Russian Tea Masque Milano for women and men

I've never had specifically Russian Tea but this is very on the nose to how some non-specific ambiguous medicinal or herbal tea I've had in the past smells, or some amalgamation of different memories of them. Pretty much like you've poured one onto yourself. Opens up very mentholated before that moves into the background and the black tea is front and center, supported by the birch and leather and incense and labdanum, the greener notes playing behind all of that with the mintiness. You can smell all of the different notes yet at the same time it's very well blended to come off as one cohesive representation of an idea. SUPER nice.

I’ve never been to Russia to experience a tea service, so I can’t comment on that. The top notes in this, to me, recreate a cigar. Like a photorealistic very high quality hand rolled cigar that hasn’t been lit yet. The heart is black tea with strong leather notes, and a persistent bit of tangy fruit chiming in in the background. There is also a sharp minerality and something a bit reminiscent of soil. In the dry down the leather takes over almost completely, accompanied by smoke. It eventually becomes a much gentler version of itself- this takes 3-4 hours. I love this scent, but not for myself. Not even for my husband, who prefers lighter perfumes. But on the right person, this would be stunning. To my sense it is a masculine scent, with 6 foot projection and very long duration. It can be purchased for a very fair price too. It is for fall and winter, preferably evenings.

Took a bit to get used to it as it is a pretty unique scent (at least to me as I am pretty new to perfumes) but I love it! Very comforting scent, smells a bit like a fire as well, just something nice for colder/rainy days like today. It is not very strong projection wise, but I can smell it on myself for HOURS, even after shower. (Also got the 100ML for around 140 euros during sales season so worth it for that price, but definitely not retail)

Quit playing guys!
This smells good. It is def a tea scent. Its perfect on a cool dreary day but you can wear it year round in evenings.
If you love tea scents, this is a win!

Wow this fragrance smells amazing. On my skin it smells like honey straight up with tea, leather, and woods. The sweet honey smells delicious without being overbearing. Amazing.

On me: a nurse drinking a gin and tonic in a shitty hospital, with the windows open. It's a little bit sanitized, minty. Cold. It kinda stings my nose.

On a man: delicious, expensive. A lawyer (or some equally-composed professional) carrying a leather briefcase through an airport. Someone rich, someone with their shit figured out, a handsome stranger you feel you can innately trust with stuff. Addictive.

Be still my Eastern European heart. Jammy fruit dissolved in black tea. Resinous pine. Incense. A forest fire in winter with red berries crushed underfoot. I want to wear this in the cold Siberian air or curled up next to the samovar.

چند سال پیش خریدمش
انقدر خسته و کننده بود که کادو دادم به سرایدارمون
چسبان و سیریش و غیر قابل پوشیدن و حس مصنوعی داره خیلی
و کلا خیلی گرون مثل بقیه کارای این برند که ارزش خرید ندارند

I’d like to enjoy a good smoked tea, all notes here sound good to me. However, the scent contains a lot of harsh aromachemicals and it’s difficult to me. I bought the old 100ml bottle several years ago, and finally sold it.

The impression I got from reviews under this fragrance is that half the people don't like it for some reason or other, and the other half is in love with this nostalgia in a bottle. However unbiased I would like to be, I am fully in the second category.
It is hard to describe how exactly it smells. The overripe, mushed raspberry is definitely there; but so is the faraway smoke, and the peppery note, and someone's carelessly left on the wickerwork chair sun-faded leather jacket; the night flowers and the herbs. The birches are also there, but only the wood, not the leaves. There is nothing explicitly fresh about it, and yet I can almost feel a breeze of cool air coming from it. It reminds me of being in a countryside at my grandma's little house, looking at the dark-blue sky at nightfall, with a faint smell of hand-picked herbal tea brewing on the counter, and my hands still smelling like berries. It's the end of the long day, my head is heavy in a good, sleepy way. It is hard to imagine a person wearing this, their age or gender; it should be a place, a memory, the night itself should wear this perfume. Definitely a perfume you wear for yourself, like an untold, comforting memory.

Dark black tea, Dark chocolate, smoky leather. I like this scent but I think the smoky leather note is boosted way too much. If this scent was a little lighter it was be one of my favorites, but its just too dark and smoky for my liking. Lasted good.

it smells like an old man at the banya on a chilly winter day. drinking hot black tea and cherry compote, salty from the mineral pool, covered in damp birch leaves off the venik, and a fat cigar in his mouth.

This one caught me by surprise. When you smell it from the nozzle, it will make you think the leather won't bite as much but it does start off pretty aggressive when you spray on skin. It balances out as the fragrance progresses but wow this stuff is great! I can pick up a green tart apple note like you would find in zoologist panda but without the soil. Instead, it has been replaced by leather. To me, this is a leather fragrance with tea-like facets. Opening is nice, but the drydown is amazing!

Soft leather, a little bit spicy, fruity, very well blended tea scent, absolute niche quality in a bottle, if you wear Russian Tea you will smell unique, good for all year round

Russian Tea is 8.5/10

The name says it for 100% accurate. I can confirm it as a native lol
With a first spray, it creates the coziest atmosphere of cold weather, wool sweaters, heavy knits, and REAL black tea with some sweet cookies, small candies, and light candles around. You may feel also some herbs and trees like boiled birch leaves. AMAZING AMAZING and AMAZING.

Every time you smell it, it transports you to a Russian sauna in a winter evening. You just used a birch broom and jumped in the snow to cool down. Then you went inside the dark wooden house with light candles inside and drank a hot rich black herbal tea with oatmeal cookies, and candies and had those deep relax conversations with loved people around.. It evokes childhood memories of winter cozy evenings in East Europe.

So if you are from East Europe, just sh*t up and buy a full bottle, trust me it's a safe purchase for you.

Thanks to Russian Tea and Pierre Guillaume Isparta 26, I've come to realize that I just love an unexpected raspberry note in an aromatic composition. This has a clear and enveloping note of black tea to it with a fresh spicy layer from the mint and raspberry. It also evokes subtle darkness and rain at the same time from some of the gentle woods and pepper, both applied with a light hand, as well as the transparency of the fragrance overall. Over time, the tea and overcast quality take precedence over the fresh layer, but the latter always remains when you smell closely hours in. Russian Tea is unbelievably cozy and comforting, and deliciously brisk at the same time. It's definitely on the to-buy list for me.

Stunning fragrance, I especially like the tea and raspberry combination in the opening, with green nuances. But it gets too smoky and leathery for my taste in the mid and drydown. But absolutely worth sampling if the notes are your cup of tea

This is a leather black tea scent! That it. No sweetness , no uplifting smell.
This is dark unique scent! I can appreciate it rather than earthy animalic kind of scent.

Not my top favorite but wearable and will stay in my collection!
7/10

一上身就有明顯的煙薰感，像是有人在焚燒乾燥的薄荷、香草類植物，一下下就可以同時聞到淡淡的果香紅茶氣味，水潤和乾燥的氣味融合後，非常安定心神，比起同門Mandala我覺得更有冥想的帶入感，而且他的前調走的很長，茶感因為有一個煙薰感木質香氣的緣故(樺木？)，可以一直持續很久，皮革的香氣在中段上來後，不是很搶戲的微微襯在茶感的後面，讓氣味多了一些貼皮感的暖意，同時隱隱還能不斷的透出涼涼的薄荷香氣，味道的豐富層次讓人很是享受呀！

Wow..
Had a tester of this.. Sprayed it in the air last night around 10 pm.. Coming home after Work today at 4 pm, My apartment still smelled of this.
Lovely scent that still lingers (8 pm)

It took this scent for me to realize I couldn't stand leather.

Opens with a clean realistic mint, like the leaf crushed between your fingers, and that includes a hint towards its vegetal herbaceous aspect as well. This is softened by a subtle fruit note I find indistinguishable but is obviously the raspberry.

Around 15-30 minutes in and the black tea note appears. And yes, it is indeed like loose black tea leaves plunged and steeped in hot water.

Within the hour thereafter, a leather note subtly glides in to join the tea, and it is at this point I find the fragrance at its 'apex' of delightfullness. So well blended and balanced, so full yet airy. Impressive work from the creator. And yes, it's leather in the modern Tom Ford Ombre style, not the Knize Ten 'leather' (that, let's be honest with ourselves, has and never will smell like actual leather)

Several hours in and the mint has faded away fully, and the core tea and leather is becoming more softly Incense-like and woody.

