Is Glycerin a Good Substitute for Alcohol When Making an Extract?

Glycerin is often touted as a good substitute for alcohol when making an extract, whether herbal or with essential oils. But is this the truth or just something the Internet has propagated? Let's find out with a little chemistry education.
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0:00 Introduction to Glycerin
1:32 Glycerin's Capabilities
10:35 Compound Solubility in Glycerin
13:59 Health & Safety of Glycerin & Propylene Glycol
15:41 Cost Savings
16:28 Conclusion
Essential Oil and Flavour Suppliers artofdr.ink/suppliers
Calculation Form for Soda Formulations artofdr.ink/calc-form
*Getting Started Making Soda*
If you are new to making soda, welcome, and you should check out the following videos because they will show you the basics of making soda and will help answer most of your questions.
Using Essential Oils Safely • Know These Details to ...
How to Make a Soda Flavour • How to Make a Flavour ...
How to Make a Flavour Extract • How to Make an Herbal ...
Simple Syrup for Soda • How to Make Simple Syr...
How to Formulate a Flavour • Formulating Your Own F...
Art of Drink www.artofdrink.com
Twitter: / dsoneil
Camera Gear
Panasonic GH6 w/ 12-32mm F2.8 (primary)
Olympus E-M1 MkII w/ 12-40mm F2.8
Olympus E-M5 MkIII w/ Leica 25mm F1.4
#glycerin #science #drinks

[@orange_orchid]

I have a science background, so you using the chemical diagrams made it very easy and quick to understand. Thanks!

[@user-oq1ku4wq7s]

Great work 💯... very informative

[@ciragoettig1229]

It's wonderful to see proper chemical expertise used on culinary or drinking topics, thanks for making these! In the ginger video, you mentioned in passing one could use glycerin to up the extracting power if one only has access to 40% ABV vodka, and that sounds like an interesting usecase as well. I guess p.glycol would be even better for that, generally? How much of either would you add to vodka to improve extraction for say a bitters tincture? or would you ideally use both in some ratio? EDIT: Ohh, you've basically explained exactly this in your sprite/7up video I'm now watching, perfect! Thanks again!

[@dcfromthev]

Thank you for the science, there is way too much anecdotal information out there so this is refreshing!

[@ahmedalfi8487]

This video is awesome ... Thank you

[@MartinDoudoroffLLC]

Very informative!

[@kentdirckx3012]

Thank you so much! It is always good to understand why we use certain ingredients, especially when a "non-drinker" like myself has a bottle of Everclear in the cupboard :)

[@Artofdrink]

Glad you find the info useful. Cheers

[@h00t-h00t]

Not what you intended but your video is very helpful and gave me valuable insights 😮

[@Artofdrink]

Glad it was helpful!

[@itea4523]

Hi Darcy! Really cool channel! Can’t wait to watch your other videos! I have a burning question that I feel only you could answer - how do you decide whether an ingredient for a cocktail should be infused in alcohol or infused in sugar (i.e to make a syrup)? Practical considerations aside, is there a scientific way to decide?

[@Artofdrink]

Alcohol is always better as you will extract more of the flavour oils. Sugar solutions can extract a small amount but it is better to mix an alcohol extract into a sugar solution to get more flavour.

[@mohdabrar2839]

THANKS

[@maghteridon5555]

I love your content! :D One of the best YT channel. May I ask if you've studied chemistry? Just curious.

[@Artofdrink]

Thanks you, and yes I studied chemistry and worked in research development labs for 15 years, 7+ years developing engine oils in the 1990s and another 7+ years working at a University doing molecular pathology, plus some other chemistry work here and there. I've been writing about drinks since 2004 as well.

[@maghteridon5555]

@@Artofdrink are there any sources that you'd recommend about oils, extracts, flavors? Books, sites, some particular people in the internet?

