Clove
Syzygium aromaticum · Spice
Top 10 pairings
Tiny nail-shaped flower buds, picked unopened and dried: one of the strongest spices there is. It smells warm, sweet and faintly medicinal, like mulled wine and pumpkin pie, and one bud can perfume a pot.
Picking a good onedrag
Just milled, loud and oilyFaded, dusty, smells of nothing
Whole in the jarEveryday bestWhole buds keep for years. Drop a few in water: oily ones sink, spent ones float.
Crush and smellWarm, sweet, arrives a beat late
Press a budFirm, faint sheen, a little give
Whole or groundWhole, a year or two in, still loud
Look at the budsA shade duller, a few heads off