Filmed in Bulgarian.
From a Bulgarian village to an expedition in Asia
Where it starts. A village in Bulgaria, a plan that sounded unreasonable said out loud, and the decision to go and find the plants rather than order them from someone else.
The Expedition
The oils we could not grow ourselves.
Some plants will not grow on our land. An expedition is going to the place where they do, meeting the people who grow them, and working out whether there is anything worth bringing home.
The part of the range we had to travel for.
Why we film it
So you can see it for yourself.
Anyone can buy oil from a broker. What you cannot buy is the knowledge of who grew it, on what land, in which season, and whether they were paid properly for it.
So we go, and we film what we find — including the trips that produce nothing. You get to look before you decide.
Who we met, and what they showed us.
01
Peeling cinnamon
Sri Lanka. By hand, one stem at a time.
02
The still
A working still, and the woman who runs it.
03
The people
The distiller, and Alepu's founder, after a day at the still.
04
The first smell
Checking an oil straight from the still.
Filmed in Bulgarian.
Will we find what we came for?
Arriving with a list and no guarantees. Growers to meet, plantations to reach, and no certainty that any of it ends up in a bottle.
Filmed in Bulgarian.
We found more than we expected
What the island actually gave us, and the people who made the introductions.