Kawa Karda's perfumer Marie Salamagne calls it “a dialogue between black and white, light and shadow”. This coffee and cardamom extrait (crafted at 40%) opens on a dry, almost wheaty earthiness, until tarry black coffee asserts itself. Before you’re begging for mercy, the spicy lilt of cardamom adds light to the shadow. Like the ristretto rounding off the first pleasures of the evening, KK’s thick syrupy sweetness primes you for indulgences to come.
All about this fragrance
Vibe check
This is a fragrance for close quarters and deliberate movement, where its smoky coffee and cardamom can unfold without being rushed. It suits a room with low light, warm air and a certain tension in the atmosphere, projecting a sensual, self-possessed presence rather than a casual one.
How to wear
Best worn in cooler weather or in the evening, when its dense coffee accord and extrait strength can breathe without overwhelming. One or two sprays are enough; on skin it becomes syrupy, smoky and leathery, while in the air the cardamom lifts the darker notes and keeps the trail readable.
Who it’s for
For wearers who like dark gourmands, spicy woods and fragrances with bite. It will appeal to those who enjoy coffee notes with a smoky, leathery edge and prefer a scent that feels textured, sensual and a little untamed.
Release year
2024
The nose
Marie Salamagne is a Principal Perfumer at dsm-Firmenich known for compositions that balance texture, contrast and sensuality. Her work often moves between luminous spice, rich woods and gourmand depth, with a refined instinct for materials that feel both modern and tactile. For Kawa Karda, she builds a coffee accord that feels roasted, smoky and almost tarry, then sharpens it with cardamom so the fragrance never sinks into heaviness. The result fits her talent for turning bold ideas into compositions with structure, tension and a polished finish.
Collaborators
Jean-Philippe Clermont, Atelier des Ors’ founder and creative force, shaped the house’s “Belle Parfumerie” vision and worked with Salamagne on the broader artistic direction that frames Kawa Karda within the Abstraction Collection.
Atelier des Ors’s story
Atelier des Ors treats perfumery as an art of living: crafted, emotional and visually distinctive. The house blends French haute parfumerie, fine materials and a strong aesthetic identity, with gold used as both a symbol and a signature element that links beauty, radiance and timelessness.
Kawa Karda Extrait’s concept
Released in 2024 as part of the Abstraction Collection, Kawa Karda was conceived as a study in contrast: black and white, light and shadow. Marie Salamagne built the fragrance around coffee and cardamom, drawing on the idea of a spiced brew and the ritual intensity of a ristretto, then deepening it with smoky, sweet and woody facets.
Extra info
Kawa Karda is Atelier des Ors’ second 40% extrait, and its name pairs a coffee reference with cardamom. The fragrance sits in the Abstraction Collection, where the house explores the space between the obvious and the abstract.
Kawa Karda's perfumer Marie Salamagne calls it “a dialogue between black and white, light and shadow”. This coffee and cardamom extrait (crafted at 40%) opens on a dry, almost wheaty earthiness, until tarry black coffee asserts itself. Before you’re begging for mercy, the spicy lilt of cardamom adds light to the shadow. Like the ristretto rounding off the first pleasures of the evening, KK’s thick syrupy sweetness primes you for indulgences to come.
All about this fragrance
Vibe check
This is a fragrance for close quarters and deliberate movement, where its smoky coffee and cardamom can unfold without being rushed. It suits a room with low light, warm air and a certain tension in the atmosphere, projecting a sensual, self-possessed presence rather than a casual one.
How to wear
Best worn in cooler weather or in the evening, when its dense coffee accord and extrait strength can breathe without overwhelming. One or two sprays are enough; on skin it becomes syrupy, smoky and leathery, while in the air the cardamom lifts the darker notes and keeps the trail readable.
Who it’s for
For wearers who like dark gourmands, spicy woods and fragrances with bite. It will appeal to those who enjoy coffee notes with a smoky, leathery edge and prefer a scent that feels textured, sensual and a little untamed.
Release year
2024
The nose
Marie Salamagne is a Principal Perfumer at dsm-Firmenich known for compositions that balance texture, contrast and sensuality. Her work often moves between luminous spice, rich woods and gourmand depth, with a refined instinct for materials that feel both modern and tactile. For Kawa Karda, she builds a coffee accord that feels roasted, smoky and almost tarry, then sharpens it with cardamom so the fragrance never sinks into heaviness. The result fits her talent for turning bold ideas into compositions with structure, tension and a polished finish.
Collaborators
Jean-Philippe Clermont, Atelier des Ors’ founder and creative force, shaped the house’s “Belle Parfumerie” vision and worked with Salamagne on the broader artistic direction that frames Kawa Karda within the Abstraction Collection.
Atelier des Ors’s story
Atelier des Ors treats perfumery as an art of living: crafted, emotional and visually distinctive. The house blends French haute parfumerie, fine materials and a strong aesthetic identity, with gold used as both a symbol and a signature element that links beauty, radiance and timelessness.
Kawa Karda Extrait’s concept
Released in 2024 as part of the Abstraction Collection, Kawa Karda was conceived as a study in contrast: black and white, light and shadow. Marie Salamagne built the fragrance around coffee and cardamom, drawing on the idea of a spiced brew and the ritual intensity of a ristretto, then deepening it with smoky, sweet and woody facets.
Extra info
Kawa Karda is Atelier des Ors’ second 40% extrait, and its name pairs a coffee reference with cardamom. The fragrance sits in the Abstraction Collection, where the house explores the space between the obvious and the abstract.