Cafe V by Ellen Covey for Olympic Orchids 2013

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Wooo Hooo Fellow Fumies,

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Two lovely, new and unusual fragrances arrived and have been sitting  on my desk waiting for me to do their review since before I went to LA. Finally I have picked up the box and am getting some skin time with one of my favourite niche brands, Olympic Orchids. There’s a special 3rd BIRTHDAY Discount Code at the bottom of the page, a discount on Olympic Orchids already extremely reasonable prices. YAY!! Today you get to meet…..

CAFÉ V by Olympic Orchids 2013

Cafe V Olympic Orchids GreatCafesPhoto Stolen GreatCafes

From Ellen Covey at Olympic Orchids: Café V is … inspired by one of Seattle’s many cozy neighborhood cafes….. It’s not quite gourmand, and not quite a fragrance of place, but something in between with notes of espresso-roast coffee, dark cacao, vanilla, cream, spicy chai bursting with cardamom, leather, and well-worn wood, and just a little skank from all of the rain-drenched actors who have over the years congregated in this little café in Seattle’s Capitol Hill.

Cafe V Olympic OrchidsPhoto Stolen Olympic Orchids

Top: Cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg
Heart: Spices, dark roast coffee, cacao, cream, sarsaparilla, leather, Madagascar vanilla tincture
Base: Myrrh, cedar, vanilla, dark woods, musk

I love the strong opening like coffee beans being ground with spices and then as the coffee is made the smooth rich black liquid streaming into espresso cups, adding a spoon of demera sugar and cream. This is not just about coffee though, this story and fragrance really is about a cafe. The leather banquets and beeswaxed old, unmatching wood tables, some newspapers, magazines and books on a shelf mouldering and gathering in all the great smells of humanity, then breathing out their vanilla scented decay. There are old forgotten and fresh wet umbrellas by the door, bread and cakes on the bench under glass domes. There is a porch where five tables are set for smokers and you can smell their delicious smoke inside in gusts, or is it the remains of the open fireplace, it could be smoke from the kitchen? All around the drama of life plays out daily, celebrations, disasters, first dates, divorce proceedings, babies in prams, authors, neatly put together ladies in cashmere and camel coats, journalists, the council workers, businesswomen, teenagers, actors and harassed 40 somethings taking a well earned break. The smell of new and old handbags, leather jackets hung behind chairs, shoes, feet and fragrance. Ellen has hit the nail on the head with her CAFE V, it’s exactly what I hoped it would be but even better.

The dry down on my ski is charred wood, amber, sweat and leather. Totally sexy and very old school.  Sexy enough to wake the sleeping in our house certainly, he he he.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAPhoto Stolen McGill

Further reading: Ca Fleure Bon

Available from http://orchidscents.com

Bottles/Retail price:
5 ml parfum spray ($15.00)
15 ml parfum in screw-top bottle ($25.00)
30 ml EdP spray ($40.00)

OLYMPIC ORCHIDS 3rd BIRTHDAY!!

Birthday Cake weddingnotPhoto Stolen weddingnot

THIRD ANNIVERSARY IN JULY!
It’s hard to believe that our third anniversary is coming up this year! Everything still seems so new and such a work in progress that I don’t feel like any time has passed since I first set up my website. On the other hand, we now have a regular line of about 20 fragrances as well as quite a few special editions, and wonderful customers all over the world. We’ve won awards, and received loads of recognition. I would like to send out a huge thank you to everyone who has sampled and purchased Olympic Orchids perfumes over the past three years, and to those who have reviewed and written about them in so many different venues. I appreciate it all!

THIRD ANNIVERSARY DISCOUNT CODES
To celebrate our success over the past three years, I’ll be offering a 10% discount on any order of $10 or more placed between July 1 and July 7, 2013. Enter the code THREE at checkout to receive your discount.

DISCOUNT EXTENDED TO JULY 15 2013

Ellen

There you have it, Cafe V, and it is a doozy. I will be talking about the other new release very soon.
See you tomorrow,

Portia xx

26 thoughts on “Cafe V by Ellen Covey for Olympic Orchids 2013”

  1. Beautiful write up! I need to try more of Olympic Orchids after falling madly in love with The Devliscents. Incredible work. Indie perfumery is too overwhelming and exciting.
    I’m not a huge fan of coffee but I love the sound of the smoke and the vanilla and woods – like an atmosphere perfume. Beaut!

