So, I've made a few recipes come to fruition within the week that I've been doing DIY, and I kind of ran out of bottles haha... So this week, I'm picking up another 50 amber glass dropper bottles. The reason being that I was making different variations of the same recipe.
My question is: How many bottles do you use for different variations when making a new recipe from scratch? I've only been able to use 2, because I only had 10 glass bottles. But I think perfecting a recipe would be much easier and faster using 4+
I usually make 3 variations at a time when I'm working on developing a new recipe.
Usually 12-30 bottles used by the time the recipe is perfected 3-6 months later.
Daaaaamn... That long to make a recipe?? I bet that's for a pretty complex recipe though, right?
And without speed curing?
Correct. I rarely if ever speed steep/cure/age my liquids.
They tend to sit on shelves once sold so I want to know how they taste after a natural aging process, not an artificial one. Not all are super complex, but most tend to be 6+ flavors.
I usually start with 2-3 base flavors that I want to use making 3 variations of varying percentages. 2nd batch of 3 adjusts those percentages if none are perfect. Then I'll add back notes in the next 3 batches, basically using flavors as additives. This usually takes 6-12 variations to find what I like the most. Then it's time to play with actual additives which usually takes 2-3 attempts of 3 bottles each to get it dialed in right.
Once completed, I'll either send out or pass out samples to friends to get some honest feedback on what they do and don't like about it. Usually from there 3-6 more variations. If I can get 90% + excellent feedback, I wind up releasing it for sale, if I can't, I'll usually go back a ton of steps and re-start from the 2nd batch.
That actually answered a few other questions I had regarding recipe refinement!
So, I'm guessing with the first batches you mix your prominent and sought after general flavour.Tweaking after the first batch.
Next few batches, you decide what hints and notes of flavouring you want, and probably texture additives as well. Perhaps even finding flavours you could add to bring out one of your original flavourings more than the others. Then tweak to precisely what you desire in that aspect.
Next batches are for post-test sampling. Either working upon feedback received or completely taking at least a couple steps back.
Rinse & repeat.
Is that about right?
I make 10-15mL at a time, vape the whole bottle, then decide what to try differently next round. It's slow but working well for me.
The whole bottle? In one sitting???