MFH - Experiments & Materials

[roflwaffle]

People tend to call an oil resulting from extraction an absolute (absolue) as opposed to essential oil which is the result of distillation.
Technically incorrect but for the lack of a better name, i suppose.
I'm reading 'the essential oils' by Guenther and he refers to extracted oil as 'natural plant oil'.
One the one hand i would like to adopt that to have a name for the stuff 🙂 but on the other hand, it kind of sounds like a lesser product than essential oil, while it usually is superior. The name is lacking the arrogance of 'absolue' 🙂

I generally would call something done with only ethanol a tincture or resinoid, though I've prob called an evaporated tincture colloquially a concrete (incorrectly, but without caring much), but never an absolute. Prob seems closest to a '<X> Fold' tincture, though the mechanisms are a bit different (evaporation vs continuing to add more stock)

where as concrete and absolutes generally require specific steps/solvent types (generally requiring a nonpolar solvent, and potentially a polar later step to remove waxes, etc).

if you're extracting via pressing/mechanically, then 'cold pressed oil'.

 

[Shiningrobes]

Just saw on instagram this morning that Mellifluence Perfumes will be holding a, presumably, online course about extracting resinoids from raw materials with ethanol. He often makes reference to resinoids that he’s created this way in his attar descriptions. Don’t know anything about it but might be worth looking into if it puts you ahead of the game.

 

[MaxFromHolland]

Just saw on instagram this morning that Mellifluence Perfumes will be holding a, presumably, online course about extracting resinoids from raw materials with ethanol. He often makes reference to resinoids that he’s created this way in his attar descriptions. Don’t know anything about it but might be worth looking into if it puts you ahead of the game.

Thank, will check it out

 

[MaxFromHolland]

Decided to redo the kitchen into something than can be recognized as such by modern civilization.
As im destined to microwave food until done i wish to move fast 🙂 but also have to work and probably sleep so guess i wont be around until done (aiming @ 5 days).
Enjoy the silence 😶

 

[MaxFromHolland]

Decided to redo the kitchen into something than can be recognized as such by modern civilization.
As im destined to microwave food until done i wish to move fast 🙂 but also have to work and probably sleep so guess i wont be around until done (aiming @ 5 days).
Enjoy the silence 😶

99% done (forgot to buy doorknobs 😁). Meanwhile received some new coffee to continue the peat project so that's scheduled for tomorrow. As well as re-reading a post by mr.P about fat bears and tobacco, seems mighty interesting but brain is refusing duty and i should go sleep so i can be creative tomorrow and remodel a hammock into something scary (such funny job i have)..

 

[MaxFromHolland]

99% done (forgot to buy doorknobs 😁). Meanwhile received some new coffee to continue the peat project so that's scheduled for tomorrow. As well as re-reading a post by mr.P about fat bears and tobacco, seems mighty interesting but brain is refusing duty and i should go sleep so i can be creative tomorrow and remodel a hammock into something scary (such funny job i have)..

The peat project

Think a dry picture is more useful to share how the ingredients are prepped.

Secret formula:
200gr moist peat (40%)
72gr Trung Nguyên #1 coffee
20gr nutmeg coarse (crushed with knife)
7gr green Cardamom (split with scissors)
1L 99% B&C perfume alcohol

Process:
Daily shake
Duration 3 weeks
Separation of solids by pressing, then vacuum filtration

 

[MaxFromHolland]

Why, if the Dutch delivery services keep their promise i should receive some of that Biolandes sheep wool absolue tomorrow. I've been working with wool for weeks now so it will be fun to sample it it and compare 🙂 and i finally will get to sniff Betula Lenta oil.

Meanwhile im in dream-up-something mode, to up my vacuumchamber so i can either gently evaporate alcohol to get rid of it, or properly boil it to distill both alcohol + volatiles over. Which requires some work on the coldtrap or replacing it with a condenser + flask* and very cold cooling fluid. Not a next week project as i didn't get that kitchen for free 😁

*That also has the advantage of getting a visual on the evaporation rate, the coldtrap is a steel device and it is hard to make sure evaporation is going at the proper pace.

 

[roflwaffle]

lmk how the wool goes. i assume it just smells like heavy/dark lanolin, just dewaxed and concentrated. but some compounds do weird things when pulled apart from the rest of the 'normal' smell, so maybe it'll be surprising.

 

[MaxFromHolland]

lmk how the wool goes. i assume it just smells like heavy/dark lanolin, just dewaxed and concentrated. but some compounds do weird things when pulled apart from the rest of the 'normal' smell, so maybe it'll be surprising.

