Coffee perfumes

What coffee brings

Coffee notes are usually made from coffee absolute or a carbon dioxide extract of roasted beans, sometimes supported by an accord. The effect is roasted, bitter, a little smoky and faintly leathery, with a dry sweetness underneath. It is a gourmand note, but a dark and dry one, which is why it works as a counterweight to sugar.

How it behaves

Coffee is a hard note to place, and perfumers use it both in the top and in the heart. In the top it gives a sharp, roasted first impression that settles quickly. In the heart it sits between sweet and woody materials and links them. Good partners are vanilla, caramel, tonka bean, patchouli, cardamom and spice. It also works next to flowers, where it makes white blossoms feel less sweet.

Perfumes with coffee

• Fragrance Du Bois Minuit et Demi puts coffee in the heart beside caramel, under cardamom, pimento and bergamot, above vetiver, cedarwood, cashmeran, vanilla and musk. Fragrance Du Bois files it as gourmand woody.
• Jo Milano Paris Game of Spades No Limit keeps coffee in the heart with coconut, iris, milk chocolate and amyris, between rosemary and Sicilian mandarin and a base of agarwood (oud) and tonka bean. Jo Milano Paris lists woody, balsamic and sweet among its descriptions.
• Reinvented Eureka opens on bergamot, coffee and violet leaf, moves to jasmine, black pepper, nutmeg and cardamom, and ends on styrax, patchouli, tolu balm and sandalwood. Reinvented calls it oriental spicy.
• Tiziana Terenzi Delox starts with white hyacinth, royal iris and coffee, followed by Turkish rose, vanilla and sweet myrrh, and settles on amber, white musk, acacia honey and cedar wood. Tiziana Terenzi calls it oriental.

How to choose

Look at where the coffee sits. In the top it is a brief, roasted greeting; in the heart it becomes part of the scent's character. Next, look at what balances it: caramel and chocolate make a dessert, wood and oud make something drier, iris and white flowers give a cooler, more elegant contrast. Because coffee is bitter, many people find it easier to enjoy in a perfume that also has a creamy or woody base. A higher concentration will keep the roasted effect closer to the skin for longer.