PRIVATE TEAHOUSE
A long awaited perfume release after more than 1 year since the launch of Rain Tea. The idea of Private Teahouse first came after a search of a safe space. To me, it was the feeling of escaping the daily grind when I enter a teahouse. Once stepping in, I am surrounded by beauty, light music playing and wooden carved furniture all around. The pine wood smoked black tea is evident in the air when brewed, and makes its presence as Lapsang Souchong tea without mention.


Early sketch of the Private Teahouse artwork to set a peaceful location

In Chinese tea culture, it is common to pair refreshments and snacks to complement tea tastings. There are 5 main categories of tea snacks: nuts, fruits, seeds, sweets and savoury pastries. The sweet nectar from the peach note in Private Teahouse matches the deep dark aroma of Lapsang Souchong tea. This is a black tea variety produced in the Wuyi Mountains - very close to the hometown of my partner and holds a very special place in our heart.

An early draft of the Rain Tea artwork and the finalised hardcover box. It features the Wattle; a native flower of Australia evoking the scent of bushwalks and sweet memories of an Aussie childhood. Another key flower in the Rain Tea bouquet is Chrysanthemum; a staple tea in Asia loved by many for its honeyed floral taste. These comforting notes feel as if there is a hot pot of white tea brewing nearby to cosy up on a rainy day.

 

Chrysanthemum tea extract is distilled through a soxhlet extraction process to yield an aromatic concentrate and add a special touch of real tea to Rain Tea. This tea ingredient imparts a natural olive-green colour to the perfume.

Join us for Tea Service? This perfume is a photorealistic jasmine tea seen served at yum cha and boba tea stores. Rich in tea aroma, jasmine petals and fruits.

 

Tea-grade osmanthus is an ingredient used for perfumery. 

 
The osmanthus is loaded into a soxhlet extraction apparatus. The set-up is equipped with a siphoning mechanism to recycle the perfumer's alcohol through several rounds of the material. This extraction process can take hours to a day to yield a small batch of concentrated tea extract and capture the authentic brewed tea aroma. 

 

Fan photo/art inspiration of Tea Service (@floraison.perfumery and 咚咚锵)

Dragon's blood resin is used in Slow World to bring a warmth of spicy amber-like sweetness reminiscent of Chinese redwood. It is not any ordinary rock, but a naturally red resin derived from trees. It is partly responsible for the distinct smell of smokey incense burning in Chinese temples and the smell of antiseptics my dad used on wounds that stained everything red. The aroma of the dragon's blood is healing and transports one to a sacred spiritual space when lit.

 

A real photo of my time in Fujian captured the moment of inspiration for Slow World. We gathered around this tea table in the morning to warm up with a tea ceremony ritual called "gongfu cha". The pu'er black tea would be brewing next to vanilla sweets and incense burning nearby. Deep, rich and addictive.

 

Pu'er tea cake is extracted and used in this perfume blend.

 

Fan photo/art inspiration of Weeping Rose (@floraison.perfumery and  一朵远路云)