A Story from a Korean-American Childhood – Brew Master

Here’s a story about something that you may have long forgotten about, but that your nose could never forget.

So growing up in a Korean household meant lots of things…kimchi was ever present (even on pizza night), kids were largely unsupervised because parents were out working, and there was usually some funny smell in the house. And by “funny,” I definitely don’t mean haha funny. I mean, what died in here kind-of funny.

My mom went through a phase, as did all her friends, of brewing herbal remedy tea. Got digestive issues? No problem, here’s an herbal remedy. Gout flaring up? No problem, here’s a different herb for that. Feeling rundown? Oh, there’s an herbal remedy for that as well. Getting the picture? Whatever ailment there was, there was an herbal remedy for it. And by golly, my mom was brewing it in her special herbal extractor.

And by “special herbal extractor,” I’m not referring to those cute tea infusers or herbal tea pots. This beast of a machine was a mini metallic vat distilling out the essences of herbs to make a potent “tea” that was more like a slurry.

We practically had a microbrewery…and not the fun kind.

The smell that came from that herbal extractor was so pungent that it overwhelmed any other scent in the house. And mind you, this was a Korean household where kimchi was consumed on a daily basis. This stuff could’ve been used to remove paint!

I can still smell the odor just thinking about it because it is forever scarred in my brain and my olfactory nerves! I couldn’t bring friends over and all our clothes wreaked of it!

It was years, YEARS, before the odor dissipated after she grew out of her at home herbal remedy phase. Thank goodness she scrapped it fairly quickly!

Although, those days are long gone, I’ve still got all kinds of smells in my house…dog, cats, dirty diapers, smelly gym clothes, and yeah, I still eat kimchi fairly frequently so there’s that. So I’ve still got a lot of “funny” smells to contend with.

I find that most buy over the counter scents are too strong. I like the ease of room sprays but they’re too strong at first and dissipate fast. Candles are plain old too weak unless you stick your nose right up in it. And diffusers are a bit too strong.

But I found the perfect solution to my olfactory issues! I love this time of year because I can make the whole house smell like the holidays instead of daily life funkiness.

This is super easy and will have your house smelling holiday-mazing!

How to make your home smell like the holidays

Holiday Potpourri

Ingredients

Fresh cranberries – 1 cup

Apple – 1, quartered

Orange peel – from 1 orange

Whole cloves – 1 tablespoon

Fresh rosemary – 3 springs

Cinnamon sticks – 3, broken in half

Directions

1. Place all ingredients into a medium sized pot and fill with water until everything is submerged.
2. Set to simmer.
3. Add more water as necessary.

Notes

I’ve quartered an old orange before and just chucked that in because I was too lazy to peel it. Also, I’ve skipped the rosemary and it still smelled great!

Did your mom brew her own herbal remedies too? Is it still going on? Gasp! Fight the odor back with the holiday potpourri and let me know how it goes in the comments!

It’s that time of the year again! Need help with gift ideas? Check out these gift guides!