California Chocolate

California Chocolate opens with bright, juicy, tangy grapefruit. It’s quite boozy from the start, with the cognac making a strong entrance. The chocolate is present too, but it's secondary to the citrus for me. Overall, I get the sense of freshly squeezed citrus juice mixed into a subtle chocolaty-smooth liqueur. The citrus I smell in this is distinctively grapefruit in the top notes, but I also start to smell the orange as it wears. This scent is sweet but not excessively so. The citrus notes are delicious and realistic, bringing a zestiness to the fragrance that is a nice contrast to the warm chocolate undertones. I don’t feel the patchouli is that prominent, but I’m not particularly sensitive to patchouli in fragrances generally. This is a very well-conceived gourmand. This is the brightest and most vibrant take on chocolate that I've tried thus far.

I tried the Seattle Chocolate, and loved that one so much, that I wanted to try this one too. I'm really glad I did. This is a beautiful chocolate-dipped orange! It certainly is sufficiently similar to Kyse Elegance Sombre, that I don't need both, and I think the Kyse is slightly more user-friendly if I recall correctly. However, for those of you looking for a brilliant and unique chocolate scent, certainly don't pass up these two from Olympic Orchids! If I had my pick I'd get the Seattle Chocolate from OO and the Elegance Sombre from Kyse, and I'd be able to hit that chocolate craving whenever it comes! :)

Where Seattle Chocolate is dark, dry and dramatic, California Chocolate is its sunny, juicy milk chocolate sibling. It's gourmand, but don't expect a mere chocolate orange - the citrus here is seriously tangy and strong; it is the real focus, with sweet milk chocolate noticeable but in the background. In the first couple of hours, neroli adds a lovely, delicate flourish. Now, after 7 hours, orange, lemon, and milk chocolate remain, fairly soft, but present nonetheless.

My first foray into the world of indie perfumes thanks to thelady :D When I first put this on, I got a lovely blend of oranges and dark chocolate that eventually turned into a gentle booziness. The patchouli and musk aren't too strong in this, so this could be a great scent for someone who only likes a little of either of these in their perfumes.

I won a sample of this and a few other new scents from Olympic Orchids in a givaway on the perfumers blog. On me this is a pretty simple scent with a sharp orange top note that mellows into a boozy vanilla. Very nice, but not really my thing.