Top Notes 
Basil
Bergamot
Finger lime
Grapefruit
Lemon petitgrain
Heart Notes 
Blackcurrant
Fig
Hay
Maté
Orange blossom
Rose
Tea
Violet
Base Notes 
Amber
Black pepper
Cedarwood
Cocoa
Gaiac wood
Leather
Nutmeg
Saffron
Vanilla
NicheOnly
136 Reviews
NicheOnly
3
The suckas got duped
Prior to 2025, I hadn't smelled a single scent with a retail price tag above €1,000. In the last 2 weeks, I have gone through 5 such fragrances from British niche brand Roja Parfums with the ultimate product being this very fragrance, i.e. Tea at BG. One opinion that I have firmly stood behind is that a higher price brings superior product, as best indicated by most of the niche market leaders being €500+ fragrances, e.g. Nefs, XXI: Art Deco - Blonde Amber, Jump Up and Kiss Me Hedonistic and others. However, after having smelled these 5 fragrances, I cannot help but conclude that the next tier above €1,000, esp. as it relates to limited product, is there strictly to take the money of the inexperienced sucker as if there was a parabolic relationship between price and product. And it doesn't take long for me to come to this conclusion with Tea at BG because there's never a single phase of this scent's wear where you'd say this is worthy of a price tag anywhere near the $1,100 at which Bergdorf Goodman managed to sell out this product.
The scent opens as a combination of a citrus tea fragrance like Nishane's Wūlóng Chá Extrait de Parfum and an airy sandalwood-iris scent like BDK's Gris Charnel Eau de Parfum. Subsequently smelling the fragrance on skin, the citrusy qualities are very piercing as the listed lime note included in Tea at BG appears to take inspiration from Roja's own Elysium pour Homme Parfum. This prominent citrus accord is initially flanked by light sweetness and a developing spiciness, somewhat reminding me of the way Ex Nihilo structured The Hedonist Extrait de Parfum, specifically the Extrait version. The ultimate drydown also has this sweet citrusy tone against a very noticeable spiciness which I am allocating to the violet and black pepper. As it evolves a little more, I have an easier time spotting the floral accord that everyone says this fragrance is dominated by, as a light white floral accord is used in either the base or the heart of Tea at BG. Additionally, when you go looking for notes by putting your face in it, I get a fairly typical amberwoody base blend. Somewhat inconceivably, there was never a stage where this fragrance smelled fruity and the voting on such an accord feels puzzling.
I think the most underwhelming part about Tea at BG is that unlike with Lost in Paris, this scent never offers up anything to even indicate that this is suppose to be a premium product. The scent doesn't come off as some sort of a special nor unique tea fragrance and I would argue it doesn't even match the quality of the product currently at the top of the smoky tea genre (where you have scents like Matsukita, Indigo Smoke and I-III Russian Tea). It is this lack of quality that I feel is a driver in how I am rating the scent, albeit there is no upside from the profile either. This commentary isn't even inclusive of the price and the fact that this is a limited product that is sold out.
I feel like I've seen this game play out before in many different avenues: with the sneaker community as Nike flooded the market with dunks and Jordans after the pandemic, with the gaming community as developers started gaming-as-a-service where they'd launch incomplete product and sell you cosmetic items within the game at half the cost of the original title, in consumer electronics where peripherals were separated to charge you extra for headphones, chargers etc. Ultimately, while product like Tea at BG isn't a market-moving product by any means due to the low stock, it serves as an example of the direction where the fragrance market is heading when the product is not only tolerated, but also promoted. At the end of the day, even if I am not the one carrying water for Roja's premium bracket, somebody else is and that somebody, in my eyes, is the sucka.
The scent opens as a combination of a citrus tea fragrance like Nishane's Wūlóng Chá Extrait de Parfum and an airy sandalwood-iris scent like BDK's Gris Charnel Eau de Parfum. Subsequently smelling the fragrance on skin, the citrusy qualities are very piercing as the listed lime note included in Tea at BG appears to take inspiration from Roja's own Elysium pour Homme Parfum. This prominent citrus accord is initially flanked by light sweetness and a developing spiciness, somewhat reminding me of the way Ex Nihilo structured The Hedonist Extrait de Parfum, specifically the Extrait version. The ultimate drydown also has this sweet citrusy tone against a very noticeable spiciness which I am allocating to the violet and black pepper. As it evolves a little more, I have an easier time spotting the floral accord that everyone says this fragrance is dominated by, as a light white floral accord is used in either the base or the heart of Tea at BG. Additionally, when you go looking for notes by putting your face in it, I get a fairly typical amberwoody base blend. Somewhat inconceivably, there was never a stage where this fragrance smelled fruity and the voting on such an accord feels puzzling.
I think the most underwhelming part about Tea at BG is that unlike with Lost in Paris, this scent never offers up anything to even indicate that this is suppose to be a premium product. The scent doesn't come off as some sort of a special nor unique tea fragrance and I would argue it doesn't even match the quality of the product currently at the top of the smoky tea genre (where you have scents like Matsukita, Indigo Smoke and I-III Russian Tea). It is this lack of quality that I feel is a driver in how I am rating the scent, albeit there is no upside from the profile either. This commentary isn't even inclusive of the price and the fact that this is a limited product that is sold out.
I feel like I've seen this game play out before in many different avenues: with the sneaker community as Nike flooded the market with dunks and Jordans after the pandemic, with the gaming community as developers started gaming-as-a-service where they'd launch incomplete product and sell you cosmetic items within the game at half the cost of the original title, in consumer electronics where peripherals were separated to charge you extra for headphones, chargers etc. Ultimately, while product like Tea at BG isn't a market-moving product by any means due to the low stock, it serves as an example of the direction where the fragrance market is heading when the product is not only tolerated, but also promoted. At the end of the day, even if I am not the one carrying water for Roja's premium bracket, somebody else is and that somebody, in my eyes, is the sucka.
Updated on 02/03/2025
Lukovic11
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