Rejuvenating an old stash of juice to best appeal to my ravaged taste buds

[Lee James 27]

Me too ! - will report back.

CAP VBIC is one flavour that really doesn't seem to age well; sadly so, as it's a favurite of mine.

I bought a big stash of 100+ flavours from a British guy in Sumatra a couple of years, maybe 3 years back now. He used to make juice commercially here, on a cottage industry scale, but had to return to Blighty - so I bought dozens of 4oz and smaller bottles off him unseen/untasted and he shipped them over in 2 heavy (and highly fragrant !) plastic crates.

Most were perfectly fresh and most of the rest were somewhere between good and great, so... result ! - but I was gutted to find a nearly full 100ml bottle of VBIC was basically stale !

Fair enough, I got a shitload of flavours for a great price and the majority were absolutely fine, can't complain about a few casualties, but I'm looking forward to getting some fresh VBIC in !

It’s Sod’s Law that it had to be your favourite flavour that turned stale, I thought that kind of sh#t only happened to me
. I am actually very surprised at that being that it’s a cream type of flavour as they seem to last well in recipes that require a long steep and yet the blueberry in the Blueberry Crunch survived well and didn’t fade much if at all . Was there any date information on the bottle of the Caps VBIC as I’m thinking it might have been old in the first place and the journey just finished it off ?

 

[ChrisLikesCoffee]

It’s Sod’s Law that it had to be your favourite flavour that turned stale, I thought that kind of sh#t only happened to me
. I am actually very surprised at that being that it’s a cream type of flavour as they seem to last well in recipes that require a long steep and yet the blueberry in the Blueberry Crunch survived well and didn’t fade much if at all . Was there any date information on the bottle of the Caps VBIC as I’m thinking it might have been old in the first place and the journey just finished it off ?

The journey was reasonably traumatic for the crates - the packing wasn't ideal to be honest - the guy was in the final throes of emigrating and sold them for a song so fair enough perhaps - a few bottles didn't make it and the contents were spread all over the rest of the bottles.

The first job was to wash everything, transfer a lot it to glass and and try not to lose/blank out the labels in the process.

There used to be dates on the tall, soft 100ml ptfe-ish CAP ones - I've re-bottled most of it and repurposed the bottles but remember there being dates on the labels, they were up to 2 years old when I got them, so closing on 5 now !

the hard plastic stubby 4oz TFA bottles oddly don't seem to have a date on them, there are several mysterious numbers which I guess would allow the manufacturer to identify the batch.

 

[Lee James 27]

The journey was reasonably traumatic for the crates - the packing wasn't ideal to be honest - the guy was in the final throes of emigrating and sold them for a song so fair enough perhaps - a few bottles didn't make it and the contents were spread all over the rest of the bottles.

The first job was to wash everything, transfer a lot it to glass and and try not to lose/blank out the labels in the process.

There used to be dates on the tall, soft 100ml ptfe-ish CAP ones - I've re-bottled most of it and repurposed the bottles but remember there being dates on the labels, they were up to 2 years old when I got them, so closing on 5 now !

the hard plastic stubby 4oz TFA bottles oddly don't seem to have a date on them, there are several mysterious numbers which I guess would allow the manufacturer to identify the batch.

I have heard that the harder plastic bottles are better for keeping flavours and finished e liquids fresher for longer than the softer variety so that might have also played a part. It’s nice to hear that you repurposed the bottles as that’s something that I always do where possible, doing our bit for the planet and all that.

 

[ChrisLikesCoffee]

I have heard that the harder plastic bottles are better for keeping flavours and finished e liquids fresher for longer than the softer variety so that might have also played a part. It’s nice to hear that you repurposed the bottles as that’s something that I always do where possible, doing our bit for the planet and all that.

Yep, always been a bit unhappy about storing flavours in anything but glass... but am very conscious that the manufacturers use the ptfe/plastic/whatever the correct term is, even for bulk gallon containers so I guess it can't be so bad ! - glass is just nicer though

The repurposing... well, my missus has an insatiable appetite for plastic containers for her own formulations, which are more about rubbing into her hair or her Mum's feet and the like, so they find good use there !

 

[ChrisLikesCoffee]

Lordy lordy... so *that's* what fresh flavours smell like !

I think I'm going to have to re-evaluate my use of phrases like 'seems fine', 'smells good' and 'tastes OK' in light of the recent delivery of the first actual fresh flavours I've smelt for >2 years.

Yikes.. while the ones I have do 'smell good' the difference is quite dramatic !

Looking forward to my first pair of mixes with all fresh juices now, and worrying a little that I'm going to end up replacing a lot of flavours... well, I'll certainly not be mixing new with the old, that's for sure; which begs the question, what do I do with the old which will no doubt just gather dust - perhaps for those flavours I can replace (selection is very limited out here and import duty is horrific), I should try to give the old ones to local mixers on a tight budget.

 

[Lee James 27]

Lordy lordy... so *that's* what fresh flavours smell like !

I think I'm going to have to re-evaluate my use of phrases like 'seems fine', 'smells good' and 'tastes OK' in light of the recent delivery of the first actual fresh flavours I've smelt for >2 years.

Yikes.. while the ones I have do 'smell good' the difference is quite dramatic !

Looking forward to my first pair of mixes with all fresh juices now, and worrying a little that I'm going to end up replacing a lot of flavours... well, I'll certainly not be mixing new with the old, that's for sure; which begs the question, what do I do with the old which will no doubt just gather dust - perhaps for those flavours I can replace (selection is very limited out here and import duty is horrific), I should try to give the old ones to local mixers on a tight budget.

Giving the old flavours away to the less fortunate mixers would be a great thing to do but I would definitely wait until I’ve replaced them all just in case some aren’t available to you anymore. Glad to hear that your Mrs finds a use for your old plastic bottles, I reuse mine for making my e liquid in unless they start leaking or they look a bit worse for wear then they go in the recycling box.

 

[P2PLeon]

Where about in the tropics are you, @ChrisLikesCoffee.

Would that be in Spain or South Africa?

 

[ChrisLikesCoffee]

Where about in the tropics are you, @ChrisLikesCoffee.

Would that be in Spain or South Africa?

Proper tropics, Bali !

 

[P2PLeon]

Proper tropics, Bali !

when it rains it must really rain then, so you would normally see temps of around 40ºc then.

 

[ChrisLikesCoffee]

when it rains it must really rain then, so you would normally see temps of around 40ºc then.

Yep, proper serious rain when it does - but it's like having a warm shower