Imperial Tea (2024)

Bought this during the relaunch event. Tea fragrances are hard to love for me, especially those that are based on green tea. I find most of them to have an amazing opening followed by a quick deterioration into something faint and sour. Dior The Cachemire, and Kilians own Bamboo Harmony fall into that category. Vilhelms Dear Polly came very close to changing my opinion on tea, but unfortunately it's eureka moment comes way too late into the fragrance lifetime. I don't want to endure 3 hours of boringness for a pleasant dry down. Then came Imperial Tea and finally pushed me over the edge for green tea. This stuff is GORGEOUS. It is a profoundly soft fragrance, and not in a thin or absent way. The minimalist duo of tea and jasmine blend in a way that is petal soft yet rich and bold, but not cloying or heavy, not thin or sheer, just a perfect soft touch. Picture a constant tender caress: never overbearing but never absent either, just a permanent soft presence. That's the vibe I get from Imperial Tea. I don't know what kind of musk or ambroxan-adjecent molecule they've used in the base, but it acts as the perfect primer for the performance. It carries the scent of the tea and jasmine outwards while remaining undetectable itself to my nose. Adding a touch of Molecule 02 underneath works very well for this fragrance and gives it eternal longevity. Cannot recommend this fragrance enough. It will be a delight to wear this spring and summer.

I love Imperial Tea, it’s like a sister to Bamboo Harmony but with the most realistic jasmine tea that unfurls as it steeps and steams in zen-like purity. There’s a gentle aquatic note which helps with the realistic steam scent, combined with a grassy jasmine-floral sweetness, freshly cut grass, steamed greens and sweet seaweed. It’s fresh, warm and comforting. This is the perfect scent to cultivate mindfulness and inner peace. It just doesn’t last for longer than about 2 hours. It’s a real shame as I think this is what my spirit smells like. It’s nothing like Elizabeth Arden’s Green Tea if you’re trying to find a budget version, that stuff literally smells budget. It’s more like Eau De Magnolia by Frederic Malle in its delicate aquatic floral innocence. Although I have found a suitable budget replacement in JLo’s Still surprisingly. Update: I think this is an absolutely beautiful creation. I wore it to an evening meal out with friends and it was exquisite for the first hour then it left me. But I think it’s so beautiful but I can’t justify the price with it being amazing for only an hour. Please By Kilian can you make the extrait version of this. Update 2: I’ve managed to scratch my tea note itch with Still for a fraction of the price and it lasts.

Phenomenal. Best tea I’ve ever smelled. I’m really fussy about teas, I find a lot of them in fragrances are combined with bergamot (why??? They make the tea so astringent and sharp, and sometimes headache-inducing), but this one is so elegant, silky smooth and perfectly photorealistic. Nothing sharp or astringent at all. Just smooth, perfectly blended goodness. For those of you worried about (or hoping for) the seaweed, it doesn’t come through at all. This one smells like freshly and perfectly brewed pu’er, no milk, no astringency. Or if you’re a fan of Asian bubble tea - think the Chinese black tea they pour over ice before the milk is added. Phenomenal... best tea I’ve ever smelled. I’m torn between singing its praises everywhere, versus keeping it a secret so no one else around me has this. lol. Scent: gorgeously classy, realistic pu’er tea. Longevity: great for a tea! I get at least 6 hours and can usually faintly smell it at the end of my day Projection: average Polarity: unisex

I got a sample of this and it was love at first sniff. It smells like pure jasmine tea on me- I don't get any algae (thankfully) or other notes that detract from it's realistic beauty. As an aside, I was preparing to go on an extended trip and I didn't want to risk my bottle getting broken in my luggage so I ordered the roll-on dupe from oil perfumery, and I'm glad to say that it smells exactly the same as the original on me, with the added benefit of being much longer lasting than the original. In fact, a student I was traveling with told me that "you always smell so good, you definitely smell expensive." Now if your skin amps up the other notes in the original, I don't know if you'll get that here because all I get is photorealistic jasmine + green tea. This also layers really well with my decant of Santal 33 that I find too sharp to wear on its own.

This is an expensive tea store where they sell all kinds of tea by the weight. Hard to tell what’s more prominent : matcha , roasted green tea or black tea. Tea notes are so complex here , I even get sweetness and bitterness from them at the same time.There is something energetic in this fragrance; definitely a unique one. Longevity wise it is at least 6 hours, silage is strong (surprise for such a “light” notes). I would choose this over any other Killian perfume! 10/10.