I make a mixture of FW blood orange, TFA strawberry, cap golden pineapple. Friend loves the flavor, and I want to make him a bottle for his birthday.
Problem is, the blood orange never seems to fully homogenize in my bottles. I normally stick the mixed bottles in warm tap water to thin the vg, and shake them until my arms are dying. After 24-36 hours, you can see the blood orange floating in top of bottle.
This isn't a big deal for me, as I just shake vigorously prior to use. I'd like to be able to give him a bottle that doesn't separate.
Ideas?
It will never fully and permanently homogenize.
Orange oil is a short chain fatty acid and unfortunately its composition means some of it will float to the top.
Some SCFAs will always stay separated from PG and VG. There might be other solvents that can dissolve orange oil but that's a lot of science.
FWIW, Butyric Acid is also a SCFA and I've actually seen it separate, you just will never notice it because it isn't orange colored.
Thanks!
While not the answer I was hoping for, I've been here long enough to trust your answer.
Recipe if anyone is interested:
FW blood orange 4.5%
TPA Strawberry 4.5%
CAP Golden Pineapple 0.5%
I've been told by many that it's the perfect candy vape. Has a wonderful sweet orange inhale with a slight tropical exhale from the pineapple. Wife likes a a few drops of EM added to her's.
Have you tried skimming the residual floating orange oil off the top? The aroma volatiles themselves should homogenize decently and the oil on top may not be important.
You can actually do it easily by pipetting or syringing all the stuff at the bottom out until just before the top muck hits bottom. Then wipe the pipette or syringe off and squirt it into your final bottle for flavor testing.
When I used Blood Orange in a flavor at 3% it seemed to completely dominate everything else, you haven't noticed that at all?
Not at all. Maybe you got an off batch? I've used well over 500mL of it with no problems. I have always made certain to shake it well, until it becomes a cloudy orange mixture, before mixing with it. Maybe you got a bit of the precipitate on your pipette/syringe? Have you by chance tried the recipe I posted? If so, was it overpowering in there? If not, I encourage you to at least mix a 10mL and see if you experience it there as well.
Possibly the high presence of EM in TPA strawberry is helping to tone the blood orange down a bit?
I'm just throwing ideas out there, as I have not experienced the same issue. I use FW blood orange in a lot of recipes too. Combined with a touch of FA mandarin and CAP sweet tangerine, I find it to provide a wonderful full bodied orange flavor.
I was going for a juicy orange in this recipe, and it provides a great front note here. The strawberry is discernible, but really just fills in a lot of what blood orange is missing. I didn't use either of the above mentioned supporting flavors in the posted recipe because that was one of my very first recipes. I didn't have hundreds of flavors, I had ten.
Maybe /u/skiddlzninja or /u/abdada can provide a bit more insight. Maybe I've been getting an off batch, I nearly always order from BCV, and I will eventually run into the same issue.
I know this is an old thread but I would recommend looking in to a hobby paint shaker or an ultrasonic cleaner for mixing up your juice. I haven't used an ultrasonic cleaner yet, but I plan on getting one. I have noticed that after about a minute in my paint shaker my juice is mixed up nicely and my arm feels fine =) Either one of them run about $35 so they won't break the bank and save you a lot of trouble.
Paint shaker is good for 15-30ml bottles, would prob need the ultrasonic cleaner for smaller/bigger bottles.