Japanese Cypress

Caring to our envrionment while extracting essential oils

In the middle of the Ise peninsula, North of the Wakayama prefecture in the foothills of Mount Kōya, lies a thick forest with great biodiversity that showcases the harmony between man and nature. Fir and Japanese cypress are being planted densely together and intermediate felling or thinning is done to ensure healthy growth of the forest. Upright trees will be used for building materials while trees that are bent or are not in good shape due to felling will become the raw material for Japanese cypress essential oil.

Condensed scent of the forest in 1%

Cypress woods that are chipped contains about 50% of water. To retain their full scent, they are sent to factories for steaming within a week's time. The heat from the boiler dries up the cypress wood after extracting of the essential oil. Only 3.5 litres of essential can be extracted from 350 kilograms of Japanese cypress wood. The scent of the whole forest is condensed in this precious 1% of nature.

Italian Bergamot

An Aroma born amidst the warmth of the sun

Located across the Strait of Messina from Sicily, Reggio Calabria is on the "tip" of the Italian peninsula. Olive trees and fruit trees grow in abundance in this seaside location. The infamous bergamot orange comes from this area. Bergamot is a citrus fruit that has an outstanding acidic aroma, it is not usually eaten but its skin gives off a gentle, delicate and warm fragrance. Home to 99% of the world's bergamot production, Italy is the perfect location for the bergamot fruit.

Exposed to less heat as possible

The lovingly grown bergamot oranges will be transported to factories to produce pure essential oils that has a sweet, floral aroma. Heat and oxidation are enemies of citrus oils. To prevent the essential oils from being destroyed by heat, process of extracting essential oil of bergamot remains largely unchanged since the days when it was done entirely by hand. 1 kilogram of fruit yields only 30 grams (0.3%) of essential oil. This precious, much-loved oil gives off a warm, sweet floral scent, which brings tranquility and is used to flavour Earl Grey Tea.