There are materials we meet in the kitchen before we ever meet them in a bottle of perfume. Black pepper is one of those. There are materials we meet in grandmother's wardrobe before we know their name. Patchouli is like that. And there is a material we meet in a cup of tea before knowing it comes from a coastline very far away, and that is bergamot.
These three often appear together because they share out three levels of work in a scent. Bergamot opens and makes everything brighten. Black pepper gives a little edge and a little warmth in the middle. Patchouli stays longest, making the earthen base for whatever sits above.
Black pepper, a grain very familiar to Vietnamese people
Black pepper is the fruit of Piper nigrum, a climbing vine, and for many years Vietnam has been one of the world's largest pepper exporters, with growing regions whose names are familiar: Dak Lak, Gia Lai, Binh Phuoc, Dong Nai and Phu Quoc. Walk past a pepper garden at harvest and you will find that smell far sharper than when it has become a dried grain in a jar.
In a scent, black pepper does something very fine. It gives the feeling of something having just lifted, slightly prickling, slightly warm, like drawing a breath and finding yourself awake. It rarely stands alone; it usually travels alongside to keep the other materials from being flat.
Patchouli, the leaf in the wardrobe of old
Patchouli is the leaf of Pogostemon cablin, a herbaceous plant of the mint family, widely grown in the tropics. After picking, its leaves are left to dry a little before distilling, and the scent obtained is deep, damp, with a breath of earth after rain and a little of the rotting wood under a forest canopy.
What many people do not know is that patchouli once travelled with shipments of silk and shawls from Asia to Europe, laid between the layers of cloth to keep the goods from moths on the long sea journey. Europeans of that time recognised a genuine shawl by the scent that came with it, and so patchouli became tied to the idea of textiles from the East. We like this detail, because it shows that a scent can carry a whole trade route with it.
Bergamot, the peel of a citrus fruit from a coastal region
Bergamot is the fruit of Citrus bergamia, of the citrus family, and most of the world's bergamot comes from Calabria in southern Italy, where the climate is the kind this tree favours. What is used is the oil in the peel, taken by cold pressing, so it keeps the freshness of just-peeled rind.
Bergamot is also the very scent that makes Earl Grey tea, so many people have long been familiar with it without being able to name it. In a scent it opens, making the first minutes bright and clean, then gives way to the layers that stand longer.
A few questions you often send us
Is patchouli a heavy scent that is hard to wear
Patchouli is strong and stays present a long time, so it is usually used in small amounts as a base. At the right amount it gives a warm feeling with depth, like the smell of earth after a light rain.
What is usually the difference between bergamot and ordinary citrus
Bergamot has the freshness of the citrus family but with a slightly bitter, slightly tea-like note, so it is less sweet than orange and cleaner than lemon. That is why it is often chosen for the opening.
Are these materials in ZUNGZA products
They are all familiar materials of the fragrance craft and we do work with them. Each ZUNGZA piece keeps at most three main directions of scent, and how they are blended belongs to the workshop.
Read more the three trees behind our forest scents, the story of scent and memory, and our two directions of perfume.