No 445 South African Buchu

The Buchu plant is a shrub indigenous to the South African Cape Mountains. According to the cargo manifest of the Titanic, there were eight bales of Buchu aboard the ship. People at the time were apparently enthusiastic about the aromas of Buchu, which had been distributed in England since the 18th century. It was called Noble’s Tea because of its price. Aqueous extracts of Buchu have been, and are still used by the San, a South African indigenous people, and are applied externally because of their anti-inflammatory effect. On the underside of the leaves of the Buchu bush we used there are numerous glands containing essential oil. The pure oil has a slightly fruity, peppermint-like smell reminiscent of turpentine. This is due to the menthone (also found in peppermint), isomenthone, -diosphenol, diosphenol (both with a terpenic note), limonene, pulegone (minty, camphoraceous) and isopulegone. When the oil is diluted – as in our Buchu spirit – the mint and terpene-like notes are overshadowed by fruity blackcurrant notes. A small quantity of 8-mercapto-p-menthane-3-one is responsible for this. Interestingly, this compound is not found in blackcurrants and it intrigues the human nose even when heavily diluted. This detailed description of the Buchu aromas opens up countless ways of using this rare spirit by creative talent in kitchens and bars.

350ml – 74,90 € (42 % vol – 214,00 €/l)
50ml – 18,90 € (42 % vol – 378,00 €/l)
50ml Spray – 18,90 € (50 % vol – 378,00 €/l)
Prices incl. VAT.