MFH - Experiments & Materials

[MaxFromHolland]

Upcoming experiment
Co-distillation of sage, orange peels and cocoa husks (1 : 4 : 8)

With a few ml of cocos infused copaiba in the receiver, as this is yet another low yield endeavour 🙂

 

[MaxFromHolland]

I think i like to use a bit of this material in a blend with agarwood (incense powder) extract and maybe a trace of champaca to create a 'Cambodi-inspired attar'.

Made 2 small test blends.
One as above. The other one with the first propolis extract.
Time will tell..

Before disposing the pipettes i swiped my hand with them. That total random blend smells nice. So if all else fails i had my moment of joy 🙂

 

[Mr.P]

Made 2 small test blends.
One as above. The other one with the first propolis extract.
Time will tell..

Before disposing the pipettes i swiped my hand with them. That total random blend smells nice. So if all else fails i had my moment of joy 🙂

definitely need to be in it for the process itself with a lot of these DIY projects given the uncertain outcome and low yield

 

[MaxFromHolland]

definitely need to be in it for the process itself with a lot of these DIY projects given the uncertain outcome and low yield

I assume at some point i will have settled down on a handful of methods that allow me to accurately capture the scent of a botanical, either broad spectrum or just the volatiles. As both have their merits.

But when curiosity drives one to toss clay pellets in the garden with the purpose of distilling them after a warm dry summer, better not worry to much about predictabillity or percentage yield 🙂

 

[MaxFromHolland]

Made 2 small test blends.
One as above. The other one with the first propolis extract.
Time will tell..

Before disposing the pipettes i swiped my hand with them. That total random blend smells nice. So if all else fails i had my moment of joy 🙂

Hm, the little bit of red champaca absolute drops out of solution. I'll better put them on the shake-it shelf* then. Guess if it doesn't dissolve it will macerate just fine.

*No, that is not a self shaking shelf contraption, Wallace and Grommit style 🙂

 

[Mr.P]

Hm, the little bit of red champaca absolute drops out of solution. I'll better put them on the shake-it shelf* then. Guess if it doesn't dissolve it will macerate just fine.

*No, that is not a self shaking shelf contraption, Wallace and Grommit style 🙂

The champaca absolute does not dissolve in what medium? Jojoba oil?

 

[MaxFromHolland]

The champaca absolute does not dissolve in what medium? Jojoba oil?

Yes agarwood and propolis blend. Both jojoba based. May be due to the propolis, being funny stuff to work with.

 

[MaxFromHolland]

Upcoming experiment
Co-distillation of sage, orange peels and cocoa husks (1 : 4 : 8)

With a few ml of cocos infused copaiba in the receiver, as this is yet another low yield endeavour 🙂

There we go 🙂

 

[MaxFromHolland]

There we go 🙂

View attachment 53821

1 hr running. Getting more yield than expected. I started with less than half or this in the receiver (2,5 ml amyris base fraction)

 

[MaxFromHolland]

1 hr running. Getting more yield than expected. I started with less than half or this in the receiver (2,5 ml amyris base fraction)

View attachment 53822

First fraction (and most likely the only one) done.

Faint hint of chocolate, orange, a hint of lemon and clove (i last-minute put some cloves on the orange peels). Cant say i can detect the sage, maybe it pops up after it matured for a while.

 

[MaxFromHolland]

I've just evaporated 400 ml of alcohol in just under 1 hr. Hotplate at 37°c but the liquid was below 10 due to the fast evaporation.

How? I simply poored the liquid in the (cleaned) vessel rather than in a jar. That increases the surface area big time.

Ofcourse now i worry that the fast rate may have dragged precious scent molecules with it, will find out after finishing. The remainder is now mixed with jojoba-as-usual and sitting on a cold stirrer in a closed jar. Will finish it tomorrow.

Btw it's iceland moss and am very curious about the scent of it.

Edit: will obviously use the shallow bowl to finish it, above tip is just for bulk removal..

 

[Mr.P]

I've just evaporated 400 ml of alcohol in just under 1 hr. Hotplate at 37°c but the liquid was below 10 due to the fast evaporation.

How? I simply poored the liquid in the (cleaned) vessel rather than in a jar. That increases the surface area big time.

Ofcourse now i worry that the fast rate may have dragged precious scent molecules with it, will find out after finishing. The remainder is now mixed with jojoba-as-usual and sitting on a cold stirrer in a closed jar. Will finish it tomorrow.

Btw it's iceland moss and am very curious about the scent of it.

Edit: will obviously use the shallow bowl to finish it, above tip is just for bulk removal..

glad you found something that works!

 

[MaxFromHolland]

glad you found something that works!

What is your experience with the rotovap, does the rate of evaporation affect the scent much?
(Assuming friendly water bath temperature ofcourse)
Im kind of getting used to everything being a trade-off somehow, so am bit worried what is the price to pay for this fast bulk removal 😬

 

[Mr.P]

What is your experience with the rotovap, does the rate of evaporation affect the scent much?
(Assuming friendly water bath temperature ofcourse)
Im kind of getting used to everything being a trade-off somehow, so am bit worried what is the price to pay for this fast bulk removal 😬

The rotovap can be run at different temperatures and different degrees of chilling of the condenser (currently using a cold finger type so it can be made extremely cold, like -79F with dry ice).