Openly diffuse at the start, quickly diminishing to an assertive yet airy closely worn bubble for most of its life, Russian Tea is a masterful blend of complimentary yet distinct ideas that just oozes class and refinement. Modern classic.

Batch code 0419 (April 2019?)

I thought I'd love this based on the notes, but I was wrong. I love birch/leather and tea, and the raspberry + mint combo looked interesting. In person though, it was just way too bitter. All I could smell was mint and a ton of bitter, albeit complex and high quality notes underneath. There's too little sweetness to balance it out. Menthol cigarette is the best way to describe it

The notes are exactly as it smells -- it's a minty leather with labdanum, tea, and raspberry facets. Imagine if Tuscan Leather were minty and just a tad toned down with the dewiness of the tea.

Leathery, smokey, mentholy.

Robust. Very unique. Instantly gives off this menthol cigarette vibe. The incense, black tea and leather in this make it a bold scent, with that added touch of birch tar. There's complexity, not overly loud, subtly authoritative. Definitely has a time and place to be worn and enjoyed for personal use, for those special moments. This also has a tamarind like dirty oudy note that comes off as very realistic. Great work again by Mr Julien Rasquinet, this scent definitely has it's presence among his other stunning creations.

Russian Tea is probably my favorite from the line up.
This scent is a journey, taking you from the crisp chill of winter to the warmth of a cozy tea room. I get a strong bergamot note here which is not officially listed. This prominent bergamot dances with black peppery aroma, evoking memories of frost-covered landscapes and roaring fires. The comforting scent of black tea weaves through the fragrance like a warm blanket, inviting you to curl up and relax. As the scent develops, the woody notes of cedarwood and leather wrap around you like a well-worn coat, offering a sense of familiarity and safety.
The dry down on this one is just gorgeous.
Overall this scent is an atmosphere, enveloping you in its warm embrace and taking you on a journey to a simpler time.

A leather-bound first edition book and a cup of warm tea by the fireplace.

Nikolai Itchenko from The Equalizer wears this.

This is truly a masterpiece. I know that the notes present this as a leather forward fragrance, but to my nose it's mostly honey (admittedly, my skin tends to sweeten almost everything so this might just be on me). This is a warm, sweet, fragrant, luxurious honey running through the middle of a sturdy mug of hot, Rooibos tea. The smokey leather and mint are subtle adornments that add heft and complexity.

Even though I'm a woman, I'm a total sucker for these complex masculine smoky leathery scents.

-Opens smelling really harsh and minty, like mouthwash.
-Dries down reminiscent of something you'd spray on your car seats, perhaps to mask the scent of cigarettes.
-Overall: smoky and minty aren't scent profiles that get along well. Russian Tea is certainly a strange one from the house of Masque Milano. (-)

Absolutely love this but I think it’s more of a ‘me’ scent than a crowd pleaser, it’s for wearing in those moments when we have time to ourselves, reading a good book, listening to music etc. Every now and then you’ll get a waft of subtle sweetness and you’ll think to yourself damn that’s good. I can’t really imagine any situation where I would wear this ‘out’ so I’ll just put it to one side for me, myself and I.

9/10

Russian tea is a masculine fragrance, aromatic, spicy and leathery.

The opening is pure black tea with a cold mint note; the mint note does not last much on my skin. Then the leather note appears, but this leather is more suede than leather to me. There is also a subtle touch of incense.
I think there is also a bit of a very, very subtle animalic note buried deep in the fragrance, which reminded me of Hyrax, but it's not listed (I would not have detected it if I didn't have Hyrax as one of my favorites from Zoologist).

Russian Tea is clearly still a tea scent, with its freshness balanced by the darker, smoky-leathery-spicy notes. To me, Russian Tea can be worn year round, day or night, it has good longevity and moderate sillage. It is expensive, but it's worth it if you like tea scents. The pairing with the leather note is very well done. And since you only have to use a little each time due to it's good longevity, a 35 ml bottle will last you a very long time.

As a perfume lover, tea-based fragrances have always had a special place in my heart. Especially those which are masterfully blended. One of the most popular niche tea-forward fragrances is Masque Milano Russian Tea.

TOP NOTES
Russian Tea starts with a camphoric and artificial kick from aroma chemical replacement for mint note which is detectable to anyone who has previously sampled the masterfully done Acqua di Parma Colonia Club.

To be fair, I have nothing against substitutes for natural raw ingredients when they are done in the right way, and even with the inclusion of a sweet raspberry note in the vein of that one found in Tom Ford’s Ombre Leather, and spicy touches of black pepper it is still done in a pleasing way, but don’t expect miracles.

HEART NOTES
As the fragrance starts to settle down and go into the heart notes, I can see the vague resemblance to the ritual of tea drinking.

The smoky black tea accord jumps out, slightly overtaking the initial medicinal nature of mint, and fruits while also being rubbery, but pleasing.

I love this part of fragrance when everything starts to come together, and the lighter tones start to get replaced by floral qualities.

BASE NOTES
As someone who is predominantly a niche fragrance lover, I love when something is done bold, high-quality, and at the same time wearable.

Even with its downsides, the saving grace is found in the dry down. Here is where the leather, labdanum, birchwood, and incense step up to show the real face of this fragrance.

I’m truly thankful that the leather found here is not one of many similar accords found in Tom Fords Tuscan Leather or those we see in Dior’s Fahrenheit.

CONCLUSION
Russian Tea is a fragrance with a couple of faces. From the sharp opening to the pleasant base. The perfume is most likely composed of only aroma chemicals, but in the end, works.

Read the full review on scentgrail.com

Russia as seen by a friendly stranger, way back when, visiting, hopeful, and a little enchanted, intimidated though he'd never admit it.

Walk down a windy dark street in Saint Petersburg, where the cold icy snow falls every which way, blinding and merciless. Feel cold and small and lonely and a little suicidal. And then step into a brightly lit room, hot and a tiny bit stuffy, smelling of firewood and pine shavings, where the music plays and conversation flows and dark rich tea is being pored, no milk or lemon in sight, and no cake either. Your host offers you a chair, and a cup, and a smoke to get warm, and you take off your heavy winter boots and your coat and they're placed by the fire to dry. And the other guests arrive, and you're warm now, and the darkness inside you goes to sleep, not forever, just for a while.

Yeah, that's pretty much it. Also Russian Tea stays with you forever, relentless after a swimming pool and a shower, like a single disturbing quote from a long Russian novel that you never finished. And no, it doesn't project, it is yours to hold close to your chest, a secret, a small dark Orthodox crucifix on a string under your shirt.

This is an interesting fragrance. It is unique but not in a special or good way for me. It does not last that long on me and it is very expensive for what it is IMO. Leather note is very green, black tea-ee, and woody. It is hard to tell where leather goes to green and tea and then wood because it is well blended. This makes it more animalic to my nose than aromatic. Have no idea how a lady can pull this off. It is very masculine to my nose. Up close for me is like smelling a farm animal like a cow/bull + some poo in the opening. In the dry down it is better (but not much) and becomes more aromatic as the leather note settles down. I would not recommend this and sample it before buying it.

Update: I gave this more time but still smells like a barn with cows and wet cow poo in it. It is a lot stronger than let's say Oud & Rose by cartier. That one is also very animalic and poo-like smell but this one is next level for sure for me.

Wow! I bought blind, hoping for a wearable tea fragrance. This is a warm, powerful fragrance with heavy antiseptic notes, leather, spice, smoke and old books.
It’s intriguing, uncompromising and very grown up.
This is not an easy wear for a woman, I have used it to scent my closet and my car, but on the skin the tiniest amount is plenty.
I think this might layer well with something light and sweet.

Ok
Not sure what to say here
If you tried tea based fragrances before and you seem to gravitate towards them this is a must buy for you
If you are not sure what tea fragrances smell like sample it first
Th scent itself is very beautifully made
And the longevity is very good
But the projection is intimate on me which is not favorable from where I stand
I like it very much but it still needs a lot more tryouts to prove if it’s good enough to stay or not

This is an early review, after only three wearings.
- It's a tea scent! It really smells like some minty, strong black tea with some sugar in.
- As such, it doesn't come across as an austere, challenging or unwearable fragrance to me, I think it's as approachable as most other tea scents (but lasts much longer!).
- It smells kind of remarkable, expensive, niche.
- There's a lovely floral aspect in the first 5 minutes.
- The leathery / birch feel comes in later on, but could also be construed as smoky tea leaves.
- It's clean but also dark, much like tea itself!
I like it a lot.