[@Artofdrink]

@@maghteridon5555 I'd recommend starting with the Standard Manual of Soda by Emil Hiss (search in Google Books). Most of the information on flavours I pull from old pharmacy manuals. They usually have a few chapters on flavours in them. Unfortunately, they are not very clear with instructions, though if you understand chemistry, it helps a lot. The more modern textbooks on this are expensive around $300, and they can be even less clear as all this information is kept within the profession, because previously not many people were interested in this stuff, preferring to just buy their drinks in bottles and cans.

[@maghteridon5555]

@@Artofdrink thanks! :) unfortunately the life is too short to study all the things I'm interested in xD

[@mora808]

Awesome video, So informative! But, Are you writing backwards on a clear board so it gets filmed normally?

[@Tmanaz480]

Lol... no, cameras make it easy to reverse the video image these days. Look closely at the buttons of his shirt in the beginning scene, then the chalkboard scene. They look "backwards", like a woman's blouse would be. This means the picture we're looking at is reversed. It helps that his hair is symmetrical, and he's left-handed.

[@8888Dino8888]

Which would be best for banana is there a list any where tks for great video

[@mdshawki3]

Great explanation and awesome video. Which is the optimal can be used for Extracting dried red Ginseng roots? Alcohol or glycerine or glycol propanol, and the percentage added ? Please let us have your comments hope you make a special video for this extract as the huge benefits of this extract for health

[@AssieChi69]

Thx for posting your video on this topic, very interesting and educational! Do you perhaps know how glycerin is usable and safe, when the purpuse using it for are herbaltinctures? In another video i watched earlier, someone explaned that glycol in the body also is being processed into sugar, (and from that into alcohol) and the way it is being taken into the body through te stomach, intestens, and so on, could result in stacking the glycol in the liver, because it can't process this to well because glycol also contains fat. This would make another difference with alcohol (ethanol), because of this we know that it can be processed by the stomach, intentens and the liver (when not abused, that is). Point is, that with tinctures the concentrate of the substance will have a different ratio in use; and than will contain more pure glycerin than when you would use it in the soda's? Will it still be safe enough to use it in that case than? Or would it be better to use propylene glycol instead? I am trying to figure this out, because my interest is going out to this, in use with herbal-remedies, and asking this because i am courious and like to learn to know what to use best for this. There are different points of view in this, based on wether or not it could cause health-problems, and therefore i've decided to figure it out by doing some self-study and investigation. Hope you can give me some more answers on this? Thank you!

[@Lexxlu]

I’m looking to make a blue lotus tincture/extract…is ethanol the best way to extract the constituents? Thanks 🙏

[@olivierhuens5569]

Very interesting video. Thank you very much. How did you come to create the board where you write?

[@Artofdrink]

Thanks, look up lightboards on KZbin. I built it pretty much the same way.

[@WholesaleCurrencyExchangeRates]

Can I use food grade glycerine for extracting cocoa nibs (for making Chocolate flavour extraction)

[@BrazilSaint]

Great video - thank you! You mention that Juniper is almost a non-starter in Gylcerin and only marginally better in PG. If the aim is to make a Juniper extract without alcohol, could you do a mix of ethanol and PG and then try to evaporate the ethanol out? If you had a rotary evaporator and could boil the ethanol off at say 40C under vacuum, would it leave the extract with the Juniper flavours, or would they also boil off with the ethanol? It seems the holy grail for many distilleries at the moment is to make zero-alcohol spirit of a Gin flavour, but there doesn't yet seem to be a great way of doing it. I have seen Juniper extracts on the market, but not looked to see if they have alcohol as the solvent or not.

[@BrazilSaint]

Looking more at Propylene glycol, it's evaporation point is actually quite high at 188C, so in theory, you would not even need to lower the boiling point of ethanol, and could evaporate the ethanol quite effectively at 75C, in a standard still - no idea what this heat would do to the flavours though.

