Top 10 Coffee Perfumes
Coffee is so deeply embedded in the daily scent narrative of our lives that it can be difficult to build a perfume with a memorable coffee note that does not descend into a trite gourmand replication. Much of the debate about which coffee scents are “legitimate” centers around the balance of the roasted bitterness of the coffee and the sweetness often used in gourmand compositions. Thierry Mugler’s A*Men certainly wins the eat me, I’m sexy competition.
We like Ava Luxe’s Café Noir because it leaves this debate behind and pulls coffee notes into an entirely new direction. Here, coffee is a central theme, but as a natural ingredient instead of part of a meal. The lavender and rose accord at the heart pull the coffee towards its sweet/fruity linalool and beta-damascenone side while the patchouli builds up the earthiness in coffee from the bean pyrazine. This either represents a strong understanding of the aromachemicals present in coffee or mastery of the materials and formal composition (or both). The only perfume here that compares to this treatment is Dominque Dubrana’s Milano Caffè, although this relies on the tobacco and leather “men’s’” scents too much to make a lasting impression.
Putting together this selection reminded us of the continual recreation of gender norms and the absurdity of masculine or feminine scents. The first café opened in Paris in the mid-17th century. Women were not generally patrons, although the wealthy women would be served in their carriages outside of the establishments. A similar pattern, although with women eventually becoming ubiquitous as servers in Parisian cafes and similar institutions in other countries, emerged through the global coffee trade. This created a parallel track in which women entered a new service sector space in which they were treated as sexual commodities at the same time that they were excluded from using the space to build relationships with other women.
In the 20th century, the pre-existing gendered nature of coffee consumption and sexual discrimination in the workplace combined so that marketing campaigns to strengthen coffee culture and regular daily consumption were tied to masculinity. While both the Great Depression and women’s widespread entrance into the workplace during WWII challenged this orthodoxy, American coffee culture remained a male-dominated space.
In her 2018 article published in the journal Feminist Studies, “‘The Place We've Always Wanted to Go But Never Could Find’: Finding Woman Space in Feminist Restaurants and Cafés in Ontario 1974–1982,” Alexandra Ketchum writes of the physical safety and intellectual freedom that were denied woman through the lack of their own “woman spaces.”
“Across the lines of race, class, gender, and sexual expression, a woman who was alone or unaccompanied by a man, especially at night, was met with suspicion and, sometimes, bodily harm. The combined effect of legal regulations and social barriers in the form of sexual harassment led women to want to create spaces of their own.”
Nascent attempts to create cafè cultures in “woman spaces” in the 1970’s ultimately failed for a number of reasons, not the least of which was the fragmentation of the feminist movement in the late 1970’s. The woman spaces became identified with lesbian spaces as a broader identity-based movement of womanhood that required separate spaces for activism was increasingly challenged.
While some cafès have preserved their role as sustainers of vibrant third place interactions, much of American coffee culture has shifted away from the coffee shop or cafe to take-away orders from Starbucks, Dunkin' Donuts, McDonalds, and other. Gendered access to third places has in some senses declined as overall access has declined.
This leads us to the 1990s. Thierry Mugler launched what is known as the first modern gourmand perfume in 1992, branding the sweet, fruity, floral, chocolate, and musk scent Angel as feminine. Angel started a still-accelerating gourmand trend. What we find striking is the success that Thierry Mugler achieved created a masculine gendered version in A*Men/Angel Men in 1996. A*Men retains the tonka/chocolate/vanilla/caramel/musk accord. but drops the round sandalwood out. It removes all of the top floral notes (orchid/jasmine/rose) and the berry scents, replacing them with lavender and peppermint. The both have a strong dose of helional to fit in with the ozone, watery freshie vibe of the period. Finally, A*Men has a strong coffee note with some complexity from tar. This trend has continued, although the addition of tobacco and leather have been used to further gender coffee notes in modern perfume.
It is not random that coffee signals, “man,” given the history of coffee culture. The power of gender as system of oppression supporting male supremacy is seen here by the fact that actual coffee consumption has largely moved past its history of workplace discrimination and spatial control of women in the United States. Instead, the perfume industry and its consumers create man spaces and woman spaces by olfactory cultural memory of the embodied gender role of smelling and drinking coffee in public. The irony is that these scents don’t even necessarily use real coffee, nor do they smell like actual coffee, but a gendered dream of coffee.
All of this is why we are so happy about the continued ability of Ava Luxe, with perfumer and owner Serena Ava Goode, to reject the gendered gourmand placement of coffee with Cafè Noir.
Photo by Mikail Duran
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Perfumer and owner Serena Ava Goode stole the coffee show with this release in the 2000’s. This is off-dry throughout, excellent coffee note at the opening that drops into a beautiful lavender/rose accord. This is not a mass-market perfume, so you aren’t getting the same kind of projection or sillage and don’t have the blast of ambroxan. This tops the list because Goode was able to move coffee out of gourmand and away from exotic spice into a woody/aromatic/floral perfume. The patchouli balances out the floral accord and the slightly sweet woody drydown while enhancing the earthiness of the coffee theme.
