The first time I used Cardamom (FA) it blew my head off! I became obsessed with a flavor description and why it did this to me. The first and foremost discovery in my search was mint! I am highly sensitive to menthol and can sense it like a shark senses a drop of blood in the ocean. Looking at its chemical composition I found molecular structures relating to these flavors:
Cajuput, pine and petitgrain oils
Bay, wild thyme, ylang ylang
Citrus
Menthol
Eucalyptus, balsam, water fennel
Camphor
And then there is heptane (used as a test fuel component in anti-knock test engines). No wonder it blew my head off!
Now that I better understand this strange and exotic spice I’m going to put my big girl pants on and muster up the courage to try it again (at a percentage my taste buds will understand). As a matter of interest, cardamom is among the 3 most expensive spices in the world. In the order of highest price: Saffron, Vanilla, Cardamom.
For more information I took much of my notes from here:
I’m aware of one or two members who use cardamom in their recipes. If you have information to share on how and where you use it in your recipes I’d love to hear about it.
I have used it before but not lately it was super strong for me and was way too prominent in the recipe at .1% maybe it is that it if just one of those flavours for me but it wasn’t to my taste.
My story with Cardamom is so similar, although I’ve not had the courage to use it again. Still traumatized and it’s well over a year ago.
I tried it in a high rated recipe and it took the better part of the day to get the flavor out of my head & nose.
I use Cardamom but I don’t put it in to many public recipes because it is VERY strong and most people don’t use it.
One drop in 90 ml is enough for most recipes so the thing I do is dilute it. It goes a very long way.
Looks like you are researching it, so you know it can be used in just about any and everything. It goes especially good in a coffee recipe and chocolate too. I use it in a blue razz recipe. It adds that extra… uuummmmph!!! People seem to like it very much.
Before you ask… I haven’t got the dilution down just right yet. Actually, if you are good at math maybe you can help.
If I put 1 drop into 90ml how would I dilute? Maybe that isn’t the right question. How would I dilute it to, lets say, 5%? If anybody knows, I would appreciate any help.
If 1 drop is 0.02g and 5% (of 90ml) is 4.5g, you have to increase your volume by 4.5/0.02 or 225 times. Meaning you can make 2.25 liters from your 10ml FA bottle.
Very potent stuff
Just make sure the diluted version is 225 times the volume you started with, whatever volume you want to make. With that dilution, you can use it at 5% in any recipe.
I don’t know… for now I’d stay far away from it
Perhaps instead of 5%, I’d go for a 1%, same calculation. Still reasonable to work with but you won’t need such big bottles for something that’s still supposed to be a concentrate.
I wanted to reply to each and everyone of you because I could relate to all your experiences. However, my mystery is over already! Tonight I decided I would dig out the original recipe I made with the overpowering Cardamom, a coconut vanilla custard thing. I also had the same recipe without the cardamom. I noticed, with a knuckle test and a sniff that the original had weakened considerably after a very long steep. Actually, I stuck it at the bottom of my closet and ignored it since 12/26/18. I decided to use a little of the OG w/cardamom and add to the non-cardamom recipe. Here’s where I can’t help you @Dan_the_Man . I just winged it and now I’m vaping it with surprise and delight. (I wish I could give you a percentage but I think you have to gauge it by your own tastes buds). It really is a new and tasty flavor experience. I sensed it’s potential but was scared out of my mind to try it again. In my situation it was nothing gained, nothing lost. It might even be that missing, special something that appears in some of my commercial favorites that I can never seem to clone.
I didn’t think the mystery for me would be solved this soon but I suppose the moral of this weird flavor is to never give up on the notion of acquired taste. Btw, I started with 0.25% and that was just way too much for me.
Too funny!