Tea

What it is

Usually black tea absolute, or a reconstruction. Green tea notes are almost always built rather than extracted.

What it smells like

Dry and faintly smoky, closest to a cup left to go cold. It reads as restrained and slightly austere, and it is one of the few notes that suggests a temperature rather than a flavour.

Where it sits

Which layer of the pyramid it is listed in, across every fragrance here that carries it. A base note is one you smell for hours; a top note is usually gone within the first.

What it turns up with

How much more often than the catalogue average. 1.0x would be chance, so these are the things that genuinely travel with it rather than the things that are simply common.

When it is worn

Against the average fragrance here. The line marks that average, so a bar past it means this is worn in that season or setting more than most.

Houses that use it most

Counted across the fragrances here, which reflects what we cover as much as what a house makes.

Viktor&Rolf (12), Azzaro (6), Bvlgari (5), Burberry (3), Calvin Klein (3), Paco Rabanne (3).