Drops Per ml

[DiscoDes]

I've been slaving away in my mixing lab this evening (recipe to come soon!) And I always thought 20 drops = 1ml but I mixed what should have been 5ml in total and it came out more like 3.

Has anyone measured this out properly?

???

[maccafan]

Using drops to measure is an approximation at best and varies from nozzle to nozzle..For example Hangsen bottle nozzles dispense a lot less than Dekang bottles..

I think I read in Girzwald's guide that 20 drops/ml measure came from the glass bottle droppers that some of the US juices ship with..

[VE Jason]

30 drops per ml is much nearer the mark for a standard (squeezy) dropper bottle.

[DiscoDes]

Cheers Guys!

I also have a set of digital scales and would love to have recipe as weights.... but i don't think this will happen

[Frogster (The Alchemist)]

I am sure that I have mentioned this elsewhere… but for anyone interested….

Why you should not measure by Drops !

Measuring using “Drops” of liquid is not very accurate or scientific, for a number of reasons:-

• All dropper sizes vary, therefore the drops to make up say 1 ml also vary, I have measured differences by as much as 15 drops per ml from different types of bottle containing the same liquid.
  
• All liquids vary in viscosity, VG is very thick and gloopy, therefore the drops are a lot bigger than say PG or flavourings, you could get say 20 drops per ml from VG, 32 drops from flavour number 1, 30 drops from flavour no 2, 26 drops from PG, and 22 drops from the Nic base …. Too much variation and little accuracy.
  
• Even some flavourings of the same brand differ in viscosity, so different number of drops per ml.
  
• Easy to lose count / miscount.
  
• You could end up with a liquid that is above or below your chosen strength, weaker or stronger than anticipated flavour and PG/VG Ratio way out! If you are doing this for yourself, OK (apart from the potential of MG% of Nic being way out) then maybe it does not matter. But if you want to make it again, then you are going to be up against it!
  

So, the easiest and simplest way is to use syringes. Far more accurate = better results = easily replicated. If you want to be doubly sure, use a measured mixing beaker to deposit each separate component part/liquid/flavour/etc from the syringe. If you calculated for 10ml, you should end up with 10ml. Doing that makes it easy to check you have done it right and not missed or miscalculated anything.

Don’t try and blow out liquids that remain in the syringe needles into the mix… these are over and above the measured amounts, just squeeze out what is in the syringe.

Use a good calculator, record the mix and any changes, Doing the above will give you accuracy.

[FirinBlanks]

Des, as a really rough guide...

I got these from my iPhone app Liquix

1ml VG is around 1.26g
1ml of PG is around 1.04g
1ml water/vodka is around 1.00g

Most flavourings are PG based so multiply the mls by 1.04 to get their weight.

Disclaimer: I've used these ratios in mixes and found them not to be very reliable so I keep meaning to measure them myself. Maybe next mixing session...

[DiscoDes]

Excellent Firin I'll get my digital scales out and give this a test!



Sent from my Nexus 7 using proboards