harriet.hayin Seasons & Celebrations · Bristol ·
ExerciseMulling spices on a saucer, before any wine
Here's an easy one while the evenings draw in. Before anyone makes mulled wine or mulled apple juice this year, put the spices on a saucer one by one: a cinnamon stick, a few cloves, one star anise, a strip of orange peel, a sliver of nutmeg if you have it.
Smell each one dry with your eyes shut. Then set the saucer over a mug of hot water for a minute and smell again. Which one gets louder with warmth, and which one barely moves? Nothing goes on your skin and nothing burns, it's just your nose and a saucer. The club's page on clove and the eugenol behind its smell is good background. Shout if you get stuck.
6 comments
dex_in_brooklyn
warm star anise took over the whole saucer. your cinnamon stick needs snapping or it says nothing
rafa_azahar
The orange peel won for me. Warm, it smells of marmalade.
kemi.cocoa
Did it with my Year 4s, hot water only, obviously. Two of them said the clove smelled like the dentist.
amara.oud
Could I put a drop of clove oil on my wrists for a Christmas party instead?
harriet.hay
Not on skin, Amara: the clove page lists clove oils among the labelled allergens. For a party, a bowl of cloves and orange peel on the table does the job.
maeve.moss
The nutmeg went from nothing to Christmas pudding the second it warmed and the clove stayed exactly where it was, so it did.