The Time

What a beautiful, refreshing tea scent! Fans of tea scents know that a good one is difficult to find; well, House of Oud’s The Time is a good one. The opening of bergamot, chamomile, and wormwood note creates a superb green tea impression, uniquely fresh and bitter, but with a nutty hay-like undertone. Slowly, other types of tea notes start to feed into the scent, helping to round out the picture and fill in the gaps. Oolong tea adds a milkiness that softens the astringency of the green tea, rendering it cloudy, while a black tea note lends a smoky leathery nuance. Together, the combination of the different teas gives the scent a subtle “roasted” undertone.

There’s a series of contrasts at play here that works very well. The Time smells both fresh and comforting, milky and smoky, which all adds up to a sort of green-on-cream effect. The nubuck suede notes in the base tie it all together for an experience that feels like drinking a cup of green tea in an upmarket equestrian store, surrounded by the complex aromas of saddle leather, tea leaves, and even the polite suggestion of hay. We’re confident that fans of refined leather-tea fragrances such as Memo’s Eau de Memo and Hermes’ Osmanthe Yunnan will find a new love in The Time.