To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Lenar – :
Warm and cozy. Opens with roasted coffee, maple syrup and woods. Luckily the vetiver isn’t too strong. The coffee smells like dark chocolate at times,and is more of an impression than being hyperrealistic. It definitely smells Jo Malone though – not super deep or rich. It smells like the coffee/woods were layered over their Nutmeg and Ginger scent, which has a fizzy sweet spiciness like gingerale and cream soda. It fades to a sort of nutty woody sweet scent. Overall, a like, but the poor longevity and projection, and the lack of richness keep me from liking it more.
eriksson – :
OMG, what a FINE fragrance for gentlemen (not just men)…and ladies (not just women)!
It is my “caffeine” in the morning, so “perky” in a caressing and sophisticated way, just like a cup of super fine quality coffee (NOT “espresso”, as it is not too strong, or deep, or dark, or rich. It is just RIGHT in everything, very well made and balanced). The woodsy scents blended smoothly with other notes, especially with the “coffee”. So very LOVELY on me with my body temp and pH! The scents are awaken and get “warmed up” even better to a very comforting and cozy level. Who needs “sugar” or “cream” with this “coffee” 🙂
Since it has been discontinued for a long time and it is actually my husband’s favorite fragrance, I’m saving it for him, instead of sharing it with him. My true “sacrifice” for love :)) I still get to enjoy it though, in an indirect way. It smells divine and incredible on my hubby too!
kasperos – :
I really like this when I had it. I thought it was very unique. It was very , well, black. It was always about the nutmeg and coffee for me. It was a dark spice that I need and gravitate to.
This reminded me of Donna Karan Black Cashmere. It was great to wear in the winter. However, one of my sticking memory of this is The Kentucky Derby in May. I didn’t go but watch it on a relax Saturday day. I always wore this on Saturday.
It longevity was dismal. Just about an hour on some day. Someday it last longer, on my cloths or sweater( and I probably had to keep reapplying it) . It was my first Jo Malone. I’ve move on, now the closest thing I have in my repertoire that is a dark spice( and that has some oomph) is Volute.
It was a nice experience at the time and open me up to stronger spicy /incense type smell(Sahara Noir would come next ) . Incense and Cedrat right now is the closest thing in the Jo Malone family that come close to this discontinue fragrance($120.00 for 1.7 fl oz compared to Black Vetyver 60.00 for 1.0 oz). Should have been a keeper for the company –if the longevity was better.
Audit – :
super nice is fresh but with a oomph the coffee is more predominant than the vetyver is really nice and i usually wear it alone , a must try
V-D–M – :
Looked very much forward to trying this fragrance after reading reviews and hearing some positive thoughts about it. Additionally, I bought some pretty nice body sugar scrub and shea-cocoa body butter creram in a (dupe) scent of BVC. So, I thought, “Why not…while waiting for my scrub ‘n cream, I’ll get a sample of the fragrance from The Perfumed Court to try in the meantime…just to see.”
Well, perhaps in a (dupe) fragranced sugar scrub and/or cream this scent will be pleasant enough. As a cologne or EDT, it is just alright but nothing special. Certainly not a fragrance I would ever purchase or wear on a regular basis, if at all.
To my nose-smile-BVC’s initial opening is a very pleasant and rather fragrant note of a medium roast coffee…pretty interesting actually. What immediately follows (and I mean IMMEDIATELY) is a moderate middle note of, well vetyver and then…pretty much more of the same and a lot of nothing…at least that is how it landed on my skin.
Vetyver and coffee…that’s it…in that order…on and on Mostly vetyver and little coffee, if any. I was actually hoping for a unique roastier, toastier, nuttier fragrance with less green. But…nothing unique here, nothing particularly fragrant. All in all, I found it somewhat bland and boring. But again, I’m the type of gal who likes to smell unique and who likes to know that I am wearing perfume. Subtle, linear-type fragrances aren’t my forte.
