Yankee Candle Country Lemonade Wax Tart

Lemon candles are all the rage when the slightest hint of sunshine comes out. We're reminded months in advance that citronella candles ward away the midges, keep the bees away and any other flying insect who mistakes citronella candles to be anything but flowers, only to be burnt at the nearest hint of a naked flame! Whilst, I'm reminded that I have plenty of Yankee Candles left over and steadily getting through them to replace similar gifts that haven't done so well for fragrance and adjusting the spirit of homes, I couldn't help to check out the latest candle scents that Yankee Candle have on offer. For 2011 and not so late on, Yankee Candle have been tampering with lemonade or lemon scented candles for quite a while now, culminating in Sparkling Lemon, Dune Grass, Island Spa and then some, not forgetting the cake types like Lemon Cheesecake for those who miss the baked smells of the culinary type - and then there's Country Lemonade - a complete departure to what has gone on before and if you like the deep and delicious rapport of Black Cherry - then you're going to absolutely adore Country Lemonade!

Like the old fragrance, "Sunwashed Linen," "Country Lemonade," has a pale whitish creamy yellow look in terms of coloured candle wax and leaves no imagination out to where it is heading in terms of its precious, sweet tasting promise of lemons and cherries and an escape and wish for a brighter spring, leaving the snow and dark colours behind. Not one for messing with a formula, I must say that I have never really made "Country Lemonade" with cherries before - as a drink -, so the appeal was more to do with the scent than the strange title of the product.

Pricing & Promise

Purchased by housewarmer glass jar type (there are many formats available however) my first introduction to this candle was to use it from time to time against the fruity or spicy candles I have left over form Christmas which are being used continually following a re-decoration of the home. bother shopping around for new candles at shops instead of online? Well, if you know of a Yankee Candle seller near you, you can get many new or classic fragrances at a 25% reduction depending on what the "scent of the month," is. Normally given the prices I pay are competitive and not hugely marked up, it would cost me £17-99 for the large candle and £13-99 for the medium candle. With the discount applied I only paid £13-74 for the large jar that gives me 110 to 150 hours of burning fragrance time - considerably cheaper than buying the medium jar alone which has a total of 90 hours on average. Against the spice or the fruity ones I've been used to of late, Country Lemonade has been a pleasing departure and holds a wish for a decent summer this year as well as being deliciously tempting to buy fruity ice cream!

When the jar run out two months later, I found buying the wax tarts as soon as they arrived again in the shop and at the 25% discount offer, got the single tarts at 78p each as opposed to the normal £1.05 I pay and came away with 10 tarts to keep me tied over.

What Does It Smell Of?

The top scent from Country Lemonade is a natural lemony flavour that comes off easily, which is not synthetic based but smells quite unusually of freshly squeezed lemons - almost as if you are preparing home made lemonade. A lot of lemon scented candles can suffer from being too bland but the lemony fragrance here is both refreshing, very appealing and seamlessly mirrors the Yankee Candle promise of natural additives as opposed to chemicals.

Quite citrusy then, the middle tone that comes out of the candle is the delightful, yet surprising cherry, similar to YC's signature red cherry candle and Black Cherry (another favourite of mine), but not overly sweet that knocks out the lemon. It certainly smells like someone has spilt a can of 7up Cherry in the room, and was probably at the time one of the main inspirations behind this fragrance.

The base tones however are one of the best and one that isn't expected from this candle; hints of jasmine tainted tea and hints of honey, that seem to contrast really well with the lemonade top scent, even if, for the most part the cherry is quite strong in this candle and seem to take over the base tones quite easily, filling my home with the smell of light lemon here and there with cherry. Later, as the candle is extinguished, there is a grounding of the jasmine tea and honey in the depths of the scent left behind. If there was no honey in this candle, then the more appropriate name here for this candle could have been "Sparkling Cherry Lemonade."

Strength

In terms of "flavour," Yankee Candle has played around really well with the mix of this fragrance rather than concentrating on one, two or three levels of scents. It doesn't put out the scent quite straight away though but brings a level of scent bit by bit, making it an understated and subtle candle that can be enjoyed, rather than something apt for shifting pongs, which most (and this one included) Yankee Candle products can eradicate, anyway. The beauty of Country Lemonade continues to fragrance the home quite easily, even if left at one area in the home, doors open and allowing the scent to travel through for a couple of hours. This is what you're paying for when it comes to longevity and maximising the potential of a premium candle - and with the Yankee Candle name behind it - good reassurance that the additives in the candle are strong enough to please without inducing sneezing or coughing.

