Tea and Takhi artwork courtesy of Aether Arts Perfume

Aether Arts Perfume founder Amber Jobin is never short of ideas. The Boulder-based perfumer draws inspiration from such a wide range of diverse sources that I’d love to do a Vulcan mind meld with her one of these days and see if I mine some of her offbeat creativity. Her source material has ranged from such esoteric subjects as the cargo cult of the award-winning John Frum to Burning Man zeitgeist to the utter absence of everything into black holes. What’s more, Jobin doesn’t simply create conversation pieces but crafts eminently wearable perfumes, whatever her muse. Aether Arts Tea and Takhi, her latest, is case in point: a wonderfully original, horsey leather and black tea fragrance that draws on Mongolian culture and heritage so evocatively that one whiff makes me feel like I’m on horseback cantering through the wild undergrowth of the steppes.

Mongolian milk tea, image via  canva

The word Takhi means “spirit” or “spiritual” in Mongolian and is the name given to the wild horses of the region. Intrinsic to the nomadic way of life of Mongolian herdsmen, horses have both practical and spiritual significance in Mongolian culture. The milk of their mares is used, often with butter, to make Mongolian milk tea. As befits its name, Tea and Takhi centers on the smells of horses and the astringent, smokiness of black tea, dotted with butter, hay, and salt. It smells familiar and alien, the combination of tea and animalic, of leather and salted butter, unlike anything else I’ve encountered in perfumery. And it’s incredibly alluring.

Amber Jobin, image via Aether Arts Perfume Instagram

On first dab, the leather fairly gallops out of the bottle, a dead ringer for cowboy whip: that rough, barely cured hide aroma with its hints of barnyard and pencil erasers. Right on its heels is the unmistakable tang of horse, all warm animal sweat, wind-blown mane and dusty hoof, and bales of dried hay. The horse and leather accords are so powerful and pungent I couldn’t figure out how the tea would come through, let alone the softer notes of hay, butter and grass. But within a few minutes, the tea brews in its pot, and, when poured, is as smoky, floral and tannic as classic lapsang souchong.

The tea comes further forward gradually, sidling alongside the horsey, leather notes as it gather intensity. By the middle, the tea has pushed the more animalic scents back. A fascinating metallic smoke note manifests – it smells like someone melted a ball bearing over a campfire – where in it comes from, I’ve no idea. But it puts an image of an iron camp kettle in my head. I realize that I am again in a landscape of the Jobinverse that fills in its charcoal outlines as I travel it.

Mongolian herdsman, image via Canva

Only when the tea is fully developed do I get the savor of salt that is intertwining with smoke, and butter emerges in a quiet accent to the salt. Strangely, there is no lactonic quality to Aether Arts Perfume Tea and Takhi. The butter is oily, thick, but entirely without any creamy sweetness, unlike most other fragrances with a buttery aspect. Half an hour later, after the tea, horse and leather notes have been edging each other along, they come to a perfect equilibrium. Tea and Takhi has metamorphized from in-your-face, horsey animalic to a refined, genderless, seriously cool fragrance that calls for an edgy leather jacket, some alterna-girl or boy ‘tude, and strong tea from a roadside van or caff.

Like a jump into the magical sidewalk drawings of Mary Poppins, wearing Jobin’s fragrances can teleport their wearer to brilliantly imagined places. I’ve journeyed with her to the Wild West, Vanuatu, outer space, into a Mayan jungle and through the pages of Homer. She can make mournful irises laugh and zoom into the stratosphere, all with an unfettered olfactory imagination and a mixologist’s hand with ingredients. If you have never tried Jobin’s creations, I highly recommend a visit to her website for some samples. I can assure you that you will never be bored by a single thing her inventive mind comes up with.

Notes: Tea, salt, butter, smoke, grass, hay, smoke, leather, horses.

Disclaimer: Sample of Aether Arts Perfume Tea and Takhi kindly provided by Aether Arts Perfume. My opinions, as always, are my own.

Lauryn Beer, Senior Editor

2 ml roller bottle of Aether Arts Tea and Takhi

Thanks to the generosity of Aether Arts Perfume, we have a 2 ml roller bottle of Tea and Takhi to give away to one registered reader in the world. To be eligible, please leave a comment saying what strikes you about Aether Arts Perfume Tea and Takhi and where you live. Draw closes 2/1/2022.

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