eDgewsgab – :
A light and vaguely woody cloud of alcohol right out of the vial. I waited patiently for quite a while for the pure ethanol fumes to go away, and I’m left with just the barest hint of spice and wood with light coffee. What little wood there is is dry and smooth (interesting, because I often find sweet wood to be smooth, and dry wood to be grating). It has a graininess that I like, such as that from brown rice or pasta cooking, wheat bread, or certain cereals, but this is temporarily marred by a sourness that reminds me too much of cigarette smoke. Still, it’s so ridiculously weak that I couldn’t possibly give it anything but a thumbs down. I don’t know if the rest of the Jo Malone line is so weak, but smelling this one certainly doesn’t encourage me to try any of the others! By the end (15 mins?) only the vaguest wood aura remains, but there is so little left that I almost wouldn’t know I had applied any fragrance at all.
zartizurt – :
I get lots of nutmeg and vetiver after the initial coffee blast dies down. Unfortunately the particular type of incense they use goes kinda soapy on me, so that + its undeniable longevity/sillage issues make this a no go. Kinda fun but novel, fleeting, AND discontinued.
BAJIK – :
I kept thinking where’s my coffee?
It opened with Vetiver and Incense and didn’t really evolve to anything else. Just vetiver and incense until it fades. I was really disappointed that I didn’t get any coffee. It smells like it would be a great base to something but is un impressive on it’s own.
Everwest1990 – :
Alright scent, doesn’t smell all that original and I know someone my hound me for this but I swear this smells just like the drydown of Amouage Jubilation XXV Man.
postmaster24 – :
Nice on paper. Disgusting on my skin. Smells like sour instant coffee. Yuck.
47sergo47 – :
Coffee and Vetyver.
Not a bad scent, great for coffee lovers.
Sadly it has been discontinued! They dont sell it in the USA anymore
yug252 – :
Sprayed a little bit of Red Rose Jo Malone underneath of Black Vetiver Cafe. Ended up with the result of something rather heavy in between Encens Mythique D’Orient and Rose Nacree Du Desert Guerlain. I can only strongly recommend this combo to people who can tolerate well, say, Shalimar EDP (from the beginning to the end). Relatively long lasting combo.
slefin – :
GOOD fragrance:)
Twin – :
I couldn’t agree more with jht4060. Jo Malone, how I love your frags but the longevity is weak on most. Sigh. I am left longing for more or I have to spray over and over. The “layering” that Jo Malone markets is fine, however, a fragrance should stand on its own merits for a reasonable amount of time!
Velheor – :
Yes this frag was discontinued.
sandarov79 – :
This was bought for me as a gift by my sister who, bless her, had only one clue to pick from (which was that I liked spiced smells). As a result, the person who helped her suggested this scent by Jo Malone.
I honestly haven’t been a fan of his and this further solidifies that. I am sure that it would smell wonderful off the nape of a tobacco stained, perspiring male. On me it initially exudes that flat smell of leather from a cheap car and a $1 cup of MacDonalds coffee. Perhaps even the taste of Jelly Belly’s poor jelly bean replica of a cuppaccino. Underneath it all is a warm sweetness tinged with a trail of spice. I imagine this must be the coriander, vanilla, nutmeg and pepper. I wished this would be more apparent as it would save me from the top notes that I couldn’t love. The slight pleasantness of this was still overpowered by the artificial coffee and leather notes still singeing at my nostrils.
There was barely a dry down as my two sprays didn’t last longer than 30 minutes. That said, my body must eat up scents because they never last on me for very long.
I can see it being beautiful but just not on me.
For any lovers out there who are fortunate to do this cologne justice, I have one full bottle (minus 4 sprays) for trade.
rilat11 – :
Jo Malone Black Vetyver Cafe is gorgeous and tragically weak. The presentation of vetiver with coffee and enriched with subtle spice works brilliantly and then POOF it is gone. I want to love this, I DO love this. Black Vetyver Cafe I love you! Stay with me, don’t go… Oh my sundered heart, I did love you!
Jo Malone – get a clue. Coffee, vetiver, nutmeg, pepper – these are not expensive components. If it is all synthetic, they are even cheaper. Triple your formula strength and you would have a huge winner. You can always spray and spray and spray, but then it gets expensive and it just doesn’t seem right.
viktorijar – :
This was an interesting take on vetiver. The coffee in this blended well with the other notes. It’s fresh and woody as well. A well done fragrance that should last longer. Try it.
almera – :
LOVE THIS FRAGRANCE!!! It is really Oooooohhh La La!!!