True to the name- smells JUST like a jar with black tea. Not sure if I'd want to smell like this- but it's masterfully crafted.

Way too much leather for me, but I like the drydown once the leather isn't dominating all the other notes. If you're interested in this as a tea fragrance, definitely sample before buying since I would say this is more of a leather scent than a tea one, despite the name.

This is a disappointment from Masque Milano for me. But I’m not sure what I was expecting….guess I don’t like the smell of spent loose black tea. It’s exactly as described. Just not for me. It smells like bitter tea and maybe some mint and berries? But mostly just used up tea leaves and gum after you’ve been chewing it forever. Someone’s trash is another’s treasure, but this is certainly trash to me. Incredibly confused by the hype this fragrance gets. Waste of a masque Milano buy. I’d even take another bottle of Kintsugi over this- formerly my least favourite Masque Milano until this mess I got in. If you like tea fragrances tho, it will probably be a winner for you.

Here is my wonderful perfume.
I didn't believe in the signature perfume until I smelled this fragrance but it changed my mind. Because I always use different fragrances.
I want russian tea to be with me for a lifetime. When you use it, a beautiful aura is created around you. masque milano did a really great job.

Russia is a cold country, so I just guessed that Russian Tea is a kind of heavy-mouthed tea for anyone who likes the fragrance of tea.
The first time I tried it on paper, Russian Tea smelled like a cup of spicy and cool spiced black tea, which was exciting.
Russian Tea gives my skin an oily finish, Golden and bright.
A warm aroma similar to caramel, not surprisingly, Immortelle and turmeric.
Peppermint makes the smoky Russian Tea no longer hot, but adds a bit of coolness. The tea leaves that are roasted and smoked make a bitter cup of aged strong tea with sweet memories.
Russian Tea quickly gets into the subject. It is a wearable piece that changes naturally.
Russian Tea is depressing and dark, but it also has a fresh, bright and active side.
It's pungent and narcotic, with leather, incense, patchouli, and a little burnt birch in my nostrils, and the pungent character of pepper that adds to the "credibility" of Russian Tea as a tea fragrance.
Russian Tea is less mysterious.
All the designs are to make Russian Tea closer to the real thing, but also take into account the artistic aspect to simulate a tea taste similar to spiced black tea.
It's so complex, so mesmerizing, so deeply leathery.
In terms of gender spectrum, Russian Tea is more masculine, but women with this temperament should not give up wearing it.

I was given a sample of Russian Tea by a perfume shop owner because I liked tea/woody perfumes. It reminds me of smoky aged black tea/ or Pu Erh tea. A tad masculine for me to wear, but it would smell incredible on man. Not for guys that enjoy clubbing and partying, better for the old souls that are more reserved , grounded, and perhaps a dry sense of humor. Perhaps, what I am trying to say is, I would be very attracted to a man who wears this.
This perfume is different from all the perfumes I have owned/tested so I feel like people either love it or don't care for it at all. I personally think it is worth the price for the quality and longevity.

first impression sbrnya ga trlalu yang wow. karena wanginya trnyata prnh cium. openingnya mirip bgt dgn francesca bianchi yg black knight. karena sama2 leather. bedanya yg black knight itu jauh lebh strong dan ada animalicnya jg. sedangkan russian tea dia lebh soft dan ada wangi russian tea nya.
utk wangi base notes nya mantep banget. floral gtu 😍.

dan gw dpt vialnya love kills dan kintsugi. jujur sbnrnya trnyata lebh enak love kills dan kintsugi. wlupun wanginya bnyk mirip dgn wangi2 pd umumnya. spt love kills itu wangi rosenya mirip2 dgn diptyque lombre

Black tea smoked over natural birch wood with mint and berry sweetness. Such a wonderfully unique creation. Where most companies would go more into the leathery or smoky/woody facets for this sort of fragrance, Masque Milano breaks the mold with fresh cooling mint and sweet raspberry, and a touch of immortelle on a bed of soft smoky leather.


Such a refreshing scent. It doesn't smell refreshing, but it's refreshing to see new creations that are perfectly wearable.

Read full reviews on my blog:

musingsofafraghead.blogspot.com/

Minty, smoky black tea with a nice fruity streak running through. Almost boozy at the top but warm and fresh after. The top is quite femme and drydown is pretty masc so that might throw some off. Very well done, don't think I would splurge.

A borderline screechy tea backed with some leather, pepper and immortelle.
I generally don't like this kind of scent, but I have smelt many like this and this one does this combo quite well.
Of the Montale and other brands that make this kind of scent, I feel Masque has done it best.
Having said all of that lovely stuff, this just ain't for me, unfortunately...

I see Enclave after spray, obviously it goes in slightly other direction. If you have less on budget buy this one. There is no need for having both. I was expecting more leather and birch. Kinda disappointed..

The opening of Russian Tea has a fruity leather or to be specific, the infamous raspberry leather combo which almost became a genre itself, but don’t let the notes fool you because this is is a unique fragrance, not another Tuscan Leather. The combo is combined with mint, not the toothpaste type which Rasquinet used in Enclave, a bit more natural here. Then it moves to a beautiful smoky black tea accord which the fragrance is built around. The immortelle here leans towards the sweet side. There is a floral element (Magnolia) in the background that works beautifully with the mint pulling the fragrance towards the fresh territory despite the presence of leather and smoky birch.

Dried black tea wrapped in leather, smoked with birch wood, sprinkled with a touch of immortelle and pepper and served with fresh mint and raspberries. And voila!! There’s your Russian Tea.

I’ll admit it took me a while to fully appreciate the scent but once you did, there’s no turning back!!
It’s one of a kind tea based scent.

Not my cup of tea either. (sorry for the very bad joke). I've been looking for a nice tea scent for the longest time. Something naturalistic, that truly smells like tea, unfortunately without much success. I think Russian Tea is interesting since it does not smell like your average tea fragrance. The fragrance is, unfortunately, a little weird and really far from the smell of any tea I know. The only association I got when I tried it was LUSH. I knew I had smelt something similar before. To me, this fragrance is a mix between Rentless and Breath of God by Lush, which in a sense, is not a bad thing, but I just don't agree that much with Lush's style. I was expecting something quite luxurious, like some of the other offerings from Masque Milano. Unfortunately, I think this is a little too gimmicky for my taste. Interesting, but not for me;(

Entrance with shampoo, then toothpaste, leather, fruit.
Daytime vanity atmosphere. Settles into initially masked green tea.Bitter... with sweet raspberry.
More feminine. Simple, almost playful.
Not my cup of tea.

I've wanted to test Russian Tea for years; I have a weak spot for references to Russia, and I love tea scents, so this scent promising to marry those two concepts in one very expensive (and so surely very high-quality) package looked very alluring to me. Now that I've finally acquired a little decant, I can say I was right to expect the highest quality, but fortunately for my wallet, it's not quite my thing.

It's a complex, rich fragrance and it certainly does its name and the marketing spiel justice; I get bitter black tea, on a background of leather and birch and something smoky and tar-like, all of which does make it very easily to be transported to some Russian outpost mentally. But what's most characteristic for this scent to my nose are the spices; at first there's a lot of mint, which adds a kind of surprising, aggressive freshness to the opening, very original in combination with the tea and woody/smoky element. And as it dries down the pepper becomes more prominent, which I'm personally not crazy about but which does go very well with the other accords. I hardly get any sweetness, and certainly no fruity notes, although I believe they're there, lending a certain softness to a composition that would otherwise tend towards harshness.

So this is a very good scent and it might even be worth its extremely high price, if you factor in the excellent projection and longevity. But for my personal taste it's too heavy on the spices, and for that reason also maybe just a little on the masculine side of unisex (although it would certainly work for women as well). Which is good news for my budget, since my little decant will probably last me a lifetime - although I'm sure I'll get it out from time to time just to appreciate its complex high quality, and for the mental trip to Russia!

The opening is SO interesting! It smells like lychee and camphor (maybe the birch and mint combo?) to me as it was drying. The first hour the camphor-like smell slowly backed off, the fruitiness dropped out, and it smells like a sweet and slightly medicinal amber with very slight leafy and smoky notes. Note that this does not smell like tobacco or hookah even though those notes often are used to describe them. There's none of the oxidation/raisin-y smell I associate with tobacco or even black tea.

