I used to look down on flavored teas. If tea is of high quality, why add anything else to it, I thought. Then, I reconsidered my prejudices, because it turned out that a well-crafted flavored tea could be a thing of beauty. Additional aromas highlight the complex flavor of Camellia sinesis leaves, revealing different nuances. A hint of osmanthus, for instance, can make certain types of oolongs seem sweeter, while rose softens the smoky edges of black teas. It makes for a different but no less enjoyable experience than drinking a cup of unadorned grand cru blend.

Some of the most interesting combinations are of tea and flowers. Scent science explains why such pairings have become classics– tea leaves and blossoms like rose, osmanthus, gardenia or violet share a number of fragrant compounds in common. When blended, the complementary aromas create affinities that enrich the flavor of tea as well as its fragrance.

Continue reading →

Our “Recommend Me a Perfume” thread is open this week. You can use this space to find perfume recommendations, to share your discoveries and favorite scents, and to ask any questions about scents, aromas and flavors. Or you can just tell us what perfume you are wearing!

How does it work: 1. Please post your requests or questions as comments here. You can also use this space to ask any fragrance related questions. To receive recommendations that are better tailored to your tastes, you can include details on what you like and don’t like, your signature perfumes, and your budget. And please let us know what you end up sampling. 2. Then please check the thread to see if there are other requests you can answer. Your responses are really valuable for navigating the big and sometimes confusing world of perfume, so let’s help each other!

To make this thread easier to read, when you reply to someone, please click on the blue “reply” link under their comment.

Photography by Bois de Jasmin

Munnar, a hill station in the southwestern state of Kerala, is one of India’s largest tea producers. Ensconced in the Western Ghats mountain range, the town is surrounded by plantations that cascade down the hills and hide in misty ravines. I was in Munnar for my honeymoon, and my recollections of long languorous walks around the tea gardens, the tolling church bells, and the opulence of flower garlands at the Sri Subramanya Temple are laced with the scent of tea leaves. Crushed in my fingers, they smelled green and tannic; when carried by the morning breeze, the aroma resembled violets and driftwood.

The fragrance of tea has captivated many perfumers, but it was Jean-Claude Ellena who created the tea accord that became a trendsetter. Today it’s known as Bulgari Eau Parfumée au Thé Vert. Curiously, the fragrance wasn’t meant to make a big splash. When the Italian jewelry house of Bulgari approached Ellena, they were merely looking to offer a perfume in their boutiques, an elegant addition to their collection of adornments. Meanwhile, Ellena had a sketch of a fragrance that his other clients deemed a bit too innovative. It was an etude evoking the aroma of tea, and it was perfect for Bulgari. However, as soon as the house started offering Eau Parfumée au Thé Vert in its boutiques, it drew so much attention that Bulgari had to stage a wider launch.

Continue reading →

A special announcement for my readers in Taipei. I will be participating in a discussion about Ukraine on Tuesday July 23rd. You can find the information below as well as via this link. Please stop by and say hello.

When the Russian-Ukrainian war broke out in 2022, the Taiwanese media constantly compared Russia to China and Taiwan to Ukraine, reflecting the fear of the war in Taiwan.

​
In 2023, Faces published Victoria Belim’s family history “The Rooster House”, which was written by the author who grew up in Ukraine and moved to Chicago, USA at the age of 15. In this book, the author uses an autobiographical style, starting with the disputes among family members regarding different historical views and political positions on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The author returns to Ukraine and, from the clues of his time with his grandmother, in the secret police unit “Rooster House”, archives and museums around the world, she pieced together the past of a family that was silenced during the socialist era in Ukraine, allowing the author to understand the authoritarian legacy that is still affecting the present from a more historical and profound perspective.
​
In addition to viewing this war as a projection of Taiwan’s anxiety about being invaded, two years after the war began, can we have a deeper understanding of the impact and changes in the meaning of this war on Europe, on Ukraine, and on Victoria Bellim and her family? We invited Chi-Xin Liu, the author of “The Making of Truth” – who used to work with a team of reporters to record the “invisible” people and events in the Ukrainian war through first-hand interviews, and wrote “Ukraine’s Impossible War.” Through the conversation, we will explore everything that Ukraine is facing at the moment, how Taiwan can learn from it, and when totalitarian forces infiltrate the people, is there a possibility of reconnection after division.
​
▍Lecture information To Register

Date｜7/23 (Tuesday) 19:30 – 21:00
Dialogue｜Victoria Belim (author of “The Rooster House”), Chi-Xin Liu (author of “The Making of Truth”, host of the podcast “Excuse Me”)

Location｜Xianliulu Store (1F, No.26, Lane 25, Sec.3, Chongqing N Rd, Taipei; 3 minutes walk from Exit 3 of MRT Daqiaotou Station)

Date: 2024.7.23 19:30 – 21:00

Ticket｜NT$150 (Line Pay, Cultural Coin)

Registration by appointment + on-site payment, the venue is limited to 35 people, and registration will be closed when the quota is full.

Announcement: I have an opening in the workshop/seminar on Japanese Incense.
Location: Online, Zoom
Date: July 14th, Sunday 12:00pm-1:30pm EST/6:00pm-7:30pm CET
SOLD OUT

In his marvelous essay Why Read the Classics? Italo Calvino offers 14 definitions of what makes a classic piece of literature. Reflecting on his list, I thought how easily its ideas could also be applied to perfumery. The same notions of the inexhaustible sense of discovery, timelessness, and “imprints on our imagination” also define a classic scent, be it Guerlain Shalimar or Chanel No 5. It was Calvino’s 13th point, however, that struck a chord. “A classic is a work which relegates the noise of the present to a background hum, which at the same time the classics cannot exist without,” he says. They’re rooted in the present even as they transcend it.

Inspired by Calvino, I decided to draw up a personal list of perfume classics, creations that reflect their moment and yet have timeless relevance. The first I selected was Serge Lutens’ Féminité du Bois, a fragrance conceived by the artist and photographer for Japanese brand Shiseido in 1992. Lutens wanted a perfume based on the Atlas cedarwood, and he sought to convey the softness of the ingredient that beguiled him ever since he came to Morocco in the 1960s. Initially when Lutens talked to the perfumers about his idea, he encountered a lack of comprehension. Cedarwood was traditionally treated as a sharp, masculine note and few fragrance professionals understood how to reinterpret it in a different guise.

Continue reading →