Cafe Noir

DSH Perfumes Café Noir seems to be one of Dawn’s best-known and highest-regarded perfumes and is one that’s been on my list to try for some time, as I love gourmands in general and coffee-rich scents in particular. Café Noir comes off like a spicy, resinous coffee, spicier and more floral, frankly, than something I’d actually drink, but such a neat, nuanced expression of coffee. What a neat note listing, as well, with cinnamon and pimento giving way to jasmine, rose, labdanum, benzoin, coffee, tolu balsam, and vanilla. It’s creamy, sweet, though definitely more floral and spicy than creamy and sweet. It’s indulgent without being over-the-top, enjoyable without being too playful, dense and rich while not monstrous. Overall, it’s a very satisfying, nuanced coffee fragrance and I’m a big fan. Performance-wise, it wears a bit more like an extrait, dense and oily but not as boastful of projection as sometimes EDP concentration fragrances are. And this is fine, as there are other coffee fragrances that explore the concept with different notes and loud projection (for example, Kerosene Follow and Sebastiane Espresso Royale) so I rather like what Dawn’s done with the concept in Café Noir and can see how it’s been so successful. Café Noir is for sale at the DSH website as well as other boutiques like Tigerlily and American Perfumer. It runs $135 for a 30ml EDP and $245 for a 60ml Voile de Parfum (distilled in IPM rather than alcohol). As with virtually all of her fragrances, Dawn offers a variety of concentrations and beauty products, so there’s something for everyone’s preference. I’d recommend this outstanding perfume to fans of coffee fragrances in particular who dig a somewhat spicy, slightly floral but still sweet/creamy/resinous take. I’m glad that it’s spicy but not too spicy. 8 out of 10

"It is a Paris night. Dark and sophisticated, it evokes late concerts in smoke filled rooms... sipping coffee and listening to jazz. Captivating and sensual, Cafe Noir fuses classical sensibilities with the flair of the artist." It's a work of art. The first wave of fragrance is boozy, rich, and sharp. It's a fantastic hit of spice, specifically cinnamon, which is lovely and warm. The coffee is freshly brewed. That immediately dissipates and morphs into something a bit darker. The smokiness is delectable. It simmers and simmers down further into your skin. This is the smell of leather rubbed hard by booze stained hands, collecting the fallen ashes of a lit cigar. The hot dry tobacco leaves mingle with smoke, resin and "amber". There is the faint memory of coffee, what it feels to smell coffee and not to smell it directly. There are hints of flowers too, specifically on my skin I smell jasmine every now and again in waves. Something sweet and creamy underneath it all as well, like vanilla. I could never get bored smelling this. My only complained is how muted it is, how close to my skin it sits. I want to cover the room in this fragrance. Update after it's nearly vanished several hours later: there is a sweetness now, it's chocolate-like with vanilla. Absolutely beautiful. 9/10

In the perfumer’s description it says “it evokes late concerts in smoke filled rooms...sipping coffee and listening to jazz.” That description feels apt to me. Café Noir has a clear note of black coffee, but it also evokes the feeling of a bohemian-era Parisian café or a small, dimly lit restaurant in the 1930’s with a singer on stage. There is some damask rose and other gentle florals to balance the darkness of coffee and richness of the vanilla, resins and spices. It smells like a vintage perfume and goes well with vintage clothing or as nighttime wear. Fragrantica incorrectly lists paprika as a note with an image of a red pepper, and some reviews mention a chili or pimento note. The note is in fact pimento berry, also known as allspice which is more similar to clove or nutmeg. There is no chili or red pepper in this.

Cafe Noir is exactly that--a deeply aromatic, rich elixir that gives you a caffeine kick merely by absorbing it through your skin. The opening is piquant and dark and takes some time to diffuse, which is no surprise considering the viscosity if this natural blend. The flowers are not overt but deliver a roundness and subtle sweetness in combination with the vanilla. Labdanum, benzoin and tolu balsam give an exotic, ambery richness and a long lasting layered complexity. Incredibly indulgent and a well composed perfume which I think is suitable for both men and women. It makes me long for a cup of Turkish coffee with a piece of lokum on the side. I also find this a great natural alternative to Opium.

Cafe Noir is warm and full of spices and amber, with a bare hint of coffee. This is a wonderful dark spicy scent that isn't over-sweet. It isn't redolent of spice cake, or cinnamon buns, but the earthy spices themselves. The opening is boozy, maybe rum or bourbon, then the spices settle in for a warm complex finish. At the drydown, I even get hints of leather wafting through.