Easy Flavour Emulsions (Patreon Exclusive) (Patreon)

In the world of flavours, emulsions are king. The problem up until now for anyone without a corporate budget is that making a stable micro-emulsion can be prohibitively expensive or require alcohol. This method solves both issues, opening the world of flavours to hobbyists, bartenders and aspiring product developers and only requires 4 ingredients and a hot plate stirrer. No blender or magnesium carbonate is required either.

This video and technique are based on a 2011 research paper titled "Formation of Flavor Oil Microemulsions, Nanoemulsions and Emulsions: Influence of Composition and Preparation Method" by Jiajia Rao and David Julian McClements. 

The flavour in this research paper needs some adjustment as the research paper didn't look at flavour, just the emulsion formation of a 10% lemon oil mixture. In my "How to Make an Essence" video the percentage of oil was 6.25% and in this video, I split the difference and went with 8.33% (40 mL essential oil in 480 mL or 1.33 oz per pint). I plan on doing a few experiments to determine the right balance of essential oil to emulsifier, and which emulsifiers work better (e.g. Polysorbate 60, sucrose esters, etc.) but this technique is the future and opens up the doors for anyone wanting to experiment with flavours.

 I noticed while editing the video that I used too much flavour essence in the simple syrup. I was planning on using 20 mL of the essence emulsion but used 30 mL out of habit. That made things 50% stronger in flavour which may explain why I noticed something was "off." And the essence is 25% stronger to begin with because I used 40 mL of essential oil instead of 30 mL. When you use too much flavour it can often give a slightly medicinal taste, which I was noticing. 

I tried to balance the technique of the research paper with traditional essence formulation and it messed things up a bit. If you attempt the technique in the video, use 10 to 20 mL of the emulsion per liter of simple syrup. And in the future, I will probably adjust the formula to use 30 mL of essential oil to make 480 mL of essence, while using 45 mL of emulsifier (Polysorbate 80, or other). Stay tuned for those results and if you have questions, post them below.

Formula

240 mL Water
120 mL Propylene Glycol
74 grams Polysorbate 80
40 mL Essential Oil(s)
0.25 grams Potassium Sorbate (optional)
2 drops Vitamin E (optional)

Equipment

Hot plate with a stirrer and integrated temperature probe. I don't have a preferred vendor, and there are many hot plate types out there, many require manual adjusting of the temperature using a knob and separate thermometer. They work fine, but if you want to set and forget, the type in the video is what you want. Examples: Science Resources Hot Plate or Labfish Hotplate Stirrer