Russian Caravan Tea by CB I Hate Perfume, 2005

Smells a lot like Tom Ford Grey Vetiver Nice scent, does smell like tea (roses, lemon, something metallic). I detect NO smokiness, which is a staple of Russian Caravan tea (blended with Lapsang Souchong). Disappointed it has no smoky note. Otherwise it's a nice rose scent with some sort of vetiver-verbena lemon grass note that makes it smell sorta like tea.

RUSSIAN CARAVAN TEA starts off deceptively weak but gains in substance as the water base dries off. It recalls the aroma of a lightly spiced and fruit-infused tea which I find a little smoky as though the dried tea leaves are burnt slightly. I have always enjoyed tea-based scents and this composition from Christopher Brosius is a delight even if 'wearability' is not its strongest suit.

*** This review is of the water perfume, not the absolute ***

This is very pleasant, a slightly sweet, musty, milk tea. I don't really get the citrus notes others are smelling nor is it particularly bright. On my skin there's a gentle sadness to it and there's a nice sense of refined sophistication. . Great longevity too despite not being powerful at any point. I wouldn't insist anybody buys it but as something a little different it's definitely worth trying.

Remember powdered Nestle's Sweetened Iced Tea mix? This is exactly that scent. I can't say I dislike it because RCT reminds me of carefree summer vacations as a child - much to my parent's dismay I drank gallons of the stuff. I can't say I like it because I don't want to smell like sweetened iced tea. Amazing how CB I Hate Perfume can capture these essences.

A somewhat green, very bright tea scent with an overdose of zesty citrus that is remarkably long-lived, though bought at the price of smelling synthetic. Not at all dark or smoky like actual Russian Caravan tea.

This smelled most spicy and tea-like to me, and it lingered for awhile, which is more than most of the others of this line that I have tried. I liked that it wasn't as sweet as it was spicy, and I liked the ratio of tea to spice. I will give this to my daughter, who likes scented oils; it is too plain for me, despite it being nice.

Okay, here is my story about Russian Caravan Tea. My significant other is a professional food critic, tea snob, and aesthete (the adjective "professional" applies to all of those nouns). And despite his universal appreciation for beauty wherever it is found, he didn't get into perfume at first (for the first twenty or so perfumes I made him smell). When I put this on his wrist, though, he said that it was the first time he understood that a perfume could be beautiful. (All the CB scents smell really different on different people - try them on your friends for a greater variety of aesthetic experience.)

More a crisp, bright tea than a dark, smoky one. The tea is there throughout, and is the predominant note. In the topnotes there is a smell a bit like a cleaning product. In the middle, I too get something musty, sort of a similar note to that in Messe de Minuit that smells like old books. As the scent dries down, it becomes a soft yet crisp tea scent, sort of like a cup of Lipton tea with some lemon in it. Not dark, spicy, or smoky at all, and not all that complex. In the end, I am left shrugging my shoulders.

It starts with a fresh green tea note and dries down to a little musty scent that reminds me strongly of In The Library. It reminds me of mushrooms. Where's the smoked tea? L'Artisans Tea for two suits the name better...