[@Artofdrink]

The issue is that the pinene in juniper has a maximum solubility of 4 mg/L in water (less at cold temperatures), and pinene is just like oil and oil and water do not mix. Given time, the oils (pinene) will separate out and float on top. Gin is typically in the 80 to 95 mg/L which is at least 20X more than what is soluble in water. The only way to get oil in water is to create a stable emulsion. That requires an emulsifier (edible soap) and preferably a high-shear rotor/stator mixer, which can be quite expensive.

[@selfhealherbs13ms]

What about lemonbalm and glycerin for a tincture form.

[@lporter115]

Hello great info, can you please tell me what cool board you are writing on et al.? Thank you!

[@Artofdrink]

That is called a Lightboard, you can make or buy one.

[@Poppen000]

Do gourmet mushrooms do well with glycerin?

[@sabrahardy]

I truly admire you. However, I have a question: I like essential oil's e.g., lavender. Citrus like orange, tea tree , oregano, & other flowers. Their flash point temperatures for herb & flower are very low like 90°F - to - 130°F. For example if I were soak these citrus skins or lavender plant(s) first separately inside a plant milk bag immersed in drinking liquor is this feasible? For Example -- a drinking liquor of about 40 or 60 proof. Raw material -- Not exposed soaking already filtered in a plant milk bag sitting in the liquor in the plant milk bag? Is that feasible?? Could I then transfer it to a temperature controlled water distiller boiling temperature very low. Would this work? Also, it is awesome using a mug warmer, To finish alcohol evaporation - oil processing very nice. I just want to avoid self-injury. I prefer distilling food grade Drinking alcohols because after distilling I could still drink it. Will my idea work?

[@cb5151]

class in session

[@jprogeny7206]

Where can I get glycerin?

[@gabrieletesio6848]

what about mixing glycerin & glycol? would you get a better solvent? or making two extract, then two syrups and mixing those syrups, perhpas directly in the soda?

[@Artofdrink]

You could mix them, and yes it could help but you'd only need to make one syrup using part of each extract/essence. You would need to experiment a bit, but it always comes down to what you think tastes great, not just good, we aim high here.

[@snfc5uyt6n89b]

The exact question I was going to ask, thanks.

[@snfc5uyt6n89b]

Wouldn't an extract made in a mixed Glycerin + PG solvent taste "better" (i.e more like the original), as it has more of the flavour compounds in it?

[@AM2PMReviews]

Could I use glycerin for citrus peel extract instead of alcohol?

[@Artofdrink]

Did you even watch the video? But, no, glycerin is not a good solvent to use with citrus oils.

[@AustinScienceFood]

You're speaking my language! If I had PG, Glycerin and Ethanol all in house I would see if they all could combine together to make a universal flavor solvent of sorts. If ethanol dissolves everything, surely it plays well with the other two.

[@Artofdrink]

Ethanol definitely plays well with glycerine and PG. I sometimes recommend that if someone only has access to vodka at 40% abv that they add a little glycerin or PG as it improves the solvent capability. And yes, different solvent combination will do different things, but remember make what tastes great.

[@mohdabrar2839]

dear can I use in carbonated drink ? Glycerin or propline

[@Artofdrink]

Yes you can

[@McRootbeer]

Could you make an extract of charred wood to add smokiness and vanilla notes to a root beer? Or is that just whisky? 🤔.

[@Artofdrink]

You could definitely make a charred word extract. If you do it let me know, otherwise I might steel that idea, it is a good one.

[@McRootbeer]

@@Artofdrink please do, I want to try making a root/birch beer, but I have no room at the moment. Would toasting the roots/birch bark destroy the flavor compound or add new ones? Will you be making a video on root beers anytime soon?

[@schilling3003]

I just bought a 750ml bottle of 95.5% ethanol for $13.99 USD, so ethanol is significantly cheaper for me!

[@Artofdrink]

That's a good deal. And alcohol is a much better solvent.

[@cyndanyia]

😴🥱

[@Artofdrink]

That's my style!

[@christineb2640]

@@Artofdrink😂😂😂😂