Ambrette Tincture Strength

[Guest guest]

Hello All,

Yesterday I ground up some of the ambrette seeds that I got from

Anya. Boy -- did my kitchen and dining room smell great! I also

learned that you need to use a coffee grinder after two other

appliances failed to do the trick. I started out by using my

Sunbeam Oskar grinder (bought 2nd hand, just for my perfume

ingredients). It started smelling hot after a couple of minutes,

and probably 99% of the seeds were still quite whole. Then I

switched to the Cuisinart. Again, still a lot of seeds fairly

unscathed after a minute or so. I finally got out the coffee

grinder that is just for my perfume ingredients. Maybe I didn't

start with that because it is the smallest of the three appliances

and wouldn't grind the amount I wanted in a single batch. However --

voila -- after a minute or so, there was the nice powder I was

looking for.

Now for the part that has me wondering. I went to put the alcohol

into the jar with my ambrette powder, and it got me thinking about

my ambrette CO2 and how concentrated it is. I thought, " Why do we

add four parts alcohol to one part seeds? Why not 2 parts alcohol

to one part seeds? Or even one to one? " Is it because this alcohol

is then used as pre-fixed alcohol when making our blends, rather

than using it as I use my ambrette CO2? Or am I just being thick?

Anyone know the answer to this question? Instead of adding the

alcohol, I put the jar of powder into the fridge to await an answer

to this question.

One last thought -- while grinding this stuff, some really fine

powder accumulated on the sides of the various grinder bowls. This

stuff was amazing, and I wondered if it could be used with

cornstarch and rice flour to make dusting powder. I don't yet know

whether there are skin sensitivity issues with ambrette powder.

Gonna have to look into this, 'cause I'm finding this idea

intriguing...

Still in an ambrette haze (mmmmm!) while making a blend for a

friend's birthday...

Andrine