Cafe Diem

Have you ever absolutely loved, adored, and worshipped a fragrance, then experienced terrible heartbreak when you realized it was absolutely not a good fit for you? That's me with Cafe Diem. This is some of the best stuff I've ever smelt, but no matter how much I love it, I couldn't wear it myself. It just doesn't suit my "personality." Before I get too engrossed, let me take a moment to say that coffee is an oft-misunderstood note. Some people expect anything with "coffee" in the notes to smell like a Starbucks latte, and anything that doesn't smell that way is "wrong." In my opinion, coffee can come in many variants. You can have the dark, bitter beans, sometimes raw, but usually roasted and freshly ground; you can have the fumes of a cup of freshly brewed espresso, rich and slightly acidic; and yes, you can have the milky, creamy, sweet and heavy scent of cappuccinos. Cafe Diem's coffee is of the bean variety. It's not a topnote; instead, it grounds all of the other fragrances, making everything darker and richer, adding a hint of bitterness to an otherwise warm and spicy fragrance. If you're looking for frothy frappuccinos, Cafe Diem is not the fragrance for you. ANYWAY. Immediately after application, this fragrance reeks of rubbing alcohol and powder. It's so disappointing, I almost sobbed the first time I tested this stuff. But after several minutes, the fragrance begins to develop in to something magical. The frankincense comes forward a bit, and the rubbing alcohol goes from being acrid to boozy. The spices are all quite strong at this point: cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and even mace all fight for your attention. I sense something vaguely green and medicinal for a bit--perhaps the Hinoki? After half an hour, that green note disappears and the composition smooths out. The various incenses blend with the coffee and the resinous notes to create a warm, lush base for cloves and cardamom. As the day progresses, the fragrance changes subtly, becoming more smoky and less spicy over time. It is the epitome of a bohemian coffee shop: men in ratty bowler hats smoking their pipes over half-finisihed cups of coffee while women in too-large jackets write poetry and chain smoke cigarettes. I see this in tones remniscient of sepia. But not a washed-out, greyed sepia, no! It's all warm oranges, deep ambers, and burgundy. At the end of the day, I jotted down the following note: "I wish THIS was the 'standard cologne' smell! Doesn't suit me, but I want to hug a friend who smells like this." The few reviews currently on this page list Cafe Diem's longevity as "weak" or "moderate," which runs counter to my experience. The first time I tested this fragrance, it lasted on my wrists and in my hair for the ENTIRE DAY, from 9am to 9pm. The second time I tested this fragrance, I applied it to the back of my hand. Then I washed my hands, prepped some fish for dinner, and rinsed my hands several times while prepping said fish. I could still smell it after numerous rinsings! Maybe I just have really good skin, but in my experience, this is some tenacious stuff.

Café Diem: the name plays with the famous phrase from Latin "Carpe Diem", meaning "Seize the day". From this point, you can see that creativity is something that is always present in the creations of the perfumer Paul Kiler. But does the name suit the product? Well, in my analysis, after three consecutive tests, I would say Yes and I will explain my point of view in this review. To start, there is a huge expectation on perfumes that have notes of coffee, since the user always expects that the nuance of coffee be dominant as if someone had poured a cup of hot coffee on the skin. It doesn't work that way! Sometimes, this note works as a supporting character in the story, but it is the one who gets the Oscar. The same happens with fragrances that have notes of vanilla, chocolate, etc. Cafe Diem was launched in 2012 and has, in its official composition, notes of Brazilian coffee beans, Sage, wormwood, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg (mace), Hinoki wood (which is a Japanese cypress), and whiskey, in the output; Mimosa absolute, rose, jasmine and Olibanum (frankincense), in the heart; Sandalwood, Indonesian and Bourbon vetiver, vanilla, tonka bean, amber, woods, cedar, musks, and incense, in the base. With all these notes, there is only one trip to be made: close your eyes and let yourself go for a tobacco shop, rich in aromas, smoke, and men who sit for a cup of coffee, accompanied by a fine liqueur or other alcoholic beverage, while tasting their cigars and pipes. And for the men of this era, that’s how they seized their days: reuniting with friends, smoking, drinking, talking about business, and establishing their places within the social class. As I said before, the coffee here is not the main star. On my skin, the fragrance is very intense but linear. Basically, there is a mixture of coffee with liquor, which blends to smoky and woody nuances, with a light touch of spices. I could sum up the result like the following: coffee + Absinthe + clove, evolving into an accord of nutmeg and a lot of whiskey, ending with nuances of incense and Woods. Cafe Diem is a delight that has a lot of niche perfumery characteristics, besides being extremely engaging and strong. Although it is a fragrance of more masculine behavior, it can be easily worn by women, which is not always possible in the reverse situation. For me, a lover of a good cup of coffee enjoyed with a nice liquor and harmonized with a chocolate truffle, this perfume has an unmatched quality. So, you need to excuse me, because I need to close my eyes and let me take, once again, to a tobacco shop full of distinct Lords.