Around hour two I'm either getting used to the amber, or it's evolving again and the tea notes are coming up for me more. The tea note smells very similar to the note in many other "tea scented" perfumes which tends to evoke a fresh green tea rather than a lapsang souchong or other black teas you might have in Russia. I assume if the smoky, woody, or leathery notes came out more for me it would change my perception of the tea note. I do not smell the leather at all on my skin.

It is a unique and compelling fragrance. The opening is sweet and fruity balanced with fresh/leafy/medicinal notes. The amber/old fashioned vibes come out on my skin too much for me personally. While it settles into a synthetic tea scent I would really like this if the other notes were more evident. I will pass this along to someone else hoping they will enjoy it.

First impressions from a paper strip: you get what is written on the label: tea and birch tar, giving the impression of smoky black tea. Nice, possibly one of the best tea fragrances around, but at that price point, I was expecting more, and given that, for me it is just an 'ok, thanks for having me try, but I'm not interested in spraying on skin' kind of fragrance.

This one is definitely an unique scent, I can't compare to anything. In the opening, there are black tea, leather and sweet mint. Opening is really beautiful. After couple of hours birch and smoke comes up and sweetness from mint disappears. I would love to buy a full bottle of this in the future.

27/M/Aus

I purchased a tester of this off ebay, so my experience is based off of that.
I really love this fragrance, although I find it extremely challenging. It has a sophisticated smell which makes me think of quiet bookstores, hip cafes before hip cafes became a thing, quiet discussion and classy women. A date with a girl you're trying to convince that your sophisticated (or maybe you're sophisticated in actuality).
This lasts a long time, you'll still be smelling it by the end of the evening. The sillage is good, which in combination with the strength means a solid no-no if you're expecting to be in close confines with someone (plane, bus, car) until it has majorly dried down.
So why is this difficult? It's perhaps too potent for the wearer and I find it cloying around my nose. You will be smelling this on yourself all day and at least my sinuses do not enjoy the experience. I cannot express in dramatic enough terms how this is not to be warn in warm weather, it will make you sick and give you a headache, as well as anyone around you who can't get fresh air. A hot bus or car? You'll be lucky to not be kicked out. This stuff is potent enough that it needs to be restrained by a cool environment (perhaps snow-covered Nevsky Prospekt as they took the inspiration!). In cold weather, what is too much in the heat becomes uplifting and enjoyable, with the smokiness/incense adding a bit of brightness to an otherwise drab day.
I think this can be warn either day or night but is not suitable for something like a club, I just don't think it's sleezy enough to be warn in that sort of environment. Places where bodies will be rubbing against yours (the club, busy bars, busy parties etc) just do not seem appropriate. I wouldn't put an age on this, however I think this fragrance will mesh with a certain more reserved demeanor that isn't as common sub mid-twenties.
Would I buy a full bottle? Extremely doubtful at the price point, over $200 for 35ml is a bit rich for my blood. However, if you were to purchase a 35ml bottle, it would last you an extremely long time.
I would say this is unisex, slightly leaning masculine.

Sample Testing - can't accurately comment on performance/longevity - opinion is strictly about smell.

Russian Tea

This is a fragrance of contrasts. It's both smoky & fruity/fresh. Which is why it reminds me of Breath of God from Lush - it's definitely in the same ballpark but Russian Tea is way more wearable and fresher - the balance is better executed.

When you smell the fragrance in the air or about arms-length away from where you sprayed it, it comes off as a fruity, fresh and very pleasing fragrance. But when you smell it up close - wow, very smoky. Almost like you burnt something on the stove (and I don't mean that in a bad way in terms of the smell). I never drank Russian tea so I have nothing to add in that realm but as far as a scent, this is an addicting fragrance that can be worn year-round.

Very pricy though - $135 CAD for just 35ml - not sure if the fragrance is THAT special.

7.5/10

YT Channel - The Scentrovert

Just straight up smoke (I don't get the insence) and leather (not a good leather - more synthetic, almost like lysol). A teensy bit of tea. REALLY wanted to like this one, but it's just awful.

I have Russian Tea on one hand and Milano Cento on the other, quite different scents but with many similarities. Though Russian Tea is no fougere, it has the same sort of clean vibe, almost laundry-like. This scent actually can be mistaken for a lavender essential oil, despite having no lavender at all. It's smoky for sure, yet it's bright and overwhelms the nostrils, very much like fougeres.

It's very, very pleasant and high quality. However, it's not mysterious enough for me, and it can be mistaken for a new type of detergent you've started using for your clothes. Worth having a decant probably. But this as best as a tea scent can get.

Julien Rasquinet masters melancholy in perfumery.
He has the ability to make you feel like crying wearing his fragrances.
In that, he is a genius.

It starts off smelling like leather and medicine to me. I smell the mintiness and smokiness too. It's a really interesting tea scent. It's not a scent I see myself wearing but it's very well done. It feels masculine leaning to me. I can understand why people love it. -

Scent: 8/10

Quality: 9/10

Originality: 7/10

Sillage: 7/10

Projection: 6/10

Longevity: 7/10

Price VS Size: 7/10

Fresh, dark, icy, harsh, avant-garde. I use it when I wear black. And yet, I spent a wonderful day at the beach in it and got a lot of compliments. It's a different take on freshness. Definitely the best one from this brand. 

Imagine old book with leather covering, standing on a table in the old house far into the nature....there is hot tea aside that book just removed from the fire ready to drink it.
This is it. I dont know if this makes a scene but this is best I can do.
It's more work of art than something you would wear every day. Respect

Realistic leathers can sometimes be a bit too harsh and animalistic for me. Here the bold sweet raspberry softens any harshness and the subtle mint freshens the sweaty animal. It is fairly linear with no disappointing drydown.

Nostalgia in a bottle - all round fantastic!

Quite a bit different than I expected, not in a bad way, but the mint is quite prominent it really is like a zingy mint tea at first. I was expecting much smokier.

It does get smokier as it dries though as the black tea comes out more and starts to go down the route I was thinking it would.
Last quite long for a tea frag.

Tea frag lovers, you should definitely try this.

I’m enjoying this very much. I don’t find the opening to be as challenging as I’d imagined. I’d heard a lot about it being very smoky - and while I definitely get birch, it’s nowhere near the intensity as say, city on fire by imaginary authors - or burning barbershop by ds and Durga.

This definitely has an effervescent mint note that seems to take the main stage for quite some time. It’s mint with a small hint of sweetness - but just a hint.

I find this to be extraordinarily calming and meditative. It’s not the type of scent you’d typically encounter In day to day activity - and it’s certainly not the type of scent you’d find many others wearing.

Overall, I am 100% satisfied with this. I was expecting a slow-grow, challenging scent - but I personally find it to be the complete opposite. Because of the heavy mint, I see no issues wearing this during any season.

If you’ve been wondering about this one - like I had - but find yourself with reservations, I’d encourage you to try it. It’s wonderful.

This one opens with a deep slightly bitter and rubbery smokiness, with a lot of leather immediately present, a bright citrus tone and an understated sweetness. So far so good- I love the opening.

The perfume starts to dry down and within 15 minutes it mellows into barbershop territory; Now I get shaving cream and calone at about an equal intensity to the smoke and leather. The sweet note remains throughout. It’s raspberry I suppose, but I can’t make it out.

This is a nice fragrance that leans masculine. Although I’ve happily worn Men’s perfumes, whatever is reading as ‘shaving cream’ to my nose has convinced me to leave this one to the guys.

From Russian Tea with Love

My first sniff was a “Crime and Punishment”. 😊)) It was like Raskolnikov has been metamorphosed into a dangerous perfume smell. For the moment he succeeded to kill my olfactory sense. Could be from the mint and pepper combination or the fact that I’ve smelt it too fast and too close to it ? Probably. Sadness unfolded over my initial greeting of this perfume.

After a few minutes my olfactory sense has resurrected. I’ve got courage to test it once again. Not long after I applied it on my skin a miracle had happened: Raskolnikov evaporated. 😊) A spicy mint introduction gave a true punch to my nose. Yes, the introduction is powerful. I’m glad the mint doesn’t have the annoying toothpaste smell. Wow ! A mysterious smoke wrapped tea note emerge. That smoky note reminds of Bois d’Ascese. Very nice ! It’s like I’m reliving happy moments from the past. I’m sitting next to a fire camp surrounded by my friends and joy sipping a black tea.

