Nothing to Disclose
Possets, like many other indie perfumers, releases a series of limited edition perfumes on a regular basis. Unlike many other indie perfumers, Possets takes the most popular three perfumes each season (as determined by popular vote) and adds them to the general catalog so they are available on a permanent basis.
Linden Tea (or Linden Blossom Tea--not sure which, as the label says Linden Tea and the website says Linden Blossom Tea) was part of the Summer 2011 limited edition Tea series that led me to try Possets for the first time. Tea is one of my favorite notes in perfume, so I couldn't resist the siren song of an entire series of very affordably priced tea scents--black tea! Vanilla tea! Orange Pekoe! along with add-ins like cream, lemon, and sugar. Sadly, most of the tea scents I tried didn't work out for me and I sold most of them, but Linden Tea was a keeper, and I'm glad it made it into Possets' permanent line.
A little backstory: many years ago, back before I had disposable income to spend on perfume, Philosophy had a set of tea, lemon, and sugar perfumes that could be mixed and matched--I loved the scents and the idea, and coveted it so badly, but couldn't afford it. I ended up buying a set of unbranded perfume oils from a local bath and body store to scratch that itch, but they didn't smell as good. I have never forgotten that set of perfumes, and while citrus and sugar have fallen in the standings, any mention of a tea note still draws me in irresistibly. (Glad to see in retrospect that the Philosophy set got pretty mediocre reviews, so maybe I wasn't missing out on much by not being able to buy it...)
Samples: Available for General Catalog scents in packs of 6 for $12.50.
Description from website: "Refined and beautiful, the essence of sophistication and rare indeed. Linden tea reminds me of afternoons in Vienna, long shadows and the air filled with a fine honeyed scent of blooming lindens. Refreshing but comforting, it's really only proper at the summery parts of the year. If it were a color it would be yellow."
I have a cheap box of linden tea from Walgreen's, but it tastes and smells of almost nothing, so without linden trees or a fancier linden tea in front of me, I can't tell you exactly how true-to-life this is--it definitely smells like the same main note in other linden perfumes I've smelled, like Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab's Boober. Still, even without necessarily being realistic, it smells great. If I had to break it down into something besides "linden," I'd identify underlying notes of honey, green tea, white musk, and rose.
It is intensely summery to me, and goes with the sound of cicadas, thick, humid summer heat, and the overblown green shadows of the lush trees of midsummer. Perfume blogger Bois de Jasmin describes the scent of linden as "warm honey and white jasmine petals" and, having familiarity with actual linden trees, identifies it as the scent of springtime, but to me, this smells like pure hot summer. Tender leaves, sweet honey, and a clean, soapy-floral muskiness.
While it doesn't change much over time, the sweetness does wear down a bit as it dries down; it's much more sugary at first sniff than after a half hour or so. It has a fairly strong throw, although the scent isn't too obtrusive in the way a sharp white floral might be, so it may not be immediately obvious how strong it is. Still, I wouldn't overdo it--it can give me a headache if I apply too much.
Linden is also known as lime blossom and is famously the tilleul tea served alongside the madeleine cookies that triggered a flood of memories in Proust's Remembrance of Things Past.
"No sooner had the warm liquid mixed with the crumbs touched my palate than a shudder ran through me and I stopped, intent upon the extraordinary thing that was happening to me. An exquisite pleasure had invaded my senses, something isolated, detached, with no suggestion of its origin. And at once the vicissitudes of life had become indifferent to me, its disasters innocuous, its brevity illusory – this new sensation having had on me the effect which love has of filling me with a precious essence; or rather this essence was not in me it was me. ... Whence did it come? What did it mean? How could I seize and apprehend it? ... And suddenly the memory revealed itself. The taste was that of the little piece of madeleine which on Sunday mornings at Combray (because on those mornings I did not go out before mass), when I went to say good morning to her in her bedroom, my aunt Léonie used to give me, dipping it first in her own cup of tea or tisane. The sight of the little madeleine had recalled nothing to my mind before I tasted it. And all from my cup of tea."
Should you wish to recreate his moment of recollection in indie perfume form, you could do worse than a dab of Possets Linden Tea on one hand and Blooddrop's Les Madeleines on the other. (Actually, to be honest, I'm not sure they'd go together well at all, but it's a lovely idea, isn't it?)
Do you like the smell of linden in perfume? Are there any linden scents you'd like to recommend or see reviewed? Got a favorite madeleine recipe to share with us? Leave a comment and let us know!
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