# Bergamot Coriander? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 5, 2003, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bergamot-coriander/173210 "2003-05-05T16:45:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bergamot-coriander/173210/1 "2003-05-05T16:45:35Z")
Ok, Mrs. Phlosphr went to a wedding shower this weekend and won a years supply of anything she wants at Bath & Body Works. She got this stuff called Bergamot Coriander, energizing lotion or somesuch alchemy. Anyway, I was out of the house early this morning and I - uncharacteristically - tried some of the stuff. OMG!! I got out of the shower feeling like I was going to bounce off the walls, and I had injested nothing! It is the most powerful aroma therapy I’ve ever seen. I believe in the efficacy of aroma therapy, but come on now, this was like O’l Factory Speed, without the amphetamines. Anyone know what it is, and how it may work. I thought a coriander was a type of orange thing? ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bergamot-coriander/173210/2 "2003-05-05T17:00:43Z")
IIRC, bergamot is related to the mint family (I know it spreads like mint, I’m forever pulling it up in the perennial border). Perhaps you got some of the mint “zing?” You know what they say about Peppermint Patties. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bergamot-coriander/173210/3 "2003-05-05T17:13:35Z")
Coriander is a round seed (a spice, actually), and if you plant it, what comes up is called cilantro. Bergamot is an herb a.k.a. “Horsemint” a.k.a, in a “wildflower” context, “beebalm”. It’s the active perfume-y ingredient in Earl Grey tea, just FYI. And thus we descend into the murky depths of the nutriceuticals industry. [http://www.herbnet.com/magazine/mag03\_p05\_\_Wild\_Bergamot.htm](http://www.herbnet.com/magazine/mag03_p05__Wild_Bergamot.htm) > [@](#): > > Medicinal Uses: Indians made a decoction of the leaves and treated chills by bathing the patient with it; the dried herb was boiled and the vapors were inhaled for bronchial ailments; a decoction of the root was drunk for stomach disorders; and a tea of leaves and flowers was used for bronchial problems. The pioneers made a lotion of boiled leaves for treating pimples and skin eruptions. A plant infusion has been used to reduce fever and treat headaches, colds, and sore throats. Some Indians in New Mexico dry and pulverize the plant and rub it on the forehead to relieve headache. It is still sometimes used in modern herbalism. An infusion is used internally in the treatment of colds, catarrh, headaches, gastric disorders, aching kidneys, to reduce low fevers and soothe sore throats. Externally, it is applied as a poultice to skin eruptions, cuts etc and as a wash for sore eyes. The leaves can be harvested before the plant flowers, or they can be harvested with the flowering stems. They can be used fresh or dried. The leaves also contain ‘thymol’, an essential oil that can be used to expel gas from the digestive tract. > > Other Uses: The leaves have been used as an insect repellent. [http://unitproj.library.ucla.edu/biomed/spice/index.cfm?displayID=8](http://unitproj.library.ucla.edu/biomed/spice/index.cfm?displayID=8) > [@](#): > > The seed of the well-known cilantro or Chinese parsley plant (Coriandrum sativum) is known as coriander, and it is a spice with one of the longest histories of use. The name coriander is derived from the Greek word koris, meaning bedbug, since the unripe seeds and leaves when crushed have a smell suggestive of a crushed bedbug. The plant is indigenous to Greece, but the seed is now as well known in Asiatic and South American as it is in Mediterranean cooking. Cilantro is regarded as an herb, and is used with Mexican salsas, in Greek dishes and, along with the seeds of coriander, in Indian curries and in Thai food. > > Coriander and cilantro have been advocated for health purposes in folk therapies, and the list of such uses is similar to those for other spices. However, no medical value has been adequately evaluated, and thus this popular herb/spice remains a cook’s ingredient, and is utilized as a manufacturer’s flavor, rather than being recognized as an herbalist’s medication. Food authorities regard coriander as one of the most versatile spices, and, perhaps not surprisingly, individual authors give very different descriptions of its flavor. > > See chemicals in spices. [Chemicals in spices.](http://unitproj.library.ucla.edu/biomed/spice/index.cfm?spicefilename=activeProperties.txt&itemsuppress=yes&displayswitch=0) FWIW. So, I can’t really find a reason why you came out of the shower feeling like a million bucks, but if I took a bath in salsa, curry, anti-fart medication, crushed bedbugs, and bug repellent, I’d probably come out feelin’ pretty peppy, too. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bergamot-coriander/173210/4 "2003-05-05T17:18:41Z")
The “type of orange thing” is a “pomander”. You stick cloves into an orange, give it to your Mom, she sez Oh how nice, and puts it away somewhere and forgets about it. [http://www.make-stuff.com/kids/pomander.html](http://www.make-stuff.com/kids/pomander.html) ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bergamot-coriander/173210/5 "2003-05-05T17:22:57Z")
Wow! thanks **Duck**. I’m going to email this to my wife and wait to see her reaction 🙂 hehehe!!! ---
**Author:** ![El\_Smasho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f9ae1b/32.png) [@El\_Smasho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Smasho)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bergamot-coriander/173210/6 "2003-05-05T17:43:37Z")
I always wondered about bergamot because it’s the standard “purple” flavor for English hard candy, opposed to Lifesavers’ grape. You can often see pictures of the berries on those little round tins, where the favorite flavors are lemondrop and grapefruit. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bergamot-coriander/173210/7 "2003-05-05T21:47:04Z")
Bergamot is additionally the name of a species of _Citrus_; not unlike a citron, an essential oil is extracted from the rind and is used in perfumery and medicine. I think it may actually be **this** plant (_Citrus Bergamia_), rather than the herb Bergamot (_Monarda Didyma_) that is used to flavour Earl Grey tea. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bergamot-coriander/173210/8 "2003-05-05T21:51:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by El Smasho \* > \*\*I always wondered about bergamot because it’s the standard “purple” flavor for English hard candy, opposed to Lifesavers’ grape. You can often see pictures of the berries on those little round tins, where the favorite flavors are lemondrop and grapefruit. \*\* Are you referring to some brand of American candy called _English Hard Candy™_, that is not actually available in England? Or were you thinking of Blackcurrant, rather than Bergamot? ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bergamot-coriander/173210/9 "2003-05-05T22:29:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mangetout \* > \*\*Are you referring to some brand of American candy called _English Hard Candy™_, that is not actually available in England? > > Or were you thinking of Blackcurrant, rather than Bergamot? \*\* I’m sure he can answer for himself, but [this](http://www.centrefruit.com/cf_frtbask.htm) suggests the former. The leading brand seems to be Cavendish & Harvey and it appears online mostly in mini-hamper-style food selections for parents to send to students etc. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bergamot-coriander/173210/10 "2003-05-05T22:33:08Z")
Hmmm, I beg to differ; that really is hard candy made in England (of the rather inferior ‘travel sweets’ type on sale in garages and service stations), plus **El Smasho** mentioned ‘pictures of the berries’ - bergamot doesn’t have berries, blackcurrant does.