Another thing I like about this perfume is that the notes evolve slowly. It’s like when you are close to a woodside preparing a black tea while the fire is carefully controlled to emit all its flavors. The smoke is there but it let the tea to show all its aromatic facets. To my BIG surprise the raspberry note gives the composition a wonderful touch. In this stage (together with the leather-incense combo) it reminds me a bit of Tom Ford’s Tuscan Leather.

This elegant composition has good longevity (it’s above average) but the silage is discreet. For a tea addict that L’Artisan’s Tea For Two is too sweet or Gucci pour Homme II is too green, then you have to try Russian Tea.

Note: 9/10

I love this perfume ! Please bring the samovars ! 😊

I don't know why I haven't taken the time to explore more tea based scents. The masterpiece that is Bulgari Black was pretty much my indoctrination into the world of perfumery, and the smell of fresh tea leaves in general is an absolute treat. That being said, Masque Milano's Russian Tea seemed a good place to start.

Right off the bat you're handed a leather bound brick of intense tea leaves and strong but fleeting menthol. It's festive, contemplative, intellectual even, if that makes any sense. If Russian Tea were a moment on the trans Siberian railway, then it's a moment in a first class carriage with a chess game and pouches of beautifully smokey tea coming to life and floating through the air.

Russian Tea is bitter, harsh even at its core. And this is undoubtedly leather with a capital l. Think about that parched, numbing aftertaste you're left with after sipping a fierce cup of black tea. That's exactly how this feels. And while it might sound harsh, beefy, and masculine, the raspberry and magnolia give Russian Tea a bit of a sparkle in the background, as well as a present but almost undetectable sweetness, at least until after a few hours. It's a slow burner of a fragrance, taking it's time to really uncoil. But when it does, it's a hell of a lot more gentle than it initially seems.

From what I understand this is Masque Milano's most popular and I can see why. It's very original, superbly blended, and textbook niche. A slightly challenging scent that would shine in fall and winter.

Act I, Perfume III from Masque Milano is the enigmatic Russian Tea, mostly a mix of black tea, mint, raspberry, black pepper, florals, leather, incense, and birch. It opens with an abundance of mint, black pepper, and tea, the mint and pepper giving way to the tea, birch, florals, and incense, mostly, in the dry down. And while raspberry is listed as a top note, I feel like I get more of it in the dry down, myself.

The blast of mint and pepper in the opening is powerful, a spicy sting of a wake-up that requires a couple of hours to fade to the point of the tea being more singularly front-and-center with the raspberry, mixed florals, incense, leather, and birch. It’s not wholly smooth, a sort of wood-varnish-mixed-with-leather-and-incense base under the tea.

It’s an elegantly- and carefully-crafted fragrance and I’ve already discovered more nuances in this first full wearing on skin than in my initial smelling of it during the Masque Milano introductory event at Perfumology, where Alessandro Brun wisely pointed out (of this fragrance, in particular) that it needs to be tested on skin, not paper. It’s much more interesting on skin.

Its performance is very good, too, much like Montecristo, having a boastful and provocative opening and finding balance in a tamer but long-lasting dry down. Its pricing is in the middle of the line at $145 for a now-standard 35 bottle size, and while the presentation is lovely, the fragrances don’t come cheap, though I think the job done here in Russian Tea (and Terralba and Montecristo) is great, and I’d recommend that others try it if they haven’t.

Overall, it wins high points for uniqueness and provocativeness, as, while I’m not a huge fan of tea fragrances, let alone spicier tea fragrances, specifically, this is so well done that it warrants attention.

8 out of 10

Ok, Masque, you almost got me here. Put on my little stick sample this morning and was instantly impressed with this beautiful blend of fresh tea and leather. It's like sipping tea in a study full of leather-bound books.

To me, this is very much an experiential scent . . . One that you wear to take you on a little journey. It's not one I would spray on just for a pleasant scent I'm free to ignore. I find myself with the back of my hand against my nose, making this review somewhat of a challenge to type. . .

It does dry down quickly to a place where the edges between fresh tea and warm leather are much less easily distinguished. But that does not affect the performance. I'm still getting lovely wafts and I'm loving it. Another plus is that what I sniff straight off my skin is very similar to the wafts I get. This is not always the case and I appreciate that little detail.

The scent is not feminine per se, but it is soft and borders on powdery (from the dusty leather) with a slight touch of sweetness there somewhere. But it's not sweet either. It's thoroughly unisex, though those who think of feminine scents as sweet and floral would consider it masculine, and those considering men's scents to be barbershop fougres would maybe find it feminine . . . Hence why I said it's thoroughly unisex.

My sole complaint is the price. I simply can't pay that much for a scent that is ambiance and reflective and one that I would get for the novelty. If it was under $100, I might consider a bottle. I just can't justify contributing to the inflated perfume market when there are equally high quality scents being sold at 1/3 per ml, this price. That's my own conviction. If the price doesn't bother you, get a sample. It really is lovely.

Nikolai ( Viggo Mortensen ) in ( Eastern Promises ) by David Cronenberg 2007
++++++++++++

7/10

My Latvian born, half Russian husband and I fell in love with the scent in Kristiana in Galleria Rīga mall. It is an absolutely Incredibly intriguing, woody oriental of leather, incense, black tea and birch wood. I loved it immediately. It reminded me of mushroom picking this past autumn in the birch forrests of Latvija with the faint scent of smoke from someone's fireplace hanging in the air, making me anticipate the hot, strong cup of Russian black tea that awaited me upon return from our woodland adventure. Its completely out of the ordinary from my usual gourmand tastes but nonetheless it is... absolutely Beautiful! ♡

Not sure where my review is, perhaps it's just another one that was forgotten about because I tried this when it came out and remember it not living up to my high expectations. However upon wearing again, I'm much more understanding and sympathetic with it's themes. I love a good tea biased accord and it's pretty prominent in here backed up by a leathery woods. The birch tar smokiness and peppery notes are very subtle and chime well with the inherent smokiness of the tea but there's a brightness here too. The drydown is one of leather but there's a sweet fruity note, I'm not entirely convinced but I definitely enjoyed it more this time. Masque are yet to show me something I didn't think was of some creative interest.

Below are my first impressions of this fragrance when I first experienced it a few months ago:

Without looking at notes, at first spray I detect a slightly spicy and floral accord. It’s definitely tea-like, but I don’t overtly get the note of tea just yet. Smells a touch balsamic as well but I could be wrong. Its very different, but it’s quite pleasant so far. While reading the official description of the fragrance online (not the notes yet), it’s mentioning of other accords brings new facets to my attention. For one, a slightly sweetened tea is coming to the forefront, with a little bit of cooling freshness. I can also detect a slight smoky nature in the background. I really like this one. The notes show that in the top we have mint (cooling freshness!), raspberry (the sweetness I detected), and black pepper (the spice I detected). The heart contains black tea (smells amazing here!), magnolia, and Everlasting Flower. I suspect that this melange of florals is the floral accord I smelled at first spray. The base contains leather, incense (smoky nature), birch, and cistus-labdanum (perhaps the balsamic nature I detected). This fragrance is so pleasant, calming, and transportive. I truly enjoy this, I think it’d wear great in the Autumn. My favorite one from the house so far.

Lots of Animalic musk and botanical musk in this as well

Especially at first, this smells remarkably like the Russian Country tea I often drink from Harney's--so much so that I thought I might just enjoy inhaling the tea and skip the fragrance. But then it becomes more smoky and leathery, which I really love. The smokiness isn't too ashtray or church incense. I can detect mint, raspberry, and birch, once they are pointed out; it doesn't smell too much like any of them, but they add bright and fresh notes, and help keep the dry-down unisex. I am anti-lemon in tea so was pleased that it's absent here. Unusual, wearable, and delicious.

TERRIFIC tea - a privilege to sit down with this and take even the tiniest sample of its loveliness. I've been after something with great tea note(s) but no citrus for a while anyway, and Russian Tea is often mentioned in the same breath as lots of other stuff I like. Reading here that the nose is the same guy who formulated Bois d'Ascese (which is damn near to my 'smell of imaginary heaven') sealed the deal and made it even more imperative to try this.

And oh MY it is good, especially at first, when the notoriously elusive and short-lived real-tea note clouds up around your nose in glorious, smoky/steamy/fruity wafts, strong and unmistakeable, and seeming - to my nose anyway - all organic and detailed and beautiful. So deeply smoky at the bottom end I even thought there was cade in it, but maybe that's just the birch. Mint and immortelle are both notes which can ruin a whole frag for me, but in this they're both on their very best behaviour and share the tea-table without losing their manners. Soft and natural leather underlying it all. Nothing at all out of place, then, with even the raspberry seeming sophisticated and real, not like some bullying synthetic Frankenfruit concocted in a test tube. Just bewitchingly good, and also has blooming marvellous projection at first and really robust longevity - hanging on up to 9h on my skin.

