Hey, in the breathing process. Shall I remove the whole tip or just the cap from the chubby gorilla bottle?
And how long should I let the e juice breath?
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Personally, I donât let anything breathe⌠it only serves to allow your flavor concentrates to evaporate. If a flavor is too pungent, just use less or let it steep a little longer.
If youâre dealing with a high alcohol level in your concentrates, just let is steep normally, remove the caps and blow our the alcohol vapor. Always leave a bit of air in your bottles so that alcohol can evaporate out of the e-liquid.
But breathing is IMO just a waste of flavor concentrates.
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This is just my opinion but thereâs no reason to breath a juice. Opening the cap means you losing a lot of flavor molecules, that after mixing need to bind/meld together.
Even alcohol if it is in the flavor will steep out. The only time you might consider breathing a juice is after a shake and you want to vape it right away, and it contains high alcohol content. Still I wouldnt recommend it, but if so, open the bottle and let it sit 5-15 minutes, close it and shake.
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I agree with @eStorm and @anon28032772. The question you are asking assumes that breathing is a given and you just want to know the best way to go about it.
Iâd ask why should I or should I not breathe my e-liquid. What is the reason you want to let it breathe?
If you want it to be ready to vape immediately and its harsh, breathing wonât help that much. And youâll lose some volatile flavor molecules in the process, as mentioned above. You might need to let it steep for a week or two to get it tamed, or use a smoothing additive to dull the sharp notes. Adding a little sweet cream can help there in lieu of an additive, but that needs to steep, too. I donât use any smoothing additives, but there is an article on those under tips and tricks somewhere! Might be helpful.
If you want to let it breathe because you saw that that is the thing to do, I can add to the anti-breathing reply and say it ainât so, but there are others who disagree. Maybe weâll hear from them on this thread so you can get both sides of the debate!
I use a lot of alcohol based flavors and have no need to breathe mine. Some citrus flavors can be a little scratchy, but they steep out in 6-10 days to mellow and sweet.
If you ever really want to know the difference, make up 2 identical bottles, cap and store one, breathe the other and test after a week, or something like that. You are the Best judge of debatable techniques. Cheers!
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I agree with the others but there are a very small handful of flavorings that people do breath. One is Butter Rum Lorann, and i cant remember any of the others. Even Butter Rum i wont breath, i just let it cure until it is ready.
Can you give an example of a mix that you are considering breathing? Perhaps we can help other information.
My mixing process for all liquid goes like this. Mix flavors with PG and shake. Add nic and swirl a bit, then i add the vg and shake until there are no âstringsâ i call it. When making batches in clear bottles you will understand what i mean. I then put the bottle on the shelf for a month minimum, i vape custards almost exclusively. In the years i have been mixing i have tested every sane sounding curing method and time as always proven best for me.
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More me too, I agree with these guys.
I used to leave a mix uncapped to evap if I knew alcohol was used as part of the carrier base. But now I figure any evap needed is going happen during my âcuriousity phaseâ of steeping.
Just mix it, shake it like it owes you money and put it away for awhile.
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Yeah, I tried a few different techniques when I was getting started. Hot water bath in a coffee mug til the water turned luke-warm with the cap off, maybe overnight with the cap off, then just an overnight breathe, all seemed ok. Then one time I just shook it and stored it and didnât notice any reason to keep heating or breathing after that. It really streamlined my mixing sessions to be free to shake-cap-stow and wait. Some were even good the next day, but longer steeping is the best.
One thing about getting started, especially if you create all of your own recipes, is that theyâre not that good in the beginning, by my estimate. Just keep mixing and testing, steeping and checking, tweaking and nudging. All will be well!
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thanks guys
so breathing isnât necessary after all.
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Especially if u are sensitive to alcohol.
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how do I know that the flavors contain alcohol?
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Iâve been experimenting with spout caps off for 2 weeks now, the flavour is still there and the steep seemed to move a little quicker.
What I think could be useful:
Try expelling air from the bottle by gently squeezing the bottle, then lid back on, do that once a week for the length of the steep to ensure fresh air is added, this should aid the steep.
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It would be interesting if youâre including which flavors youâve been testing with. Thereâs a big difference whether you do this with Vanilla Custard (CAP) or Lemon Sicily (FA) âŚ
I would not recommend this if you mix your nicotine with your e-liquid immediately. It will not help the shelf life of your e-liquid, increase the nic oxidation and increase the harshness of the juice.
@Donz1
Take all the above information also with a grain of salt and use your brain⌠there are a lot of variables you have to take into account as well. E.g. if you have a very slim unicorn bottle, the surface area really isnât going to be big standing up. If you lay your bottle flat, that surface area is going to be greatly increased. The more surface area you have, the more your e-liquid is exposed to oxigen (nicotine oxidation) and the easier your flavor molecules will escape. The smaller, the less effect itâll all have. Temperature, ventilation, etc all play a role as well.
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Same here, itâs probably a practice you try when you first start and your mixes that just seem too chemical or alcoholic or harsh or âjust offâ Absinthe was a classic⌠At that time, leaving the bottle open seemed a cure, I used to use INW a lot before they changed âpoliciesâ and that probably was a culprit, then I switched to a lot of TPA and it wasnât any better and so on, we all went through that, before understanding the right manufacturer for the right recipe and related correct steeping time, the only correct answer is as @Plunderdrum said: keep on mixing and testing, you not only get the hang of it but itâll be something âinside youâ youâll know what to do by heart 
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Iâve gotten into the habit of purging the air out of a mix after itâs been steeping for a couple of days. Seems to work as well as breathing did.
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You can go to the flavor companyâs website and find the flavor you want, if you are buying from a vendor like ECX, Bull City, etc. The manufacturer is more likely to have an accurate ingredient list including whether the flavor is based in PG, VG, Alcohol or some blend of the three. The vendors get it wrong sometimes, or just donât list such things, expecting you to have done your homework before ordering. Bull City still has, last I checked recently, a couple of VG/Alcohol based flavors listed as being PG based. So, I refer to the manufacturer to be sure.
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Just to weigh in a bit. Outside of mixing time, so just the time it takes to dispense the flavors I havenât airâedout a single mix in two years. Granted though I subscribe to steeping or aging my mix. I donât shake and vape, at the min I would wait a few days or at least 24 hours.
However, at this point I donât touch a mix for two - three weeks of aging. Which may be hard to do when starting out and building up a stash of ready to vape mixesâŚhence why I would recommend as many days as possible (3-4 days and longer for heaven custards and creams) to age your mixes and let the magic happen.
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It wouldnât be interesting at all, just throwing out ideas based on observation, Iâm not saying do what I do. 
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And that process is�
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I use LDPE bottles so they are squishy. I simply squeeze all of the air out until I get a drop or two of juice purged. Once in a great while Iâll have a mix that is a bit harsh and I have to purge againâŚ
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