A*Men Pure Coffee (2008)
by Thierry Mugler

I enjoy coffee but this scent gives off a stale coffee smell in the top that is not blended in well. The notes itself are not bad but this coffee is not something that I would really want to smell like. Coffee needs to be blended with other notes to such as vanilla to be successful in my opinion and while this does have supporting notes the coffee drowns them out in the top. Some people may like this, especially if you like coffee, but this won't be getting you very many compliments from females.

The dry down is more redeeming in its reminiscence of A Men but it is not enough to save this fragrance.

In short, projection, silage, and longevity are slightly above average. Execution for serious coffee lovers will be good but most mainstream consumers will not approve. This is not bad, but who wants to smell like a coffee pot? My least favorite of the A Men line. 6 out of 10.

4th January, 2012.

Pure Coffee is my least favorite of the A*Men progeny. Now don't get me wrong, that doesn't mean I wouldn't go fishing with the man. I like Pure Coffee but not enough. Where Pure Malt is a nostril burning streak of Kentucky and Pure Havane is a smooth cherry tobacco marvel and daddy A*Men is anything he wants to be, Pure Coffee is a bitter coffee concoction reminiscent of New Harrlem, but lacking in stamina. I love the strong coffee opening but wish it would last longer before diving into a skin scent with coffee (toned down to a whisper), patchouli, musk and a touch of vetiver and cedar. I might be willing to change my rating from neutral to thumbs up but it is totally dependent on how our long-planned fishing trip to Lake Superior goes. Largest fish gets to choose the final rating. I'm guessing I will be tricked into a thumbs up. Now where are my whiskey and cigars?

UPDATE: After a candid conversation with Mr. A*Men Pure Coffee, I've decided to give him a thumbs up. Longevity is my greatest concern with this flanker, but the opening is wonderful and I can always reapply or apply on fabric.

9th December, 2011. (Last Edited: 11th December, 2011.)

I love a good coffee note in a fragrance. The cappucino note in Rochas Man is what made me fall in love with it. Recently, I looked for a new, higher priced, and higher quality coffee fragrance so I got a sample of this and New Haarlem. Both are pricey now that this is discontinued but I am willing to shell out for quality. Thierry Mugler is known for quality and a well blended fragrance, but I have never been able to get passed the well known "difficult" opening the house is known for. For A men it is tar, B men rhubarb, malt you smell like a brewery, and havane you smell like you have been smoking all night. This one i thought might be different. It is, it is more subtle and of a lesser quality. It fades and stays close to the skin and gets harder and harder to detect with each passing hour. After 3 or4 it is almost gone on my skin. And then there is that classic smell that is in all of the fragrances with this bottle shape. I dont know exactly what does it, maybe there is some undisclosed notes, but to me it is a waxy crayon smell. Like you sprayed a quality gourmand fragrance on an opened box of crayolas! I just cant get passed it, its unique, overwhelming, and when i smell it I just say...hmm. i dont know. Not the OMG this smells amazing you should get when you pay top dollar for a fragrance. Now New Haarlem is sweet, gourmand, coffee and patchouli and from top to bottom just amazing. None of that," hmm thats weird", or" i dont know about this", that you get from pure coffee. In addition, its of a higher quality and i get more projection and longevity. If you are looking for a quality coffee gourmand, go with bond no 9 like I am, you wont regret it.

9th December, 2011.

Basically a softer, tamed, "moral", civilized and less bombastic flanker that i smell throughout the journey as less frosty and angular, with a softer presence of lavender and chemical mint-anise (Helonial)and with a sheer central note of dark bitter coffee that replaces the starring chocolate of A*Man Original. I don't smell chocolate in here or may be the bitterness i detect is to be ascribed to the undertone of a dark chocolate without milk (unlike the A*Man Cappuccino) which interacts with arabica coffee. The patchouli is still starring in the final outcome but is not the infamous and notorious original patchouli while the frosty-mentholated A*Man'a blades are here rather an accord of vetiver, aromatic greens, moss and musk.  I smell it rather onedimentional and with a shorter progression because i don't detect a sheer passage from the bombastic lavender-mint-anise-Helonial-tar accord to the smoothness and the final outcome is paradoxically less mellow (subdued presence of caramel) and vanillic than the original. I'd say that Pure Coffee is a sort of stuck flanker. Not bad at all but finally i prefer the brasher A*Man, if must we have to dense, well let's dance.

10th October, 2011.

I think Pure Coffee Shop would have been a more appropriate name for this one. As a big fan of organic / fair trade coffees, I have to say, this doesn't really smell like dry coffee, ground coffee, roasted coffee, coffee beans etc. Not at all. It has more of a "coffee shop" smell, with some baked goods lingering in the background. Sweet and creamy.

When I first acquired this now rare juice, I was expecting actual coffee notes, so I was a little let down. However, after a few wearings, I started to really appreciate this one. It opens pretty sharp and strong, and projects very well for about 2-3 hours, before settling down, and sticking a little closer to the skin.

It's more subtle than the original A*Men. I like powerhouse fragrances, but it's nice to have this flanker that's a little more subdued, less obnoxious, and has an increased amount of that Mugler "coffee" note. It's more wearable than the original, but still a cool weather scent.

Pure Coffee is a very nice fragrance. It's not awe-inspiring, but it's a very welcome addition to anyone's fall/winter wardrobe.

18th September, 2011.

Opens up with a pure dry coffee note, right in your face, and minutes later the scent almost completely disappears, getting close to the skin.

21st August, 2011.