First impression sniffing the jar is some kind of blue cheese. Applied a microdot to the top of my hand and created a testpatch with a drop of jojoba. Still cheese, the kind that you rather keep outdoors in a basket.
Layered some strawberry extract over it to add a bit of friendly sweetness. Def sheep scent now, dirty sheep that is.
I don't know if it is lanoline on steroids, i can't get truly raw lanoline or wool fat anywhere, only deodorized, so never got to smell it.

Either way, the smell is more dirty than that of the wool i work with, which is washed but still has a fairly strong wool scent.
The absolue does give me more of an association with animals outdoors than just wool. Guess that's a good thing 🙂

Pro-tip to self: next time try after dinner 😷

 

[MaxFromHolland]

Put some of the not concentrated peat/coffee/nutmeg/cardamom extraction in the scent machine. Set the thing to do a 3 second whiff per 10 minutes. Get some distant lingering wood with the occasional bit of mild smoke or vetiver-like earthy notes. Dubbed the blend 'the peat project' as its likely to become my pet project for a while. I've encountered so many interesting notes from the same recipe processed in different ways. Full vetiver blast as we speak 🙂 that stuff is alive!
.. Christmas hot chocolate stand with some woodfire in the background.. and gone again..

Today same blend suddenly produced a strong burning wood scent. I actually went round to check if something was wrong in or around the house 🙂 stuff keeps amazing me, hope the new batch -which is made somewhat differently will be similar.

Got some (other) material soaking or fermenting if it decides to do so. Mainly to find out which notes end up in the receiver and how strong. Will take that input to try formulate something. Due to distill next monday.

Other than that and daily shaking some jars i've not been very active with oils or experiments.

 

[MaxFromHolland]

Got some (other) material soaking or fermenting if it decides to do so. Mainly to find out which notes end up in the receiver and how strong. Will take that input to try formulate something. Due to distill next monday.

Tried to get an olfactoric glimpse of the material without opening the still. Not sure if i succeeded, the thing has this permanent 'botanical smell' by now. Both curiosity and i have to decide between putting jojobo or amyris in the receiver. Where jojoba is the most practical to analyse the scent as it is odourless, amyris is more attar-ish if the mixture happens to be right first time. 14 hrs left to decide🙂

 

[MaxFromHolland]

Revisited an early patchouli distillation. Both sharp green and still notes have disappeared.
Whats left is like a creamy patchouli coeur. No muddy earthy base, no sharp top (unless i put my nose against my skin, then i get some metallic topnote, but that doesn't radiate into the air).
Keen to run another batch one of these days 😋

 

[Mr.P]

Revisited an early patchouli distillation. Both sharp green and still notes have disappeared.
Whats left is like a creamy patchouli coeur. No muddy earthy base, no sharp top (unless i put my nose against my skin, then i get some metallic topnote, but that doesn't radiate into the air).
Keen to run another batch one of these days 😋

Congratulations for breaking new ground I don't recall any other hobbyist sharing results of efforts to distill patchouli. I'm trying to remember the information you posted, I've forgotten most of it… If you don't mind: What was the origin of the leaf that you distilled? how would you describe the appearance and aroma of the leaves? Were they kind of dark oxidized like black tea or were they green? Any estimate on yield? Were the leaves in there boiling with the water or did you pass steam through them in a separate chamber? I feel like you answered this before but how long did you run the distillation for?

 

[MaxFromHolland]

Congratulations for breaking new ground I don't recall any other hobbyist sharing results of efforts to distill patchouli. I'm trying to remember the information you posted, I've forgotten most of it… If you don't mind: What was the origin of the leaf that you distilled? how would you describe the appearance and aroma of the leaves? Were they kind of dark oxidized like black tea or were they green? Any estimate on yield? Were the leaves in there boiling with the water or did you pass steam through them in a separate chamber? I feel like you answered this before but how long did you run the distillation for?

Distilling Patchouli (again)
Did a first pull (marks on the glass) when there was no more oil coming. Increased the flow rate a bit and there we go again..
View attachment 52924

I didn't post much about this run, to my own surprise 🙂
It took place on feb the 6th, after i modified the still from reflux into a more conventional setup. But i was still using the vigreux column, which since a while now has been replaced with some 3/4" copper pipe.

I steam distilled 950 grams and yielded some 20ml of oil. Of which 15ml top/ heart.
Total runtime around 10 hrs. I don't think i ran it long enough or with enough steamflow to capture the heavy stuff. Screenshot below shows the profile i will use next time.

Steam distilled in my case means there is a grid at ⅓ from the bottom, about 4 liter water below, botanicals on top. About 5 cm of clearance between water and grid and similar between patch and lid of the still. Took my time to pack it nice and even.

