Café Tuberosa
Atelier Cologne (2017)

In my Goldilocks search for the "just right" coffee fragrance, I ordered a used bottle of Café Tuberose by Atelier Cologne. When I first sprayed it, I was worried, because along with bitter coffee and floral notes, there was a definite fecal, plant undergrowth whiff. Was it the cocoa pod, rather than cocoa? Fortunately, that did not last long; it wasn't uninteresting, but didn't seem public-facing. Others may experience that smell as just bitterness. Then, there was a lovely phase of balanced coffee, spice and rose; but the dry down seems to morph into an unobjectionable, pretty, floral spicy, slightly waxy rose with a side-current of citrus and tuberose. Not entirely unlike Mugler La Rose. I get a hint of vanilla when I move my hand around, which makes me suspect that sillage will be greater than the sum of the parts of the scent. But where is the coffee? Did I drink it already? Sigh. On to the next one... No, all in all, wearable and pretty. More feminine than unisex for the rose-shy.

This was love at first sniff. They truly nailed the vibe of sitting in an outdoor cafe and catching whiffs of the environmental factors: your mocha, the bouquet on the table, slices of citrus, a cigarette smoked around the corner

The opening is a smooth coffee with a slice of orange. It dries down into a cacao forward mocha, supported by rose and vanilla

I love this. It's so different from the other Ateliers I've tried, which I liked, but were all either citrus or floral. It smells exactly like, well, Paris to me. It's like being in a cafe with French women wearing expensive perfume.

I get mocha, subtle patchouli and a little vanilla. But, I must emphasize it's NOT overly sweet. I also have to say I don't get much in the way of floral from this one.

I have a travel size of this but would seriously consider a bigger bottle.

Cafe Tuberosa is probably the first winter-leaning release that also leans somewhat gourmand, a welcome addition to their lineup given that they've not tackled coffee or tuberose, really, elsewhere in their catalog, to my knowledge.

It opens with a heavy dose of coffee, neither terribly bitter nor rich, blending with the tuberose note. The cardamom adds a certain warm spiciness and the combination of vanilla and cacao further make it a sweet experience.

It dries down more floral, overall, but still sweet. The coffee figures in more for the first couple hours but gives way to the tuberose somewhat gradually.

It's not as sweet as Montale Intense Cafe, nor as floral as Tom Ford Cafe Rose, but somewhere in between for those that find the former too sweet and too gourmand-like and the latter too floral and powdery.

I find it quite lovable, perhaps satisfying one's desire for both of the above but not mine, personally, as I prefer the individual expressions of Intense Cafe and Cafe Rose, despite the notable difference of the tuberose note, contra the rose note of the other two.

Still, a great entry from the house that merits the attention it's received.

8 out of 10

The very first minute of Café Tuberosa indeed smells like the aromatic, bitter astringency of coffee to me. But it soon gets overrode by rich cacao, and the fragrance smells more like a cup of sweet mocha with a bar of dark chocolate than black coffee. There is also a subtle boozy impression during this mocha phase, probably due to the presence of rose and sweet citrus.

I didn't expect the tuberose here to be a carnal witch, but still, to my disappointment, this enchanting flower is close to non-existent in Café Tuberosa on my skin. What I get, is a vague floral undercurrent that can be attributed to almost any common floral notes if you will, and a creamy sweetness of artificial vanilla. This sweet creaminess initially enriches the mocha and makes it more unctuous, but eventually softens and the mocha fades into the background after about 2 hours.

Afterwards, the clean patchouli and the rose assert themselves upon the vanilla and the tobacco-ish remnant of cacao, and create a somewhat ripe prune effect in a cocoon of velvet. This dry down indeed reminds me of that of Tom Ford Noir de Noir with slightly less complexity. The sillage is rather close to my skin, while the longevity is just above 6 hours.

All in all, I enjoyed Café Tuberosa, especially its initial mocha phase. As a gourmand fragrance, its sweetness is not over the top and overall I find it easy to appreciate as long as one enjoys chocolate-dominant fragrances. However, the execution of various notes, especially the tuberose and the patchouli, still has a strong commercial identity. The fragrance reminds me of a cup of Starbucks mocha, it's pleasant to drink but clearly feels standardised. I would recommend it to gourmand fans of mocha and dark chocolate, but not to those who are expecting a special tuberose or realistic black coffee.

Café Tuberosa is a white floral with a touch of vanilla and a slight oriental twist. Initially it's bright, and that is also when the coffee notes come to the fore. The coffee is lush and smells like a coffeeshop, rather than earthy beans. The other half of the accord is the tuberose, which is uncharacteristically meek, lost amidst the coffee, the vanilla and a hint of rose. In fact, I would definitely not presume this to be a tuberose fragrance. After a couple of hours it seems that we have left the coffee shop. At this stage what's left on my skin is a not so interesting blend of white florals, coffee and vanilla. Sillage is moderate, and duration is reasonable at over five hours on my skin.

I find Café Tuberosa to be stylistically similar to Intense Cafe, Cafe Rose and Noir de Noir, though it is brighter and more summery than those. It can be thought of as the coffee and white floral counterpart of Intense Cafe, but it is more elegant and definitely not as rich. I am not moved by Café Tuberosa because of a couple of points: I'm not sure this 'coffee and tuberose' pairing works as effortlessly as 'coffee and rose'; secondly, it seems a bit too safe and bland, especially after the first two hours.

Is 2017 the year of the tuberose? It might seem so, with Gabrielle, Bloom, Twilly and Café Tuberosa. While Gabrielle is most underwhelming, Café Tuberosa does offer something a little different and is definitely worth a spray or five.

3/5