Ginned Up

I love me some words.  And I love weird, arcane phrases* (these two interests often make me… um… unpopular [?] … amongst my less-wordy pals.)  ‘Ginned up’ came to mind, when I was taking part in Arielle Shoshana’s Happy Hour zoom party (kinda fun but in general? I HATE ZOOM!  but that is for another time, another rant).  Anyhoodle, she did a choice of an alky/non-alky set of samples and … surprise!  I ordered the alky one.  When we got to Gin Fizz (Lubin), March said “this is SO you — right down to the bottle” — and she was right!  A glorious, sparkly, citrusy scent, reminiscent of a Tom Collins cocktail (one of my favorite Summer cocktails, minus the Maraschino cherry).  After a long day’s Getting Hollered At by clients, there’s nothing nicer than settling down in the cooling June evening with an icy TC, watching the hummingbirds.

So.  There’s the cocktail — basically gin, ice, simple syrup (which I make from water & sugar and store in the fridge) and lemon juice, shaken and topped with club soda.  Sparkling lemonade with gin, if you will (and I will, thanks!)  I choose gin over vodka because I consider gin to be a ‘mindful’ spirit – I like to actually taste liquors.  I also consider it ‘mindful’ because I have to pay attention – two gin martinis (or what have you) is just fine.  Any more and I am puking like a lima bean.  Coming from two sides of high-functioning alcoholics I consider that a plus.

But this is not just about cocktails – it’s about gin perfumes.  When March said ‘it’s SO you’ – and I tried the sample (and, again, she was right), I kept wondering where I’d smelled this before – I certainly do not have a bottle of Lubin Gin Fizz in my collection – yet.   But I do have Cartier L’Heure Brilliante, which is Gin Fizz’s younger, slightly darker sister — imagine Grace Kelly (Gin Fizz’s muse) with a near-twin with dark roots.  When I think of Gin Fizz, I actually think of a Hendricks Gin Martini.  A lighter, sweeter, more ‘sodapop’ gin scent is Love & Toast ‘Gin Blossom’ (which I got from Beautyhabit) with a zesty lime & elderflower vibe.  It lasts about 32 seconds in the heat but it so lively and fun that it’s a pleasure to spritz again and again (and it’s super-inexpensive, so you can use it much like my vaunted summer splash Jean Nate, which works amazingly under all of these scents).

And, OMG!  Apparently there is a ‘Juniper Gin’ perfume from Love and Toast somewhere out in the wilderness!!!  According to Fragrantica it has a ‘salty’ note, which might make it a bit darker, less sparkly – and maybe put it in ambergris territory and make me the happiest lima bean on the Posse!  That could be the perfect Very Lake Summer Gin scent!!!  But we’ll have to wait and see, won’t we?  In the meantime, I’m all about the sparkly, citrusy gins of Summer!

So!  do you have any perfume/cocktail pairings for Summer?