So - a seductive proposition, for sure! Yet there are a few bad omens in the tea leaves at the bottom of the cup. For one: very overpriced, even for niche, even BEFORE Masque Milano pulled a dirty trick and decided to charge the same for a 35ml bottle as they'd previously done for a 100ml. Second: I really admire the knowledge and insight of the Kafkaesque blog's writer (though I strongly disagree with it about loads of scents) and their takedown of Russian Tea is a genuine savaging, finding all sorts of very grave technical faults in it. While I don't know enough about perfume tech to share those reservations, they make me doubt what I was really smelling. And most seriously: the longer I wore this, the more I couldn't stop thinking about its very close kinship to Tuscan Leather (Tom Ford, pleh!) OR - even more concerning - Rasasi La Yuqawam, which has far more smouldering ashtray in it and none of the beauties of tea in the Masque Milano - but which costs only about a quarter as much while giving nearly as much pleasure.

So I'm still on the fence. Love it. Want it. Can't afford it. Doubt if it's worth it. Then smell it again and want it again. Oh Ambivalence! thy name is Russian Tea...

Russian Tea is accessible luxury that impresses during its entire life cycle. Your olfactory senses will tell you that this is quality, through and through. I concur with the positive reviews here and only have one thing to add.

I don't normally use this as a gauge: but this is the most complimented sample I have ever worn. These compliments were from strangers. It was like an extra confirmation of why I was really pleased with my purchase. This juice is superb.

I may have to splurge on a small bottle of this when the weather is cooler.

Masque Milano: I salute you!

Russian Tea is an aromatic musk. The fragrance is supposed to be tea based I guess, but is very mild toned, and has this combative mint essence off the top of it that I think ruins the tea. It's not entirely bad, but it doesn't seem especially appealing in any way. The contents just don't quite mix together well, and under-body of the fragrance has this distinctly musky tinge to it.

Hate to think it's a blatant cheap-shot at a Russian stereotype, but that's certainly what it seems like to me. An easy pass for me, I can't find anything good to say about this one. Strongly recommended to try before you buy—which can be said about every fragrance from this house based on my experiences.

Read all the rave reviews - Russian Tea lives up to the enthiusiasm! Fantastic brew of aromatic mint sprigs, fresh raspberries, and the distinctive aroma of real-time brewing tea. The opening sparkles with crisp notes vying for attention. Dries down to an accord that is rich with leather, and a softness that makes this almost a comfort scent. Also, kind of energizing! Between the tea, the pepper, and the mint, it's vitality stimulates your senses. Like the other reviewers here, every time I wear it I experience a "Russian Tea high"!

اصلن انتظار چای رو اونجوری که میشناسین نداشته باشین
ترکیبی حرفه ای بالزامیکی اوکالیپتوسی
-----------
Scent & Qualiy: 9/10
Longevity: 7/10
Sillage: 7/10
Creativity & Uniqueness: 8/10
Affordability: 4/10
-----------
Overall: 7/10

Captivating true tea leather but i imagine it on men not women

I've to admit I bought a sample based on the strength of the house's reputation and the name itself. I wanted a strong black tea fragrance... My bad, should have checked the notes first. This isn't what I expected. RASPBERRIES and LEATHER! Gasp, this takes me right back to the nightmare of Byredo's Black Saffron. Unfortunately for me, these two notes take over everything else and turns a sickly mess. No room for tea here. You've been warned. This is not a safe buy.

(The previous reviewers are right: this skews very masculine in a heavy musk + leather way.)

I tend to like unisex fragrance, but this is extremely masculine. Opening with aggressive heavy smoke, heavy spicy and cool accords at the same time, then red tea comes up which is the most easy-to-wear moment but mostly it's still the smokiness, the drydown turns masculine again. This is an amazing scent, rich, heavy, dry, strong and I enjoy it a lot however I can't think of any possible way to wear it myself. It'd be wonderful on men though.

Definitely smells like tea but not my cup of tea.

This is rich, smoldering brew boiled up in a cauldron rather than a polite teakettle, served from a samovar by Rasputin as he holds court with swooning royal ladies.

I would say it's syrupy due to its thick, heavy character but that's not quite right. This is the blackest black tea imaginable and I felt quite dangerous while wearing it. Shockingly strong and smoky at first with an immediate tidal wave of rich, damp tobacco, it becomes drier and smokier the longer it is on my skin. Just a small dab from a tester vial is all it takes to experience this potency.

After an hour or so the raspberry jam joins up and lastly a mint leaf drops in. But the jam doesn't sweeten so much as adds a new dimension and it just gets richer and richer as time goes on.

What incredible artistry went into this creation, and what sorcery has wrought such vivid imagery to go along with this performance? Possibly the most brilliant and well-structured fragrance I have ever known. There is absolutely nothing else out there like it.

Not a safe blind buy. This complex potion needs your time and patience to fully appreciate it. I recommend testing samples over the course of a few weeks before splurging on a full bottle.

Such a gorgeous blend. The mint really gives it an edge, but mostly leathery woody balsamic spicy. Really unique definitely stands out with the mint twist!

I really enjoy it--especially the flavory mint. BUT what happend to the pricetag?

Honey, black tea, leather, smoke. Amazing. Deep, rich, warm. With some very snuggly animalics (typical of this house) from the leather and honey. Bottle worthy. Nuff' said.
9/10

normally-this wouldn't be my type-going strictly by the notes-but i was gifted a sample of this-and i love it!
i wonder how many great scents i miss by juging only by the notes?
this is beautiful, classy-even elegant-which is a word i don't think i have ever used in describing a scent.
i expected milky and dark-what i got was blacktea mixed with a fruity note-i didn't get the mint note that so many got-which would have been a deal breaker for me-i don't care for mint in my scents...this is a deep rich tea-
i used to buy the whole leaves and crush them into a tea ball and strain them-those leaves have a very distincr smell-and i can catch the remnants in this perfume-without the bitterness that comes from steeping for too long.
during the dry down the leather comes in....perfection-not so much that it overwhelms the tea leaves subtle notes-but rather-enhances it-brings forth the nuances you would otherwise miss.....

this is very middle eastern to me- reminding me of rooms with multilayers panels of fabrics made from different materials and textures-red sheers, black velvet, golden damask with red threads running thru it-being used instead of doors...luxurious large pillows of various rich colors thrown about the room on low sitting sofas just inches off of richly colored turkish carpets....low sitting tables with ivory boxes, jeweled colored glass, and brass lamps lit...
and the smell of this perfume wafting gently, from room to room, as the wearer wanders from room to room...you just catch glimpses of her from behind-her long dark silky hair, and beautiful blood red silk wrapped artfully round her-covering more than it reveals...she disappears....leaving behind a scent that is as dark and alluring as she is...

It is one of the best leathery scent I smelled.
It is deep ,bitter , dark ,rich and very beautiful.
Bravo Julien Rasquinet
9/10

Scent - smoky leather & mint tea.

Season/Time of Day - I prefer to use this one in the colder months, day or night.

Projection - I didn't get noticed, I didn't get a compliment.

Longevity - I get 12hrs consistently.

I didn't expect to like this one because I am not a fan of tea or tea notes. But after falling in love with L'Attesa I wanted to try other offerings from Masque. I sampled Tango and was very impressed. Today I received my sample of Russian Tea, and it is completely different from what I anticipated! I do detect tea, but not a flat, bitter, watered-down tea. This, by contrast, is very rich and leathery with a hint of mint together with smoky, spicy and floral notes. It reminds me of several middle-eatern fragrances that I have in my collection. It is a smooth fragrance with lots of body and great projection. Very high quality. Completely unisex. I love it.

Tea glorious tea!!! I love the smell of black tea, and this one captures it perfectly! Tea for how many??? Me for sure. It's a fabulous start with the burst of black tea on your skin, delicious aroma! A beautiful warming smokey cup of tea. Then the mint creeps in and perks it up, and it becomes very jaunty. Fresh. Pick-me-uppy!! Happy happy!! Then slowly comes a lovely beguiling soft leathery smell - very gentle and soothing. The perfume is a very soothing one altogether. The woods are very stablising, and all in all it's primarily and sublimely a beautiful tea perfume.