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    • Hey there buddy!! I haven’t seen you for ages, I hope you are happy and well and that life, love and perfume are satisfying.
      Ellen Covey = GENIUS! She is up there with Andy Tauer, Mandy Aftel, Olfactive Studio and Liz Zorn in my books.
      Portia xx

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      • Olfactive Studio? 😛 That’s a bizarre choice!
        Make sure you get your nose on the work of Shelley Waddington and Juan Perez – my new recently loves 😀
        x

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          • It is definitely, I just didn’t realise you were such a fan! I haven’t liked anything I’ve tried so far 😦
            Juan Perez is of The Exotic Island Perfumer, every fragrance is great I promise 😀 I did a vid recently quickly over viewing them. The tuberose is to die for!

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  3. Hi Portia,

    What a great description of Cafe V! Ellen’s fragrances are unique and beautiful and priced so right! I think I own, in some form or other, every fragrance she has offered for sale in her three years of business. I was hooked after my first purchase, her deluxe sample box. If any of you haven’t tried Olympic Orchids you’ll find plenty to love on her website, especially with this anniversary discount. My current favorite is Tropic of Capricorn.

    Azar xx

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    • I LOVE the Deluxe Sample Box!! That’s how I started my love affair with Olympic orchids too.
      Ellen was the first perfumer to offer APJ her congratulations and blessing. It was right at the beginning and will not ever be forgotten,
      Portia xx

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  4. Thank you, lovely Portia, for the wonderful review and the good wishes. Your description of the imaginary café is perfect! I just want everyone to know that notice about the anniversary discount was late getting out, so I’m extending it until July 15.

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  5. Portia I had the great pleasure to meet Ellen Covey at the SF Fragrance Salon last Spring. She is a charming lovely woman and her perfumes are simply marvelous! Cafe V is one of my favorites! Thanks for this great review which has reminded me to break out my samples from Olympic Orchids.

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      • Thank you, Portia…(love your name)! We will try some things and see what works. We have some definite ideas to stick with, a theme of sorts.

        It’d be nice to find a few dollars in the “pot,” but the site must be helpful to others above all else for now. Love to have you stop in as a regular reader!

        Have a great weekend,
        Christian

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  7. Hi Portia.
    Cafe V sounds like one my daughter would like. She went from a person who absolutely hated perfumes to a perfumista! It happened when I ordered some samples. My daughter has a sunny personality and I decided to tease her with a darker sample I was sure she’d hate, Montale Black Aoud. She loved it! And so it began. She found her great perfume love later with a sample I rejected. That’s another story.
    I just looked up Juan Perez. He has some that sound delicious! Now if only I had more money….

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  8. I love the Olympic Orchids orchid perfumes so I bet that I’d like others in the line. Cafe V sounds wonderful. And a discount makes it even more tempting.

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    • Hey there Poodle,
      Are you well? What news? We had a wonderful day with pedicures, yum cha, boozy winter picnic on the front lawn and then sitting around inside drinking hot drinks to warm up and laughing, excellent group of friends all day. Blessed!
      What about you?
      Portia x

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      • I was away for a few days trying to relax but now I’m back trying to catch up on all the stuff I missed while I was away. Ugh. Too much housework to do and reading to catch up on and errands to run. July is just too darn busy with a bunch of birthdays and yard chores too. I should feel refreshed after my vacation but I’m actually quite frazzled.

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  9. Wonderful review, Portia! I bought a bottle of Café V about 5 minutes after sampling it. It reminded me of the long lost Spider House coffee shop in Austin, Texas, a place we could all get together, yakkity-yak with local artists and writers and would-be revolutionaries, and enjoy some incredible fair trade java. This perfume brings back the entire place. Ellen Covey is really genius at conjuring locales in one perfume. And I love that she has refused to embrace “aspirational pricing.” She’s really about perfume for the people.

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  10. Pingback: Olympic Orchids Café V EDP Perfume Review | EauMG

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