Dipping tapers by hand

Our tapers are not poured into moulds. They are dipped, the way candles were made for centuries: a length of cotton wick lowered into warm beeswax, lifted out, left to set, and lowered again. Each dip adds a layer thinner than a sheet of paper. It takes around thirty to make a taper.

The morning's work

The wax is melted the evening before and brought slowly to temperature at dawn. It must be warm enough to stay liquid, but not so hot that each dip melts away the layer before it. We work just above the melting point of the wax, a little over 63 °C, and check the thermometer often.

The wicks are cut long and hung over a rod, so that each one makes two tapers joined at the top. That is how they come to you: as a pair, ready to be cut apart or hung on a hook.

Why it takes so long

Between dips, the wax needs to set. Dip too soon and the taper turns soft and uneven; wait, and each layer bonds firmly to the last. On a cool day a round takes a couple of minutes, so a full set of tapers takes the whole morning. Nobody hurries it.

The slow build is what makes a dipped taper burn so well. The wax is dense and even all the way through, and the wick sits exactly in the centre. Lit away from drafts, our tapers burn for about ten hours and hardly drip.

Each dip adds a layer thinner than paper. It takes thirty to make a taper.

Finishing

After the last dip, the tapers hang until they are completely firm. The bases are then trimmed flat and slightly narrowed, so they sit snugly in a candlestick. We check every pair by eye and by hand: straight, even, the wick centred. Any that are not go back into the pot.

Our tapers are unscented and undyed. Their colour is the natural gold of the wax, which shifts a little from batch to batch, and they smell faintly of honeycomb as they burn.

• Fit them snugly. If a candlestick is wide, wrap the base in a little foil.
• Keep them away from open windows, fans and doorways.
• Snuff them rather than blowing them out.