“An Aufguss master does with the elements what a sommelier does with wine.” Felix Reschke, International Aufguss Champion explains to a room full of Rituals Artisans. They find the perfect, fragrance, heat, movements, sound and light to match the occasion. “You can use the feelings and the colours you associate with something to choose your essential oils.” It’s all in the nuances – let’s learn more about them.
Who is Felix Reschke?
Originally from Germany, just like the word Aufguss (which means infusion), Felix joins us to share his knowledge with Rituals Artisans in Chelsea, Winnipeg and Whitby. His specialties are varied. From essential oils to herbs, smoke rituals and plenty more Aufguss secrets.
Felix is a consultant and educator for Aromen, our essential oils and hydrosols (we’ll learn about those later) supplier. He was also the German Champion for Aufguss in 2014 and 2015 and the International Champion in Poland in 2015, which makes him the perfect person to help our Rituals Artisans perfect their craft.
Part 1: Essential Oils
Nearly a dozen people sit at a table in one of the lodges near the spa. Many of them participated in the Aufguss competition we held last July. Nevertheless, they’re here today to perfect their craft.
How to Choose Your Essential Oils
Choosing the right essential oil for an Aufguss ritual is an art. There are top notes which dissipate fast, think citrus and pines. Those are the essential oils you want to use first as their smell will have evaporated by the time the second infusion begins. Then, aptly named, the middle notes which are typically flowery or spicy and dissipate steadily. And for the final infusion of during an Aufguss, the base notes. These are lasting scents and will follow you on your way out of the sauna. Essential oils like cedar, amyris, elemi and patchouli are amongst the closing base scents.
As the Ritual Artisans pass bottles of essential oils around and debate on the possible combinations of oils in their future, Felix looks on and occasionally approves or disapproves of their choices.
What’s an Hydrolat
Felix explains: “Hydrolats are a side product of the steam distillation process. It is water that contains many skin-supporting ingredients. Like rosewater, orange blossom water, lavender water and so on. I love putting my favourite one in a bottle and spraying it all over my skin when I get out of the shower, it’s great for you and much gentler than essential oils.” We use Aromen’s hydrolats in our saunas multiple times every day in between rituals to create infusions.
There are more technical aspects of this presentation too. They make perfect sense to our artisans, already familiar with the subject matter, but they might not fit in this article. In a future blog perhaps, we’ll explain essential oil extractions, molecules, and other intricacies of this sweet-smelling universe.
Did you know the orange tree gives us 3 different types of essential oils?
1. Petit grain oil is essential oil made from the leaves through steam distillation
2. Neroli or orange blossom oil is essential oil made from the blossoms through steam distillation
3. Orange oil is essential oil made from the peel through pressing.Try an Aufguss ritual during your next visit for a chance to smell one of our incredible essential oils.
Next up: a towel–waving practice above the Banya sauna. So, we pack all the essential oils we’ve smelled and spoken about and trek back from the lodge to the spa to practise new techniques and choreography.
Part 2: Towel Waving
Up above the Banya sauna, in a room that only last week was home to yoga classes, our Rituals Artisans and Felix gather to practise new towel waving techniques. “We’ll start with the basics and see where we go from there.”
They start with a movement called a cross. A dozen people synchronizing their movements is an impressive feat with the sound of towels and the swish of air. Here it doesn’t rival the heat of a sauna, but on a warm day like today, the breeze is a nice touch.
The moves start simple and increase in difficulty. At first, only the arms are involved. Then, footwork is added. Rhythm is important. Everyone must move as one to practise for duo Aufguss rituals when two artisans preside over the sauna at once. Imagining such a scene, where all the artisans come together in a sauna, would be magical. Although, even in Whitby’s large Logga event sauna, we can’t quite make the math of 12 Rituals Artisans performing at once work.
It’s much more than just moving a towel around. There’s an art, a sportsmanship, a choreography. Your fingers go in a certain way. Different Aufguss moments ask for different waving techniques. Everything is in the details. And the essential oils from earlier are still in play.
This unique look behind the curtain ends on the wise words of Armelle, Rituals Manager and Wellness Ambassador: “With the help of Felix, our Rituals Artisans dive deep into their learning journey. They get to perfect their techniques, while discovering the subtleties of Aufguss with the perfect guide: Felix, a true sommelier of essential oils. Every moment spent in his company is a source of inspiration and another step toward mastery that will enrich our rituals. The beauty of these training days lies in the passionate sharing of knowledge that helps, not only our artisans, but the experiences we offer our guests grow.”
