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I've been experimenting with blending flavors into water based drinks, but these experiments have largely ended up with a thin oily layer on top of my watery liquid. What I require is an emulsifier to stabilize my oil-water mixture while:

1) Not adding any additional taste,

2) Not sequestering the taste of my flavor compounds,

3) Will preferably not turn my solution milky.

Some examples that do not work include adding sodium citrate (adds sour salt flavor), PG/DPG (bitter taste), ultrasound sonication (too expensive), and simply waiting for natural diffusion to occur (time-intensive).

Example flavors I am working with include beta-damascone (fruity, petal, apple flavor) and muscone (sweet, musk, vanilla-ish).

Some possibilities I can think of but have not tried include polysorbate, maltodextrin, and using a blender. Any helpful tips would be appreciated.

EDIT: I'd like to add that the flavors do mix if given enough time, albeit slowly, taking at least several days to weeks.

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3 Answers 3

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Use soy lecithin powder. Cheapest and easiest place to find it is in the drugstore where drink supplements such as Ensure nutritional drinks are kept for those unable to eat solid food. It lasts forever and has no taste whatsoever. It is the perfect emulsifier when egg yolks or mustard aren't an option. Start with about a teaspoon for your average vinegrette recipe. Can also be used to make vegan mayo in place of egg yolk. Lecithin can also be used to make foams. The proportion needs to be more precise, however. Too much can collapse foams, but when done well, it will last as a foam for hours good luck.

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It looks like there's some confusion, and many people wish this to be answered.

The correct answer is Polysorbate, a sucrose ester, with the number after e.g. "polysorbate 20" denoting chain length in an arbitrary manner. From Wikipedia,

[Polysorbates] are often used in cosmetics to solubilize essential oils into water-based products.

This is the solution for making aromatic chemicals miscible in water without adding a portion of alcohol or other organic solvent.

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Egg yolk might work:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphatidylcholine

It is not tasteless, however you should only need a really tiny amount to make it work even for large quantities. You can do liters of mayonnaise with only a couple yolks.

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  • Polysorbate has a similar structure, I'll try that to see if it'll work
    – Edison Hua
    Mar 2, 2016 at 6:41
  • @E.Hua Did polysorbate work?
    – willkil
    Jul 19, 2016 at 19:12
  • Should work, what chems are you playing with?
    – Edison Hua
    Jul 22, 2016 at 3:40

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