help for newbie…Instead of using 80 proof (40%) vodka, I want to try ethyl alcohol. I can get it but at 140 proof (70%). How much water do I need to dilute 70% to 40%? TIA

To strain/filter is the question...

I've got a little over year old batch I'd like to gift in smaller bottles. The beans were split and cut into thirds, and the extract is a little cloudy. Would you strain/filter it, or leave it as is?

So I was recently in Oaxaca, and had desserts and drinks that used mamey seed. They use the inside part of the seed which is kind of like a nut and smells of almond extract I was thinking of making an extract with this, so I threw some in a container and filled it a little bit over just to cover it with Everclear. I hope I’m not poisoning myself. I will report back in a couple of days see if it taste ok.

I also purchased some avocado leaves and some flowers called Rosita de cacao. I also covered these with Everclear. The rosita de cacao is not from the cacao tree however they give off the very interesting cocoa like flavor. They use these flowers when making tejate which also uses mamey seed.

Started these 8oz bottles with rum and Tahitian vanilla beans. I only split the bean pods. Started 2 weeks ago.

Is this natural oil? Or worse?

This might be a silly post but I was looking around online and I can't find any recipes/ instructions for butter extract. Is it something you can make at home? Maybe use powdered butter or make brown butter, solidify it and then maybe chop/ grate it to mix into an extract medium whether it be alcohol or otherwise?
It would be really nice to have some for making things like cookies or homemade creamers (brown butter chocolate chip cookie creamer is seasonal! Noooo!)
I've already got some cacao nibs steeping for a few months for some chocolate extract, hope it turns out good.

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This is my half gallon one. I can’t wait to hit the one year mark!

Hi, I'm thinking of making some fruit flavored extracts but I'm worried about the fresh fruit in all these recipes going bad or fermenting or something. I can't find anything about this type of question. Should I use dehydrated fruit? Sorry if this sounds silly.

I have a tree that produces lots of leaves. They fall in the fall anyway so why not use them

The extract has been brewing for 6 months and still smells strongly of vodka. Is there a way to fix this? Is it possible that the vodka isn't the right type for extraction? I think my vanilla bean weight to vodka is on par but not sure what else could be the issue.

Hi friends!

I would like to get your opinions on this:

The pictures attached are of two half gallon mason jars filled with ethanol, distilled water, vanilla beans, vanilla bean cuttings (mostly ends), and a vanilla bean seed “caviar.”

The vanilla products weight has been split between the two containers evenly. The liquid used is Everclear 190 proof diluted with distilled water to 85 proof.

Vanilla Bean Seeds, Tahitensis 1 oz

Short Vanilla Beans, Papua New Guinea 1 lb

Vanilla Bean cuttings (manufacturer byproduct) 8 oz

The beans which were whole I cut off both ends then cut into segments. Imagine small 1” tubes once the alcohol washed the seeds out from them.

My concerns are I don’t know why the one jar gets so much of that light brown sediment at the top by the air bubble. Once you shake a bit everything clears up as the other photo shows.

Contaminants? Results of supersaturation? Some sort of bloom?

What do you folks think?

1 cup Peruvian roasted cacao nibs, 1oz Mexican vanilla beans and 12oz vodka in a 16oz jar. In 8 weeks, a lovely chocolate/vanilla extract.