L'Artisan Parfumeur Tea for Two

L'Artisan Parfumeur has a fair claim to being the first modern niche house. Founded in Paris in 1976 by Jean-Francois Laporte, a chemist turned perfumer, it built its identity on single ideas executed precisely, at a time when the industry was almost entirely designer-licensed. Tea for Two, released in 2000, is credited to Olivia Giacobetti, a perfumer known for a distinctive transparency, for working with very few materials, and for a series of tea and fig compositions that shaped an entire strand of contemporary perfumery. It is one of her most-loved works and one of the strangest tea fragrances ever put into commercial production.

Most tea fragrances are pale and green. This one is dark, dry and smoky. Lapsang-style smoked tea is the centre of it, and the smoke is real: tarry, slightly ashy, closer to a cold hearth than to a teapot. Star anise and bergamot sharpen the opening with a liquorice-tinged brightness, then cinnamon, ginger and a distinctly gingerbread-like spice accord arrive and give the whole thing a baked, warm quality without turning it sweet. The base is where it becomes unusual, with honey, tobacco, leather and vanilla producing something that smells like a smoked tea drunk in a wood-panelled room by someone who smokes. The gingerbread reading is strong enough that many people describe it as gourmand, but it is far too dry and smoky to sit comfortably in that family.

It is entirely unisex, and it is cold-weather perfume without qualification. A wet KwaZulu-Natal Midlands morning is exactly its temperature. In heat the smoke and honey can turn heavy and slightly sour.

On performance, it is better than its lightweight reputation suggests: six to eight hours, with the smoke and spice dominating early and honey and vanilla holding the drydown. The important practical caution is availability. Tea for Two has moved in and out of L'Artisan's catalogue over the years, disappearing for periods before being reissued, and stock has historically been intermittent. It also has a devoted following, which means bottles move quickly whenever it returns. If it suits you, treat it as a fragrance to secure rather than to think about.