Anya's Garden Perfumes + The Natural Perfumery Institute

  Distilling Cornutia grandifolia for perfume and health by  Anya McCoy  |  Oct 29, 2015  |  Anya McCoy ,  Anya's Garden Perfumes ,  Healthy perfume ,  Herbalism ,  Hydrosols ,  natural aromatics ,  raw materials of perfumery  |  2 comments I’ve long been obsessed with a tropical member of the Mint family Labiatae and focused on obtaining some plants of it to grow in my fragrant garden. They were harder to find than I imagined, but I got two in small pots about a year and a half ago. You can read more about them  here. These plants are as aggressive in their growth habit as mints; instead of growing horizontally via runners, they grow vertically, leaping skyward at an astonishing rate. I don’t fertilize them, and they don’t have any pests or diseases. On a sunny Sunday in Miami, Angie and Julia showed up to harvest them and we worked together on the distillation of the big, soft, velvety, fragrant leaves. The lea...

The Natural Perfumers Guild Fleur Awards 2011  We are keeping the final design for the Fleurs under wraps until next year, and the following recipients will receive their physical awards at that time, and receive printed certificates at this time. Several Guild members and myself kept this surprise announcement of the Fleur Awards under our hats for several months, and it was hard to do!  We will have a much-expanded awards ceremony next year, but the logical tie-in with our Brave New Scents project demanded that we select two of the most innovative, ground-breaking members and present them with the first Fleurs.  The two members have devoted much of their careers to distilling aromatics, a big step forward for perfumers in modern times, when most perfumers rely on suppliers for their raw materials.  The October 1, 2011 Guild Brave New Scents project highlights natural aromatics of the 21st Century, and both recipients of the award are pioneers that have steppe...

  So What Variety of Orange Tree Gives us the Prized and Loved Neroli? The short answer is - nobody knows for sure, but it's pretty certain that it isn't soley the often named variety Citrus aurantium var. amara. I started this quest to find out what variety in my last blog post. I was trying to figure out why Citrus aurantium var. Bouquet des Fleurs wasn't named, since that was the variety I studied at one of the top citrus schools in the world. Turns out it's probably either/neither/a mix/or a bunch of others. I got feedback on a Yahoo group, and called UCR and spoke with one of the professors there. Neither source wanted to be quoted, since they're giving their opinion, and cannot point me to a source that will quote the facts. Due to their experience in the field, actually having visited neroli groves in several countries, I do accept their statements. Citrus hybridizes readily and oftentimes there are gaps in the groves due to a tree dying for a number of r...

Bay Leaf hydrosol flowing into the beaker I recently had to cut down - with much sorrow - a huge bay leaf tree/bush that I planted about 10 years ago. Many meals have benefited from the organic leaves of the Laurus nobilis I harvested from that tree. Planted at the SE corner of my patio, it had to be removed for patio expansion. I saved the roots, trunk, limbs and leaves, and they are all going to be used, nothing wasted. The roots, trunk and twigs will be used when I barbeque, as their aromatic beauty will flavor everything on the grill with a complex, floral, yet earthy and woody fragrance and taste. Now, I reasoned, was a great time to start distilling. Then with amazing clarity, the Universe confirmed my feeling. Within one week, a distiller I had known for years on the internet but not corresponded with in a year or two contacted me about joining the Guild with his newly-founded business, a Yahoo Natural Perfumery (YNP) group member joined the Guild and informed me he's making...