Kaffeeklatsch

created with Ideogram AI and lots of Adobe Photoshop

I have always loved the smell of coffee. When I was a kid, my Dad and I would go to a place called The Bun Penny, which was located at the Mall in Columbia in Columbia, MD. A large portion of the floor was covered in giant sacks full of aromatic coffee beans, and I delighted in sniffing each variety. I can still conjure up the smell of The Bun Penny in my mind's nose, but it isn't solely scented with coffee. There's also the scent of raw almonds, though I can't remember if they sold those or not. It is a precious scent memory I am always trying to recreate through perfume, but haven't yet reached that particular scented nirvana.

There aren't all that many coffee fragrances on the market, actually. Sure, there are perfumes that contain a coffee note, but not that many that star my favorite caffeinated beverage. And some that do, like Montale's Intense Cafe and Ristretto Intense Cafe, pair it with rose. Those, to my nose, are rose fragrances that happens to have some coffee in them. When I see a coffee fragrance, I give it a try, but few have actually come home with me. My absolute favorite is the sadly discontinued Comme des Garcons Sweet Wood Coffee, from their Sweet line of fragrances. They brought back Sticky Cake, so I'm hoping that Wood Coffee will reemerge from the archives someday. I have a small bottle that I treasure, and I use it sparingly. It makes me feel so cozy and delicious. 

Apparently coffee is a trending note these days, so we'll be seeing more of it, and that's fine with me.

Comme des Garcons Sweet Wood Coffee

Licorice, Cardamom, Ginger, Coffee, Almond, Woodsy Notes, Indian Patchouli, Vanilla

This is one of my all-time favorite fragrances. It's coffee, but not, with none of the dark bitterness of actual coffee. It's gourmand-ish, but not too sweet; spicy, but without recognizable spices; and woody, without splinters. Sweet Wood Coffee is so well-blended that I find it hard to pick out individual notes. It just envelops me into the most gorgeous cloud of edible scent. Stunning, and I was crushed that it was discontinued before I was able to snag a back-up bottle or three. I have half a bottle and use it sparingly.

Al Rehab French Coffee

Coffee, Caramel, Vanilla, Milk, Sugar, Cacao, Cinnamon

This is liquid tiramisu in a bottle. The coffee note is quite strong and black at first, but soon fades into an amalgam of sweet and creamy notes reminiscent of the delicious Italian dessert. Nice, but rather one-dimensional. I wish it had some patchouli or woods in the drydown to ground it a bit. 

Bonus Trivia: Retired Baltimore bakery owner Carminantonio Iannaccone claims to have invented tiramisu while he was still living in Treviso, Italy. I've tried his version--it's very good. Impossible to say if it was the original.

Bohoboco Coffee White Flowers
Cinnamon, Cloves, Chocolate, Coffee, Cocoa, Jasmine, Golden Rum, Vanilla, Leather

This starts out like the most delicious caramel latte, and honestly, I would be happy if the notes ended at cocoa and I smelled like this all day. But I am not unhappy that the scent gradually changes to a sexy honeyed white floral. It's an amazing transformation, so totally unexpected, but completely delicious. A great scent for the transition from Winter to Spring, but I find it a bit too sweet for Summer wearing. 

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Posted by theminx on Minxstinks