Annatto Tincture & Alcohol-Free Extract

Annatto (Bixa orellana), also called achiote or lipstick tree, is a shrub or small tree of the Bixaceae family, native to tropical Central and South America and the Caribbean and planted throughout the tropics. It grows 3 to 8 meters with large heart-shaped leaves and showy pink or white five-petaled flowers like wild roses. The fruit is a soft, spiny, red to brown heart-shaped pod that splits open to reveal 30 to 50 seeds coated in waxy orange-red pulp. That pulp, rich in the pigment bixin, colors cheddar cheese and much Latin American cooking. We extract the dried leaf and seed separately.