Summer 19

Olibanum (also known as frankincense) is a resin taken from the bark of the Boswellia tree. At Ffern we use Boswellia carterii. The trees grow wild along the Gulf of Aden in northern Somalia, and the resin ‘tears’ are harvested by local collectors over a period of weeks.⁠ ⁠

Red juniper, also called red cedar, is a coniferous evergreen native to the north-eastern United States. We harvest red cedar in Virginia, when the plant is young, and steam distil the wood to extract a pure red juniper oil.

Our cypress leaf oil comes from the branches of the northern white cedar tree, grown in its native northwest Canada. In the spring, new growth twigs and leaves are harvested and steam-distilled to obtain the woody, camphorous oil.

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.

Our rock rose grows wild on the plains of Almaden de la Plata outside Seville, Spain. In late summer, the leafy stems of the plant are sickle harvested and plunged into hot carbonated water. This mixture is distilled to obtain a honeyed, amber resin - labdanum.

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.

Our nutmeg grows on the Banda islands of eastern Indonesia. The fruit is harvested with handheld telescopic pickers and left to dry in the shade - the seed oil is then steam distilled at source.

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 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.

Benzoin Siam is a balsamic resin taken from the bark of the styrax tree, growing wild in the Annamite mountains of Laos. In September, a v-shaped cut is made in the tree bark, and brittle white ‘tears’ of benzoin resin accumulate over three-weeks. This process is known as ‘tapping’.

The finest quality of cinnamon leaf grows in southwest Sri Lanka - our Sri Lankan cinnamon is harvested from two-year-old plants and steam distilled at source.

Ffern key lime is grown in the north of Peru. The fruits are harvested in the afternoon to avoid the oil loss caused by their early morning turgor. Next, they are passed through a pelatrice, and the gathered liquid is centrifuged to obtain a pure lime rind oil.

Ffern tolu balsam is wild harvested by a network of families in northern Columbia. Small incisions are made in the bark of the Myroxylon toluiferum tree, from which ‘drops’ of thick, amber resin are collected.

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.

Hand-picked at night to preserve intensity, our jasmine sambac is native to the Eastern Himalayas. Also known as Arabian jasmine, jasmine sambac has a long history of connection with Persia and the Middle East. The oil is extracted at source using Joseph Robert’ solvent extraction process.

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.