Tea for Two (2000)
by L'Artisan Parfumeur

A stalwart-aged, bourbon soaked oak barrel scented with gently sweetened, heady vanillin and smoky-frothed black tea. Throw in some spicy clove (the actual notes are cinnamon and ginger) and TfT is born.

This fragrance screams fall and winter to me. I just want to cuddle up under silky-soft, heavy blankets to read and sip steaming mugs of tea. Which, as it so happens, is what I am currently doing as I write these thoughts.

Tea for Two has the warmth and smoky depth I wanted when I wore CBIHP Russian Caravan Tea.

My only real issue with TfT is that I personally want to smell more like tea and less like drowsy booze cocktails. Should I truly desire to waft booze all day, I'd be a bit upset. TfT dried down to a masala chai type scent before disappearing completely after only two-three hours. Sad for a fragrance this expensive. I’m hoping that it’s just me, and that others will get more longevity.

I asked for a recommendation of a fragrance that reminded one of chai. This was one that was suggested. Like a mug of chai, the first fragrances for me are spices. There is a bit of smoke. I don’t know that I would recognize tea if I didn’t know the name of the fragrance.

I really like this to wear to work, as it doesn’t have much sillage, but does last all day. It’s an intimate fragrance that I wear for myself.

How great! This tea has some smoked whiskey and honey in it. Very different.
It can make you think of a less cloying and more fruity version of tobacco vanille.
Super performances.

I'm not a fan of the name of this fragrance, as it's a bit misleading. "Tea for Two" sounds like two ladies drinking tea and eating finger sandwiches in a British period piece. The feeling that this fragrance gives off is waaaay more intimate than that. It conjures up a snowy evening in a country home in the woods.

Tea, cinnamon, ginger, and honey are the notes, and that's precisely what you get. A warm, spicy, Christmas-y vibe. The ginger is a little overpowering at first, but becomes much more tolerable as it dries down. The cinnamon is there, but subtly. It's what gives this perfume the spiciness and little bit of heat that it has. This is unisex, but I think this falls a little more on the feminine side. The only issue I have with this is that it is very elegant on one hand, and veering dangerously close to smelling like a country-style home does; you know, the ones with Yankee Candles and potpourri sachets all over the place.

It's not bad, but it's not something that I could see myself wearing, nor is it something I would enjoy on a member of the opposite sex. It's just an interesting fragrance, and that's about it for me.

Neutral.

The Alcoholic, Father Mathias by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec 1882