Notes: Black coffee bean, Allspice Berry, Cardamom, French Lavender, Attar of Roses, Cedar, Patchouli, Vanilla, Mocha, Sandalwood, Siam Benzoin, Ambrette seed
Founder and perfumer Dominique Dubrana has provided another example of his focus on quality ingredients, innovation, and restraint. This is a scent of a place and time more than a main note gourmand. Despite the chocolate, coffee, and spices, this does not descend into a sweet mocha mess. Instead, the woody spicy blend emerges early and blends well into a leathery, dry tobacco, vetiver, amber base. The trick here is that the gourmand notes do come through clearly, but do not suggest food or beverage.
Notes: Coffee, chocolate, spices, woods, patchouli, vetiver
Fairly linear, dry pipe tobacco with a roasted coffee. Too dry and strong with the tobacco can be headache inducing, so riding the line of a dry pipe tobacco with a hint of vanilla and spice but no real sweetness is an achievement. The coffee note is roasted, but not to the point of bitterness, also warm but not sweet.
Notes: Tobacco, Coffee
This 1988 release by perfumer Jean Laporte is acclaimed not for the coffee note, but for the quality and presence of the sandalwood. The wood lifts through the other notes without devolving into a musky nose blindness, which is a real challenge to achieve with synthetic accords. The vanilla does add a creaminess to the dry wood composition, while the incense and patchouli add some intrigue. And for this list, the coffee note is distinct roasted, slightly bitter offset to the amber, moss, and musk encroaching on the sandalwood. The coffee maintains tension through the heart of the composition before it is taken over by the vetiver, moss, musk accord.
Notes: Sandalwood, Coffee, Incense, Patchouli, Vanilla, Vetiver, Amber, Musk, Oakmoss
This 2018 release from perfumer Alberto Morillas is a cleaner version of its 2016 predecessor Uomo. The overdose of ambroxan is dropped for tonka and a better blended gourmand accord. However, this is still the loud young man’s perfume, with the mandarin and pink pepper come off strong and very synthetic. They do fade to reveal a restrained spicy blend that quickly moves to the dominant leather theme. The coffee note comes in soon and stays fairly linear, a roasted coffee, not sweet. The leather, patchouli, coffee trio is well-balanced.
Top Notes: Mandarin, Pink Pepper
Heart Notes: Cypress, Cardamom, Cinnamon
Base Notes: Tonka bean, Coffee, Patchouli, Leather
So sweet, so sexy, I must not wear you … I must have you! This 1996 release by perfumer Jacques Huclier continues to fill a niche in the men’s fragrance market. This niche is the, “why can’t we smell good like women?” category. A*Men/Angel Men is the port from the successful women’s perfume Angel. Achieving this marketing magic required dropping some floral and berry notes and adding mint, coffee, and tar. In this form, coffee +feminine gourmand - floral=manly. Huclier was onto something as this formula has played out in nearly every successful coffee perfume since then.
Top Notes: Bergamot, Helonial, Lavender, Peppermint
Heart Notes: Coffee Bean, Tar, Patchouli
Base notes: Tonka Bean, Vanilla, Caramel, Chocolate, Musk
This 2014 release by perfumer Olivier Polge, who took over for his father Jacques Polge at as the in-house perfumer in 2015. His father held the position for 37 years, making Olivier only the fourth in-house perfumer at Chanel since No. 5 was released in 1921. Relationships certainly matter, but this scent demonstrates why Olivier Polge was a naturally successor. This is one of the finer men’s scents that has ever come out of Valentino. Some say this is an extension of his work at Dior, but with the herbal and hazelnut notes as well as a fuller leather, this is a move in a new direction.
Top Notes: Bergamot, Myrtle
Heart Notes: Roasted coffee beans, Chocolate, Hazelnut
Base Notes: Leather, Cedarwood
If you were looking for a L’Artisan coffee perfume, you were probably looking for L'Eau du Navigateur. Alas, that ship has sailed on. Noir Exquis is a classic gourmand, with perfectly balanced sweetness, warmth, and dry bitterness. This is well-crafted and wearable. Some complain that it is missing any unique note that would draw attention.
Notes: Coffee, Maple syrup, Chestnuts
This 2003 release by perfumer Maurice Roucel extends on the “Eat me, I’m sexy,” tradition of A*Men. It does have a more prominent wood/lavender accord that with the bergamot note in the opening references a traditional cologne composition. This is a monster with risk of overspraying in terms of performance.
Top Notes: Lavender, Bergamot, Green Leaves
Heart Notes: Coffee, Cedarwood
Base Notes: Amber, Vanilla, Tonka
10) Mancera Aoud Cafe
This is hit or miss depending on how you feel about the oud and white musk base. Although there is a fruity aspect to the opening, this fades fast enough, it is really a blast of aldehydes that fades quickly into the more subdued heart. This is an utterly modern interpretation of the genre, but gets some points for moving out of the gourmand.
Top Notes: Bergamot, Fruits, Peach, Blackcurrant
Heart Notes: Amber, Floral notes, Coffee
Base Notes: Oud, White musk
