Tag: Blends

Cooking Up Good Scents

Aromatherapy is a wonderful natural alternative to modern medicine when it comes to treating common ailments and mood swings. In aromatherapy, there is no risk of ingesting blends of herbs that may have harmful or adverse effects on us. Aromatherapy uses essential oils that benefit us in two ways: through the connection of our olfactory sense with the brain and as well as through the direct application of essential oils to the skin.

The use of essential oils for aromatherapy can be easy. All you need is to gather the right resources to increase your knowledge on the different types of essential oils and their benefits. You can go down to your local bookstore and browse the shelves for information on essential oils and aromatherapy. You can also choose to go online and browse the web’s resources and tips from various aromatherapy practitioners and experts.

To get you started on your quest, below you will find aromatherapy recipes for treatment of some common problems.

Aromatherapy recipe for the skin

Aromatherapy for the skin is beneficial because the essential oils provide much needed moisture and healing to skin layers. It also helps invigorate your skin cells to promote new skin cell regeneration. Certain essential oils are also extremely useful for treating bacteria and fungal infection as well as inflammations.

If you have dry skin, you can use rose, sandalwood, lavender and myrrh. If you have sensitive skin, try this aromatherapy recipe: combine 2 drops of chamomile with a drop each of myrrh and rose plus 2 ounces of jojoba or almond oil. You must store this mixture in an airtight dark glass container which should be kept in a cool and dark place. You can then use this aromatherapy recipe to treat sensitive skin.

If your problem is mature skin, you can revive the youthful properties of your skin using a simple aromatherapy recipe. All you have to do is combine 2 drops each of frankincense and myrrh with 2 ounces of jojoba or almond oil. This easy rejuvenating treatment is the most natural way to a more youthful skin. Remember to store this aromatherapy recipe accordingly.

Acne can also be treated by a simple aromatherapy recipe, which involves combining 15 drops of tea tree oil with 10 drops of lavender along with 2 ounces of jojoba or almond oil. For a whole body treatment however, you can try the simple aromatherapy recipe of combining 1 cup of milk with 1 teaspoon each of honey, olive oil and vinegar with 2 drops each of spearmint and lavender. You can use this wonderful aromatherapy recipe with mixing it in a warm tub of water for a relaxing and invigorating bath.

Aromatherapy for the hair

Don’t neglect your crowning glory! Simple aromatherapy recipes can help you get your mane in tip top shape. For instance, if you suffer from dry hair, try this aromatherapy recipe to give life back to your parched hair: combine 1 drop of rosemary with 1 tablespoon orris root powder. Simply sprinkle the mixture on to your hair and scalp and brush off thoroughly after 5 minutes.

If coaxing your hair to grow is what you want, a simple aromatherapy recipe can do the trick. Simply combine 10 drops rosemary with 8 drops of bay along with 7 drops cedarwood and 50 ml of jojoba oil. Apply this aromatic mixture of essential oil to your scalp and cover with a shower cap or towel. Leave it like this overnight and rinse thoroughly when you wake up.

Magical Flavor Of Gourmet Coffee Beans

If you drink coffee and have ever stopped to look at the different types of gourmet coffee beans, you might want to actually give some a try next time you’re shopping for coffee. Instead of grabbing that huge tube of ground coffee, the same brand you’ve been purchasing and drinking for years, or instead of grabbing that more expensive, smaller tub of gourmet ground coffee, break out of your coffee rut and give beans a try.

Some people already own a coffee grinder, or remember when their parents used to purchase beans and grind them at home. Some stores still have a grinder right in the coffee aisle. The beans our parents purchased and ground were usually not gourmet coffee beans, it was simply cheaper to buy the beans and grind them yourself. If you don’t have a grinder at home, coffee grinders aren’t expensive. You’ll enjoy the smell of freshly ground coffee beans. While some savor that rich smell when they open a tub or brick or pre-ground coffee, once you’ve inhaled the aroma of freshly ground beans, that tub coffee won’t ever smell quite the same to you.

Some people are who are very choosy when it comes to coffee purchase several different types of beans and combine them in certain combinations to get the coffee taste they want. Most of us probably aren’t going to take the time to do that. We know what we like when we drink coffee, and we know what we don’t like. In that case, gourmet coffee beans can be ideal because they’re already specially chosen and designed to offer up a richer, more complex taste that that bag of coffee beans you can purchase at your local A & P.

