Andy: 34 posts

Andy searches for a perfect fig perfume.

Each year, I anxiously await the summer fig season. For the few weeks when I can get my hands on really good fresh figs, I treasure each bite of the sweet, succulent flesh, and when the season ends, I am ready for the next to come. Luckily for me, I can experience the scents of my very favorite fruit, the fig, through perfumes, which fill my void for the rest of the year. While past trends have left a slew of beautiful niche fig perfumes, Pacifica Mediterranean Fig, an affordable alternative, remains one of my favorites.

The word that comes to mind when I picture Mediterranean Fig’s main accord is sparkling, because when I wear it, I always imagine a fizzy fig mojito. In this case, rim the glass with salt, replace the mint with a generous bunch of crushed, fresh fig leaves, add twists of bergamot and lemon peel in with the lime wedges and sugar, and top with plenty of sparkling water. Set the glass down on the sands of a sunny beach, near a tangle of wet driftwood, and you have Mediterranean Fig.

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Andy shares his favorite summer teas in today’s perfume & taste edition.

My love of tea is perennial—but when the weather turns steamy, drinking a piping hot cup of tea just seems like punishment. So, instead of fighting against the weather, I like to use warm days as an excuse to make loads of iced tea. It could be purely my imagination, but a tall glass of iced tea on a hot day seems immediately more refreshing than just plain ice water, and without a doubt is more delicious.

Summer is also a great time to bring out all of your favorite teas and try them iced—sometimes, the most unexpected teas can taste markedly different (and utterly delicious) when chilled. Of course, summer isn’t always about beating the heat—cool mornings and air conditioning can leave me downright chilly, so I’ve compiled a list of some teas below that taste great whether steaming hot or ice cold.

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Andy looks for the scent of tea in a bottle.

If I were to write the story of Atelier Cologne Oolang Infini, it would begin on a cool autumn afternoon. I dab the perfume on my wrist, and set off on a quiet wooded trail to catch some relaxation under a cathedral of falling leaves. I let the scent settle in, and immediately I envision misty blue mornings and steam rising out of warm teacups.

Fast forward several months, and I’m still thinking about Oolang Infini, a fragrance from the Atelier Cologne collection, in spite of the fact that my sample has since been reduced to mere drops. As a tea lover-turned perfume fan, I’ve just started my search for perfumes that evoke tea, but I’m glad to discover Oolang Infini. I’ve neglected the ideas of oolong suggested in the name; for me, Oolang Infini conjures a perfect cup of Earl Grey—a beverage that brings citrus and black tea into perfect harmony.

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Andy explores toasted notes and green tea.

When I cook, I am always amazed at how some of the most harmonious flavor combinations arise by fusing seemingly incompatible ingredients. Strawberries and balsamic vinegar, blue cheese and honey, mangoes and cayenne pepper—all of these flavorful groupings work surprisingly well together. In perfumery, classical genres like chypre and fougère juxtapose fresh notes of citrus or herbs with rich woods, moss, and amber to create an exciting fragrant impression. Even in tea, where olfactory and gustatory pleasures meet, harmonious contrasts make for some of the most interesting and popular teas. Such is the case with Genmaicha, a Japanese green tea that blends the savory aroma of toasted brown rice with the freshness and delicacy of Sencha.

When you first open up a package of Genmaicha, the incredible fragrance immediately hits you. The scent of Genmaicha combines grassy sweetness with toasty richness, a cue to the exquisite flavor of the tea, as well as the unique ingredients. Unlike most teas, Genmaicha consists of a steamed green tea (usually Sencha, an early harvest green tea, or Bancha, a lower grade, later harvest tea) combined with kernels of toasted brown rice. Oftentimes, some of these kernels pop during roasting, resulting in pieces that look like popcorn mixed into your tea.

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Andy describes how seasonal blossoms can be captured in sugar.

If you love spring as much as I do, you may agree that it always seems to come and go quicker than it should. One week, I was strolling under pink clouds of cherry blossoms, and the next, the petals had all floated away from the branches. I didn’t have time to be dismayed though, when richly perfumed purple lilacs had begun to steal the show. The season always seems to play out like a vaudeville show of flowers, with one beautiful act following the next.

A few weeks ago Victoria wrote about salting cherry blossoms, but you can also use sugar to capture the delicate flavors of spring. If you have never tried candying flowers before, it is extremely easy, and after you’ve done it once, you will find the task an irresistible way to extend the season of flowers like jasmine, lilac, rose and honeysuckle, to name a few. This spring, for instance, I found myself longing to preserve the beauty of sweetly scented violets, which are common in my area in the springtime. And since I had so many, I decided to candy them and make some perfumed syrup. My instructions below call for violets, but use whatever favorite edible flowers you can find, from pansies to roses.

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