moroccan still life , originally uploaded by christian wind

I've already told you before about my paternal grandmother, who made Aliya from Morocco.

Her afternoon tea ritual was something I always enjoyed and will never forget. The culture of tea arrived to Morocco most likely travelled to Morocco through Europe and became popular in the 18th Century, when trade between Morocco and Europe flourisehd and tea spread throughout North Africa and became an integral part of hospitality in the region. The French imperialism made the rituals even more elaborate with the addition of many French-influenced pastries, some of them exceptionally fancy. But Moroccan tea time remained mostly about hospitality and tea, and even the simplest pastries made the occasion special. The addition of fresh local herbs made the tea distinctively of the region - spearmint and lemon verbena in the summertime to make the tea refreshing and cooling (even when it is hot!), and bitter mugwort or sage in the wintertime for their medicinal properties.

Morocco is currently the first consumer of green tea world-wide, and is one of the only two Muslim countries to drink green tea (the other being Afghanistan). Green tea was probably not available at all in Israel in the 1950’s, when the Moroccan immigration was at its peak, and the Jewish Moroccan had to make do with black tea. But this did not make the tradition stop or diminish. In fact, the custom spread throughout the country and even Jews from non-Moroccan decent enjoyed black tea with a sprig of mint. Black tea with spearmint is served in all the Narguilla (Shisha) houses, with a great amount of sugar to help reduce the dryness in the mouth caused by the tobacco smoke and steam.

At my grandmother’s balcony, every afternoon tea was served with sweets and pastries suitable for the occasion. The staples were simple galettes - these were not crepes, but a long wavy biscuit type of hardly sweet cookies, which I am still hunting for a recipe for; or fennel flavoured biscuits and savoury sesame bagel-shaped cookies. Other staples that my grandmother almost always had on hand were round almond cookies with a single clove-bud stuck in the middle looking like a belly-button; and my than favourites - coconut cookies, with a silvery pearl-shaped decoration candy - both baked in the tiniest paper cups which made them look even more adorable.

When it was a holiday there may be some specialty pastries, as well as when her sisters came to visit from Paris. But either way, the conversations during tea time were exclusively in French so I was able to absorb the sound but focus on the flavours.

Sometime last year, I’ve tried to capture the aromas of this quiet tea time with a scent. Now it is offered in a very limited edition of 3 bottles for those smitten with mint and tea or who share my nostalgic Moroccan tea time memories.

Top notes: Spearmint, Black Pepper, Bitter Almond, Fennel

Heart notes: Rose Maroc, Honey, Licorice Mint

Base notes: Green Tea, Massoia Bark, Atlas Cedarwood

Lovender-Basil One-of-a-Kind perfume is taken!
It was adopted by a Susan, a British Colmubian island-dweller and is now officially her signature perfume.
To view other one-of-a-kind perfumes available for adoption as your own signature perfume, vist my Etsy shop.

A few more news about what's in and what's out of stock:

The last bottle of Sahleb was sold today. A new batch, however, with a new crop of orris butter 15% irone was prepared recently and will be available in a few weeks' time once it is matured. Although the orris is not the same as the original batch, Sahleb maintains its buttery, milky smoothness, which is what it's all about.


On another note, it's time to bid farewell to Magnolia Petal. From now on it will be only produced on-demand and will no longer be available in sample sizes.

Tirzah and Gaucho teas are out of stock and will not be produced again in the foreseeable future. We do, however, have a new beautiful floral-green-tea coming up this spring to accompany Charisma - which is going to be very exciting. I will be posting more about it in the near future.

Ayala Moriel is proud to present a new, limited-edition perfume for summer 2008:
Vetiver Racinettes.

Vetiver is the root of a tropical grass native to India, Indonesia and Java. It is known for its calming and cooling effect on both mind and body, and is considered “The Scent of Tranqulity” in India.

Ruh Khus is wild vetiver from India distilled in the wilderness, in portable copper still. Its distinct earthy, copper-like aroma, married with the intense licorice sweetness of tarragon absolute creates an outstanding aroma never to be explored before in the realm of the vetiver perfume genre. Along with vetiver from four other countries, Vetiver Racinettes is at once earthy, sweet and cool like the aromatic roots and rootlets brewed to a bubbly rootbeer.

Vetiver Racinettes was born out of a long period of intensive study of this singular note, which really was part of a personal journey to better understanding of my own physical and emotion connection. At that time last year, I had a deep need for its therapeutic qualities and cooling effect and I have become aware of vetiver's many virtues and its particular connection to the well being of the people and the planet in present day. Vetiver is a purifying, sacred root with a woody aroma, and in many ways I feel that it takes on a similar role that was once reserved to sacred woods such as sandal and oud.

The result of my vetiver journey is a perfume that contains all of the elements that I've ever loved in the vetiver scents I've tried, as well as my own conclusions from my journey in the route of vetiver. It has the warmth of earth and firey spices and at the same time - the coolness of clay and vetiver curtains sprinkled with water; the medicinal dryness of herbs and grasses and the luxurious tenacity of woods; the sweetness of tarragon and earth with the bitterness of coffee and mud.

Vetiver Racinettes starts off warm and spicy, and will remain that way for a while when worn in a cool weather - accentuating the sweet tarragon, spice and coffee notes. However, in the heat of the summer it will quickly transform into a cooling elixir, bringing a quiet calm to one's physical and emotional existence, like drinking fresh water from a cool well, directly from the spout of a clay jar.

Top notes: Black Pepper, Fresh Ginger, Cardamom, Kaffir Lime Leaf
Heart notes: Haitian Vetiver , Nutmeg Asbolute, Coffee, Spikenard
Base notes: Ruh Khus, Indonesian Vetiver, Vetiver Bourbon, Attar Mitti, Tarragon Absolute, Cepes

Vetiver Racinettes is a limited edition fragrance that will be available throughout Summer 2008. We are currently sold out of the first batch, and the next batch will be ready on the official launch date, June 21st, is the first day of Summer. Advance orders are available through the website and will be shipped on a first-come first-serve basis, so hurry up - our batches are very small!

Vetiver Racinettes is available in 9ml parfum extrait flacon ($110), Perfumed Pendant ($150) 10ml perfume-oil roll-on bottle ($130) and 5ml perfume-oil roll-on bottle ($65).