“Take it slow, and savor every sniff.”
Soni
On the most fragrant street in Indonesia, thousands of sniffs turned into a house of his own, a morning of lime and sunlight, and the one belief a Kopite defends with a grin.
Tap the underlined phrases for notes in the margin.
For our seventeenth conversation we sat with Soni Nugroho: full-time Kopite, part-time scent creator with a house of his own, and a music enthusiast at all hours. He answers the way a good side counterattacks: fast, direct, no wasted touches. Seventeen issues in, nobody has said more with fewer words. So we kept the whistle handy and let him play.
Currently on rotation in the dressing room. Press play.
The backstory, in seven words
Asked for his background, Soni submits the shortest team sheet in the series: “music enthusiast and a lifelong Kopite.” That is the whole press conference. Everything else you learn from how he plays: the street he grew up on, the three bottles he trusts, the house he built, the morning routine he keeps, and the one warning he issues with a smile.
Thousands of sniffs, then a business
I got into perfume in 2018, sniffed my way through probably thousands of fragrances, and now I’m in the business.
I sniffed my way through thousands of fragrances, and now I am in the business.
The most fragrant street in Indonesia
The street leading to my house might just be the most fragrant in all of Indonesia, lined with perfume sellers. Every scent I come across takes me back to that road.
Matchday 02 · The road homeEvery scent leads back to the same street.
The first XI
These days: Chypre Oppenheimer by HoM Haute, Clairvoyant by Cadence Privé, and Ganymede by MAB.
Matchday 03 · The dressing roomThree names on the sheet. No weak links.
The pre-match routine
Wake up, have a glass of freshly squeezed lime, eat some fruit, get some sun, play PS for a bit, then get on with the day.
Good taste, in one sentence
Good taste is knowing why something works.
Sixteen issues of this series have auditioned longer definitions. This one walks in, takes the shirt, and keeps it. From a man who builds fragrances himself, it reads less like an opinion and more like a working method.
One belief, defended
The anthem he has sung his whole life promises that you will never walk alone. Ask him for the one belief he would defend, and the Kopite grins.
Trust no one.
“Enjoy your fragrance journey. Take it slow and savor every sniff. Don’t rush just because you’re afraid of missing out on trends.”