Tea at BG Roja Parfums 2024

Tea at BG is a special fragrance in several ways: Not only because it is limited to 100 (or according to some sources: 130) copies and was exclusively available for a few days at Bergdorf Goodman in New York, but also because it could be one, if not the last fragrance personally created by Roja Dove.

Just a few weeks ago, the Roja house announced that starting next year, Antoine Cotton will be responsible for the house's fragrances for the first time.

This is reason enough to approach the test with particular interest and to ponder how the founder of the house might say goodbye.

Immediately after spraying, the opening begins with a fig wrapped in pale yellow citrus.
This fig, which achieves a good balance between woody and fruity nuances, is meant to remain dominant for the first third of the fragrance's development.

While the intensity of the lemon accord quickly fades, the fig remains pleasantly tart for quite a while thanks to it.

In the background, green players quickly join in: Basil and bergamot flicker, dimming the bright top note a bit, pulling it in a more complex direction and giving the fragrance a certain looseness for a moment.

Slowly, the fragrance develops in a familiar direction, and here I agree with DavidB: At times, there is clearly more than just a hint of "Oceania | Roja Parfums" in the air.

At this stage, the fig begins to recede into the background, and the tea takes the lead. The creamy base tips into the powdery, a soft leather is surrounded by violets, but above all, there is the green-tart tea.

The progression of this fragrance is as complex as it is beautiful; new nuances flash up repeatedly and then disappear again in the Roja-typical blending. Sometimes I smell the sweet-tart blackcurrant, sometimes I get the impression of a subtle green fresh mint.

In the end, alongside the powdery-creamy woods, there remains a cocoa underlaid with vanilla, reminiscent of "Britannia (2016) | Roja Parfums." And so the perhaps last fragrance journey that Roja Dove takes us on comes to a close.

Tea at BG is a distinguished fragrance that manages to stay youthful without drifting into childishness, to be serious while remaining approachable.

A wonderful release, from which we can only hope that it finds its way into mass production.