Instant homemade simmering potpourri recipes

Making potpourri is a great hobby. It costs less than buying it at a store,  and you get to come up with your own custom fragrances and mixes. It also makes for a lovely and inexpensive gift. But there’s a lot to it. (TipNut has a wonderful Homemade Potpourri 101 article that spells out everything you need to know.)

But what if drying and curing and stirring is more hassle than you want to get into? What if you just want to be able to whip up a lovely scent on a nice fall evening, or when you’ve got guests coming over? You need instant simmering potpourri recipes.

What makes instant simmering potpourri?

Anything that smells good while it’s being simmered is a potential ingredient, and you probably have a lot of stuff on hand already that qualifies:

• Coffee
• Tea
• Cinnamon sticks
• Extracts of vanilla, almond, peppermint, etc.
• Dried spices and herbs – thyme, basil, rosemary, cilantro, parsley, nutmeg, clove, lemongrass, etc.
• Dried carob or carob chips
• Apple cider

Easy Simmering Potpourri Recipes

These recipes can be ridiculously simple. Just cinnamon sticks simmering in a cup of water on low heat makes a wonderful cinnamon smell. Add vanilla extract and some clove and you’ve got vanilla spice. You don’t really need amounts – you just combine the ingredients slowly, letting your nose tell you when you’ve got the blend just right.

Here are some suggested recipe combinations for simmering on the stovetop in a saucepan, or in a potpourri burner:

Cinnamon Buns

• Cinnamon sticks
• Vanilla extract
• Almond extract
• Nutmeg (optional)

Add a little apple cider to your simmering water, and you get a whole new flavor.

Coffee Potpourri

• Fresh ground coffee beans (ideally – instant coffee will do, too)
• Any or all of the following: vanilla extract, almond extract, cinnamon sticks, orange peel, dried carob, chickory. Anything that tastes good in coffee will work, (except for creamer and cocoa powder, which don’t simmer very well).

Mint Potpourri

You could fancy it up with lemon verbena or rosemary or almost anything, but seriously: a few drops of peppermint extract or essential oil in a cup of water, simmering. That’s all you need.

Cilantro Mint Potpourri

Put mint extract and dried cilantro into your simmering pot. It makes one of those scents you can’t stop inhaling because it’s wonderful and fascinating.

Chai Tea Potpourri

• Black tea bags
• Vanilla extract
• Chai spices include the following, so use any or all of them: cinnamon, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, black pepper, ginger, coriander seed, mace, star anise, fennel, bay leaf.

When you’re done simmering, you could strain this into a cup, add some milk, and enjoy a chai tea latte.

Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme

Sprinkle dried versions of these into simmering water and you get a wonderful green herbal scent.

For additional suggestions, check out 84 Potpourri Recipes.

Subscribe to Bohemian Revolution!
Email Post | Print This
Posted in Do It Yourself on November 10, 2009