Gift Packaging and Sample Sets

People often ask me if I sell sample sets and I usually file the idea away as something I should really get around to and then I just get back to whatever I was doing and forget about it.  This past winter while hibernating I had a little bit of fun with creating gift packaging and sample sets.

I have boxes of three quarter ounce vials of some of the extracts I've been making such as the Tea Collection, the Citrus Collection and the Toasted Nut Collection.  They come tucked in a brown velvet pouch nestled in a matte gold gift box.  To finish it's tied with a slender velvet ribbon.  I think it'll make a nice gift for the foodies out there.

The same packaging works beautifully with my four latest perfumes - Midnight Garden, Sol de la Foret, Flora and Foret de la Mer. To make them a bit more special I've chosen a millinery flower for each perfume and tucked them in the box.

I've also made sets of samples of eight of my perfumes: Aloft, Tourmaline, Midnight Garden, Moonrise, Sol de la Foret, Flora, Foret de la Mer and Garden Walk.

Playing with silk, paper and velvet flowers, pretty boxes and ribbons reminded me so much of projects I would have worked on in my youth.  In fact I've been doing this kind of thing for as long as I can remember, so I'm pleased to be offering work that comes from my heart.  I have more ideas for packaged sets of perfumes so expect to see more. Thanks for looking!


Ready to gift in a matte gold box with a slender brown velvet ribbon.


Set of three citrus extracts from the stormy winter of 2015; Tangerine, Meyer Lemon and Blood Orange.
Foret de la Mer packaged with millinery golden champaca flowers.

Capturing the Fragrance and Flavor of Winter

Nut Extracts
The spring thaw is upon us.  The icebergs are melting, the sidewalks are passable again and the smell of thawing earth and sap rising are in the air. This time of year is always a little melancholy for me. I love winter, no matter the cold and snow, I love it. I'm a big fan of warm and cozy.  I love the holidays, love snow days, thick blankets, warm stews and soft cashmere sweaters (and socks, cashmere socks are the best). I'm going to miss it in the long warm, muggy, glaring, big, fat summer ahead.  Most people talk about capturing the flavors of summer to be used during the cold, lean months.  I do my share of that, mostly so that I can enjoy the winter that much more, but just to turn things on their ear I've been trying to capture the flavors and fragrance of winter to be enjoyed during the summer.

What are the flavors I love most in winter?  That's easy.  Juicy, fresh citrus fruits, roasted nuts, and cups and cups and cups of milky black tea.  So that's what I've attempted to capture. I've made extracts of tangerine, blood orange, meyer lemon, vanilla/orange, toasted almond, hazelnut and pistachio and peach, blackcurrant and vanilla black tea.  Thinking ahead to chocolate ice cream with blood orange extract, or pistachio ice cream amped up with a bit of extract and glasses of cold seltzer with carbonated bubbles popping peach tea extract.

Drying orange zest
I've also started zesting my citrus before I peel them and drying the zest.  It's nice to have home cured rinds for recipes.  You can zest any type of orange, lemon or lime - or anything else you can get your hands on like yuzu or buddah's hand.  I lay them on parchment covered wicker trays but even laid out evenly on a dinner plate works. Leave them at least a week, depending on humidity, before you put them in a jar to keep. Make sure they're absolutely dry before you do, any hidden moisture could cause your rinds to mold.  On the other hand don't leave them out too long or they'll lose their potency. Don't forget to label them, you'll want to remember which is tangerine and which is blood orange, especially as they dry and their flavor concentrates.

Straining Meyer Lemon Extract
So, while it's still winter take advantage of the fruits of the season and keep them for the warm seasons to come.  If preparing them seems too mind-boggling and time consuming check out the selection of extracts in my Etsy store.  Everything is made in small batches so there is a limited supply. I love to tinker and experiment so expect some new arrivals.

To read more about making extracts at home look here.

