I was trying to find a thread to post this in, but I didn’t see any preexisting thread about sour tasting bakery/cream mixes.
I have a mix I made and last time I vaped it I swear it was delicious. I filled my tank up and began to get the most disgusting sour taste that stuck to my tounge. I had to dump it out.
Is it normal for unsteeped cream/bakerys to have a horrible sour taste if they aren’t steeped enough?
Ah, the dreaded sour bakery surprise!
Yep, it happens. Some cream and bakery flavors can go through a weird phase where they taste sour, off, or just plain wrong if they haven’t steeped properly. It’s like biting into an unripe banana—you know it should be good, but instead, it’s an insult to your taste buds.
Dairy Notes Need Time – Creams and custards often contain compounds that can taste sour or plasticky until they’ve had time to meld properly. Steeping lets them mellow out.
Bakery Bases Can Be Harsh – Some bakery flavors (especially those with acetyl pyrazine) can be dry or bitter at first, making them seem weirdly sharp.
Heat & Nicotine Reaction – If you’re using freebase nicotine, it can sometimes interact with certain flavors in odd ways, especially in fresh mixes. Higher temps can make the sourness more pronounced.
If you used Whipped Cream (SSA), for example, don’t panic! That stuff is absolutely foul straight off the shake. I nearly dumped a whole bottle of juice the first time I tried it—thought I had mixed up a bottle of regret. But after a good 7-day steep, it transforms into one of the smoothest, richest creams I’ve ever used.
Other offenders? Some custards, certain vanilla-heavy creams, and even a few butterscotch flavors can go through a weird phase before they settle in.
Steep It! – Give it a solid one to two weeks. Shake it up occasionally and let it breathe for a few hours if it smells funky.
Try a Warm Bath – Some mixers swear by gently warming the bottle (like in a bowl of warm water) to speed up the steep.
Adjust Your Ratios – If the sourness persists, you might have too much of one ingredient overpowering the mix. Try dialing back the creams slightly.
Check Your Tank/Wick – Sometimes, a dirty coil or old cotton can mutate a flavor into something tragic. Swap them out and see if the problem persists.
If your mix was delicious before, odds are it will be delicious again—just needs a little patience. Give it time, revisit it, and let your taste buds be the judge.
Let me know if you need more help—always happy to troubleshoot! 
A sour off-taste in cream or bakery mixes can result from several factors, including:
Ingredient Quality & Freshness – Dairy-based flavors, sweet creams, and custards can degrade over time, developing off-notes. Check for oxidation or ingredient separation.
Overuse of Certain Flavorings – Some flavor compounds, such as butyric acid in buttery flavors or high levels of citric/malic acid, can introduce an unwanted sourness. Adjusting ratios may help.
Nicotine or PG/VG Oxidation – If using nicotine in an e-liquid mix, oxidation can contribute to a sour taste. Ensure proper storage and use fresh ingredients.
Steeping & Maturation Issues – Some flavors need time to meld properly. Insufficient steeping can cause imbalanced or sharp notes, while over-steeping may lead to flavor degradation.
pH Imbalance – Some acidic ingredients can clash with creamy or bakery notes, leading to sour undertones. Balancing with sweeteners or enhancers may help.
What flavors did you use? Simple answer , yes. If yiu used any flavors with Butyric Acid and are sensitive to it then it will come through anything.
Coincidentally I was going to start a post tonight asking how long to steep ssa ice cream and fa cream fresh for?! Mine arent tasting harsh or sour but very dry on the throat. Makes me cough every inhale but its not harsh and only made them with 4mg salt nic strength. Is a month too long and is 2 weeks not enough?! My steeped oldest ones left I mixed on 11th march and wasn’t sure if to try yet?
Thsnks for the detailed info above. Sorry to hijack post!
Like butyric baby vomit? I’m not sensitive to it usually in mixes, but the biggest culprit for me is TPA sweet cream dx. It’s a good flavor, just has butyric. Most v2’s have it in place of the DAPPY stuff. In my understanding anyways. SSA milky caramel cream is another but it steeps out and in a mix is a good flavor.
I actually just tasted buytric acid in my one of my PB tests, tasted like Hershey’s chocolate. It’s not like that though, it was just sour, just a bad sour taste sticking to my tounge.
This is the recipe, oddly enough I had vaped the first 10ml tester in 24 hours of mixing. My 60ml bottle was gone in about a week. I just made another 60ml.
Y’all totally answered my question though. 
Thank you.
No youre good, you aren’t hijacking.
What %s are you using? I don’t think I got dryness from when I mixed those.
Thank you for the detailed response!!!
Thanks to everyone else for help as well!!!
I think you might have helped! On some of my mixes I am getting a dryness sensation, and on those the ssa ice cream I had some issues squeezing the end of the bottle and it came out quicker than expected and so the overall flavour ended up around 5% instead of 3.75. Could too high concentrate % cause dryness in the mix? The cream fresh was 2.5%. Am using a pod device. Thanks.
And sorry can I ask, do people shake their mixes once put away to steep or do you leave them alone?! I shake thoroughly immediately after mixing then put them away in the cupboard for several weeks. Dont know if am going wrong with steeping that way or if giving tjem long enough. Sorry!
Im not positive about high percentages and dryness, I imagine it may have done effect though. Someone else around here should know better than me.
As far a shaking after mixing, I see some people say “every day.” I don’t do that… But if I go to taste test something and it’s been sitting totally undisturbed I definitely shake it up first. I only shake it if it’s been sitting for a while.
Thanks. You’ve been really helpful. I don’t shake until go to use them. I might do some mixing again tomorrow especially now that nom nomz have got back in stock the ssa ice cream cos it was out for weeks. Thank you 