 minutes.

Steeping times

So if the steeping method and time varies from flavour to flavour, how long should you steep each flavour for if using the seal and sit method?

Steeping methods

You may also be wondering, which steeping method is right for me? This very much depends on how fast you need the e-liquid to be ready!

  • The warm bath method is great for when you need your e-liquid to steep quickly, taking only 20 minutes. However, when using this method you may lose some of the flavour subtlety.

  • Letting your e-liquid breathe is better for flavours that contain alcohol as it lets the alcohol dissipate, avoiding a harsh taste when inhaling. However, do not use this method for menthol and fruit flavours as menthol will cause your e-liquid to degrade when exposed to air for any length of time. Additionally fruity flavours may lose their strength when exposed to air. This method is the second fastest method taking around 2 hours.

  • Sealing and letting your e-liquid sit is the best method to use for a full bodied flavour. Unfortunately this method also takes the longest, usually between one and six weeks. We do recommend this method highly, just make sure you leave plenty of time between originally making it and wanting to start vaping it! 
frequently asked questions

Yes, you can steep nicotine free e-liquid. Steeping is also about making sure the flavours, vegetable glycerin, and propylene glycol are all bonded together properly.

Yes, e-liquid can be oversteeped. If allowed to sit for too long or exposed to light/ too much heat then your nicotine may oxidise. This will give you an inadequate nicotine hit and cause a nasty taste. You can still oversteep nicotine free e-liquid as if left for too long in improper conditions the flavours will begin to degrade.

Pre-mixed e-liquids made by companies like Vampire Vape and Lost Mary are already steeped so you can go ahead and vape straight after buying them. However, when mixing your own e-liquids you do need to let it steep to allow the ingredients to bond together properly.

Speed up the steeping process by using the warm bath method. This takes only 20 minutes.

Typically, tobacco flavoured e-liquids take about 2-4 weeks to steep. However, tobacco flavours mixed with creamy flavours like caramel may take even longer than this. 

Pre-steeped e-liquid is e-liquid that was steeped by the manufacturer before being sold. All major vape brands do this with their ready to vape e-liquid so you only need to worry about steeping if you are mixing flavours or mixing your e-liquid from scratch.

When letting your e-liquid sit and steep you should keep it in a cool dark place between 15 and 21 degrees celsius. We recommend using a cupboard or a drawer

Yes, e-liquids with a high vegetable glycerin (VG) content take longer to steep. This is because the flavours in VG take longer to fully mix and mature.

Shop our top selling e-liquids, from pre-steeped to e-liquid concentrates.

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