So much thick honey on my skin, it's practically linear at first whiff. And yet so complex. I definitely get all the undertones and barely any fruit (thankfully). There is quite a bit of insence, and the leather is very soft in my case. I only felt the mint the first few fleeting moments, and I'm undecided whether I would want more of it. Likely not.

One of my major pet peeves is the everpresent medicinal note in the vast majority of modern-day scents - this one has none of those.

I still can't figure out where the honey comes from. But I know honey when I smell it. :)

This one is too minty to my taste then comes the tea in. I can't sense leather here other than the minty tea notes. Kind of similar to "Tango" from the same house but fresher. It's too heavy to my taste on the side of sour mint.

Edit (4th Feb 2019) Hmm, this is more of a birch black tea mix, mints on a side and very little leather! citrus woody tea blend. i'm not surprised that is a hit cause it has the common ingredients of a masculine labeled blends. It screams quality indeed, and it's for those who likes the citrus wood mix blends.

It opens up with green mint enveloped by smoke with hints of something sweet, which could be the raspberry. Immediately starting to detect some spices and a dry bitter raw leather which I will pick up for a couple of hours. The leather feels too old fashioned to me and it gives me the same feeling as Habit Rouge does, of a much early era. I much prefer the current modern leathers (regardless of being the polish or animalic type). The black tea leaves appear also, timidly and with a nice leafy feeling at first, but they will get more pronounced and smoky-dry with time. The leather will not hang for very long, leaving a long dry down of smoky tea leaves with a minty aroma, the smoke being denser than in the beginning.

I find the Russian Tea more like putting my nose inside of a tea bag while being near a campfire, rather than drinking a cup of tea.

All said, this is not my cup of tea, but it could have been if the whole composition felt more modern. I believe it's for the ones who love the classic perfumes. Regarding the performance, it never jumps too much of the skin , but lasts a good 12 hours very close to the skin.

Scent: 6.5/10
Longevity: 8/10
Projection: 5/10

The raspberry, smoke, and mint combine to make the first hour or so pretty medicinal-smelling for me. Once the raspberry recedes, it gets less cloying, becoming more of a tea/leather scent. Seemingly quality ingredients, but doesn't quite work on my skin. However, I could see the right person pulling this off well in cold weather.

Beautiful green, minty, tea opening. I love the "green" note in this. Though I get some light smokiness, it is nowhere near as smoky as Bois d'Ascese. Under the fresh opening is a core of smooth leather that stays bright.

This is a nice scent, but I actually wish it were a little darker with a little more of that "caravan tea" smoke.

The most versatile and elegant outing from the Masque line Russian Tea is a spicy fresh leather-tea fragrance with a smoky (fire camp) backbone that feels bold and evocative and a sweet musky base that adds comfort and allure.
Created by the Bois D’Ascese perfumer Julien Rasquinet Russian Tea opens with a bright green pepper-mint combo with some raspberry that grants a sweet vibe contrasting the bitter smoky facets of the perfume. This juxtaposition of opposite notes works beautifully and has definitely interesting, to say the least, results. A short of introspective journey in the grand outdoors. The heart of the scent gets more to the leather-tea vibe that the fragrance claims and succeeds again in mixing opposites; the transparency of tea notes with the tarry smoky birch wood leather accord. Here the pivot is a strong immortelle note with its thick spicy-sweet nature connecting the conflicting bands. The base is as aforementioned a musky convenient concoction from labdanum with some incense.
The fragrance although contains heavy notes feels very transparent and wears very easily making it suitable for various occasions without having to wear it only “for a night out”. This fact was the most interesting thing of Russian Tea since I have become bored of “fragrances for occasions”. Very good.

It has long wanted to test work Masque Milano, I really caught the attention of both the presentation and the good reviews, so I decided I asked a sample of 5 of his most representative fragrances.

Sometimes unexpectedly you find an excellent fragrance that leaves you speechless. As this happened with Russian Tea.

This is a scent where the main note in black tea and accompanied the start of a sweet raspberry note with a hint of mint, popping a smoky flavor changes suggestive note the contribution of magnolia incense.

Drying is a bed leather soft suede shooting in a dark and warm note birch surrounding the outcome and makes for a very fine and elegant fragrance.

The set has a balance and you marvel brought directly to Russian folklore and customs.

Rasquinet flawless work.

Rating: 8

TEA FOR TWO…ME FOR YOU

(Anyone remember that song? Or am I aging myself?)

Love the opening. Smokey Black Tea. With a hint of something sweet in the back room.

As the fragrance progresses, the smokiness mellows, the sweet becomes more present, and the tea remains consistent.

If you like a bit of smoke with your sweet, or a bit of sweet with your smoke,
sample this with your afternoon tea and crumpets.

I loved the smoky black tea vibe I get from the Russian Tea by Masque. The question was: could I carry off this rather masculine fragrance? Apparently so, by layering a touch of rose over it - something like Voleur de Roses or Amber and Roses. Who says that Russians cannot drink tea, smoke, wear leather jackets, and smell the roses at the same time?

I know people on this site tend to give these overly narrative and florid descriptions of floating down rivers in gondolas, or dancing in the monsoon blah blah. but honestly this is the first perfume thats ever made me feel a story in it. its a simple story- cream tea on a rainy afternoon- but a comforting one.

It may be called Russian Tea, and while there is a certain eastern spice to it especially with its almost Lapsang tea note, to me its more of tea and scones. The tea note itself is intensely smoky and incense like, much like a good Lapsang Souchong or in this case perhaps Russian Caravan. It has a slight creaminess to it, though decidedly not vanilla, as vanilla notes on my skin often drown out everything else. Here the creaminess just gentles out the otherwise perhaps overpowering smoke and sharp sweet raspberry.

The sense memory it evokes, of being curled up with a steaming mug and a good book, hiding out from the dreary english weather, has made this my instant Autumn/Winter go to scent.

There are a few fragrances that share this over-steeped black tea accord ( Floris Malmaison and Kilian Imperial Tea come to mind as others ), and I must say I far prefer it to the green tea accords that were everywhere a few years ago. Here it's really exaggerated, almost smoky: it reminds me of how I used to make ice tea, steeping the tea overnight and then diluting it with lemon and water until it tasted right.

Both this tea accord and the raspberry note are very vivid, making it one of the few fragrances I can easily recommend. Do you want to smell like black tea with raspberry jam? If yes, you will like this scent. Expect no more, and no less.

Basically, raspberry tea, but the raspberry isn’t overwhelming at all. Although a unisex fragrance, I think it borders feminine. Nothing dark or mysterious about it, in fact, it’s a little too bright for my personal taste. And I’m not sure if this is a coincidence or not, but I feel sinus pressure in my head since I applied this morning. And I recall pain in my head the LAST time I wore this, too.

This seems to be an inferior version of Parfum d'Empire Ambre Russe (an extremely misleading name). It has the same leather/tea/smokey birch accord but is unfortunately off due to a sweet note (the raspberry?) that takes the whole thing over into a spicy stale tobacco mishmash. Individual notes are there and obvious but get a few inches away and the effect is a leather club chair owned by a heavy smoker. Ah well, onward and upward.

Sillage: 2-3 ft, intrusive
Longevity: 4-5 hours
Fabulosity: Amtrak smoking car
Value to price ratio: mediocre
4/10

Yes, it smells like a bag of very rich black tea. That is pretty much all there is to it. I would say it's for an older man in a suit. It's definitely not for me. Not that I dislike the scent, it's just not something I want to smell like.

By the way, it projects VERY well.

يعتبر الشاي الروسي مشروباً شعبياً لاتكاد تخلوا اوقاتهم من كوب من الشاي والمفارقة العجيبة انهم يتناولون الحلى والفواكه مع الشاي بخلافنا :)، عرف الروس الشاي قديماً عندما كان يستوردونه
من الصين عبر ظهور الجمال التي كانت تأتي لهم على شكل قوافل. الى ان اضحى يستزرع حاليا في روسيا، ومن المسلمات ان الشاي ليس مشروب يقتصر على دولة ما بل هو مشروب عالمي، ومحدثكم من محبي الشاي وخاصة الذي يعد بالطريقة التركية او كما يطلق عليه الاخوه في الشام شاي الخميره بحيث يطبخ الشاي ببخار الماء على نار هادئة، ومن اجود وانسب انواع الشاي لهذه الطريقة هو شاي الربيع (التلقيمه ) :).