Color of the leaves i thought to be medium brown, could be dark green as i am quite color blind. Origin highlands of Sumatra. Current state of the oil is very much like the scent of the leaves. Imagine a patch coeur blended with creamy sweet condensed milk. A very rounded scent. I've ordered 2 more kilos, fingers crossed its the same quality 🤞

 

[MaxFromHolland]

I hate it when i smell something and brain refuses to attach a name even though i recognise the scent.

Just sampled some hydrosol from my testrun and some penetrating fermentation note is starting to show up. Dont know if i should describe it as indolic or rotting proteins or civet-like 🙂 Would be nice, a botanical civet replacement. Truth is i haven't got a clue about the scent of civet. Rotting proteins is probably most accurate in this case. Like making yoghurt gone bad.
'nogoyoyo'

Anyway, bit of a useless post, this 🙂

 

[MaxFromHolland]

The peat projectView attachment 56043

Think a dry picture is more useful to share how the ingredients are prepped.

Secret formula:
200gr moist peat (40%)
72gr Trung Nguyên #1 coffee
20gr nutmeg coarse (crushed with knife)
7gr green Cardamom (split with scissors)
1L 99% B&C perfume alcohol

Process:
Daily shake
Duration 3 weeks
Separation of solids by pressing, then vacuum filtration

Moment of Truth

Same scent which is good.
More an EDT than EDP which is not good.
I'll mix up another batch of ingredients and be shaking for another month then 🙂
But first i'll try some in the scent machine, to compare to the first batch.

 

[MaxFromHolland]

Moment of Truth
View attachment 56296View attachment 56297View attachment 56298
Same scent which is good.
More an EDT than EDP which is not good.
I'll mix up another batch of ingredients and be shaking for another month then 🙂
But first i'll try some in the scent machine, to compare to the first batch.

There we go again..
Btw it's quite an odd experience to be prepping ingredients for the fragrance you're wearing. Scent of the ingredients highlighting different notes all the time.

Based on vapor of the scent machine i decided to do the same formula with everything doubled except the peat. I would like to have doubled that as well but then the biomass:solvent ratio would be poor.
Ideally one would do the same infusion 3 times and accept the 9 weeks it takes. Some future post undoubtedly will reveal whether i regret feeling impatient today 🙂

 

[MaxFromHolland]

I hate it when i smell something and brain refuses to attach a name even though i recognise the scent.

Just sampled some hydrosol from my testrun and some penetrating fermentation note is starting to show up. Dont know if i should describe it as indolic or rotting proteins or civet-like 🙂 Would be nice, a botanical civet replacement. Truth is i haven't got a clue about the scent of civet. Rotting proteins is probably most accurate in this case. Like making yoghurt gone bad.
'nogoyoyo'

Anyway, bit of a useless post, this 🙂

Finished the run. Didn't result in much worth sharing. Maybe in a few days when i revisit the oil.

 

[MaxFromHolland]

I got inspired when i looked up this perfume and saw the list of notes

Wearing Zamarad 3 today on a warm sunny day. So bright minty and green I paired it with a frankincense fragrance by mangla called the art of motion

So i wrote them down to build my own story with. I'll call it
The Tibetan Project 🙂
This will be my list of ingredients to represent the notes:

Top
Black pepper, Madagascar
Bergamot orange, Sicily Italy
Bay berry, Türkiye

Heart
Frankincense Frereana, Somalia
Cipres, Italian
Cedar, Virginia

Base
Oakmoss Complete, MFH
Styrax Benzoin, Indonesia
Oud NS, Attar Mohd Ayub

If i get anywhere with it i'll follow up with percentages and the role of the ingredients (in my amateur-opinion, that is).

Merci 🫡 holy-wood

 

[holy-wood]

I got inspired when i looked up this perfume and saw the list of notes

So i wrote them down to build my own story with. I'll call it
The Tibetan Project 🙂
This will be my list of ingredients to represent the notes:

Top
Black pepper, Madagascar
Bergamot orange, Sicily Italy
Bay berry, Türkiye

Heart
Frankincense Frereana, Somalia
Cipres, Italian
Cedar, Virginia

Base
Oakmoss Complete, MFH
Styrax Benzoin, Indonesia
Oud NS, Attar Mohd Ayub

If i get anywhere with it i'll follow up with percentages and the role of the ingredients (in my amateur-opinion, that is).

Merci 🫡 holy-wood

Wow looks promising!!! I enjoy the AOM frag but your formula sounds more enjoyable tbh