What about if they are in plastic bottles and not glass will they still keep for a while I just read that you shouldn’t store flavour consintrates in plastic bottles is this true? I’ve had consintrates stores in plastic for at least 3 months now and I’m only just getting started to start mixing does this mean they are all going to taste like shit now everything I’ve made so far has not been great wondering if this is why?
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I can’t really speak to glass bottles for flavors. All my flavors are in their original plastic dripper bottles they came in. Plus I can’t give a definitive answer to shelf lives, I can only speak to my experiences.
I still have loads of flavors from my very first purchase, well over 4 years ago, and I have noticed no change in potency or recipes. The only exception is my medicine flower flavors, which drastically lose potency within a year. Those MF flavors are in glass bottles, but in my opinion that’s just a coincidence and I believe it has to do with their formulas, not the bottles.
I have been mixing with flavors that are years old for a long time now. My nicotine is also 3 years old, or older, so I wouldn’t put much concern into shelf lives. Medicine flower on the other hand, well I try to use the most I can, while I have it, so I don’t find myself wasting money on that expensive stuff!
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Ok thankyou
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I also have flavors that are older and in original dropper bottles.
Most of them are just as new, some are even better than they were. However a few are gone bad, and these are Capella and flavor west.
Not all of course but it’s flavor depend, however I did read somewhere that these manufacturers are notorious for flavorings that won’t last in comparison to others. Not sure if it’s always true. Might have been just a fluke lol.
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This could very well be the case. I don’t use FW, and the capella flavors I do use, don’t last long before I have to re-up (VC v1 for example). Majority of the ones I have are FA and INW with some TFA peppered here and there. The TFAs seem to hold up right along with the rest though!
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I think the flavour deterioration from being kept in plastic is often exaggerated. Check out this thread:
Here you’ll see row upon row of little plastic flavour bottles, diligently stored (often for a year or more) by numerous old hands. I think they would have noticed by now, if the plastic bottles had half as much impact on the flavour as heat and light dol.
That said, it’s ptobably wise to transfer acidic flavours such as citrus to glass…if you can be arsed…
Oh! There you’ll also see stotage solutions that leave you green with envy! Be warned!
And please persevere.! Most folks’ mixes taste like shit at first. That’s just the way it goes. But soon you’ll mix something tasty, believe me! You’re doing the main thing right! That’s reading this forum, and absorbing the info. therein. 
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Ok @Pro_Vapes I did some digging in my email and found an exact purchase date when I got all my 15ml bottles of MF. January 2016. So pretty close to 3 years now. I also smelled all of them before I left for work this morning, and the odd thing is, each and every one of them have a strong floral scent to them. None of them smell like the fruit they used to, just a floral scent that is slightly different from bottle to bottle. Even the cantaloupe had a faint floral smell and taste, once I really got in there.
The ones I still have are fig, pineapple, mango, peach, cantaloupe, apricot (alcohol smell), nectarine and a few odd ball ones. My wild raspberry is the oldest one I have, from my very first purchase 3.5 years ago as lotus flower. This one still tastes of wild raspberry but at 2% isn’t nearly as strong as it used to be.
To answer you question of storage. I have kept all my flavors, including MF, in my homemade cabinets that have doors to keep them in the dark when not in use. I have never refrigerated any of my flavors, but given what MF flavors are, maybe that’s not a bad idea? All the rest of my flavors are still fine, and they are almost twice as old as some of my MF. There are a handful of flavors that have weakened over time, but those are mainly TFA flavors from my very first purchase a long ass time ago.
I never liked the MF mango/pineapple, so I’ll probably never touch those again, but I’m interested to know what this floral smell is all about and how that comes out in a juice. May give it a go later.
Do you keep yours in a refrigerator? That could easily be the difference between yours and mine, when it comes to MF?
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I wonder if the ones that don’t last are the same ones that contain EM? That’s notorious for muting flavour in mixes isn’t it? could it be that it does the same work albeit more slowly, whilst still in the concentrate?
Might be worth checking.
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Regarding MF storage: as was recently raised in another thread, flavour escaping through the porous rubber pipette bulb could be a problem there. Indeed, MF send out their most volatile flavours in closed cap bottles, with the pipette enclosed seperately, for that very reason. Which is not to say that that the less volatile flavours won’t go the same way, given enough time, is it?
