When Scent Became Edible: The Invention and Evolution of the Gourmand

When Scent Became Edible: The Invention and Evolution of the Gourmand

If your favorite scents include things like vanilla extract, freshly brewed coffee, or hot from the oven pastries, gourmands may be the fragrance family for you. Gourmands are built around edible, food-like notes, especially desserts. Gourmands, in comparison to florals or woods, are a relatively new category. However, in the few decades they’ve been readily available, they have noticeably reshaped modern perfumery. Gourmands are one of the most recognizable and sought after scents in the world. The following guide explains everything you need to know about this delectable group, including what they are, where they come from, and what makes them so addictive. 

What Is a Gourmand Scent?

The word “gourmand” comes from the culinary world, and describes someone with a passion for good food and drink. So it makes sense that the fragrance family gourmand is full of notes that are made to mimic sweets or other rich foods. The most common notes in gourmand fragrances are:

  • Vanilla
  • Caramel
  • Chocolate
  • Coffee
  • Honey
  • Almond 

However, this is a small list. If there’s a certain dessert or baked good you enjoy, chances are that there is a perfume made to mimic it. The real test here is the realism of the scent. If after a sniff you feel like you’ve walked past a French patisserie, you’ve found a quality gourmand perfume!

A Very Brief History: How Gourmand Began

Sweet, edible notes were historically used sparingly in perfume history. They existed but were usually eclipsed by resins, spices or florals. This all changed in 1992, and you’ve probably smelled it without realizing its historical significance. High fashion designer Thierry Mugler produced Angel, a groundbreaking perfume with a dizzying overdose of ethyl maltol, a molecule known for its all encompassing smell of cotton candy and caramelized sugar. At the time, it was controversial. It was too sweet and too realistic to be a fine fragrance. However, it was a smashing success and quickly became a world wide bestseller. This is now known as the birth of the gourmand: bold, playful and like nothing ever made before.

Is Gourmand Its Own Family?

It depends on who you ask! Some place gourmands in the amber family, since they both share warm and sweet components, such as vanilla. For good reason, many believe it is its own category. 

The key difference:

  • Amber fragrances are built on resins, spices, and warmth
  • Gourmand fragrances are built to smell like actual food

That distinction, photorealistic depictions vs an abstract idea of sweetness, is what truly set them apart from ambers.

The Building Blocks of Gourmand Scents

Behind every candied fragrance there is a blend of natural materials and synthetic molecules that are arranged to recreate your favorite treats. 

1. Vanilla

Vanilla is the backbone of many perfumes, but especially gourmands. Vanilla is incredibly versatile. It can be saccharine and cloying, or it can be warm and sultry. It all depends on the composition. Perfumers will pair vanillin or ethyl vanillin, known for its classic, creamy vanilla aroma, with other notes to turn the vanilla into something light and airy or something rich and dark. Vanilla is rarely ever used alone. It is the base that the rest of the fragrance is built upon. 

2. Sugar & Caramel Accords

These are the two notes that amp up the sweetness and give that signature dessert quality. The previously mentioned Ethyl maltol, which smells like cotton candy or burnt sugar and caramel or praline to create something buttery and toasted. These ingredients are used sparingly as they can easily overpower the fragrance and make it cloying, saccharine and juvenile. 

3. Nutty & Powdery Sweetness

For added complexity, gourmands rely on Tonka (coumarin) or Heliotrope. Tonka is very similar to an almond, known for its delicate, dry sweetness, whereas Heliotope has a ripe cherry element, which adds a powdery quality. These dampen the overt sugary notes and create complexity.

4. Chocolate & Coffee

These notes help bring depth and contrast to a gourmand composition. Chocolate, while sweet, also adds bitterness and earthy depth, and coffee has a dark roasted element that adds body. 

A Few of Our Favorite Gourmands

The Secret to a Great Gourmand: Balance

The gourmand’s strength is also its biggest weakness. While lauded for its sweetness, it can be too much of a good thing. For a gourmand to be truly great, it must be balanced. If every note was sweet as sugar, it would be overwhelming and offputting. For this reason, fine perfumers always use complementary notes in gourmands. Woods ground the sweetness, patchouli or vetiver can add earthiness, tobacco and leather make vanilla more evocative, and iris softens and matures. These contrasts are integral for making sweetness sophisticated. 

Are Gourmand Scents Only for Certain People?

Absolutely not! The beauty of gourmands lies in its many variations. While these types of scents may be marketed in a specific way, they are widely enjoyed by people from all walks of life. Many people who prefer more “masculine” scents may think that gourmands are off limits- but this is simply not true. A gourmand that prioritizes a base of woods, smoke or spice can easily carry a sliver of sweetness while not being cloying. These compositions can be light and flirty, or bold and commanding. Whatever your fragrance style, there is a gourmand for you!

Why Gourmand Scents Are So Popular

For as complex as gourmands can be, the answer is pretty simple! Sweet scents, especially those reminiscent of foods, are highly comforting. They are tied to memories and pleasure, and when that is translated into a perfume, they are recognizable and enjoyable to many. These scents also tend to have great projection, stand out, and garner lots of compliments. That combination makes them irresistible in the trends market.

Gourmand, Revisited

While one of the newest fragrance families, gourmands are one of the most popular and influential. The invention of edible notes in perfumery completely changed how we experience scent. No longer abstract ideas, but instead a tactile, craveable indulgence. Now that you know more, you will probably start noticing these delectable confections all over, and perhaps you will find your new signature scent amongst its many offerings!

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