As per any Paul Kiler creation expect the unexpected. Forest Gump’s observation regarding chocolate boxes is the best advised approach. “You never know what you’re gonna get”. Café Diem. If you’re looking for a nice sweet creamy gourmande coffee vanilla cosy moment; pass - on - by. This Perfumer turns everything upside down. Top notes are no such thing, Heart notes say hello at the top then bow out only to show up later with attitude. It’s a crazy ride. Intense and exciting. Cafe Diem is an invitation to Coffee in Prague. First there’s the astonishing plunge into spice. Ginger, turmeric, clove, cardoman and pepper. Whoah! Uplifting, sparkling, utterly beguiling, but where’s my coffee PK? We’re in one of those dark arty places at the back of the Square and the Absinthe arrives on the table. Things mellow, conversation flows, the Absinthe swirls in the glass and in your head, the spice softens. It’s getting late but it’s cold outside and warm in here. The fragrance of others boozy choices intermingle. It’s soporific, languid, mellow, relaxed. Time to go home, sleep, and dream. Then the Coffee arrives. What! Now? We’d forgotten the Coffee was even on the initial invite and this is not a milky concoction, and there is no sugar. It’s ‘good’ Coffee though. Pungent, enlivening and it is black. Dark uncompromising black. It is ‘so’ black and intense you know it’s going to keep you awake all night but irresistible nonetheless. Drink it and take the consequences of that liquid bitter Coffee as it mingles with the lingering spice and pungent Liquorice of the Absinthe on your tongue. Café Diem is to be worn on a blistering night out when you want to project a little mystery, a lot of confidence and be the one left standing smelling like condensed life force at the end. If you want to blend in and smell like everybody else avoid PK. His Dirty Rose is probably about the most dangerous fragrance on the planet for example but I very much rate Café Diem in the weapons of choice arsenal.

It has been my sad observation that the first notes of a perfume are often those by which an entire composition is judged. Perfume aisles are full of those scent shoppers for whom the first sniff is the last and only those 'fumes with a great opening line are given a positive nod. I suppose this is the state of the average American consumer on many levels and with a gamut of products. However, if Cafe Diem by PK Perfumes is examined in this cursory fashion, then a superlative perfume will have been overlooked. For Cafe Diem is deserving of a lengthy trial - a wholehearted commitment from the boozy opening phrases to the velvety denoument. Yes, there is coffee and a lovely coffee it is, too. But it is what is woven into the coffee threads that makes the whole composition one of wonder and surprise. No one should miss the creaminess of this coffee - achieved not with milk but with creamy sandalwood, coumarin, and musk. The sweetener comes with jasmine, rose, and mimosa. Sweet cardamom creates the bridge to spicy layers of cinnamon, mace, and clove. But the goodness does not stop here because Cafe Diem is not a stuffy gourmand fragrance, but a fragrance of connections. Each olfactory moment connects to the next and the notes wind their way in and out of a whole cloth with no clear domination of any one note. Woods, resins, and vetiver bring dry, balmy, and earthy provisions to tie notes together also. Most surprising (and compelling) of the notes are those of sage, wormwood, and hinoki. These are voices of the greenwood, of savor and of bitter. Without them is nothing complete. It is not my goal to smell like coffee and wearing Cafe Diem, I don't. I am just lovely.

