The Art of Perfumery, George William Septimus Piesse [christmas read aloud .TXT] 📗
- Author: George William Septimus Piesse
- Performer: 1425529070
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This is an old-fashioned French perfume, presumed to be derived from the Cyperus esculentus by some, and by others to be so named after the Island of Cyprus; the article sold, however, is made thus—
The mixture thus formed is one of the most lasting odors that can be made.
Empress Eugenie's Nosegay.Notwithstanding the complex mixture here given, it is the vitivert that gives this bouquet its peculiar character. Few perfumes have excited greater furor while in fashion.
Ess Bouquet.The reputation of this perfume has given rise to numerous imitations of the original article, more particularly on the continent. In many of the shops in Germany and in France will be seen bottles labelled in close imitation of those sent out by Bayley and Co., Cockspur Street, London, who are, in truth, the original makers.
The name "Ess" bouquet, which appears to puzzle some folk, is but a mere contraction of "essence" of bouquet.
Eau de Cologne. (La première qualité.)Mix with agitation; then allow it to stand for a few days perfectly quiet, before bottling.
Eau de Cologne. (La deuxième qualité.)Although Eau de Cologne was originally introduced to the public as a sort of "cure-all," a regular "elixir of life," it now takes its place, not as a pharmaceutical product, but among perfumery. Of its remedial qualities we can say nothing, such matter being irrelevant to the purpose of this book. Considered, however, as a perfume, with the public taste it ranks very high; and although it is exceedingly volatile and evanescent, yet it has that excellent quality which is called "refreshing." Whether this be due to the rosemary or to the spirit, we cannot say, but think something may be attributed to both. One important thing relating to Eau de Cologne must not, however, pass unnoticed, and that is, the quality of the spirit used in its manufacture. The utter impossibility of making brandy with English spirit in any way to resemble the real Cognac, is well known. It is equally impossible to make Eau de Cologne with English spirit, to resemble the original article. To speak of the "purity" of French spirit, or of the "impurity" of English spirit, is equally absurd. The fact is, that spirit derived from grapes, and spirit obtained from corn, have each so distinct and characteristic an aroma, that the one cannot be mistaken for the other. The odor of grape spirit is said to be due to the œanthic ether which it contains. The English spirit, on the other hand, owes its odor to fusel oil. So powerful is the œanthic ether in the French spirit, that notwithstanding the addition to it of such intensely odoriferous substances as the ottos of neroli, rosemary, and others, it still gives a characteristic perfume to the products made containing it, and hence the difficulty of preparing Eau de Cologne with any spirit destitute of this substance.
Although very fine Eau de Cologne is often made by merely mixing the ingredients as indicated in the recipe as above, yet it is better, first, to mix all the citrine ottos with spirit, and then to distil the mixture, afterwards adding to the distillate the rosemary and nerolies, such process being the one adopted by the most popular house at Cologne.
A great many forms for the manufacture of Eau de Cologne have been published, the authors of some of the recipes evidently having no knowledge, in a practical sense, of what they were putting by theory on paper; other venturers, to show their lore, have searched out all the aromatics of Lindley's Botany, and would persuade us to use absinthe, hyssop, anise, juniper, marjoram, caraway, fennel, cumin, cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg, serpolet, angelica, cloves, lavender, camphor, balm, peppermint, galanga, lemon thyme, &c. &c. &c.
All these, however, are but hum—! Where it is a mere matter of profit, and the formula that we have given is too expensive to produce the article required, it is better to dilute the said Cologne with a weak spirit, or with rose-water, rather than otherwise alter its form; because, although weak, the true aroma of the original article is retained.
The recipe of the second quality of Eau de Cologne is given, to show that a very decent article can be produced with English spirit.
Flowers of Erin.Independently of the materials employed being different to the original English recipe, it must be remembered that all the French perfumes are made of brandy, i.e. grape spirit; whereas the English perfumes are made with corn spirit, which alone modifies their odor. Though good for some mixtures, yet for others the grape spirit is very objectionable, on account of the predominance of its own aroma.
We have spoken of the difference in the odor between the English and French spirit; the marked distinction of British and Parisian perfumes made according to the same recipes is entirely due to the different spirits employed. Owing to the strong "bouquet," as the French say, of their spirit in comparison with ours, the continental perfumers claim a superiority in the quality of their perfumes. Now, although we candidly admit that some odors are better when prepared with grape spirit than with that from corn spirit, yet there are others which are undoubtedly the best when prepared with spirit derived from the latter source. Musk, ambergris, civet, violet, tubereuse, and jasmine, if we require to retain their true aroma when in solution in alcohol, must be made with the British spirit.
All the citrine odors, verveine, vulnerary waters, Eau de Cologne, Eau de Portugal, Eau d'Arquebuzade, and lavender, can alone be brought to perfection by using the French spirit in their manufacture. If extract of jasmine, or extract of violet, &c., be made with the French or brandy spirit, the true characteristic odor of the flower is lost to the olfactory nerve—so completely does the œanthic ether of the grape spirit hide the flowery aroma of the otto of violet in solution with it. This solves the paradox that English extract of violet and its compounds, "spring flowers," &c., is at all times in demand on the Continent, although the very flowers with which we make it are grown there.
On the contrary, if an English perfumer attempts to make Eau de Portugal, &c., to bear any comparison as a fine odor to that made by Lubin, of Paris, without using grape spirit, his attempts will prove a failure. True, he makes Eau de Portugal even with English corn spirit, but judges of the article—and they alone can stamp its merit—discover instantly the same difference as the connoisseur finds out between "Patent British" and foreign brandy.
Perhaps it may not be out of place here to observe that what is sold in this country as British brandy is in truth grape spirit, that is, foreign brandy very largely diluted with English spirit! By this scheme, a real semblance to the foreign brandy flavor is maintained; the difference in duty upon English and foreign spirit enables the makers of the "capsuled" article to undersell those who vend the unsophisticated Cognac.
Some chemists, not being very deep in the "tricks of trade," have thought that some flavoring, or that œanthic ether, was used to impart to British spirit the Cognac aroma. An article is even in the market called "Essence of Cognac," but which is nothing more than very badly made butyric ether.
On the Continent a great deal of spirit is procured by the fermentation of the molasses from beet-root; this, of course, finds its way into the market, and is often mixed with the grape spirit; so, also, in England we have spirit from potatoes, which is mixed in the corn spirit. These adulterations, if we may so term it, modify the relative odors of the primitive alcohols.
A Japanese Perfume.
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