Café Tuberosa Atelier Cologne 2017

… or rather "Welcome to the Coffee House"?

Freshly ground coffee is one of those scents that I absolutely love in everyday life, but I approach it with a healthy dose of skepticism when it comes to perfume for good reason. So far, every coffee perfume experience has left me with curled lips. Instead of fresh beans, I smelled coffee breath, instead of a coffee shop, unwashed breakfast dishes. I feel similarly about tuberose. I have one in a pot on the terrace and in summer, when it blooms - which it certainly doesn't do every year, the diva - I would love to set up a tent in the garden to enjoy the scent around the clock. In the bottle, however, all tuberose soliflores have left me somewhat perplexed - or completely overwhelmed. And even when it's just a note in a fragrance, tuberose has ruined more than one perfume for me.

Bad news for Café Tuberosa. One might think …

A bit hesitantly, I dab a drop from the sample onto my pulse, a door opens and sweeps me away along with a gust of rough December wind into a warm, cozy café. The true scent of freshly ground coffee beans fills the air, the coffee machine hisses behind the counter, and creamy, sweet delicacies tempt from the tiered stand. At the table in the corner sits an elegant woman in front of a piece of Sachertorte with whipped cream, a Small Black steaming in her cup. Everything is there, the indescribable coffee aroma, the muted chocolate sweetness, the wood of the floorboards, but also of the counter and the creamy scent of the white flowers on the connoisseur's table. Or is it her floral perfume rising from her décolletage and gently weaving with the other notes?
As the fragrance develops, the coffee slowly recedes but never completely disappears. Patchouli is listed and may contribute to this illusion in the base. The flowers gradually take over the helm. Tuberose? I don't know. Rose? Hmm … I imagine more of a tropical fantasy flower. Or even coffee blossoms?
Although I wouldn't necessarily describe Café Tuberosa as a gourmand fragrance, it always retains something edible, creamy, delicious, without ever losing the brightness of an Eau de Cologne.

While I am fascinatedly sniffing my arm and completely forgetting to grind coffee for Sunday breakfast, the question gnaws at me how long I can stretch this sample so that this beautiful, light-hearted scent accompanies me for as long as possible.