Refrigeration cuts down on volatility. That’s why I refrigerate mine. But I don’t think my own observations on flavour deterioration (or lack therof) would add any useful data, because I haven’t had them that long (some are more than a year old, but nothing close to yours) and haven’t kept them any other way- at least not for long.
I’ve seriously thought of putting closed caps on the lot, just to be on the really safe side, but then your USA bottles have a different neck size than our European bottles, and it’s bloody hard to get the right size caps for them here in Britain!
Oh! and the size of the airspace at the top might make a really big difference,too, mightn’t it, such that the faster you use it the faster it deteiorates! 
I’ve heard of folk transferring their MF into smaller bottles to forestall that one. Not a bad idea, but too much faff for me. And my labels smear a whole lot more easily than theirs do!
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Yes I do… @Ken_O_Where recommended that when I 1st started using MFs.
Those are a couple I never found much use for, but I’m going try these @ a super low % to see if it help improve the flavor. I really feel I abused some MFs by mixing them too high.
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ive always got this floral smell and taste from MF cantaloupe thats what turned me off of the flave ,…
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Yes mango mf. One drop to a 15ml is pretty good for mango. 0.028 grams
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That might be the case for some, but others don’t contain EM. And there’s also a difference between the phrase going bad in my experience.
For example some CAP flavors get less potent over time, flavors like sugar cookie for example and that’s ok.
But I have some FW flavors, example tres de leche that was amazing, when I try it now, just opening the bottle it literally smells different and somewhat stinks. Still mixed it,there’s no actual fading,it just tastes fully different but not in a good way.
It’s not storage error or anything, there’s just something about some of these flavors, that I can’t figure out why they would go bad much quicker etc. But I’ll keep an eye on it. Have to remember I bought them as I was new and didn’t know better lol.
But sometimes I’m on the let’s look at older flavors trip, trust me most of these just ruined that trip lol
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I’ll bear that it mind! Sometimes I’m tempted (by some of the folk on this board, who else?) to try out some of the PG-free flavours that CAP throw up, seemingly randomly.
I even bought the CAP lime, at one point, but then it swiftly got supplanted by MF lime! who needs CAP when you have MF, eh? Not that I’ve quite got my % staight with the MF lime, as yet, but I’m confident it’s worth persevering with! That’s the thing.
Anyways, you just reduced the level of CAP temptation by several notches! 
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I suspect the FW flavors that contain fructose/ sugar syrup(tres leches is on that list) spoil more readily than flavorings that do not. They will darken faster, loose flavor and become putrid.
The issue with the cap flavors spoiling is from the LDPE bottles they come in, both the 15ml and 4oz allow air to pass in and out darkening and spoiling the aroma. I notice all lot of DIYers stashs (on DIY or Die for example) keep their flavors in the LDPE they come in. I advise against doing so! I have transfered all mine into hard PET and glass for larger bottles…
Edit: My 15ml of cap vanilla bean icecream was almost black within only a few (3or4) months despite being stored in a dark room
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I get mine from NR, it’s just 10ml bottles they rebottle/fill whatever the term is lol.
But I’m happy you pointing that out, just in case I ever get a “original” 15ml cap bottle, I know not to store it in these. Thank you.
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The only thing I can add is about flavorah flavors. I had my first order for over a year. A couple I noticed lost potency ex: banana and raspberry. I noticed that the ones that are more concentrated (which are a majority) aren’t affected by time. There are a couple, like the ones mentioned above, that lose strength but those are the one you can comfortably use at 2-2.5 %
I store all concentrates in a locked cupboard, room temp.
The Capella 13ml original bottles have always been a pain. I try to always get them rebottled, usually in 30ml or higher when ordering. They definitely seem to impart a plastic taste to the flavors, and over a year in the OG bottles the plastic becomes a bit more potent. That’s just me though, I have noticed certain flavors that are BA heavy darken quickly if left in the 13ml manufacturers bottle.
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well can say some must have a shelf life as i opened up a tub i had some old old ones stored in not used now in like 5+ years to get out something as still waiting for current delivery i ordered late and most of the small 10 ml bottles in there the labels were black with sunlight and all the liquid well was black too some were still ok but most had turned colour but on opening some up and doing a sniff test they smelt fine
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Some will be fine as long as you keep them in a cool dark place. But even then weaker concentrates wont past long. Ones that have a recommended 15%-25% last anywhere for 8 months to 16 months. But i still have a few from 4 years ago that are fine. Just extra fermented 
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