I’ve got a lot of SF 15ml bottles I mixed up. Just hitting them every couple of days. I can remember the flavours for now. However, with so many I know it will get very difficult to rely on memory. I’ve made a evernote folder to take notes as I go. The problem I’m having is that I’m terrible at describing the flavours. E.g. Vanilla - tastes vanilla.
My question is for those with experience. Do you get better at noting flavours the more you taste? Interested to hear your thoughts, thanks.
Many flavors can take on characteristics of other flavours therefore making it very difficult to ascertain the exact flavour, I have found it becomes more difficult to recognise individual flavours unless your using the same flavours a LOT. (Insert importance of labeling bottles here).
You will however develop a tongue and nose that can pick out certain flavours in ready made liquids, helpful when cloning.
EDIT: Just read your question again, seems I havent answered it… Describing flavours… Use all the adjectives you would with food / drink. High notes, low notes etc
A large number of Food Adjectives can be found here:
This post needed more adjectives …Grubbs to the rescue! …wait a minute …you just gave Volition more words hahahahaha @Volition you know I’m teasing as I find your posts very “balsamic”
@Grubby I am almost afraid to click on that link …rabbit hole detector (BiNg!) …I’m going in!
What @Grubby said Think food. Has it a little sour tone? Bitter? Perfumed? Tangy? Lingers on the tongue, in the nose? Round? Sharp? Creamy? Harsh? Spicy? What spices? Fermented? Sweet? Peppery? Etc etc
Oh and I didn’t answer the question either, lol. Yes, I think you get better with the experience, a little more fine tuned maybe and definitely more aware.
For vanilla I go with darker than this one. Or more of a Carmel note. Or more floral. Maybe better for a bakery. It sits on top of flavors. This one dissapears in a mix.
Although I’m in no position to give advice due to lacking experience, but to be fully honest with you, I found verbal descriptives of flavours rather arbitrary. To me, more nuanced descriptions with high/low notes etc. pp. don’t convey information I could relate to in tasting. Maybe it’s just me being bad at verbalizing - however, back on topic, you can help yourself remembering all those flavours by memory (a more accurate representation, imo) with various techniques such as mental palace, thinking of the circumstances you first tasted it, giving them funny names, adorning the bottle with doodlings or whatever works for you. Personally, I call them names
It doesn’t get easier for me. What I try to pay attention to is describing it in a way that it makes sense to me so that when I look at my notes I understand what I get from each flavor. I also try to associate it with other things I have tried that it reminds me of if possible.
Since it’s so subjective, we all can usually all taste different nuances of each flavor, and the only important thing is that your flavor notes help you remember how it performs for you.
Me neither, im better at technical things than i am at describing experiences. After i test them i just know where they go whether that be in a recipe or down the drain.
I think it does. Flavour/aroma perception to me is much like colour perception. We all see a little differently, but we can all describe “red” (ok, perhaps unless having a specific type of colourblind).
The more I have used flavours, the better I have personally become at picking flavours for mixes, as well as percentages to sit in mixes as I want them. It got to the point where I don’t even bother batch testing anymore.
With time and use of the same concentrates, I think it becomes easier to describe the flavours and how they work in mixes.