DIY High % Menthol Concentrate
So about a month ago a user directed me to a 66% menthol concentrate sold by ecigexpress and it was exactly what I was looking for in my DIY menthol liquids. When I began to run low, I decided to pick a massive jar of menthol crystals and make my own, rather than order another pre-made bottle. I researched how to DIY menthol concentrates and whipped up a batch with 34% PG and 66% crushed menthol crystals. I gave it a hot water bath for 10 minutes or so afterwards, and the crystals dissolved perfectly.
I just went to mix up a batch of my menthol liquid and found that the menthol crystals in the concentrate recrystallized. I know this is a problem when diluting menthol crystals in VG, so I used 100% PG for dilution. I'm a bit stumped here, since I've never read anything which indicates that menthol crystals will recrystallize in PG. Perhaps it's because I'm using such a high concentration of menthol crystals? I imagine that I can solve this by giving the concentrate a 10 minute warm water bath right before I use it, but clearly there is another way to do this which doesn't require that step, since I can order a bottle with the same menthol concentration online and it won't have this problem.
Any ideas?
EDIT: Never mind, I figured it out. According to the site they use a mix of 66% Menthol Crystals in 34% PGA, not PG. Should have checked that first before making this post. My bad.
Posted Aug 8, 2014, 5:08 AM UTC · edited
you've got a supersaturated solution.
Maybe try mixing with glacial acetic acid (vinegar)?
http://books.google.com/books?id=tk5bAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA36&lpg=PA36&dq=acetic+acid+menthol&source=bl&ots=5eC_Pvic7d&sig=mAS-2Cw41Z8suJNGmJLva_P-tjk&hl=en&sa=X&ei=5HjkU9nMHOWZ8gHQv4GYAw&ved=0CFwQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=acetic%20acid%20menthol&f=false
From what I gather this will spur on the creation of esters and possibly change the chemical comp. of the menthol, allowing a higher concentration in stable solution.
[deleted]
Interesting, wonder if/how that will affect the flavor?
Vinegar isn't exactly glacial acidic acid. Vinegar is diluted.
Solvent for dilution.
It's probably easier to find clean glacial acetic acid rather than clean vinegar used in foodstuffs. It's all just assumptions that it might work.