This journey began, as so many do, with overthinking something. In this case, what I was overthinking was the marketing copy for Isabelle Larignon’s scent “Milky Dragon.” This begins:
Although widely discussed in perfumery, tea inspired Isabelle Larignon and more particularly Milky Oolong, a semi-oxidized “blue” tea appreciated for its naturally milky note.
I tried the perfume and I liked the perfume. I could tell that it smelled like tea, but it didn’t smell very milky to me. If I really thought about it, though, I didn’t know what Oolong tea smelled like either, much less this particular variety. I can distinguish green tea from black tea from jasmine tea, but that’s about the limit of my nose for tea. And so I thought: why not try some Milky Oolong? How hard could that be? You can just order it online, right?