Aishwarya Rai in the film Guru (2007)
Somewhere, a warm murmur of voices rise and fall, inarticulate, gentle, punctuated by the clack of typing, the soft clatter of china clinking. The interior lights are warm and golden against the grey day, and rain falls in rivulets racing each other down the broad panes of glass. Street sounds. Cars slosh through oil rainbows and pothole puddles. Books you may never read lay on the small table in front of you, and a cup of spiced tea steams. On the far wall, a poster of the pink city – Jaipur – beckons you faraway, and the spices rising from the ceramic mug in your hand summon a thousand tales not yet heard.
Indian Blanket Through the Rain by Steven Ward
For those of us who love the city rain, there is an amniotic comfort to curling up with a book and a steaming, milky cuppa while the glow of street neon is smudged by the cascades of rain gathering in the gutters. Ineke Ruhland, a classically trained artisan perfumer based in San Francisco, is such a pluviophile. Her first gourmand fragrance, Ineke Jaipur Chai is inspired by her love of her cherished cuppa during the rainy season in San Francisco. She imbues this delicious, enveloping scent with traditional chai spices and steamed milk, rounded with rose and smooth woods – the perfect scent to savour on a damp grey day whilst listening to the patter of the storm.
Ineke Ruhland
The first spray of Jaipur Chai brings a rush of piquant, pungent spice: a bite of ginger rises like hot vapor. I smell both fresh and dried root here; the tickly sharpness of the one playing off the sharp, stemmy juice. More spices tumble over each other, the dusty, musky smell of cardamom edging over the russet, barky sweetness of cinnamon. Then the aromatic kick of black pepper cuts in. The juxtaposition of warm and sharp spices; ginger against cinnamon, pepper against cardamom, keeps the composition from veering into coffee shop cliché. Jaipur Chai signals gourmand without going full-on sugar at any point.
Anne Gunning in Jaipur, photo by Norman Parkinson for Vogue, 1950s
As the spices are coalescing a lovely, strange note peeks in – dry, velveteen rose, referencing the hue of India’s “Pink City.” Ten minutes later, reaching the heart of Jaipur Chai, the rose softens and expands but keeps an aspect of the papery dried petal with its parchment smell. Then, the creamy, frothy scent of steamed milk rises. For a while, the spices almost suspend as the milk and rose notes blend with vanilla into rose petal jam and cream scones.
Jaipur Sunrise, photo by Mary Anne Erickson
And yet, the fragrance never becomes overtly sweet, as so many other attempts at chai and latte perfumes do. Jaipur Chai does not smell literal, which is perhaps what keeps it from becoming dessert-like. Yes, the aromas and creaminess of the brew are there, and the Indian spicing, but Ruhland adds the mellowness of guaiac and woody darkness of cedar to keep everything in balance. A hint of suede towards the drydown echoes the velvety quality of the rose in the middle stage. Smell Ineke Jaipur Chai now, and it is a part chai latte, part rose and suede perfume. It’s warm, cozy, lovely, and makes me feel like purring.
Anne Hathaway in Becoming Jane, 2007
Many hours later, as dusk is gathering, I imagine I hear the drumbeat of rain against my bedroom window. I am curled up in a window seat, watching the water bounce like ball bearing off the glassy surface of a lake faraway. Pink walls the colour of strawberry ice emerge from the middle distance, and a girl laughs and dances in the downpour. I sip my chai and close my eyes and listen.
Notes: Black tea, cardamom, ginger, cinnamon, pepper, clove, rose, cedar wood, guaiac wood, vanilla, cream, suede, musk.
Disclaimer: Bottle of Jaipur Chai generously provided by Ineke Perfumes. My opinions are my own.
– Lauryn Beer, Senior Editor
Editor’s Note: Longtime friend in fragrance Ineke Ruhland was the 2nd to be featured in our Profiles in Perfumery Series here. Sr Editor Ida Meister wrote the three Ineke Fragrances you should be wearing here. In 2017, Ineke Idlyllwild won a 2017 CaFleureBon Best of Scent. It has been two years since her last perfume, and we are thrilled-Michelyn
Ineke Jaipur Chai
Thanks to the generosity of Ineke Perfumes, we have one 75 ml bottle of Ineke Jaipur Chai and four 1.5 ml samples for five registered readers in the U.S. and Canada. The winners are drawn randomly, so you might win the bottle! To be eligible, please leave a comment saying what strikes you about Ineke Jaipur Chai, and if you have a favourite Ineke perfume. Draw closes 11/24/2019. You can order samples or a bottle here
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