It’s tea time, and we’re inspired

By Deborah Fulsang

DavidsTea’s Forever Nuts was the one that first made my coffee-loving brain stop and take notice. Dark and warm and rich: A trio of qualities I love in my Italian roast.

Then my nose met the brand’s Pumpkin Chai Black Tea blend: cinnamon and cloves, squash and caramel. Wow.

And because I’m forever fragrance-preoccupied, I pondered the parallels between the latest tea offerings and notes that keep popping up in the perfume world. Definitely these are ingredients meant to appeal to both our stomach and our sense of smell.

So on a cool day, we wanted to share a few of our favourite tea-inspired treats. Because more frequently, we’re all feeling like a cup.

SWEET COFFEE
DavidsTea Cocoberry Mate is a black tea that smells of fruit and coffee—it mixes black currant, mango, and coffee bean with juniper berry, hibiscus and flavours of strawberry, plum and cherry. $8.50/50g

Byredo Pulp doesn’t have coffee in it, but it possesses a coffee-like richness; it’s a juicy fragrance melding cedar wood with the tang of fruit (fig and red apple) and praline. Delish. $170 (50 ml), www.byredo.com, at Holt Renfrew

APPLE PIE, YES PLEASE
DavidsTea Mom’s Apple Pie smells like a kitchen where mom really did make that tart from scratch. It packs Chinese green tea with apple and cinnamon. $3.50/Perfect Teapot Pack

Hermes Ambre Narguile speaks to the same mindset. A warm golden essence that reminds us of just-baked apples, smooth tobacco and leather. $255 (100 ml), www.hermes.com

DEEP DARK APERITIF
DavidsTea Sugar and Spice—a black tea concoction with apple, cinnamon, cloves, carrots, marigold petals, orange peel and vanilla—appeals to the espresso lover with its depth and multifaceted flavours. $7.50/50g

Tokyo Milk Poe’s Tobacco No.1, a dark but pretty spritz melding tea notes and tobacco with amberwood and apple, transports me to a wood-paneled library in a country estate with a requisite hot toddy in my hand. $33 (29.5 ml), www.tokyo-milk.com, www.beautymark.ca

CREAMY, NUTTY DESSERT
DavidsTea Pistachio Cream celebrates the sweetness of nuts laced with chamomile and mulberry leaf. It’s an intense herbal infusion ideal that will warm your spirit on a cold, crisp day. $9.50/50g

Comptoir Sud Pacifique Vanille Coco takes this same intensely creamy, nutty point of view with this almost-good-enough-to-eat coco and vanilla combination fragrance. $64 (100 ml), www.comptoir-sud-pacifique.com

Keep in mind that a pairing of tea and perfume would make a wonderful gift this holiday time. What better reason to get thee to www.DavidsTea.com and to your nearest fragrance counter. (Teas shown are from The Fall Collection.)

What’s your favourite? Do tell! Email us at info@thewhaleandtherose.com