You don’t have to purchase the same old beans or ground coffee from your supermarket. You can break out of that habit a little with gourmet coffee beans you can buy online. You’ll find blends of different beans like the almighty Arabica, Jamaican, Columbian and many others, as well as beans that are infused with different flavors. You can find beans that will give your coffee a chocolate flavor, or hint at fruit or vanilla, or almost anything you can imagine.

When you’re looking at gourmet coffee beans, you literally hundreds of choices, and that choice can seem almost overwhelming. Most places that offer this many choices have information about different types of coffee beans, roasting times, flavors and hints of flavor and general coffee information to help you choose which type of coffee beans to purchase.

And don’t forget the people you buy for. Coffee lovers can truly appreciate a thoughtful gift of gourmet coffee beans. If you’re unsure whether they grind their own beans, you can purchase the beans whole and grind them just before gift-giving. While gourmet pre-ground coffee can also be a thoughtful gift, whole beans will give the person on your gift lift the freshest coffee experience possible, and put you at the top of their list.

The Gold is in Scotland

It is said that the acquisition of knowledge on any subject that you are interested in only increases your appreciation for it. This can easily be said about the finest of scotches as well.

There seems to be a trend building with aficionados flocking the rolling country sides in Scotland just to sneak a sample of the gold they seek. As one must experience to appreciate, it appears that this is a task for the strong willed in this subject.

One could imagine many trips booked from abroad flocking Scotlands coastlines in search of the malt that has only been heard of and not been tasted. This is not merely just a trend, to Scotch enthusiast, it is rather a mission. To be experienced in the fine subtleties of these malts and blended scotch whiskies is to many a dream. Some could not even imagine the soft roll that many of these great spirits have to offer to the tongue.

Spending time with true connoisseurs of scotch and single malts gives you valuable insight as to what to look for in a full bodied fine scotch. They have made it a life ambition to seek out and test what the worlds finest has to offer. Many of these great spirits of course are not easily obtainable some run very steep in price and are on the wish list of some of the great testers of fine scotch everywhere. Generally they have first dibs, as the company will wait in anticipation for a vote of confidence and endorsement.

So too are the batches that are still maturing that so many people are waiting for with absolute excitement. Given the time it takes for some of these blends to reach an acceptable maturity where it will be appreciated it is only natural that many testers keep close tabs on the process and look for hints of up and coming blends that can be comparable.

As many professional testers will state, the best of the best still and most likely will always come from Scotland as they have mastered this art with a precision and dedication second to none. Testers will admit when they have stumbled on a gem from another country but honestly have not found that diamond in the rough all that many times.

So instead they give honest and professional opinions to the public, the benders, and distillers themselves, taking into account how harsh possible poor media coverage can be.

Scotch a Mature Blend

It is said that you can tell the quality of scotch by its age, this is in every count of the word maturity. Law states that all blends must indeed mature for a minimum of three years, however for a great many years, these blends have been idling for approximately eight years.

The distillers have found the longer it sits and matures, the better the product. As this scotch sits in its casks, it is constantly changing. The alcohol level drops for every year that it sits in its cask, and what is know as Angels share is developed, where the alcohol is absorbed into the oak casks pours.

The casks that we speak of are of the used variety, due to the fact that new casks would change the taste of the scotch dramatically, hence altering its character.

A law in the US states that for the production of Bourbon, or Tennessee whiskey, only new casks are to be used. The use of these new casks introduces a vanilla taste into the blend. There are some blends as old as 30 years or more, happy hunting for that elusive and pricey item.

Walk in Red or Walk in Black

In the year 1820 sir John Walker had a vision. To create one of the finest single malt blends the world has ever known. Enter the 2006 trend and apparently his vision turned to gold, as it is the most consumed scotch in the world. At over 120 million bottle sold annually, it is estimated that four bottles per second are enjoyed in 200 countries around the world.

So what color do you walk with? That is a matter of personal taste. You can go with the vibrant blend of the red label, which tends to be the most common for everyday celebrations. Or choose the complex and deeply mellow black label, used throughout time as experience malt.

The choice is yours as both are a wonderful scotch whiskey and will prove to be enjoyable whatever the toast. If the moment proves to be one that you will want to remember for a lifetime, try the rare and expensive blue label scotch.

No matter which Walker you walk with surely you will not be let down.