So there are two variables: water bath temp
and condenser temp.

I haven't done any side-by-sides to compare
rotovap'd product to other evaporation methods so your guess is as good as mine.

Higher temps increase the chance of chemical reactions, so there is that. But it doesn't require leaving a jar or bottle open to the atmosphere at all, not to mention for long periods of time. I would expect the rotovap to maybe make a better product since it utilizes the condenser to trap
any volatiles and rotation to speed evaporation without requiring much heat.

 

[MaxFromHolland]

The rotovap can be run at different temperatures and different degrees of chilling of the condenser (currently using a cold finger type so it can be made extremely cold, like -79F with dry ice).

So there are two variables: water bath temp
and condenser temp.

I haven't done any side-by-sides to compare
rotovap'd product to other evaporation methods so your guess is as good as mine.

Higher temps increase the chance of chemical reactions, so there is that. But it doesn't require leaving a jar or bottle open to the atmosphere at all, not to mention for long periods of time. I would expect the rotovap to maybe make a better product since it utilizes the condenser to trap
any volatiles and rotation to speed evaporation without requiring much heat.

Ah. Thought maybe you have experimented with faster and slower 'rotovaping' which might be comparable with faster or slower in the vacuumchamber.
I checked the condensate and it didnt smell like it contained much of the aroma, so maybe its all good.
Would be nice if this fast evaporation is of no harm, because i still have a shelf full of large jars that i didnt reduce yet because it takes so much time. I'd rather stock the unused tinctures in niet ce little 100ml bottles.

 

[Mr.P]

Ah. Thought maybe you have experimented with faster and slower 'rotovaping' which might be comparable with faster or slower in the vacuumchamber.
I checked the condensate and it didnt smell like it contained much of the aroma, so maybe its all good.
Would be nice if this fast evaporation is of no harm, because i still have a shelf full of large jars that i didnt reduce yet because it takes so much time. I'd rather stock the unused tinctures in

Ah. Thought maybe you have experimented with faster and slower 'rotovaping' which might be comparable with faster or slower in the vacuumchamber.
I checked the condensate and it didnt smell like it contained much of the aroma, so maybe its all good.
Would be nice if this fast evaporation is of no harm, because i still have a shelf full of large jars that i didnt reduce yet because it takes so much time. I'd rather stock the unused tinctures in niet ce little 100ml bottles.

i've never extracted the same material and then evaporated at different rates and done a side-by-side or anything like that. I'm just doing little one off experiments here and there as opposed to anything systematic!

I should also mention the condensate doesn't become part of the extract but a very cold condenser means less heat required to get alcohol to pass over quickly

the degree of vacuum is another variable that influences the amount of heat needed
to cause the alcohol to pass over

 

[MaxFromHolland]

I've just evaporated 400 ml of alcohol in just under 1 hr. Hotplate at 37°c but the liquid was below 10 due to the fast evaporation.

How? I simply poored the liquid in the (cleaned) vessel rather than in a jar. That increases the surface area big time.

Ofcourse now i worry that the fast rate may have dragged precious scent molecules with it, will find out after finishing. The remainder is now mixed with jojoba-as-usual and sitting on a cold stirrer in a closed jar. Will finish it tomorrow.

Btw it's iceland moss and am very curious about the scent of it.

Edit: will obviously use the shallow bowl to finish it, above tip is just for bulk removal..

Finished Iceland moss concentrate. Took a while, it just kept foaming like forever.
Scent is as dark as the colour, not at all similar to oak moss. Maybe in the drydown, when some lighter notes try to shine trough, it may resemble oak moss + dark coffee 🤔
It's not a common fragrance ingrediënt, but afaik its used in ilmur og sjor - Grasið #9

 

[Mr.P]

Finished Iceland moss concentrate. Took a while, it just kept foaming like forever.
Scent is as dark as the colour, not at all similar to oak moss. Maybe in the drydown, when some lighter notes try to shine trough, it may resemble oak moss + dark coffee 🤔
It's not a common fragrance ingrediënt, but afaik its used in ilmur og sjor - Grasið #9

View attachment 53858

makes sense to try another species of lichen. Have you tried combusting or heating any? Oak moss gives a very strong distinctive aroma when burned or heated.

 

[MaxFromHolland]

makes sense to try another species of lichen. Have you tried combusting or heating any? Oak moss gives a very strong distinctive aroma when burned or heated.

Haven't tried. Maybe some day i try that smoke extraction and then will remember the tip.
For now i've got my hands full trying to achieve good quality extractions & distillations 😬

 

[MaxFromHolland]

Messed up concentrating an Erica tincture. Fell asleep and woke up to dried powder sticking to the entire inner surface of the vacuumchamber. Anything volatile long gone into the Dutch sky.

On a bright note, cleaning up the mess got me properly awake again😒