The First Tea Ceremony of the Year

[Jenjin]

Matcha tea and nerikiri.

[IndeecencyNdirt]

This was my one blind bottle from the Shunga release this year while waiting on decants and wow did I choose the perfect one! The matcha is creamy green and while I wouldn't say it's sweet its not terribly earthy or grassy. It's as if it's already been brewed into the perfect cup and whisked til foamy. I have never had nerikiri so didn't quite know what to expect with this note though I thought it may be similar to the notes in PS Halo Halo as both contain a dough made from bean pastes. However it's a fruity floral boozy note (to me at least. Its kinda like pink champagne?) that sweetens the composition and makes me think of the color pink. I dont normally like those kind of notes but I love this! I like how it contrasts against the sea foam green of the matcha. All in all its a unique and beautiful perfume and I'm so excited to see what the others from this release will be like! Quite strong with good throw and longevity. I don't normally by BUBs but may need one for this!

[doomsday_disco]

Well, I don't get much matcha from this at all, actually, but I do get the nerikiri very strongly, which in this case, I believe is a sakura mochi. It reminds me of some cherry blossom sake Kit Kats I once had, but accompanied by the gummy-like texture of mochi and maybe some red bean, too? Although there's no notes listed for the nerikiri component of the scent, I'm pretty confident about the sakura, sake, and mochi aspects to this scent.

 

I still need to give this a full day slather, but I enjoy this despite it not being a tea-centric scent like I had expected. The nerikiri accord in this is so neat that I can't help but to think, 'damn, how does Beth do that!?' especially since she not only nails the texture, but also makes these seemingly discordant things wearable.

[reconditarmonia]

Wow, I was really expecting this one to be a hit and it Is Not! I was expecting mostly matcha and rice, but I concur that it's primarily a fruity candy-like scent. I put it on right out of the mailbox so I'll test again to be sure, but while it's a very realistic scent, it's not the scent I expected it to be.

[gentle-twig]

 

I read online that at the first tea ceremony of the year, “everyone attending dresses up and uses the most distinguished kimonos. However, the kimono patterns are kept faint so as not to steal attention away from the tea. On this day everyone attending dresses up and uses the most distinguished kimonos. However, the kimono patterns are kept faint so as not to steal attention away from the tea.”  Now, look at those vivid garments in the art! The sex isn’t the only breach of etiquette here.

 

Indeed, “The First Tea Cermony of the Year” is its own distraction from respectability. I was expecting a sensible pale, starchy, or perhaps grassy green scent. What I get is the equivalent of those garish garments: a deep, prismatic, strawberry accord. This is not a pink teenybopper strawberry candy, despite its dessert inspiration, but a deep, complex redness that I think is meant to convey the saturated silks that dominate the image. Other reviewers are identifying other possible red/fruity notes and I agree that it’s not a straightforward strawberry, but a kind of swirling and sparkling strawberry mirage. Still, dear reader, strawberry is my main impression. If I had to guess what else is here I might include plum—there is a glinting tartness that I very much associate with that fruit. 

 

The matcha is present and beautiful—nutty, fresh, and delicate, not harshly green and astringent—but it is very much not the center of attention. I don’t get the rice or bean notes, although the version of matcha here could easily be absorbing any pale, starchy impressions.

 

I would never have ordered even a decant if the description said “strawberry,” but I am surprised how much I’m enjoying this. I will definitely be using up my decant and might even be upgrading to a bottle depending on how much I reach for it and how it settles. 
 

Starch-craving tea lovers, fear not! Couple Engaged in Intimate Acts as the Man Pours Tea could be for you, as long as you enjoy black tea and jasmine.