Origins & milestones

Tea did not arrive as one bottle. The timeline below keeps Grasse, Guerlain, Chanel, Nahéma and IFRA as proper names, not metaphors.

Read the years as a map of trade and reformulation, not as a ranking of beauty.

Timeline

1. China / JapanScented teas

   Jasmine pearls and smoked teas train noses before perfume does.

2. 1992Thé Vert

   Ellena for Bvlgari: transparent tea as jewelry-house perfume.

3. 1996Thé Blanc / later teas

   Bvlgari extends the caddy: white, black, rouge.

4. 1990sElizabeth Arden Green Tea

   Mall tea; approachable, citrus-leaf.

5. 2004Osmanthe Yunnan

   Ellena for Hermès: osmanthus-tea watercolor.

6. 2000sSilver Mountain Water

   Creed’s tea-citrus-musk as clean wealth.

7. 2010sMatcha niche

   Powdered green as a gourmand-adjacent tea.

8. KyotoKōdō adjacency

   Incense schools keep smoked-tea aesthetics in play.

9. 2010sMate and smoke

   South American and lapsang notes in indie teas.

10. 2020sQuiet luxury

    Tea as the anti-sillage badge of the 2020s.

The eras

• Tea as culture — Drink and incense, not a listed family.
• Bvlgari years — Thé Vert creates a brief other houses copy.
• Ellena watercolor — Hermès teas and sheers.
• Matcha and chai — Edible-tea crossover.
• Low-sillage tea — Office and “skin scent” tea musks.

Milestones

• Thé Vert, 1992 — Named tea as a modern perfume subject.
• Osmanthe Yunnan, 2004 — Tea-osmanthus as high watercolor.
• Arden Green Tea — Brought the family to drugstore volume.

Tea keeps moving; the other six chapters say what one date cannot.

Origins & milestonesNotes & accordsCraft & methodCulture & meaningIcons & legendsHow to wearMarket & bottles