FRAGRANCE | A*Men Pure Coffee EDT by Mugler: Good but not enough coffee to perk you up

halfwhiteboy - Mugler A*Men Pure Coffee 01

A coffee lover like me ought to have coffee-centric frags in my arsenal, right? Surprisingly, however, I don't have a lot, so I probably need to expand. Yes, I've long been eyeing Kerosene Follow, as well as its recent follow-up Followed (that's a lot of follows there) but I thought I'd look first into what I might have. Well, for starters, I do have the discontinued A*Men Pure Coffee by Thierry Mugler.

That A*Men tonka-patchouli signature is evident right from the start, only with a bit more coffee in the opening. I also get a bright, citrus-like sourness but it leaves in about fifteen minutes. The coffee, while evident, is controlled; not too strong, bitter, or even sweetened. That said, it's a little disappointing given the expectations unwittingly set by such a name as Pure Coffee. It's just not enough as a caffeine fix for me.

halfwhiteboy - Mugler A*Men Pure Coffee 02

I could be wrong but I also feel like there's lavender in the composition because of a particular sliver of freshness I pick up amongst the coffee and woody earthiness. It's not much but it can be gleaned upon closer inspection. At some point the sweetness tries to amp the volume up but it's capped off in no time. As a result, this flanker is a lot less sweet than the OG,  A*Men Pure Havane, or A*Men Pure Tonka. Musk is also later revealed, with that sweaty sort of scent swirling with the coffee, tonka, patchouli, and the occasional whiff of mildly creamy lavender freshness.

Performance isn't the best in the series. After a moderate opening, it starts settling close to the skin within two to three hours, then the scent slowly fades thereafter. Despite its imperfections, though, A*Men Pure Coffee is a fairly good fragrance on its own merits. Its gourmand-ish profile makes it an easy wear for either sex, whether in formal or casual settings, but one that wouldn't be an ideal choice for hot weather. It's not particularly groundbreaking or anything but it's still nice to have.

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