Tea Extracts
Nut Extracts Sample Set
Tangerine Extract


Making Extracts from Nuts, Citrus and Teas

I am fascinated by the extractive properties of alcohol.  Whatever it comes in contact with is transferred to it.  My friend Nata of Nata's Cocktails once referred to vodka as "the chicken of liquors". The same technique used to make herbal medicine, bitters, tinctures, colognes and flavored vodka also make extracts.

This winter has been a cold one, one of the coldest on record.  I'm not the happiest cook in the world but lately I've been cooking up all kinds of warming soups and stews.  But what actually makes me happy is baking and so I've turned my attention to creating extracts.

I started with vanilla, naturally.  I consume more vanilla than your average person, I add it to everything.  I did a lot of research and discovered that most homemade vanilla extract is quite weak. To legally be called extract it has to have six beans per cup of alcohol, otherwise you're just making vanilla flavored vodka.  Sliced, seeded and chopped up I let the six beans macerate for three months until it was a dark opaque and extraordnarily flavorful brew.

That got me started, once I hit on a good thing I want more.  I adore toasted hazelnuts so that was my next venture.  And why do only one nut when you can do three?  Toasted almond and pistachio made sense and I'm considering pecan.  I toasted the nuts, let them cool, chopped them up, put them in a clean jar and covered them with vodka.  The hazelnuts are a bit more complicated in that once you've toasted them you have to let them cool and rub off the skins.  It's a bit time consuming but totally worth it as the skins leave a bitter taste.  Leave to macerate for one to three months and then filter and clarify.

This winter I've discovered the joy of making my own nut milks.  It's so easy when you know how and there are instructions all over the internet.  I started with almond but gradually expanded into hazelnut, pistachio, cashew and coconut.  To the almond, hazelnut and pistachio I added their respective extract to bump up the flavor (and usually a bit of vanilla, too!).

Now that citrus season is in full swing I've turned my attention to citrus extracts. When they first came in season I couldn't get enough tangerines so that was the first extract I created.  I've got meyer lemon, blood orange and vanilla orange brewing. When I was a kid I adored creamsicles and still go crazy for that creamy orange and vanilla combination.  Simply zest whatever fruit you choose, place in a clean jar and cover with vodka.  Leave to macerate one to three months, strain and clarify.

I love tea so created some extracts out of my favorites.  I drink a delicious all naturally flavored peach tea in the wintertime so created Peach Tea Extract.  I love it in seltzer.  As the bubbly glass approaches your nose the bubbles pop with perfumed tea fragrance.  It's truly sublime.  I've added Blackcurrant Tea as well.  Attempts at Jasmine and Russian Caravan were less successful but I'm still willing to try working those out.

I also have an abundance of chocolate mint growing in my garden.  I've flavored vodka with it in the past and was delighted by the results.  Tissane brewed of the mint is nice, minty with a bit of chocolate flavor, but when extracted in alcohol the chocolate flavor really comes through.  I have just a couple of bottles left, I'll have to wait until summer to create more.

Extracts are, of course, delicious in baked goods but the possibilities for other deserts are endless.  Ice cream comes to mind (but that's for a warmer season).  And whatever confection you decide to create don't forget to spike your whipped cream with some extra extracted kick.

To experiment with some of my flavorings check out my Etsy store.  Some of them are bottled in vintage extract bottles found on the beach.

New Extracts

Chocolate Mint and Peach Tea extract
Back in June I posted about my absolute obsession with tincturing and macerating.  My garden was in full thrust and I was still heady from my recent trip to Mandy Aftel's natural perfume workshop in Berkeley.  My mission, originally, was to take advantage of my garden to create some alcohol bases to make perfumes with.  I ventured a little further afield and ended up tincturing dried jasmine blossoms and, most rewardingly, tea.

My biggest success was with an organic loose leaf peach flavored tea.  It's difficult to find a fruity note in natural oils so originally I was simply looking for that.  What I discovered was that the extracted liqueur was so much richer and more complex than I could have imagined.  I dabbed it on my wrists constantly all summer long and inhaled deeply that sweet, smokey aroma reminiscent of hundreds of comforting afternoons with my hands wrapped around a warm cup.

