Poured Candle Bar in Hudson | Photos by Ryan Tiscareno
Custom candle-making, local wine tasting, and delicious snacks form a one-of-a-kind experience at Poured Candle Bar in Columbia County.
Who doesn’t love a delicious wine tasting in the Hudson Valley? Paired with a bit of shopping and a craft workshop, few things compare to the latest concept to hit Warren Street.
Couple Dennis Green and Ricky Tiscareno envisioned a user-friendly retail experience for visitors to the gem of Columbia County. Guests of Poured Candle Bar create their own custom candles, make a signature perfume or cologne, and blend fragrances for diffusers.
“With Hudson being such a destination for getaways, we wanted a concept that blended a ton of elements together for a perfect way to spend your afternoon,” Green says. “Do something creative, try some local products on our beer and wine menu. Then, at the end, you get to walk away with something.”
That something is a completely personalized fragrance. When shoppers and day-trippers follow their nose, they find an incredible experience at Poured Candle Bar. It all starts with the fragrance menu, 12 classic profiles designed as a starting point of the olfactory journey. The final product will be the harmony of a base note, a mid note, and a top note, composing a one-of-a-kind sensation.
Green and Tiscerano are always available for a mini consultation. Turn to them for which scents complement each other well, what clashes, and how to achieve certain effects. The clean, fresh, floral notes of a room spray will differ from the earthy spice of a cologne. Reed diffusers may inspire an alternate effect from an artisanal candle, designed to burn.
“We love to do puns and plays on words. We have funny names for all the different categories of fragrance profile,” Green says. “We want to have fun; that’s the whole point. Ricky and I don’t want people to feel intimidated with something they haven’t done before. They can do this and make a great product.” Paint and sips can be fun in theory, but how many people can walk away with a well-executed piece of art? Anyone who enters Poured Candle Bar leaves with a legitimate perfume, candle, or fragrance oil infused with their own creative expression.
As for the category names, the pair wrote clever puns to keep things loose and imaginative. Small quips and references like Little Shop of Florals, Musk Ado About Nothing, and Life Hands You Lemons introduce untrained noses to fragrance building blocks. Down to Earth features herbaceous notes. All the Heals showcases the healing properties of lavender, jasmine tea, and hemp. Alternatively, Down and Dirty comprises heavy base notes like charcoal, firewood, and leather.
Poured Candle Bar also pays homage to regional history and folklore in its signature home fragrance line. The scent 20 Year Sleep not only refers to the legend of Rip Van Winkle, but retells his story with smells.
“That’s why you can see it starts with this heavier, more kind of sedative base of absinthe and lavender. Similarly, it goes through this kind of foresty sort of mid note. At the end, it’s a splash of mint as a top note just to kind of wake you up a little bit,” Green illustrates. “Above all, it’s been fun to kind of like talk through those visuals with people while they’re sampling the fragrances.”
Within these groupings, the possibilities for a final combination are nearly endless. One category in particular embodies the spirit of the two worlds bridged by this Hudson spot. Lacking Inhibitions comprises all of the liquor and alcohol-themed scents. Inspired by the Hudson Valley spirits and, of course, vino available at the bar, booze enthusiasts recreate their favorite cocktails and vintages in candle form.
“We pull all the concentrated fragrance oil and teach them how to blend it into a mixing beaker,” Green says. While that’s happening, a local upstate beer, wine, and cider menu keeps visitors occupied. The mixing process takes about 45 minutes, and another 90 to cure. Visitors can either come back later to pick up their designer candle, or sample local goodies during the wait. “While our guests are sitting at the bar and mixing their fragrances — and we’re talking to them and walking them through the process — they’re able to try some other things that are produced by local makers as well.”
Poured Candle Bar serves a collection of Hudson Valley-based products and offerings from a few areas further upstate. The owners formed a close relationship with Hudson-Chatham Winery, carrying newer releases like the dark, inky, and extremely herbal Castel. Typically, Green and Tiscerano pour whites and rosés with fresh and floral characteristics. Patrons sip on wines and smell a host of fragrances, embarking on a sensory journey beyond compare. Don’t worry, wine purists, there is an order to the odour. Before enjoying Marquettes and Baco Noirs, customers are presented with smoky coffee beans to reset their palettes.
A menu of plant-based cuisine pairs perfectly with the experience curated by Green and Tiscerano, the former who has adhered to a vegan diet for the last decade. Like many elements of the shop, Hudson Valley makers take center stage. Treeline Cheese of Kingston makes French-style cashew cheeses. Poured Candle pairs those creamy delights with Catskill’s Potters Table crackers and fermented jams from Atina Foods. Happy Belly Hudson‘s vegan and gluten-free baked goods make for a sweet ending to any visit this Warren Street hangout.
“I think it’s like it’s just a very user friendly, engaging experience here,” Green says. “It’s been very rewarding for first-time business owners to see people getting into the concept and having an appreciation for it. People have been stuck inside for a year. Now, they’re sipping wine and making fragrances with smiles on their faces.”
