Cloves are unopened flower buds, picked by hand at the precise point before they bloom and dried in the sun until they turn deep red-brown.
The timing decides everything. Picked too early and the bud is thin and weak. Picked too late and it opens, and most of the oil is gone. Ours are picked with the round head still firmly attached to the stem, which is the fastest visual check on any clove you are thinking of buying. If the heads are missing and the pouch is mostly stems, walk away.
Sri Lankan cloves are valued for a high eugenol content, the compound responsible for that unmistakable sweet, medicinal aroma and the slight numbing effect on the tongue.
There is a second test worth knowing. Press a clove hard against paper. A good one leaves an oil mark. A dried out one leaves nothing.