My other big success in extract making was with the chocolate mint taking over my community garden plot.  I knew from infusing it in vodka that the alcohol seemed to really extend the chocolate flavor, much more so than in a cup of herb tissane.  I finely chopped up about a cup of mint and poured enough 190 proof vodka over it to cover and let it sit for a few days.  After straining it I added another cup of chopped herb to make it double strength.

I quite naturally started to think about how to use the extracts in food.  I think their flavors would lend themselves to some delicious desserts, most notably ice cream and sorbets.  I started to experiment with using them in seltzer and, not surprisingly, they were delicious.  Peach tea seltzer has now become a favorite of mine and I can't keep enough extract in the house.  As the bubbly glass approaches your nose you can't help but be overwhelmed by it's gorgeous bouquet.  About a half teaspoon to a teaspoon works nicely in a ten to twelve ounce glass of sparkling water.  I'm spoiled now, I'll never again buy a lemon, lime or (horror of horrors) artificial black cherry flavored seltzer again.

Tinctures, Extracts and Infusions

Linden tincture filtering.
This season has me wanting to capture as much of it's flavors and fragrances as I possibly can.  After my recent trip to California to learn more about natural perfumery I've been hungry to gather new fragrant ingredients.  I thought I might tincture a few things to add to my perfume organ.

Linden blossoms drying.
I started with trying to capture the incredible, brief and elusive fragrance of linden.  Where I live in Brooklyn there are many linden trees and there is a two week period at the end of June that is phenominaly fragrant.  I recently bought a bottle of linden CO2 from Aftelier and have been playing around with it.  It's a beautiful note, very honeyed and sweet but a bit difficult to work with since it's so easy to lose the quintessential quality of it.  I wondered how a tincture would be so I picked some blossoms and left them to dry for a day or two before I submerged them in 190 proof vodka.  After a few days I strained it out and replaced the blossoms.  It's now on it's third infusion.  I shake it daily and dab a bit on my wrist.  At first it's grassy and more like hay but dries down more like the scented June air.

Chocolate mint extract filtering.
In my community garden plot I have a patch of chocolate mint that's out of this world.  I've used it in the past to make tea and was pleased but not as fanatical about it is as I've been since last summer when I made some chocolate mint vodka out of it.  The chocolate really comes through when it's macerated.  I've been conjuring cocktails (along with the rest of the civilized world) the past couple of years but I don't even mix this with anything else.  It's so good just on it's own.  I wondered if I could make an extract of it to flavor other things, like seltzer or ice cream.  I chopped up a bunch very fine and put it in a jar and covered it with 190 proof alcohol.  It very quickly turned bright green.  I shook it daily and yesterday strained off the emerald green liquid and used it to make chocolate mint seltzer.  It's delicious but I'm not satisfied so I picked more mint last night and have added it to the extract - a double maceration.

Jasmine blossoms macerating.
Now my interest is piqued and I've been exploring some other materials to tincture.  Dried jasmine blossoms have yielded a surprising result, more like cigarette burning than the indolic and intoxicating fragrance I expected.  I've also been playing around with tea.  I had some peach flavored black tea in the house and started with that.  It's made the most exquisite elixir, I want to slather myself in it.  A recent trip to the tea store and I now have Lapsang Souchong, Jasmine and Russian Caravan soaking.

              Basically all you do is make sure you have clean jars and good strong vodka (190 proof is best).  Fresh plant material is best dried a day or two so that there is less water involved in your creation.  Chop herbs finely and put in the jar and pour in just enough alcohol to cover.  Make sure that everything is submerged in alcohol or you run the risk of spoilage and ruining your experiment.  Shake the jars daily.  You can double the maceration if you're so inclined.  As always keep good notes so if you create something heavenly you can create it again. Good luck!