I have been sniffing my samples from the Xeroff Coffee Break collection for about a year now, but as we finally are starting to see some fall temperatures in Texas after a horrendous summer, they are suddenly smelling especially good to me, and apropos for autumn weather.
Sergio Momo, the founder of Xeroff, travels the world, and became intrigued by the various styles of coffee served in different locations. Thus was the Coffee Break collection born, and I for one am hoping there will be future additions to the line! There has been an explosion in coffee scented fragrances in the last three or four years. Some are very realistic, and while they have a certain appeal, I find that I am more drawn to the fragrances that use coffee as a starting point, but then actually make the scent smell more like a perfume than a cup of Starbucks. That is definitely the case with the three scents currently in this collection.
Dallah is the name of the traditional coffee pot used in the Arabian peninsula. It has a distinctive shape, with a rounded base, a pinched waist, then opening wider at the top with a sharp, beak-like spout. The serving of the aromatic, bitter, and spicy coffee from the pot is a treasured ritual in many Arabian countries. Golden Dallah gives such a rich evocative smell, and makes me imagine I am in a souk, surrounded by colorful sites and clamour, while I serenely sip a flavorful coffee that is like none I've ever experienced.
Golden Moka was a new one for me, and I found it to be very different from Golden Dallah, but equally impressive and distinctive! Golden Moka smells like autumn, just not like coffee! Its opening notes remind me of a particularly good candle I had last year that was meant to simulate the smells of nuts and spicy leaves. In fact, I'd love to have a candle that smelled like Golden Moka burning in my house during October and November to keep me in the Fall mood!
Italians have used moka pots since the second world war. They are known for brewing strong and flavorful coffee, much like an expresso. My first exposure to one of these pots was when I started dating my eventual husband back in the late 1980s. He was from Australia, and these pots had become quite popular there due to all the Italian immigrants moving there after WWII, but to me it was a quaint, somewhat antiquated method of producing the morning cup of coffee. I much preferred my (also now antiquated !) plug in percolator.
The moka pot is valued for making aromatic coffee and bringing out nutty and even chocolate flavors from the coffee beans. This makes the nutty flavor I smell at the beginning of Golden Moka make a lot more sense. The opening notes are a collection of bright citrus smells, including blood orange, mandarin orange, and lemon. I believe these bright "wake up" fragrance hues are what accounts for the "Golden" half of the name in Golden Moka. It is a beautiful bright opening, but this is not your summer citrus scent! These citrus notes are metered with the warmth of the nutty, coffee essence, and a slight spiciness. It is honestly very delicious while not being gourmand at all.
Cambodian Oud, Amber, and Incense deepen the scent at this point I feel like I'm in an Italian sidewalk cafe, with an aromatic coffee. Unlike the American coffee I'm used to, the coffee note is secondary to the spicy, nutty aroma. In the later life of the fragrance, it becomes more green, dry and smokey.
I found this to be a unique and delicious take on coffee scent, and I think I prefer it to the more straightforward interpretation of a cup of Joe.
Golden Green is the newest of the Coffee Break collection. It is meant to represent the coffee beans before they are roasted. This is a very dry scent and on my skin the dominant notes are wood and vetiver. Golden Green opens with cardomom, juniper berries, pink pepper, and nutmeg. This all sounds very spicy but on my skin the fragrance skips straight to the middle notes, which are vetiver, cedar, labdanum, leather, and incense. Something about the mixture of these notes almost gives me an oud wood smell. Coffee is in the base, but don't expect to smell anything that reminds you of your morning cup. This is all about the beans! On my skin this translates to dry and almost dusty. It is fine, but I didn't find it distinctive enough to seduce me. Those who tend to like their scents more masculine or like a dry vetiver might find this very much to their taste.
My final conclusion: I love Golden Dallah for its richness and extreme longevity on my skin; I love Golden Moka for its spicy opening but I wished it lasted longer, and Golden Green is a pass for me. If you are attracted to coffee scents or spicy scents, give this collection a try!
Perfume samples were my own. Photos from Google images.
