The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
Piemont Caffè carries a name that gestures toward the Italian coffee tradition without overexplaining itself. Levende built the composition around a specific tension: the ritual of an espresso paired with the warm, almost confectionary sweetness of hazelnut, the two materials held in deliberate balance from the first spray. Launched in 2026, it reads less like a runway statement and more like a quiet invitation into a familiar kind of warmth, the sort you'd expect at a bar counter where the espresso machine hisses and someone always knows what you want before you order.
What's interesting here is how the gourmand opening is anchored by something drier and more austere underneath. Hazelnut can collapse into syrup fast, and the licorice in the heart pulls it toward a more bitter, anise-leaning register before the sandalwood enters with its creamy weight. From there, the incense and guaiac wood settle the whole thing down, layering smoke and mineral coolness beneath the sweetness. It's a structural choice that keeps the edible notes from tipping into candy territory, and the result reads warm and roasted rather than candied or cloying.
The evolution
The opening reads like the first moments at a café just before the doors open, fresh espresso pulled and the sharp green sweetness of hazelnut skins cracking under the roaster. The sweetness is bright at the surface but dense underneath, with a roasted depth that doesn't fully reveal itself until the composition has had time to breathe. As the scent moves past its first phase, the licorice cuts in and the composition pivots from coffeehouse to something more private and herbal, the anise threading through the warmth and sharpening what had been rounded. Sandalwood arrives next, softening that anise edge and pulling the scent inward, lending a creamy, almost powdery softness that makes the hazelnut feel less like a confection and more like a roasted nut.
Cultural impact
Piemont Caffè draws on a familiar shorthand, the warmth of roasted coffee paired with the rounded sweetness of hazelnut, a combination that evokes the everyday ritual of an Italian café without leaning on overt regional clichés. Levende leaned into that pairing when building the formula, letting the two materials carry the emotional weight of the composition while the woodier base notes provided the architectural backbone. The result is a scent that slots into a broader conversation around food-inspired niche perfumery, where cafés, pastry cases, and morning rituals have become legitimate olfactory territory rather than novelty.