The perfect coffee shop date fragrance!
However, it doesn’t wear very long… maybe at the most, about 2-3 hours on me, then is a quick fade.
———
This is one of those fragrances that has a full bodied smell that almost hints at a base of tobacco. I perceive this to be unisex, because it is in the deeper range of women’s perfume’s and in the lighter range of men’s colognes… a happy medium for those of us that like a lower register warm fragrance.
Visual: I could envision an adorable bistro coffee shop with a couple sitting together on a Saturday or Sunday morning, sipping hazelnut coffee and staring romantically into each others eyes – after a wonderful night on the town — and love making the night before.
The essence of this is like reading a wonderful romance book, curled up by a fire. It embraces you with this old-world warmth, almost the same feeling when you find a truly treasured antique that brings to life a different time period, all together.
This is rich, elegant, warm, enticing, old-money, possibly even Ivy League… rolled into a fragrance. It reminds me of walking through leaves in the fall… a very nostalgic type fragrance, with almost haunting notes.
I love it… I only wish that it stayed on longer than 2-3 hours on my skin!
PLEASE… if you find anything even remotely similar to this, MESSAGE ME and let me know! My heart longs to wear this, but I don’t want to invest in a fragrance that only lasts 2 hours on my skin!
King174 – :
I absolutely loved this, but it was totally gone after less than one hour! Shocking. The scent of coffee was the best I’ve ever had the pleasure of wearing–better than So New York, Trussardi Inside, and definitely better than Tom Ford’s Cafe Rose. But sadly I could never buy something that lasts for only 20-30 minutes.
rotig – :
Smells fantastic! Unfortunately gets eaten quickly on my skin. But for 30-60 minutes smells divine. Agree this should be made into an “intense”, “extreme”, “double black”, EDP or whatever! Just give me these notes, but smack me in the face with them almost as Prada Amber Pour Homme Intense is to just the Amber Pour Homme.
alandaalleria – :
I am in love with this one. Coffee drinker and that’s as far as it goes with coffee, until I smelled this wonder.
This is a perfect wake up, yummy coffee with earthy accords; wood, incense and vetyver offcourse. Simply amazing. Wish it lasted longer, 3 hours and refill needed!
Unisex, perfect for mornings (for real) and to get you thru the day:)
ganef – :
I really love this scent but it’s so light. I want a stronger version of it, but the notes on it are great. I wish it was an EDP.
metrolog-86 – :
i’ve never gotten so many compliments…this seems to work with my chemistry…i always get I smell like candy…weird..
alexey1979 – :
I really like this, it’s a subtle coffee . I see where a lot of people are saying they don’t like weakness of the scents, however I was told by an SA that the scents are sold as “cologne” on the titles, however they are actually eau de parfums, They market as colognes to gain unisex appeal to men.
ser7med8116 – :
As one who does not subscribe to the Jo Malone “the solution is dilution” aesthetic, I never approach the fragrances of this house with much hope. I really do prefer perfume to cologne and I find it absurd to pay perfume prices for a tiny bottle of weak cologne that would last me maybe a week.
That said, BLACK VETYVER CAFE certainly sounds like an excellent idea to this coffee lover. What I find, however, is that this is not really very black at all–again, a result of dilution. Take a black elixir and add a ton of solvent, and it will be a pale shade of dirty gray. This fragrance does not smell dirty, but it does smell like weak coffee sweetened with sugar and seasoned with vetiver.
Unfortunately, I have yet to acquire a taste for sweet vetiver (I’m also ambivalent toward Hermessence VETIVER TONKA…), so I’m afraid that BLACK VETYVER CAFE will not be the first Jo Malone to grace my collection… I would recommend this fragrance to people who think that Thierry Mugler A*MEN is way too thick and synthetic. This composition, while thin, is also natural smelling.
uza118Negeltzex – :
The “Jo-Malone-ness” speaks throughout this perfume – a certain feel, a certain weight a certain base blend that equates to another calm, refined & sensual JM scent.
