Autumn 21

Myrrh is a bitter-tasting gum taken from the small thorn tree Commiphora myrrha. These flowering trees can be found amid dry, rocky hills - at Ffern we harvest our myrrh in the highlands of northern Somalia.

Our black tang seaweed, also known as bladderwrack, is sustainably harvested from the pink granite rocks of Brittany in northern France. After harvesting, the seaweed is dried before being ground into a powder. This powder is refined using solvent extraction to create the seaweed absolute.

Found in temperate, mountainous forests in the northern hemisphere, oakmoss is a branching lichen that grows on the branches and trunks of the oak tree. Ours is foraged from wild oaks in Samokov, Macedonia, before being transported to Grasse, where the oil is extracted by a family-run distillery.

The La Faces are a third-generation citrus farming family, growing our lemons on the northeastern tip of Sicily - just across the 3km straight of Messina and in sight of our bergamot on the Calabrian shores. The fruit is picked by hand, and the rinds cold pressed on site.

Our Egyptian basil grand vert is renowned for its high linalool composition and its distinctive aniseed notes. The leaves are cut and immediately distilled - if they are allowed to dry, the scent is largely lost.

Grown on Calabrian hills overlooking the Ionian Sea, the fruit is harvested by hand and the oil extracted at source. The La Face family planted their first bergamot in the 1930s and have been mastering the craft of producing citrus oils ever since.

Cardamom is a tall, reed-like shrub native to South India and Sri Lanka. The mature fruit takes the form of a capsule-like pod that holds within it small aromatic seeds. The cardamom we use is grown in Guatemala and the essential oil is extracted by steam distillating the seeds.

Our red cedar wood (also known as red juniper) is grown and harvested in its native Virginia, USA. The oil is steam distilled directly from a cabinet maker’s offcuts. It shares the classic woody notes of atlas cedar, but introduces a distinctive ‘pencil’ facet.

Our coriander is grown by farming cooperatives in the famously fertile soil of the Central Black Earth region on Russia’s western border. The entire fruit is harvested late in the summer, and distilled on site with a traditional steam-based method.

Ffern’s tarragon is grown in the South of France. The plants do not produce fertile seeds - instead the roots are hand-split in early spring. In June, the leaves are trimmed and the oil distilled. Our variety has a distinctive aniseed facet, with an earthy undertone.⁠

While hay absolute calls to mind temperate harvests, the plant from which it is extracted is in fact, Arctic. The sweetgrass Hierochloe alpina grows wild on the circumpolar tundra, particularly on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen, in Svalbard.

Our neroli oil is extracted from the blossom of bitter Seville Orange trees on Cape Bon in northern Tunisia. The blossoms are hand-picked in the spring at daybreak, once dew has formed. The flowers are immediately pressed and distilled.

Scentless when fresh and native to Asia, patchouli is a member of the Lamiaceae or Mint family. Our patchouli is hand-harvested on the Indonesian Island of Java. It’s then dried in the shade and briefly fermented, helping to break down the cell walls before the copper still hydrodistillation.

Believed to come from the Latin ros marinus, which means ‘dew of the sea’, rosemary grows wild in abundance on Mediterranean coastlines. At Ffern, we work with a local firm to bid on wild harvesting rights, and extract the oil at source.

We chose Haitian vetiver over Javan competitors for its fresh, sparkling notes, and because the root provides sustainable employment for south Haitian communities. One year after planting, the roots are excavated, washed, cut, and sun-dried before they can be steam distilled at source.

Clary sage is an excellent source of nectar for bees and other pollinators. Native to the Mediterranean, it grows wild in France, Russia and Hungary and can be used in cooking much in the same way as the more familiar Salvia officinalis, or common sage.

Hyssop is a lavender-like flower that has been used for healing and cleansing purposes since Ancient times. Friendly to bees, hyssop’s starry flowers decorate the Mediterranean, its native soil. Its oil has a powerful aroma, woody yet fresh, minty and sweet, that brings a cooling, purifying effect.

Ffern mandarins are harvested in the months before ripening. Whilst still green, they are cold pressed on site to preserve their delicate top notes. The scent is notably sharper and more floral than their ripe counterparts.

Our bitter oranges are grown in a third-generation family orchard in Bauru, Brazil, where they are hand-picked in the early summer of the Southern Hemisphere. The rind is cold pressed on site to produce a juicy, uplifting oil.