# L'Occitane en Provence — Thé Vert & Bigarade > Thé Vert & Bigarade is L'Occitane's 2013 green-tea-and-bitter-orange EDT, one of the four launch fragrances of La Collection de Grasse — the first collection by the house's then-new in-house perfumer ## Essence Thé Vert & Bigarade is L'Occitane's 2013 green-tea-and-bitter-orange EDT, one of the four launch fragrances of La Collection de Grasse — the first collection by the house's then-new in-house perfumer Karine Dubreuil-Sereni, co-conceived with founder Olivier Baussan. It pairs two materials "from different parts of the world," Japanese green tea and Mediterranean bitter orange, rounded with yerba maté, thyme, hay, cedar, and musk. A fresh, crisp, summery green-tea citrus and the only unisex scent of the launch quartet, it is effectively the upmarket successor to L'Occitane's long-running Thé Vert. It is now discontinued. ## Scent Profile The opening is a bright blast of bitter orange and citrus, with the green-tea accord arriving almost immediately and tightly blended. Some wearers read a brief white-floral orange-blossom facet in the first lift before the tea takes over. The heart is the signature: a cool, slightly bitter green-tea-and-yerba-maté accord with a grassy, hay-like, herbal-green character, given a faint spicy lift by thyme. To most noses it reads more as green tea than bitter orange — a tea scent first, citrus second. The drydown moves to a soft, dry woody base of cedar with a dry-grass nuance and clean musk; one wearer described a cedar drydown with a dry grass aroma in the base. Development is widely called linear and refreshing rather than transformative, with the orange receding mid-wear and, several note, returning in the drydown. The tea-and-maté accord is singled out for real originality in a light summer fragrance. ## Performance Performance is the recurring criticism. Longevity reports are inconsistent but skew short, from around forty-five minutes on some skin to a few hours, with a more optimistic group reporting four to six hours and moderate projection. The consensus middle is modest longevity typical of a light green-citrus EDT, with soft-to-limited sillage. Crucially, all four Collection de Grasse scents do better sprayed than dabbed, so the travel coffret's splash bottles underperform. Spray rather than dab, apply generously, and treat it as a reappliable hot-weather refresher rather than a long-haul performer. ## Wearing Context This is a quintessential hot-weather daytime scent for spring and summer, heat waves, and casual, outdoorsy settings — picnics, walks, countryside events. Its crisp, cooling green-tea-citrus profile reads as uplifting and morning-appropriate, the kind of thing to wake you up at the start of the day. It is genuinely unisex and office-safe given its clean, inoffensive, low-sillage nature. It feels wrong in cold weather, at evening or formal occasions, or anywhere that needs presence, since it is light and fleeting by design. It is a strong fit for tea lovers and citrus-cologne fans. ## Comparisons & DNA Within the green-tea genre the key references are Bulgari Eau Parfumée au Thé Vert, the old standby against which this reads pleasant but not essential, and L'Occitane's own earlier Thé Vert (1999), which this scent effectively replaced — wearers find them nearly identical, with the newer version smoother, less bitter, warmer on the hay, and pricier. On the citrus side it appeals to fans of Hermès Concentré d'Orange Verte. As a budget alternative in the same lane, Yves Rocher Thé Vert is cheaper but grassier and less refined. ## Reception Reception is warm within a modest niche. It is praised as refreshing, high-quality, natural-smelling, and a genuinely tea-like green-tea scent, a hard effect to achieve, with the bitter-orange and maté accord singled out for originality. The dominant, near-universal criticism is weak longevity, with a secondary complaint that its premium price over the discontinued original Thé Vert is not justified by performance. Critics judged it pleasant but inessential if you already own a green-tea scent, while several bloggers treated it as a summer favorite. The blind-buy read is low-risk for green-tea and citrus lovers who accept short longevity and now-limited availability. ## Versions & Reformulation This is a single EDT composition within La Collection de Grasse, offered in 75 ml and in travel coffrets and minis. It is distinct from, and the de facto replacement for, L'Occitane's earlier Thé Vert (1999) and the related Thé Vert au Jasmin, which are different compositions frequently confused with it. No reformulation of Thé Vert & Bigarade itself is documented; it is now discontinued. ## Acquisition Notes It originally retailed around $75 in the US for 75 ml EDT, with matching body products, and was also offered in a coffret holding 7.5 ml of each of the four scents. Now discontinued, it survives via remaining boutique and outlet stock, discounters, and resale, with the coffret minis the easiest way to sample. No counterfeit problem or batch-decoding scheme is documented; standard secondhand diligence applies, and buyers should confirm they are getting Thé Vert & Bigarade and not the older Thé Vert. ## Notable Facts & Lore - It launched La Collection de Grasse (2013), the debut collection from L'Occitane's first in-house perfumer, Karine Dubreuil-Sereni. - The collection was a deliberate move by the house toward higher-perfumery, Grasse-rooted compositions, developed with founder Olivier Baussan. - Each scent in the collection pairs two signature materials from different regions; here Japanese green tea meets Mediterranean bitter orange. - In Japan the collection was branded "Ampersand Grasse," emphasizing the union concept. - Its later discontinuation became a minor sore point among fans who lamented the house cutting its better fragrances.