Safety & The Wax Tart

The downside to ANY Yankee Candle wax tart is finding that it has no wick and thus needs an additional accessory in the form of a tealight candle assisted hot potpourri burner. It is also the kind of candle you should avoid using around inquisitive children or pets. The wax tart looks like an edible tart, hence the name and has a fluted edge with quite a deep depth. The hot oil or potpourri burner must have a suitable deep concave to hold the tart in and by placing the wax tart still in its wrapper on the top of the burner is a good indication of whether your burner is going to be suitable. If the tart sits above, then the burner isn't deep enough, or if you are still persisting to use it with its shallow edge, you must slice the wax tart and use one half only.

When the wrapper is disregarded (simply slide a knife under the wrapper's plastic sticker on the base and pull upwards, usually tears the plastic film in two), and the tart placed on top, a tealight candle will have to be used to get the solid wax melting into a hot oil. Even with this novel way of using hot wax, you have to maintain safety and logic at all times - and you may find that the oil burner gets hot on the base as well as the top making it unsuitable to be moved around. This is where those drinks coasters that you may not use, may come in handy for keeping the surface underneath free from burning.

Yankee Candle tarts however, are one of the more economical ways of getting the best out of the Yankee Candle fragrance promise and removing it just as easy as the initial outlay of using. Once the hot oil burner has cooled down, take out the tealight candle and insert the whole burner into a freezer for a minimum of 15 minutes or 30 minutes in a fridge. Afterwards tip the burner over and with a slight tap to the top, the wax tart should fall out easily - if the candle doesn't budge, use a blunt knife to soften the edges and if that still doesn't budge, shower the top of the burner with a hot water running tap. This is a much better procedure than pouring hot oil down a drain since it can block drains, or into a kitchen towel which can burn through and spoil work surfaces etc. The solid wax will begin to soften quickly under hot water and can be disposed of quickly and safely. Always sniff the base of the candle though when it falls out - if you can still smell scent - then the candle still has life in it to burn the next time around when you choose to burn the candle.

Cost effectively although you need to purchase tealight candles for the use of Yankee Candle tarts, the tarts have a total duration burn time of 8 hours on average - but some tarts can triple this statistic on scent and content alone - a single wax tart of Country Lemonade on average lasts 3 to 5 days if burnt for a couple of hours each day and when I've gone through 4 tealight candles that have 4 hour burn time durations on them singularly, the wax tart in this instance does last double than Yankee Candle suggests.

Other Formats

Other formats of Country Lemonade are not easy to find at the moment, but with it still being a relatively new product for 2011 not all formats are also available (average pricing given & without 25% "scent of the month" discount).

Wax Tart (22 grams, 8 hour duration, 90p/£1.05 each.)
Scented Powder Sachet (28grams, 3-4 week duration, £2-99)
Votive candle (1.75 oz 15 hour duration, average price £1-75 to £2)
Small housewarmer jar candle (7 oz 25-40 hours duration, £5-99 to £7-99)
Medium housewarmer jar candle (14.05oz 60-75 hours duration, £13-99)
Medium 2 wick tumbler (12.5 oz 45-50 hours duration, £12-99)
Large housewarmer jar candle (22 oz 100-150 hours duration, £17-99)
Large 2 wick tumbler (22.7 oz 70-90 hours duration, £16-99)
Lidded glass tumbler (7oz 35-45 hours duration, £8-99)
Car tab housewarmer jar cardboard freshener (6-8 weeks duration, £1-99)
Car air vent gel pack (4-6 weeks duration £2-85, 3 pack additional at £5-98)
Car Pump 'n' Go clip on air vent freshener (4-6 weeks, £7-20)
Tea light scented candles (240 grams, 4-6 hours per candle, 12 in a box £5-99)
Aerosol Room Fragrance Spray (1.5oz, 400 spray limit £4-69 to £5-99)
On-The-Go Travel scented air freshener pen (limited edition) (£5-99, 65 sprays duration, contains odour eliminator additive.)

Final Thoughts

Vibrant, refreshing and very welcoming, "Country Lemonade," is an absolute must for anyone who likes sweet candles that aren't too sticky or plain in its approach. Constantly strong and developed, Country Lemonade will suit Yankee Candle fans who love "Black Cherry," "Sweet Strawberry," or even those who adore the "Clean Cotton," washing powder candles - the honey keeps the scent grounded whilst also providing a freshness at the same time. Thanks for reading! ©Nar2 2011

www.yankeecandle.co.uk