Red Astaire concentrate | Rate, steep and recipe

A concentrate used at 20 % is not a side detail in a recipe. It fills a fifth of the bottle, shifts the final ratio and leaves little room before the mix turns cloying. Red Astaire concentrate is one of those flavours everyone thinks they know, and it still goes wrong on the scale more often than it should. The maker’s instructions exist in black and white. The job is to turn them into quantities, a base and a schedule.

Red Astaire concentrate, what T-Juice actually recommends

On its product page for Red Astaire concentrate, T-Juice gives a recommended mix of 20 % and a recommended steep time of 1 to 3 days. The concentrate comes in 10 ml and 30 ml bottles, and the brand states that it is manufactured in the UK.

The flavour is described as ripe red berries, black grape and sweet eucalyptus, followed by aniseed and a cool menthol finish. Those two numbers, 20 % and 1 to 3 days, are the starting point for everything below. Any recipe that moves away from them needs a reason, and that reason belongs in your mixing log.

What 20 % means inside a bottle

A percentage always applies to the final volume, never to the base alone. At 20 %, Red Astaire concentrate takes a fifth of the mix, and the remaining 80 % is shared between base and, if you use one, a nicotine shot.

Final volume	Concentrate at 20 %	Left for base and shot
10 ml	2 ml	8 ml
30 ml	6 ml	24 ml
50 ml	10 ml	40 ml
60 ml	12 ml	48 ml

Working backwards answers a practical question, how much e-liquid one bottle of concentrate makes. A 10 ml bottle gives 50 ml of mix (10 ÷ 0.20) and a 30 ml bottle gives 150 ml. The small size is plenty for a first round of tests.

A worked 60 ml recipe with a UK nicotine shot

UK nicotine shots are 10 ml bottles capped at 20 mg/ml by the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016, and 18 mg/ml shots are common. That second figure happens to suit this recipe. Nicotine strength follows the same formula used across this site, shot strength multiplied by shot volume, divided by final volume.

For 60 ml at 3 mg/ml, one 18 mg/ml shot does the job exactly, since 18 × 10 ÷ 60 = 3. The concentrate takes 12 ml and a 50/50 base fills the rest, 60 − 12 − 10 = 38 ml. With a 20 mg/ml shot instead, you would need 9 ml (3 × 60 ÷ 20) and 39 ml of base.

By weight, with a density of about 1.15 g/ml for a 50/50 base and a 50/50 shot, the 18 mg version means 11.5 g of shot and 43.7 g of base. The concentrate goes in by syringe, or by weight once you have measured its density. The full weighing routine, bench and labels included, is in our guide to setting up a DIY e-liquid workstation.

Choosing a base for Red Astaire concentrate

T-Juice says nothing about the base ratio, so the decision is yours. One factor is easy to overlook, the carrier of the concentrate itself. At 20 %, the concentrate brings a lot of its own liquid, and that liquid moves the final ratio.

If the concentrate is carried in PG

Say the label on your bottle lists propylene glycol as the carrier. In the 60 ml recipe with an 18 mg shot, total PG then comes to 12 ml from the concentrate, 5 ml from the shot and 19 ml from the 50/50 base, which is 36 ml out of 60. The finished mix sits at 60/40 PG/VG, a profile suited to a tight mouth-to-lung draw and coils above 1 ohm.

Keeping the mix close to 50/50

Swap in a 30/70 base and PG drops to 28.4 ml (12 + 5 + 11.4) while VG rises to 31.6 ml. The mix then lands near 47/53 PG/VG, better suited to an airier draw. Choose the base for the result you want in the bottle, not for the figure on the base label alone.

Steeping for 1 to 3 days, and how to organise it

A short steep is convenient, provided you do not taste at the wrong moment. Straight after mixing, the cool notes can dominate while the fruit hangs back. An impatient mixer decides the rate is too low and adds more concentrate, which is the quickest route to a saturated bottle.

The fix is a small tester bottle. When you mix, decant 10 ml into a separately labelled bottle. Try it on day one and again on day three, leaving the main bottle sealed. Write your notes and the dates in your log, and adjust the rate only after the day three tasting.

Overdosing mistakes and how to fix them

An overdose often owes less to a wrong calculation than to a top-up made after the fact. Three situations are worth watching.

Adding concentrate after tasting on mixing day, before the steep is over.
Emptying the rest of the concentrate bottle into the mix so it is not left half used.
Borrowing the rate of another concentrate, when every maker publishes its own.

The only fix is a larger volume, which means doing the maths. Suppose 15 ml of concentrate went into the 60 ml recipe instead of 12. The bottle now holds 63 ml, with the concentrate at 23.8 % (15 ÷ 63) and nicotine at 2.86 mg/ml (180 ÷ 63).

To get back to 20 %, the total must reach 75 ml (15 ÷ 0.20), so 12 ml has to go in. At 3 mg/ml, 75 ml needs 225 mg of nicotine, 45 mg short, which means 2.5 ml of an 18 mg/ml shot (45 ÷ 18).

The other 9.5 ml is base. As a check, 180 + 45 = 225 mg across 75 ml, which is 3 mg/ml. You simply need a bottle large enough for 75 ml.

FAQ

These are the questions that come up most often about this concentrate, beyond the rate and the steep.

Can I pair Red Astaire with another concentrate?

Yes, but the percentages add up. With Red Astaire at 20 %, a second concentrate quickly pushes the total flavour share up. It is wiser to lower the first one slightly and log both rates.

Does Red Astaire work with a max VG base?

Yes, with a very VG heavy result. In the 60 ml recipe with an 18 mg shot, 38 ml of pure VG brings total PG to 17 ml (12 + 5) against 43 ml of VG, a mix close to 28/72 PG/VG that suits low resistance tanks.

Why does my mix taste weaker than a ready made liquid?

Usually because it was tasted too early, or because a VG heavy base dulls the flavour. Waiting until day three and comparing on the same device gives you a fair verdict.

How should I store an opened bottle of concentrate?

Cap screwed down, away from light and heat, with the opening date written on the label. A concentrate that clearly changes smell or colour does not go into another mix.

Does Red Astaire work in a pod?

Yes, provided the base suits it. A mix that ends up around 60/40 PG/VG, like the 60 ml recipe with a 50/50 base and a PG carried concentrate, matches the coils above 1 ohm found in many pods. In the UK, a refillable pod or tank holds no more than 2 ml under the same 2016 regulations.

Mixing Red Astaire concentrate without overdoing it

Twenty per cent, one to three days of steeping, a calculation based on the final volume and a tester bottle so you taste at the right time. Red Astaire concentrate asks for nothing more, apart from the discipline never to correct a recipe before its steep is over. That discipline applies to every concentrate, whatever its reputation.

From the same recipe book

Editorial guide for adult readers only. Vaping products usually contain nicotine, which is addictive, and nicotine vaping products are not for sale to anyone under 18 in the UK. This guide describes a mixing method and is not a buying recommendation.