I have been amusing myself with the art & practice of enfleurage, with those flowers that do not lend themselves to distillation. (Or with those flowers that do distill but just wanting another path of amusement.) So far i think my greatest success has been with the Hyacinth.
It's a long drawn out process that for me can take 6 months or so as sometimes i only attend to it when i think of it. But i am in no hurry; my comfort zone is in the slow lane through life.
First i melt a thin layer of palm fat or coconut shortening in a glass dish & let this harden. Then just add flowers. Thick, waxy flowers like hyacinth & tuberose i can actually leave for 2 to 3 days, until they get wilty. You don't want to give mold the upper hand. Less substantial flowers like the ginger lily & honeysuckle come off in 24 hours. In warmer weather the trays will need to be in the refrigerator least the flowers sink into soft fat/oil. I've done this with narcissus, easter lily, hyacinth, ginger lily, honeysuckle and tuberose. I'm holding over some lilac and some lily of the valley from last year that need strengthening so i'll add to them this spring. This summer i hope to add peony to the list.
After the pomade is saturated; meaning when i have run out of flowers or it's season has finished, i scoop it into a jar & cover with organic grape alcohol. Then the jar goes through months of alternating heat & cold to wring the scent out of the fat & into the alcohol. I'm sure i could speed this part up but...i don't.
As you can see i don't always end up with much 'juice' but this particular batch brought us to our knees. To my nose there is no fragrance more exalting than the voice of heaven funneled straight through a flower's throat and to blend it with anything else would be sacrosanct. OK, maybe a bit of subliminal ambergris to anchor it. Even though this particular one was still whispering on the scent strip after 24 hours, they are too ephemeral / ethereal to create a sillage down the hallway. So i have arrived at the conclusion that the best way to injoy these is to spray them on my pillow at night and they have enough presence in the morning to 'wake me in the garden.'
