Tonka bean

Tonka bean: The little teak seed that was worth its weight in gold! Brazilian teak, a gigantic tree that can reach some thirty meters in height, produces treasures, small black seeds known as tonka beans. These beans are recognized the world over for their inimitable taste as well as for the coumarin crystals they produce in large quantities. Perfumery quickly put these golden nuggets to use, allowing perfumes to exhale almondy notes from our bottles. Widely used today in fougères, orientals or even florals, tonka bean is one of the main components of Guerlain fragrances.

Teak, tonka bean and coumarin

Brazilian teak, native to the Caribbean and South America, produces from its full height numerous small fruits called tonka beans. In its raw state, the flavor of the tonka bean is toasted and almondy, recalling caramel or dried hay, but it is during its transformation that the magic happens!

Once harvested, the tonka bean is dried then macerated for 24 hours in rum before being dried again after the operation. Following these transformations, small coumarin crystals appear on the surface, and it is these that give the tonka bean the delicious powdery scent we know it for. The tonka beans are subsequently reduced to powder in order to obtain absolute oil.

Although producing powdery notes, tonka bean is used in perfumery in feminine fragrances that are oriental, amber or floral, as well as in masculine fragrances with fougère or woody notes.

Guerlain fragrances and tonka bean: a beautiful love story!

One of the very first fragrances to use tonka bean was Jicky by Guerlain, not to mention that this precious bean is part of the original composition of the famous Guerlinade created in the 19th century. With Jicky, Aimé Guerlain dared to defy the women of 1889 by offering them a new fragrance propelled by relatively classic aromatic citrus top notes, while offering them heart notes of vanilla and tonka bean that provided spice and roundness. Unfortunately, these ladies were not won over, while the male population snapped up this so captivating fragrance!

In 1912, Guerlain attempted once again to use its precious tonka bean to create L’Heure Bleue, which, this time, was a great success and certainly one of the house's most emblematic fragrances, even today. In creating this spicy floral, Guerlain offers a unique downy amber note built around the power and sweetness of vanilla and tonka bean, presenting a bouquet of iris and violet flowers to ladies who particularly love beautiful florals with character.

Make no mistake, tonka bean is the raw material of fragrances with character! Although it often appears in floral-citrus feminine fragrances such as Tonka by Réminiscence or Insolence by Guerlain, tonka bean is of course an ally of the great oriental fragrances such as Shalimar or Samsara, again by Guerlain. For masculine fragrances, on the other hand, the roundness of its facets more often evokes vanilla and sweet accords, as in Armani Code or Allure pour Homme. Tonka bean, a small Caribbean gem, has not finished surprising us with its many fragrant powers!