Raspberry is a bright, sweet-tart red berry note with a characteristic violet-like softness, one of the most widely used fruits in fruity-floral, gourmand and chypre perfumes. It is recreated synthetically, above all with raspberry ketone and ionones, which together capture the fruit's juicy, jammy and powdery facets.

What does Raspberry smell like?

Raspberry smells juicy, tangy and slightly jammy, with a floral, powdery facet that many people link to violets. Fresh versions feel crisp and sparkling; sweeter ones resemble raspberry jam, sorbet or boiled sweets. It is more floral and powdery than strawberry and brighter and less winey than blackberry. Because it shares ionones with violet and iris, raspberry blends seamlessly into floral compositions.

How perfumers create Raspberry

Raspberry ketone, sometimes called frambinone, supplies the recognisable berry-and-jam core, while alpha- and beta-ionone add the violet-woody lift found in the real fruit. Fruity esters bring juiciness and a light green note suggests the leaves. Natural raspberry extracts exist for flavour use but are costly and weak, so fine fragrance relies almost entirely on synthetics.

• Also known as: Framboise, Rubus idaeus
• Fragrance family: Fruity
• Type: Accord (created by the perfumer)
• How it's obtained: Built from raspberry ketone, ionones and esters
• Key aroma molecules: Raspberry ketone (frambinone), alpha-ionone, beta-ionone

Raspberry in perfume history

Raspberry ketone occurs naturally in raspberries only in minute amounts, so its commercial production by synthesis was what made a raspberry note practical. The ionones, discovered by Ferdinand Tiemann and Paul Krüger in 1893, were another essential building block. Raspberry became a notable perfume note in the late twentieth century, especially in fruity chypres and in the fruit-and-patchouli style of the 2000s.

Raspberry in modern perfumery

Raspberry remains one of the go-to fruits for adding vivid colour to rose, patchouli and gourmand compositions. It is common in mainstream fruity-florals, but niche perfumers also use it in more textured ways, pairing it with leather, incense or dry woods.

How Raspberry wears and what it pairs with

Raspberry is a top-to-heart note, with the ionones giving it some staying power. It pairs well with rose, violet, iris, patchouli, vanilla, praline, pink pepper and white musk.