Pero and Coffee are not the same?

I recently painted an old white lamp and needed a new non-white lampshade to go with it. I recently caught a show on HGTV where they made a white lampshade off-white by painting it with tea applied with a sponge brush. They said if you want it darker, try coffee. I had some herbal tea in my cupboard so I tried. The shade was still just too light. Having no coffee in the house, I thought I'll just substitute Pero. Smells like coffee, looks like coffee, should paint like coffee. I tried it and the lamp looked not perfect, but good enough. I was so pleased with my frugality. Haha. Then it dried. All the color pooled together in these scary lightning bolts (or are they angry dinosaurs?). In case anyone else caught that show and wants to try it at home....:-D...either Pero and coffee are not the same, or you have to start off with a much nicer lampshade than I had. All these things shall give me experience and now I know. Good thing life is filled with laughter.