I love the smell of freshly extracted, hand ground coffee. Deep, dark, rich, fruity & earthy – each bean has it’s own delicate perfume & flavour story to tell.
I love nutmeg. It has that airy, piquant character that is so hard to pin down (warm-spicy-metallic-peppery-camphorous).
BVC is like viewing these two scent stars through a very gauzey veil. Vetyver, black pepper, soft woodsy notes & a very, very bland incense support from the wings & combine to form a very polite, very pleasant, calming, luminous scent.
BVC is a lazy morning in a terribly trendy health food cafe. A well-kept artsy lady in soft drapey fabrics is sitting drinking a cup of coffee, reading Wallpaper & nibbling on a low-sugar, lightly spiced, home made organic oat biscuit. The espresso machine steams away, the light streams in & warms up the reclaimed wooden tables. Flour dust dances in the sunbeams. In the kitchen, extremely healthy food is being prepared for lunch by a hemp-loving, incense-bathed beauty & a light, savoury coriander note mingles with the coffee & cakes. The lady finishes her coffee & leaves….
Sadly, the best bits of BVC last about as long as it takes to drink a coffee on my skin. I am also slightly disturbed by the savoury coriander note that lingers in the dry-down.
So, BVC – pretty while it lasts, but far too tame, pale & calm to be added to my want list.
moa – :
I love coffee, nuff said.
K guess I should say more.
It’s starts with the dark clouds of the coffee essence itself and sweetens of later, just like the cappuccino I always get.
I don’t love the scent, but i love that it’s an interesting scent and definitely unashamed and fearless. It’s a coffee scent pure and to the point.
I have a golden rule that when I try anything niche that I try not to like it rather than try to like it, because niche is quality over sales, and the effort is really put in, so it’s a market I’d much rather support, so I have to remind myself that I might not like a fragrance because it’s quite different from the mainstream market.
Panteralow – :
I love coffee. Sitting in a good coffee shop, drinking, smelling, relishing the taste…
Vetyver Cafe is definitely a fragrance that could as well be part of this experience. The strong coffee note is the dominant one, I personally do not get citruses at all. Then it becomes more spicy, and makes me think of Christmas period. My associations take me (as usually) a bit too far, but for methere is a somewhat festive aura around this fragrance. I blame the nutmeg.
The final phase belongs to woody notes entirely. A woody coffee. A coffee served on a wooden table. Smoky incense coffee with a dose of vanilla.
In a way it is similar to Bond no 9 New Haarlem, the latter being far more complex and long lasting, but for the coffee note lovers such as me, who do not necessaity have the means to splurge 100 pounds on a bottle of perfume, really worth considering.
bochum – :
So glad to see this finally in the data base. It’s one of Jo Malone’s best fragrances so far. If you loved Givenchy’s “Organza Indecence” or Victoria’s Secret “Secret 88” you will adore this one. It has many similarities of the two aforementioned scents as it has a smoldering base notes of incense, vanilla and sandalwood. All those notes are intensified by the vetyver and nutmeg. I find this fragrance will last a long time if I apply a non-fragranced oil or body lotion before the perfume. The top note of citrus in the listing confusing to me, as I don’t get any of that when applied. The coffee is definitely there immediately but soon becomes wrapped in the warmth of all the other notes. It is perfect for evening wear and especially in the cooler months, but I wear it whenever I need a comforting fragrance. This wraps me in warmth and coziness the moment I put it on. It’s simply a must try for those who are attracted to spicy-woody fragrances.
rzaevtariel – :
It’s unique coffee fragrance and absolutely not sweet, first is coffee, then like a forest after rain, vetyver distributes a fragrance of a wood and a moss. It’s a bit masculine.
Just one thing… the scent doesn’t last more than 20 minutes, at least I don’t feel it nor on me not on my cloths or you have to put a lot a lot!
I’m sorry for money I spent, I’ll try to finish a fragrance as soon as possible and forget that purchasing.
bonnae1982 – :
As for me – New Haarlem is more masculine and active because of strong lavender echo. BV&C is more cosy, unisex and meditative. may be the difference between them is like the difference between the steal and bronze.