zickzack forward
again an IT related post. Some of you may wonder where the parcel post of Friday went. It went to blog post heaven.
The freelancer and me started working on the upgrades with mixed success. Well, actually… we realized that things are much more complicated than anticipated and we will need to eat this elephant in small bites and over a long time. The freelancer was nice enough to stop and wait for further orders; what he did was -unfortunately- not 100% stable for reasons beyond his control. Hence, I uploaded the state of works of Friday again: blog and website.
But then, on another more happy line: I got my Vanilla CO2 extract. A little 500 gr bottle to start. Actually, it is enough vanilla to transform whatever is left of Aral sea into a vanilla pudding. This tells you two things: First it is an intense vanilla, and although its vanillin content (this is the molecule that you find in vanilla aroma) is about 13% only, it is vanilla heaven. After a while, after the first vanillin flush, all these natural tones come through. There is a richness that you cannot get with vanillin only. Woods, tobacco, musky animalic and much more beyond. It makes you hungry.
As mentioned above: It is a CO2 extract and with the very gentle extraction by liquified CO2 the scented concentrate tends to be richer and closer to the real thing compared to standard extraction with other solvents. I want to use it to work further on a composition that I have started a while ago. More on this line of thought in the coming days.
And then, talking Aral sea, it tells you that the Aral sea is basically gone. No excuse that we did not know.
August 17th, 2009 at 8:51 am
Hi Andy, Vanilla CO2…now we’re talking. A well-made vanilla-ish perfume is just as comforting as a warm blanket on a stormy night! I can’t wait to hear what you decide to do with it as I’m sure it will be amazing! So sad about the Aral Sea. Let’s hope Baikal doesn’t head in the same direction. Hope you have a great day!
August 17th, 2009 at 11:07 am
Dear Andy, it is very interesting to me, as at you vanilla will sound.
Have successful day, more full, than Aral sea.
August 17th, 2009 at 5:06 pm
Andy - do you buy vanilla from Servolux? I was linked to them via Wikipedia; the Disney tune`It`s a Small World` comes to mind because they are in your `backyard`, so to speak! VanillIN, the synthetic version, makes me think of Guerlain`s supposedly concocting Shalimar via Jicky; would you know if this is fact or fiction?? Is this for your Orange Star scent, or dare Jen and I hope you may combine Vanilla Orchid w/ Hyacinth too??? :-) :-) THAT would be heavenly!!
August 17th, 2009 at 5:11 pm
Post to Jen - Were you hit by that ugly earthquake?? Hope you are OK!!! :-) Gardening question - how warm a climate does one need to grow ginger plants, and how long a season do they have?
August 17th, 2009 at 5:33 pm
Hi Andy—please please please vanilla orchid with hyacinth….I’m sooooooo with Linda on that one. :)
Linda, thanks for thinking of us out here but we were safe from the earthquake and typhoons that are causing so much trouble elsewhere in Asia. The ginger plants seem to bloom all year and since we are basically on the equator we have no seasons other than summer. Everyday it is about 28-30 degrees. And it rains a lot. I tried to search the web for a photo of the ginger plants and I found one of the ginger flower with one of the cute birds (you most likely can help me with the name) who love them so much:
http://besgroup.talfrynature.com/wp-content/uploads/spiderhunterl-musa-calvinchang-2.jpg
Hope you are well too!
August 17th, 2009 at 6:40 pm
Jen - THANK YOU for the beauty-of a-photo! Filed for keeps! I thought maybe ginger plants would grow here some of the year due to we`ve 6 hibiscus - orange, peach, and yellow - blooming w/out ceasing! Atlanta is buzzing due to Sir Paul McCartney was just here Sat. nite- no, I couldn`t go, but our radio stations have interviews to watch online! The show was to benefit a very green cause of the Piedmont Conservatory, and was held in their park to much sucsess!! www.92.9davefm/atlanta.com
August 17th, 2009 at 7:31 pm
Website mishap - the above rock station website is now www.929davefm.com !!!! :-)
August 17th, 2009 at 7:32 pm
Dear Jen,
indeed, but there is (in my nose) much more than this blanket gourmet… it is the warmth of a body, a shoulder to lean on in this stormy night!
Dear Vladimir
I think I just passed by the Aral sea (in terms of fullness of happiness)…if this makes sense :-)
Dear Hotlanta Linda
no, no: Servolux is not on my radar or list. It is for trials, with an orris-roots-woody-ambra base being first. I can hardly wait….
August 17th, 2009 at 8:52 pm
I have long, low chuckles under my breath due to your elaboration on the effects of Vanilla extrait, for I was about to type that the human touch/sensuality, when blended w/ the same of the Night, is a warmth very well expressed by the Vanilla Orchid. (someone was coming up the stairs, so one scurries like a mouse…) Methinks you should plant a night-blooming garden and leave the windows open….
August 18th, 2009 at 4:46 am
HI Andy, so true regarding the shoulder to lean on during that stormy night…now that’s a true COMFORT scent! Just like Linda says regarding the effects of vanilla extract (what is it all we humans love about vanilla?) or the vanilla orchid. Now, when you say vanilla orchid, is that the name of a specific orchid that smells like vanilla or are you referring to combining the vanilla CO2 with an orchid extract? (I’m new to all these terms.)
Oh and Linda, if you guys have perpetually blooming hibiscus (they sound gorgeous especially the peach ones) that sounds similar to us here. Basically our staples are: bougainvillea, orchids, frangipani and hibiscus. To a lesser degree there are also ginger plants, gardenia and chempaka. Do you have these too in Atlanta? If so I bet the ginger plants would work for you too. Just be warned they start out very small and unassuming and then grow quite large! But they certainly are bird magnets–which would be right up your alley. :)
August 18th, 2009 at 6:32 am
Dear Jen and Hotlanta Linda
The CO2 extract is the extract of ripe, fermented vanilla “fruits” (vanilla bean or vanilla pod). this fruit, by the way, is the fruit of an orchid, growing as a clamberer….
I have a few orchids that smell (most of them very week, like the Cattleya). One of them smells like it wants to attract some sort of fly (a hint of rotten meat…). One smells very green, like galbanum, powdery and soft.
Right now, I am thinking Vanilla, orris-root, ambergris, well, and after yesterday’s sniffing exercise maybe some patch. I need to work on the vanilla extract. trying to figure out what goes how with it. It is a very complex material and not easy, but hopefully rewarding…
August 18th, 2009 at 9:11 pm
Yummm, I love vanilla, and this one sounds fantastic. Looking forward to hearing more as it develops. :-)
August 19th, 2009 at 4:16 pm
Ooooh!!! Love vanilla! Can’t wait to see where the creative process takes you. What fun!