Hello,

I am trying to better understand the difference between two castor-based lures I made.

For the first batch, I tinctured beaver castor in vodka for six months. I then took that tincture and mixed it with dried, ground castor that I purchased online. The ground castor wasn't a powder but more of a coffee ground consistency. The resulting aroma after sitting a week has a cold, sharp, almost metallic quality that I find very appealing.

For the second batch, I attempted to replicate that same scent profile using the leftover castor from my tincture that I dried then ground into a very fine powder because I couldn't get that coffee ground texture. However, this batch has a much more mellow scent and lacks that sharp, cold characteristic I observed in the first after waiting a week.

For both batches, I used a 1:1 ratio by volume (1 oz ground castor to 1 oz tincture).

My assumption is that the difference comes from the castor in the first batch still containing its full range of phenolic compounds, while the castor in the second batch had already been extracted during tincturing.

I would appreciate any insight you can provide.

I will take a stab at this.The first batch you made with the purchased castor sounds like it was dried and then sent through a food processor. No way of telling where these castors originated from or how they were handled. There for having a different smell than your second batch. I personally do not like to tincture castor if Im making beaver lure. I leave everything at full strength. The amount of drying time will make a big difference in odor also.

Thank you for getting back to me on this. I got a few pounds drying that I'm going to put through the food processor that I'm going to try to play around without tincturing it. Lots of trial of error but having fun.