raw eggs, vodka, and kumquats

-

I have been going through a citrus phase lately, wearing Hermes Eau d'Orange Verte and Serge Lutens' Fleurs D'Oranger lots and lots, and even sometimes the light citrusy juices Eau de Fleurs de Cedrat and Euphoria Blossom . I found myself mixing a drink last night that really summed up my feelings on the matter. You can see that it looks a bit like a raw egg, so I'm still trying to come up with the right moniker. The 'yolks' in the center are little kumquats, cut in half and squeezed lightly to release their singular citrus fragrance and flavor. I cut up a lime and put it in a shaker with just the tiniest soupcon of Saint-Germain elderflower liqueur, then poured in the Russian Standard vodka that is my hands-down preference for vodka (an article coming on this soon) and a bit of homemade club soda. The composition overall is very fragrant, delicate, and delicious, and tastes a little bit like drinking some bespoke flower water.

Comments

Post a Comment

what thinkest thou?

Popular posts from this blog

book and fragrance giveaway: Rebecca

-
Image
Many authors use pe rfume as a novelistic shorthand for memories awakened in complete recall. A character smells something and it awakens deep memories, or takes him back in time. In Daphne du Maurier’s neo-gothic romance Rebecca , this motif takes a sinister turn. A youung girl marries a widower with an obscure, tragic past and moves to his ancestral estate . She soon discovers that the place is haunted by the presence of the memory of the previous wife, Rebecca.  This ‘haunting’ is mostly expressed through smell and fragrance. Azaleas, overpowering, overfeminine, unnaturally-abundant blooms which choke the manor of Manderley, become a symbol of the dead wife’s overpowering femininity. Rebecca even wore a perfume which smelled of azaleas. The hapless new wife discovers traces of perfume on Rebecca’s clothes, which have turned musty with age, she experiences the oppression of the obscure yet present past in the form  a choking fog that blights the landscape a...
Read more

A Perfume Riddle

-
Image
I am introducing a new feature here on Hortus Conclusus , in which a perfume bottle sings a little riddle, and it’s up to you, dear readers, to guess which bottle of perfume is riddling. To start us out on the best possible foot, My first poem has an easy solution! Which of you will be the first to guess, I wonder: I’m not a pentangle. I live in a square I bubble like golden champagne filled with air, My obscure beginnings are shrouded in mystery But that won’t stop people from telling my history. I fly through the air, I swim with the fishes. Scientists say I reside in all ditches. I go everywhere, and all know my fame therefore I know that you have guessed my name. I will never die; you keep me alive. By now you have guessed, I’m ________! Image of Oedipus and the Sphinx by Gustave Moreau courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.  
Read more

Tauerama!: Tauer perfumes discovery set giveaway

-
Image
  The generous and talented Swiss perfumer Andy Tauer was kind enough to send me samples of all his fragrances to review over the coming week or so—and an adorable sample set to give away to YOU ! Yay!  I am very excited to announce this new giveaway drawing! Tauer got his PhD in chemistry, and went on to start a small perfumery, which has gone on to win many awards and even more praise. For more about Andy, and to get  a real sense of what a cool dude he is, I highly recommend this fragrantica article. Details about my giveaway below : What is it? A very sweet glide-cover metal tin, embossed with the Tauer logo, with 5 1.5. ml samples of Tauer fragrances inside. when will the winner be announced ? There’s no fixed end date; when I have written something about all ten of the fragrances, the winning name will be drawn. how do I enter? post a comment expressing interest below, then keep checking in at Hortus Conclusus ;-) I will post links ...
Read more