A truly unique and fun perfume that also happens to smell damn good. It's unisex but more masculine than his other creations. The scent is a bit strong but the composition is subtle as it evolves well upon the skin as other reviewers have mentioned.

My second try of PK Perfumes, Café Diem, is a fragrance which scarcely smells like coffee in its opening but develops somewhat of a coffee character as it dries down. From its onset, it’s a crossover between a fresh spicy and a warm spicy fragrance, slightly sweet, slightly boozy in a whiskey sort of way, but overall not that heavy or dense. As is often the case, it opens a little sharper and dries down to be more balanced, but still with some of the spicy elements, a curious mix of cinnamon, clove, cardamom, and other familiar players. The note list is quite long! Overall, I quite like Café Diem, especially when it dries down, at which point it feels a bit more in balance. I’d recommend it as a boozy, slightly coffee-laden alternative to some of the powerhouses, too, since while it’s not transparent or weak, it’s definitely not a powerhouse in a way that many might find prohibitive. Density-wise, it’s more in line with Legendary Fragrances Barista than Kerosene Follow or Sebastiane Espresso Royale in terms of coffee scents. Still, it’s a reasonable value in that $2/ml range that I find appropriate for niche/indie offerings, sold only through the PK website, I believe. The pricing for Café Diem is $125/$85/$55 for 60ml/30ml/15ml and samples are available on the website. I’ve a decent amount of coffee-intensive and boozy scents so while I tend to like many such fragrances, I’m inherently a bit discriminating when it comes to new ones, so I’ll be trying Café Diem some more, but it’s very pleasant and one I’d recommend everyone looking into. 2 tries from PK so far, and both are solid offerings. 7 out of 10

Watered down olibanum.... I barely can detect coffee and THANK GOD for that as it would've turned into a coffee shop! so imagine you smell like a coffee shop while going out! Anyway, it's superbly mixed, as i am detecting cypress, smoke, olibanum, cardamom, wood, mild lightened whisky, mimosa, sandalwood, wormwood, musk, & roses. Mostly i do not detect any coffee in here and i wonder why the voting is that much on the coffee! Maybe it was the effect of the name. This blend is amusingly beautiful as the frankincense is quite alluring mixed with whisky, woods, and green herbs. Beautiful.

Quite a nice one for me, I get a mix of a churchy incense with the slightly mossy hinoki mainly. Fairly straightforward I'd say but enjoyable, and works for a contemplative mood. Feels like this would fit right in with the CdG Incense range.

I had some questions that I needed specific answers about fragrances. I sent an email and to my surprise I received a nice reply from none other than Paul Kiler himself. It's one thing when you send an email and figure that customer support staff will reply to you. But when its the actual perfumer/nose himself, well that's the kind of thing one just never really expects but appreciates. It makes a lasting impression. Knowing that this is how much the perfumer really cares about providing the best answer to someone who may or may not have purchased that perfumers fragrances speaks volumes. I appreciate Kiler's willingness to reply and his attention to details - wanting to make sure things are right. Kudos to PK!

Cafe Diem is a riot of robust spices, woods and all sorts of exotic smells! On my skin, the coffee isn't as pronounced as on other reviewers. Instead the coffee acts more like a support for the other notes, giving them a warm, happy aura. This is full of clean smelling fresh-ground spices as from a joyous bazaar. Resins and incense weave them all together, and the result is gorgeous! Love this!

Very woody, strongly resinous and nice all around. Smoothly blended with no sharp edges, but also quite strong. Definitely unisex.