Calling all DIY'ers

Very interesting Mixlife show yesterday that deals a lot with nasty stuff in concentrates. Excellent input from Jenn Jarvis.



Interesting as well that Jenn had to ditch a whole bunch of 30ml bottles because they had gone off. So she now tends to buy 10ml. That is what I have felt all along. If Jenn can't use bigger bottles with all the mixing she does, there is not even the slightest chance that I will exhaust such a big bottle. Buy small, use up and keep a steady throughput. It also means you're not taking chances on large bottles of flavours that you might not like. Or might grow to dislike after a while.

I also only buy 10ml bottles for most things, hell probably 30-50% of my stock is stuff I might not use again, it took me a while to find my groove. There are some flavors I use 30ml a month though so I do buy them in bigger bottles.

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I'd consider 20ml of TFA Cheesecake Graham, VBIC, Ripe, Cap VC and SC. For the rest, 10ml lasts a while. I use FA Meringue and Caramel in many recipes but because it's usually <1%, it takes me six months to use up a 10ml. A 6 month turnaround is ideal for me.
 
I'd consider 20ml of TFA Cheesecake Graham, VBIC, Ripe, Cap VC and SC. For the rest, 10ml lasts a while. I use FA Meringue and Caramel in many recipes but because it's usually <1%, it takes me six months to use up a 10ml. A 6 month turnaround is ideal for me.
Some last a long time yeah, how long do they last though? That is also a factor. I ordered 30ml Sugar Cookie from the UK, I used it up in about 3 months. I don't know how long these flavor's shelf lives are, but I also reckon opening it and closing it all the time will reduce the shelf life. So something that you use a little of, like Meringue, you can get away with 10ml, I have used about 12ml in total in the last year. Stuff like TFA Strawberry, I have used probably close to 200 or 300ml in the last year.
 
Shelf life is an issue. Sometimes letting a flavour sit helps it. Skiddlz raves about his TFA Bavarian Cream which has noticeably aged and become darker in colour. He says it helps it. On the show above, the hosts were saying that FW Yellow Cake becomes black when it ages. :eek:

I don't know what the shelf life is but I'd try to use up concentrates within 24 months. For flavours like FA Cardamom and Anise, that just isn't going to happen unless I keep making huge batches of Queuetue's weird recipes that use Cardamom, Anise and AP. So I'm trying to cut out recipes that use one-off flavours at small percentages. Even something like Flv Rich Cinnamon is a gamble imo. Although you can use it as your only cinnamon, it needs so little that one 10ml bottle will last years. There must be degradation at some point.
 
Yeah, there must be some flavor loss eventually. My TFA Bav Cream has also gone considerably darker over the last year, the taste has definitely become more pronounced. But I have many things that only ever require like .25-.5% as well. I guess eventually they will just get chucked out and replaced only if really needed.
 
It should be noted as well that at the percentages Jenn uses, I can't see her ever using up even a 20ml. She adds like 0.18% to a mix because, you know, 0.2% would be over-flavoured. She has never come close to 10% total flavouring for a mix and some are under 3% total flavouring. Most people tend to double whatever percentages she gives. But them's the breaks for a super-taster, I guess.
 
And on top of all this, we have no idea how long the concentrate has been in the 10ml bottle when it arrives at our door.
We do not know if it was decanted from a 20lt batch that was imported 18 months ago and have been sitting in a warehouse as it is not popular.
In general, we are completely in the dark.
If the bottle looks funny (darker, thicker etc) or has any funny smell or consistency, rather chuck it in the drain.
 
And on top of all this, we have no idea how long the concentrate has been in the 10ml bottle when it arrives at our door.
We do not know if it was decanted from a 20lt batch that was imported 18 months ago and have been sitting in a warehouse as it is not popular.
In general, we are completely in the dark.
If the bottle looks funny (darker, thicker etc) or has any funny smell or consistency, rather chuck it in the drain.
I hear what you are saying, but some concentrates are super dark always. Like INW Milk Chocolate, or FA Jamaican Rum. Stuff is pretty much black, but still tasty

I'd say if it tastes dodge, then it's time to chuck it
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I hear what you are saying, but some concentrates are super dark always. Like INW Milk Chocolate, or FA Jamaican Rum. Stuff is pretty much black, but still tasty

I'd say if it tastes dodge, then it's time to chuck it
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Try INW Tobacco Kent.
Pitch black and the consistency of syrup

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Does anyone have any experience with TFM (the flavour mill) nicotine? Wanted to know how it compares to Prime Nic
 
Has anyone tasted TFA Spearmint? If so, please share your views. Thanks, much appreciated .


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Has anyone tasted TFA Spearmint? If so, please share your views. Thanks, much appreciated .


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Last time I tried it was 2 years ago. It was a tank cracker and is very potent and dry. I think after playing with it I decided 2% was max it could be used at.
I decanted a bit into a bottle for a buddy and it ate through the bottle and the finish on his dining room table a day later and I haven't bought or used it again.

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If anybody hasn't caught In The Mix from last night, do so. Best ITM ever. After the initial technical glitches, Fear and IDI0-T joined skiddlz for mixing talk. I typed up several pages of notes from it. Just mixing, nothing else.

Regarding the issue of concentrates ageing, Fear dropped an interesting tip: that FA Black Tea goes off within a year so it must be bought fresh. Tea is not a profile that interests me but it went into the notes anyway.
 
Has anybody actually mixed up any of the released Charlie Noble recipes yet?
 
I mixed a small test batch of the Charlie Noble PB cereal about 20 ml or so . Tried it after 14 days and it was meh. stuffed it in the back of my steeping vault and kind of forgot about it . Then about 40 days after mixing date i rediscovered it and thought I'd give it a try for shits and giggles and...... OMG!!! the stuff is amazing! One of the best juices i have DIY'ed. So yeah Spiv give it a shot mate.
 
I mixed a small test batch of the Charlie Noble PB cereal about 20 ml or so . Tried it after 14 days and it was meh. stuffed it in the back of my steeping vault and kind of forgot about it . Then about 40 days after mixing date i rediscovered it and thought I'd give it a try for shits and giggles and...... OMG!!! the stuff is amazing! One of the best juices i have DIY'ed. So yeah Spiv give it a shot mate.

Thanks! I was going through my concentrates today and saw all the ingredients, unopened. I must've bought the ingredients to mix it, but forgot I was going to mix it between the time I ordered and the time the mixing started.
I'm including the ingredients for the Commodore Pearry and Canary Coulis in my next order.
 
Yip awesome man.I tasted some commodore peary from a buddy also pretty good .Give us some feedback on the cannary coulis when you get round to it please.
 
Yip awesome man.I tasted some commodore peary from a buddy also pretty good .Give us some feedback on the cannary coulis when you get round to it please.

Will do
 
Oooh, top tip from skiddlz: if you're adding to a mixing bottle and your scale doesn't react and stays at 0 after a few drops, tap the scale lightly. It should then 'catch up' and show the correct reading. This happens to me often, I'll try it next time. But it seems to work, he did it live on camera and the scale corrected itself.
 
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