Tea Mountain 茶山

I have tested a lot and have quite a few tea perfumes—many of them very nice. This is the first perfume that gives me real bitter tea — cold, tannic, and mineral — paired with pithy citrus and dry green mountain air. The prominent bitter note may be from Lapsang Souchong Tea, but to me, it doesn’t have the smoky profile. It is thankfully not sweet. Very aromatic. Very nice.

After reading many articles about Chinese perfume brands, I have develop both curiosity and interest in this emerging market. A few months ago I got the chance to travel to China and I made good use of Taobao (the Chinese online shopping platform) and ordered a good amount of samples and full bottles from various brands. Growing up in Asia with a dad and a grandpa who are both tea drinkers, I have developed a soft spot for tea fragrances. I have learned about this brand Uttori and a few of their tea fragrances from articles on Fragrantica and Youtube channels. Tea Mountain is one of the tea fragrances that is high on my to-try list and I really had high expectations on it as I am also very fond of Lapsang Souchong Tea, its distinctive smoky scent. However, I must admit that this turns out to be a big disappointment to me. First of all, I do not get any Lapsang Souchong, there is no smoky note at all. Instead, it is unmistakably citrus and green tea. The opening is clean, fresh and sweet. I get white flower and pear. Soon I smell anise or licorice, its distinctive sweet note. Behind all the notes, I also detect something like plastic, subtle but still unpleasant. After a while the note of licorice fades away, and it remains a classic citrus-green tea scent. Generic, unimpressive, even boring. I am disappointed not only because of its absence of Lapsang Souchong note, but also its weak performance. I tested it on my skin and after 2 hours I could barely detect anything.