Tanghulu
Note Profile
About
Tanghulu is the Chinese street sweet of whole fruits on a skewer under a thin, hard sugar glaze. The note is tart fruit first and sugar second. The fruit keeps a real sour edge through the glaze, and the glaze reads as thin boiled sugar rather than thick caramel.
Scent Profile
Tanghulu smells of tart fruit first, a medley like strawberry, orange and grape under a thin sugar glaze. The fruit keeps a real sour edge right through the coating. The glaze itself reads as light, warm caramelised sugar rather than thick caramel, sitting under the fruit rather than over it.
ScentWheel
Read off the wheel, not a label applied to the note.
ScentArt
Origin
A confectionery referent, not an extracted material. Traditional tanghulu is Chinese hawthorn, Crataegus pinnatifida, skewered and dipped in heated sugar syrup that hardens in the cold. Modern versions use strawberry, mandarin, grape, blueberry, pineapple, kiwi and banana. No flavour or fragrance house publishes an odour description of hawthorn fruit, and the two perfume brands that sell a tanghulu theme both build it from strawberry, orange and grape rather than hawthorn: LV1 Studio gives 'the juiciness of strawberry, orange, and grape, followed by the soft warmth of caramelized sugar'.
Usage in Perfumery
Use it as a gourmand fruit accord where the sugar must stay thin and the fruit must stay tart. It is brighter and sourer than a jam or a syrup note and lighter than a candied-fruit note. The Wear Test describes the effect as 'lightly glazed rather than heavy', which is the character to keep.
Similar Notes
Perfumes featuring Tanghulu
A selection of reviewed perfumes where Tanghulu appears prominently.
No perfumes featuring this note have been reviewed yet. Check back soon.