Thai Tea

Note Profile

Prepared

About

Thai tea, cha yen, is the bright orange iced tea poured over condensed milk. The note is a composite: strong black tea, star anise, condensed milk and caramelised sugar, with an orange blossom trace. It is licorice-sweet rather than warm-spiced, which is what separates it from masala chai.

Scent Profile

Tobacco_hay leads by a small margin and is the 'boldly tannic' black tea the source names first, set level with the published assam-tea and black-tea at 0.60 because the tea is brewed strong. Lactonic is the condensed milk, and the source names 'condensed milk lactones' as a build ingredient rather than a general creaminess. It is held well under the published condensed-milk at 0.92 and milk-tea at 0.88, because here the dairy shares the frame with tea and spice. Sweet_vanillic carries two things at once: the 'licorice sweetness' of anethole, which is where the published anise note at 0.62 and licorice at 0.78 both sit, and the 'caramelized sugar' the source lists. Warm_spice is the star anise itself, following the published star-anise note where warm_spice leads. It is set below masala-chai's 0.70 because one anise is not a five-spice mix. Aromatic_herbal is the terpene lift of anethole. Below the line: white_floral for the 'orange blossom traces' the source calls a trace and nothing more, honeyed and dry_woody for brewed tea, fresh_spice for the cooler edge of anise, smoky for the tannic dryness.

ScentWheel

Breadthmedium

EnvelopeHeart · ~6h lasting

Family Amber · Musk · Leather, Sweet & Gourmand, Spicy

Read off the wheel, not a label applied to the note.

Origin

A beverage accord, not an extract. Premiere Peau names the build: black tea accords, star anise (anethole), condensed milk lactones, caramelised sugar and orange blossom traces. The drink itself is Thai street tea, brewed strong and served over ice with sweetened condensed milk, and the orange colour comes from added dye rather than from anything that smells.

Usage in Perfumery

A heart note in tea, spiced-gourmand and Southeast Asian compositions, used as a rich spiced-cream-tea element. It sits between masala chai and milk tea. Reach for it when a gourmand needs an anise thread and a dairy body without the cinnamon and clove of a chai.