Orange flower absolute

The same flower that gives neroli gives something entirely different when it is extracted rather than distilled. Orange flower absolute is the blossom after sunset, warmer and heavier, with the honey and the green that heat would have driven away.

What orange flower absolute is

Orange flower absolute is obtained from the blossoms of the bitter orange, Citrus aurantium var. amara, by solvent extraction. The flowers are washed in a solvent that dissolves their aromatic compounds, the solvent is removed to leave a waxy concrete, and the concrete is washed with alcohol to yield the absolute. Because no heat is used, the delicate and heavy molecules that distillation loses are preserved. The absolute is a deep amber liquid, far richer and more animalic than neroli.

Where our orange flower absolute comes from

Ours comes from Morocco, where bitter orange groves have been cultivated for centuries in the plains around Khemisset and along the Atlantic side of the country. The Moroccan blossom harvest in spring feeds some of the finest orange flower extraction in the world. The warmth of the Moroccan season gives an absolute that is fuller and more honeyed than extractions from cooler places, with a green, almost tea like facet that I find especially beautiful beside citrus.

How orange flower absolute smells

Orange flower, green, warm, honeyed and balsamic. Where neroli is radiant, the absolute is enveloping. There is a soft indolic warmth in it, the natural shadow that all white flowers carry, and a sweetness that reads as nectar rather than sugar.

Orange flower absolute in our chapters

• IIParadis de BleuThe Leaves · in the heart

  In Paradis de Bleu it brings a honeyed warmth to a heart full of green flowers, so that the leaves feel as though blossoms are hidden among them.

• IIINéroli de NuitThe Blossom · in the heart

  In Néroli de Nuit it is the night side of the blossom, laid beneath the neroli so the flower is present from dusk to dark.

A note from the atelier

I pair the absolute with neroli whenever I can afford to. The oil gives the flower its light, the absolute gives it its body, and together they smell more like the living tree than either does alone.

Questions about orange flower absolute