Diptyque Marries Fragrance and Tea at Mid-Autumn Moon Festival Celebration
By • October 16, 2025 0 591
By Annabel Taylor
The French fragrance brand Diptyque celebrated the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival with a perfume and tea paring at the Georgetown store on M St. on Thursday, Oct. 9. The event fused signature fragrances with tea courtesy of Ching Ching Cha.
The Mid-Autumn Moon Festival took place earlier this month on Monday, Oct. 6, the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month. East and Southeast Asian cultures celebrate the arrival of the Harvest Moon at its fullest and brightest peak by eating mooncakes, carrying lanterns and enjoying family gatherings.
Photo by Annabel Taylor.
Such Asian influences run through the veins of Diptyque’s unique storytelling, providing a foundation for the cultural celebration in Georgetown this week. One of the brand’s bestselling perfumes, Do Son, draws on Paris-born co-founder Yves Coueslant’s childhood in Vietnam, where his father worked at Banque de l’indochine. The perfume’s namesake is located in Halong Bay, where Coueslant recalled notes of tuberose flowers (hoa huệ), orange blossoms and jasmine carried by sea breeze. Do Son incorporates these memories through scent and the hand-drawn label which features a woman sitting on a wooden pagoda. The recent campaign for the perfume tells a visual narrative through Vietnamese motifs of seascapes and junk-ships, reminiscent of Coueslant’s childhood.
Tam Dao, another Vietnamese-inspired perfume, draws on sandalwood and incense woods that evoke Southeast Asian forests. The Tempo Fragrance derives from patchouli botanical sources in Sulawesi, Indonesia. Not to mention, the city candle collection is inspired by a dozen destinations worldwide. The Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai candles emulate “imperial temples” and “dizzying skyscrapers.”
In the past, Diptyque has worked with various Georgetown stores and businesses. This past summer, they held a “sip and scent” event with La Bonne Vache, where they curated a food and drink menu to pair with Diptyque scents as well as a summer preview event in collaboration with Ella Rue. For this event, they worked in conjunction with Ching Ching Cha in Dupont Circle, which used to occupy the space now home to Filomena.
The event weaved a stunning array of Asian-inspired notes into both its scents and teas. The Lazulio fragrance — a blend of rhubarb and balsamic benzoin — was paired with the lightly floral and earthy Pu-erh and chrysanthemum tea. Lunamaris, a pink peppercorn scent, was matched with the delicate and fruity peach blossom tea. Finally, Rose Roche, a desert-inspired rose fragrance paired beautifully with the naturally sweet and aromatic rosebud tea. Diptyque also served chestnut mooncakes and taro pastries to commemorate the arrival of the Harvest Moon.
Photo by Annabel Taylor.
Ching Ching Cha Associate Manal Bougazzoul described the creative process behind the pairings.
“We were just kind of thinking about the flavor profiles and aromas of the perfumes that Diptyque presented us with, and then we were trying to find things that complemented or added to that profile,” said Bougazzoul. “I think it’s really lovely to pair two things that normally don’t come together.”
In doing so, Diptyque brings together fragrance and the various senses into one universal language, where perfume becomes not just something to wear, but something to experience.
