The looming chance of rain from remnants of a tropical storm couldn’t keep members of the Women in Flavor and Fragrance Commerce from getting a taste of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, on June 11. Keeping umbrellas on hand, attendees at the sold-out Sixth Annual On-Trend Excursion gathered at Fabiane’s Café & Pastry at 142 N. Fifth St. to sip on iced coffees and iced teas before beginning the trek through Williamsburg’s north side, which was led and narrated by Trendincite’s Amy Marks-McGee. The café’s owner, Fabiane Lima, who is originally from Brazil, offered guests a taste of her homemade gluten-free yucca cake, which was dense, spongy and sweet, as well as her homemade granola, for which she said took about 10 years to develop the secret recipe. The eatery also featured gluten-free chocolate caramel-cup mousse, as well as other sweetly succulent dessert flavors like peach panna cotta and pistachio crème brulee.
Nearby, Juice Press at 144 N. Eighth St. doled out a watermelon super cleanser made from cold-pressed watermelon, which is reportedly this shop’s most popular flavor, along with Dr. Green Juice, which contains pineapple, apple, lemon, ginger and kale. The cozy shop sells cold-pressed organic juice, juice-pressed smoothies and other all-natural items marketed with catchy names ranging from earthy to tongue-in-cheek. The shop boasted juice fused with interesting flavor combinations, such as Re-hab, which contained cold-pressed ginger, lemon and cayenne extract; First Degree Burn, which contained celery, ginger and lime; and Green Giant, which contained blended spinach, kale, apple, coconut water, coconut flesh, raw cacao powder, spirulina, a date, squeeze of lemon, pinch of cayenne and sea salt. Samples were passed around as a store associate explained the benefits of cold-pressed juice, which is produced using both a pulverizer and a hydraulic press. The pulverizer is said to be an effective way to liberate the nutritional enzymes from the fibers of the produce.
After the juicy taste test, a swift jaunt to Woodley & Bunny at 196 N. 10th St. engaged the olfactory senses with its apotehecary-style collection of niche fragrance, beauty and personal care products. The ontrend trekkers tested out niche scents like Olfactive Studio and DS & Durga’s Silent Grove, which is described as clean, fresh and crisp, with green, dew-on-grass tones and notes of cedar, lotus, white tea and linden. Inspired by rustic smells, Portland General Store’s line of men’s personal care products included a ruggedly fragrant Wood Super Thick Hand Cream, which has a scent of essential oils of cedar, hiba wood (thujopsis), patchouli, vetiver grass and vanilla.