Travel to Brazil: Colors, Caïpirinha and Lime
Since the age of eighteen, I have never stopped traveling. It is essential for me; it allows me to renew my inspirations and extend my olfactory palette. Upon returning from every trip, I cannot help but imagine my next destination.
From every country, I love above all to discover the scents, those of [Image of lime fruit] fruits, spices or flowers, but also the flavors of all dishes, even the most surprising ones; this is how my olfactory heritage was gradually built.
My trip to Brazil is among those that have most enriched my work; this discovery of Brazil took place during the carnival, which contributed to providing even more sensations.
Brazil: Land of Contrasts and Music
Brazil is so vast that I would like to return; I was only able to visit Paraty, Rio, Salvador de Bahia, and the beaches north of Recife in Pipa. Brazil is a land of contrasts, colors, smells, and music.
- The Human: Brazil is about kindness, the welcome, and the smile of its inhabitants; it is all the sun radiating on faces.
- The Music: It is omnipresent; it is the happiness of orchestras playing in the streets, the joy of Brazilians swaying in rhythm.
- The Colors: It is the country of colors: the earth is violet, black, yellow, white. The blue of its skies, that of its seas. In the deep green of the forests pass colorful birds.
- The Smells: It is the country of smells, from the dark and penetrating notes of the tropical forest to the luminous and solar notes of the beaches, passing through a wide expanse of exotic notes.
Lime: The Fragrant Soul of Brazil
The first smell that welcomes us in Rio is that of lime. Sparkling and lively, it expresses the joy of living, dance, sun, and music. This fruit is a smile in itself. It is a small lemon with smooth green skin whose scent nevertheless evokes a yellow-orange color. It has the particularity of having a Cola note when distilled.
The Inspiration of the Caïpirinha Cocktail
The flavor of Brazilian limes is in no way comparable to the taste of those found in certain delicatessens in France; just like the Caïpirinha cocktail, tasted on the spot, I had the impression that it exhaled more radiance and sun.
This national cocktail would accompany me throughout my journey, and become its emblem. Lime embraces sugar cane and cachaça wonderfully, this Brazilian alcohol made from fresh sugar cane juice, fermented then distilled, giving this cocktail a unique sparkle and light. [Image of caipirinha cocktail]
Technical Zoom on Lime
Lime has relief and character. Once its metallic facet is tamed, with very slight accents of incense and elemi. It subtly dresses the freshness of hesperidic compositions, giving it a lot of pep.
Lime can, and this is unique in the field of citrus, be treated in two ways giving truly different scents:
- By expression: Treatment of its peel like other citrus fruits, giving a lime scent.
- By distillation: Giving a surprising Cola scent.
From Lime to Perfume: Valkyrie and Smeraldo
Hesperidic notes are built from citrus fruits whose essential oils are extracted from the fruit peel. Lemon, bergamot, orange, or grapefruit, citrus fruits give the first impression, what I call the smile of the perfume by providing fresh and tonic scents.
You will find this Brazilian lime in large proportion in Valkyrie in the company of mint, basil, and galbanum, worked in a “big bang” with a natural and sexy natural vanilla.
You will also find a lime of Italian origin in Smeraldo which will accompany natural green notes, mastic, and angelica, in contrast with the softness of musks.