دار
Masque
لم يغب عن ذهنها هذ المشروب الباعث للاسترخاء برائحتة الزكية فقامت بعمل عطراً اسمته الشاي الروسي وكي لا اطيل واصفاً ومفصلا مكونات العطر فغالب مكونات العطر عندما تحاول تفسر تواجدها ستجد ان لها علاقة باعداد الشاي سواء عند الروس او غيرهم فمثلا الفروالة التي هي من احد المكونات العطر الغير بارزه تقدم مع الشاي الروسي وهكذا....

العطر عبارة عن رائحة الشاي تمام كالذي تشمه عند فتح علبه للشاي ورائحته هنا تذكرني برائحة شاي الربيع ( الاوراق الكاملة) وليست الاكياس التي تباع عند البوفيات :)

فالعطر يرتكز على رائحة الشاي الباعثة للاسترخاء والهدوء ممزوجة بروائح سمكوية خشبية محترقه بسبب نوتة خشب البتولاء والليذر مع لمحات سويتية خافته جدا جدا جدا بفضل الفرواله وزهرة الخلود ذات الطابع العسلي طبعا هما ليسوا بارزين ولا اريد التفصيل اكثر كي لا اشتتكم واخرجكم عن جوهر رائحة العطر التي هي الشاي بجانب اللمحات الدخانية، العطر موجه بالدرجه الاولى لمحبي الشاي ولمحبي الاستمتاع بالعطور بالنسبة لي قد استخدم هذا العطر في اوقات العمل وتحديداً وقت الظهر بعد فترة انهاك وتعب للاستخراء وتجديد النشاط :) او بعد وجبة مشاوي هههه :)

مكونات العطر حسب ماهو معلن رسمياً : الشاي،الفروالة،الجلود،اللابندنوم، زهرة الخلود،النعنان البخور، الفلف الاسود، زهرة المنغوليا،
بالرغم من تلك المكونات وكثرتها الا الشاي الشاي والروائح السمكوية الدخانية هي الابرز.

هذا مالدي

لاتنس ذكر الله والصلاة على النبي

a smoothy, a lttle bit bitter, strong-aromatic black tea scent with incense/pepper notes but somehow very nice , clean and fresh(mint+ pepper), with really good longlivety and siliage. a great fragrance for spring and fall!!!

Tea, leather and incense sounded promising but this one was not to my taste. The opening was an all out assault on my senses by a SWAT team of bitter tea leaves, over the top incense, pepper and dusty notes. If you like it strong this one is for you. I could see this smelling wonderful on a man, but it was not for me.

Just mega tea scent! I fully agree with Alfarom that Herba Fresca is here. But deluted largely by Lapsang Souchong tea. Something that Cartier La Treizieme Heure wanted to accomplish but failed, in partcular Masque made it much better at drydown, without the annoying dry synthetic note of Treizieme Heure. Very high tenancy. Now is on my buy list.

This is really good. Out the gates, it's somewhat bitter, a little off-putting, but, ah, the drydown! Out come the berries and the tea note softens, the bitterness subsides. This is like Jubilation's wayward cousin!

If you're not familiar with Russian Tea, now is the time. I had a funny feeling that I was gonna like this but I had no idea that I would sacrifice bills that need to get paid just to attain this. I'm not gonna describe what I smell(everyone below has done a great job in their description). Instead, I'll just tell how this makes me feel. Sexy as a mutha!! Puts you in the mind of a well dressed smoker. Someone once said, "It's not a drug problem until you sell your VCR." From the smell of this sample, my VCR is going on EBay once I finish this review.

too me its relly good but they should have name it russian leater i barely smell the tea was hoping something els but if your loocking for a good dark rich leather check this out!

One of my favorite restaurants features a beautiful, shiny, silver Russian samovar. I loved to drink cup after highly-caffeinated cup of the smoky Russian black tea. The top notes smell like it very literally, like the bitter tannins that are released from black tea leaves that have been steeped for too long.

It begs to be compared to Tuscan Leather. Both perfumes are dark, leathery and feature raspberry. Tuscan Leather smells a little like cigarette butts/ashtray. Russian Tea does not.

The heart smells a bit soapy, as tea perfumes frequently do. This feature I like. It lightens the scent up and cuts through the the initial dark, gritty bitterness, and it only gets better from there.

Raspberry grows increasingly prominent, bringing its soft sweetness to balance the perfume. It smells like raspberry bon bons, blending harmoniously with the black tea, which is very mellow by that point like a satisfying cup of Tetley with cream and sugar.

By the drydown, I am reminded of a raspberry flavored black tea that I buy from the Russian market. It tastes wonderful with milk and sugar. I swoon at this point!

I love a good mint note, but I never detect it. At least it doesn't smell like toothpaste ¯ _(ツ)_/¯

Sillage is huge at first, then relaxes over time. Lasts at least 8 hours on my skin. This is one of the very best tea perfumes out there. Buh-bye Bvlgari! Kudos to the nose!

An incredibly dry, smokey tea based fragrance. The smokiness calls to mind the aforementioned Bois d'Ascese by Naomi Goodsir & Comme des Garcons Black, but I get a strong leather note in Russian Tea which is absent in the other two fragrances. There is a mint note up top, but it vanishes within mere minutes on my skin. I don't really smell anything else but tea, mint, smoke, and leather. It certainly has a balsamic feel to it. If you like the two fragrances mentioned, or if L'artisan's Tea for Two is too sweet for you, this could be right up your alley. Overall a very well made, unique tea based fragrance from a new house which can seem to do no wrong. Thumbs way up!

My first instinct would be to start with "what a surprise!" but then, if I think about it, this is more like a confirmation than actually a surprise. The work Alessandro Brun and Riccardo Tedeschi are doing with their Masque line is definitely something not to overlook and Russian Tea represents just the newest chapter in their already important and noteworthy path started with humongous releases such as Montecristo, Tango and Terralba.

For Russian Tea they worked with cult-perfumer Jacques Rasquinet who previously collaborated with the likes of Naomi Goodsir (for whom he delivered what have become one of my all-time favorites, Bois D'Ascese) and Andrea Maack amongst others. An extremely talented perfumer who's rapidly becoming the undisputed master of smoky notes. The result of this collaboration strikes as a sort of hypothetical lovechild of Guerlain Herba Fresca and the much overlooked Eau Du Fier by Annick Goutal…well, this is honestly kind of a stretch but it might give you an idea on the axis this fragrance moves on, anyway. Smoky, aromatic, dark, fresh, leathery and…bittersweet.

There's clearly a mint note up top which while completely skipping the typical (and annoying) toothpaste effect, it's immediately joined by the most realistic smoky black-tea rendition I've experienced in quite a while. The pairing of the two gives birth to a fantastic juxtaposition all played around moderately sweet fresh notes and darker smoky ones. It's funny how in this phase, while smelling somewhat refreshing, the fragrance doesn't fail to show its darker side with an overall wintery vibe. It's a modern accord made out of bittersweet juxtapositions and just a hint of red-fruitiness. A modern accord where smoke it's relevant but not overwhelming and where tea is left to express and unveil all of its aromatic and evocative qualities.

Slowly, the base starts lurking in the back…

The evolution from the opening to the middle phase and the drydown is slow, smooth and completely flawless. A much darker central accord of smoky woods remarks it presence and takes form while joined by a leather-incense combo with some immortelle providing extra body. It gets darker and darker with time. Deeper and deeper, warmer and warmer, drier and drier… At traces, it made me think of a more aromatic version of Comme Des Garcons Black (the immortelle-leather-incense combo is really not that distant) but whereas the CDG feels urban and sort of punk-ish, Russian Tea pushes on melancholy and coziness by evoking immense rural landscapes during winter. Traditional rituals, historic buildings, fireplaces and time spent meditating and traveling.

Now, I'm impressed for way too many reasons. First of all, this a fragrance which is a total pleasure to wear on many different levels. It'd make one hell of a signature as well as something distinctive for special occasions. It's easy to like but has so much substance. Daring but not weird, solidly built and conceived and, most of all, perfectly sized. Longevity is beyond good while silage is discreet but remarkable. An entirely elegant composition that's able to standout and feel distinctive without being necessarily odd or pretentiously *arty*. Masque's Montecristo was one of my favorite fragrances of 2013 and Russian Tea will most definitely be amongst my favorites of 2014. With that said, there's really no doubts on my side that Masque is rapidly becoming one of the most interesting and solid outfits of this second decade of 2000.

Kudos!

Rating: 8.5-9/10