velvet Tonka BDK Parfums perfume - a fragrance for women and men
6 ml sample
TONKA BEAN
NOBLE GOURMAND NOTE OF PERFUMERY
Tonka bean is one of the most captivating raw materials in contemporary perfumery. Derived from Dipteryx odorata, a majestic tree native to South America, also known as coumarou, it reveals a dense, textured, and warm fragrance.
At the heart of its fruit lies a dark, glossy seed, called sarrapia by local populations. Long unknown in Europe, this mysterious bean truly entered perfumery at the beginning of the 19th century, when creators discovered its warm, vanilla-like and enveloping scent.
HARVEST & RITUAL
The cultivation and harvesting of tonka bean remain, to this day, an ancestral art, passed down with patience and respect. Between August and September, the fruits are not picked but gathered from the ground once they have fallen naturally, an indication that they have reached perfect maturity. The fruits are then opened one by one to release the precious beans. Carefully sorted, they are left to dry for several days under the sun or inside dry wooden houses. It is during this slow transformation that coumarin appears, a naturally occurring molecule responsible for tonka bean’s unmistakable scent, at once vanilla-like, almondy, tawny, and balsamic.