Lessons from Spent Blooms:
The Collection

Cinnamon basil forward: tousled and robust, earthy at the core, sultry yet unexpectedly tender at the edges, warm with spice and hearty floral corners, a sweetness deepening with time. The Shedding & Holding Collection is this fall’s flavor, four offerings shaped by hardy perennials, fading annuals, spent blooms, and the potency of time. Rosemary, sage, thyme, marjoram, winter savory, and bay give resinous, pungent depth. Cinnamon basil, purple shiso, licorice, wormwood, myrtle, and wild fennel weave in sweetness, bitterness, perfume, and wildness. Apples and citrus lend brightness; miso and black garlic, umami; mezcal cranberry sauce and mora chipotle, fruit and heat; smoked salts, grit. Vanilla, almond, cinnamon, mace, and toasted spices carry the warmth, especially my signature Cinnamon Basil Vanilla Pie Spice, where spent basil blooms and seeds reveal a peppery, floral richness conventional pie spice cannot touch. Made for roasted vegetables, hearty salads, soups, grains, meats, gravies, and autumn baking. Nothing is simply bold or delicate, sweet or sharp. The magic is contrast: flavors that challenge, soften, and deepen one another, revealing the familiar anew. This is the wisdom of spent blooms, and the potency of letting go.