Discover black pepper perfumes
Black pepper (Piper Negrum) has a long and spicy history. This precious spice was so expensive and exotic that it was known by merchants as the "King of Spices" or "black gold". When perfumers discovered they could also use the essential oil of pepper in perfumes, there was a new exciting fragrant world to explore. Pepper in perfumes create surprising nuances, from delicate spiciness to citrusy freshness to aromatic woodiness. Its scent tickles your nose by its fresh, warm-spicy, dry woody tones.
Black Gold
Pepper is used since antiquity, since at least 2000 BC. Black pepper was so desired that it was known by merchants as “black gold”. Following the Roman Empire, it gained global popularity after the Romans brought pepper as expensive and exotic spice from the East to the western shores of Europe. And the rest is seasoning history.
What is pepper?
Peppercorns are berries that grow on Piper nigrum, a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae. Actually they are tiny little fruits that grow in clusters on a vine. There are different varieties of pepper:
- Green pepper is the unripe fruit of the plant whose berries are preserved in vinegar or salt water.
- White pepper is the ripe berries of the pepper plant whose skin is soaked loose in water.
- Red pepper occurs when the pepper berry ripens on the plant. Once dried, the berry takes on a reddish-brown color and becomes somewhat sweeter and softer in flavor.
- Black pepper is created from the unripe harvested green berries, which turn from brown to black when dried.
The smell of pepper
Black pepper oil has a distinctive aromatic fresh opening that blends perfectly with heart notes. Black pepper essential oil is different from the smell of freshly ground, dried berries that we use to flavor food. The oil is strikingly fresh, spicy, terpenic, aromatic, and can be a bit reminiscent of citrus.
Black pepper oil lends a diverse fragrance profile to perfumes. Used in small amounts it can accentuate other materials. For example, if you use a high dosis of pepper along with woody notes you get a spiciness that becomes almost smoky.
When it comes to pepper, there is a whole world to explore. View our perfume collection to discover them!