Tag Archives: Gin and tonic

Juniper – A Three Word Buzz

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Hello natural beauties and scent lovers from all over the world! I absolutely love juniper and often go through stages of wanting and needing it all the time. It’s crisp, clean and fresh and in aromatherapy is used as an astringent for oily skin, to help with joint pain and rheumatism, as a diuretic and can be seen as a gentle detoxifier. I often use juniper to cleanse and release heavy, watery emotions. It’s made from the gorgeous purple berries of the juniper bush – Juniperus communis.

And of course juniper’s real claim to fame is its integral part in gin. I have been known to accidentally ask for a “juniper and tonic” once (possibly twice) before.

 There’s one thing for sure, this oil has a distinct and delightful scent, and here are some Australian perfumers and “noses” to give you their 3 word buzz on this unique oil.

 

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Buy my 100% natural and organic botanical perfumes, and paperback book here: suzannerbanks.com.au

Digital downloads of my book Revelation! Reveal your Destiny with Essentials Oils:

Barnes & Noble      Booktopia AU      Amazon UK

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juniper berries

 

Who are you and what are your 3 words for juniper oil?

 

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

 

Suzanne Banks from banksbotanicals:

sophisticated, clean, tangy

 

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

 

Portia Turbo from Australian Perfume Junkies:

crisp, invigorating, astringent

 

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

 

gin and tonic – with a crisp rosemary garnish

 

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

 

Kim Landsdowne-Walker from Temp L D’or:

uplifting, rosy, flowing

 

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

 

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

 

Julie Nelson from Julie Nelson, Artisan Perfumer:

expansion, inner strength, wisdom

 

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

 

juniper is crisp like a walk in the forest

 

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

 

Tonia Walker from IME Natural Perfume:

summer evenings, detoxifying, light

 

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

 

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

 

Candace Gabelish from Pearl Perfumery:

bracing, herbaceous, uplifting

 

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

 

The Results – from most popular to least:

  1. uplifting
  2. invigorating
  3. light, crisp, clean
  4. detoxifying
  5. bracing
  6. expansive, inner wisdom
  7. herbaceous, tangy

So I’ll give you an extra hint – this oil is fantastic for lightening up your mood and detoxifying from negativity. It is cleansing and clearing and great to use in a perfume or oil blend to bring a sense of clarification. It is clean and crisp and blends well with so many other oils.

This is a beautiful oil! Do you love it?

 

Botanical Perfumery vs Botanical Gin? Archie Rose Distillery Rocks My World

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Who knew that perfumery and distilling gin could be similar? Ben from the Archie Rose Distillery, right in the middle of Sydney, takes us on a fragrant (alcoholic) journey. 

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Buy my 100% natural and organic botanical perfumes, and paperback book here: suzannerbanks.com.au

Digital downloads of my book Revelation! Reveal your Destiny with Essentials Oils:

Barnes & Noble      Booktopia AU      Amazon UK

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Archie Rose in Roseberry

We met at the fabulous bar in Roseberry for a pre tour drink. The drinks menu is so big it’s like a little book. The bar serves the gin, vodka, white rye (and soon whiskey) that they distill on site, with some charcuterie plates provided by Black Star pastry next door.

Archie Rise bar – pic taken from website Best International Bar – International Restaurant & Bar Design Awards (London)

Our tour guide Ben managed to cram the entire history of alcohol into our tour while cracking jokes and serving us tastes of the really strong stuff straight from the copper still.

Ben in black on the left, entertaining us with his witty quips and extensive knowledge and passion

Ben likened the blending of gin and the individual distillates to perfumery. I had already seen the signs when I first walked in to the distillery. What really peaked my interest, was the wall of glass measuring equipment housing single botanical distillates. Ooooooooooo …… glass beakers and botanicals!!!

single botanical distillates

How excited was I to see juniper, blood lime, orange and Dorrigo pepper all lined up? 

Very, very excited!

The full rack of single botanical distillates for the gin

All these single botanicals are blended to make the gins –

Signature Dry Gin -“fourteen traditional and native botanicals, each uniquely infused and individually distilled in our copper pot still. Perfectly balanced and wonderfully complex, our Signature Dry Gin is accented by native Australian botanicals, including Blood Lime, Dorrigo Pepperleaf, Lemon Myrtle and River Mint. All underpinned with pronounced juniper berry.

This gin is smooth and soft with the beauty of juniper powering through.

 

cassia, liquorice and ginger – a perfumer’s delight!

 Cassia liquorice and ginger take their place in the lineup!

 

Distiller’s Strength Gin – An overproof gin, packed with fifteen individually distilled             botanicals, including fresh pears from Orange in NSW, rose petals, elderflower,                       pronounced juniper and distilled honey direct from our rooftop beehives.                                 Distinguished, complex and intense, with a higher ABV, Archie Rose Distiller’s                         Strength is for those who love bigger, bolder flavours.

This beautiful fragrant gin blew my mind. Floral and sweet and bold all                   at the same time. Could I actually wear this as a perfume?

 

lemon myrtle, apple and river mint

Lemon myrtle, apple and river mint ….

 

Limited Edition – Archie Rose x Horisumi

Autumn “In collaboration with acclaimed tattoo artist, Horisumi, Horisumi Autumn is the first in a series of four rare gins, which celebrate the uniqueness of each Japanese season. Inspired by a mutual respect for  nature and the hand forged, Horisumi Autumn accentuates the spice-driven notes of red miso, sesame seed and sansho pepper, making for a complex, savoury gin. With an emphasis on deeper, earthy characteristics underpinned by spice, Horisumi Autumn offers gentle warmth as the evenings begin to cool.”

This gin is spicy and warm and I’m in awe of the blender – divine!

 

tasting trays with little amber bottles of water to add to the straight gin

 

And as a perfumer and aromatherapist I was so happy to see a little amber bottle with a dropper!

Hey guess what? You can be a perfumer and gin blender yourself with Archie Rose. Simply go to the website and either choose to have a Gin Blending Experience (a class on site) or just create your own gin on the website right here!

This distillery house is pure class. They respect the plants they are working with and their passion is infused in every cask, every bottle, and every drink.

Check out Archie Rose https://archierose.com.au/

This is not a sponsored post – I just loved everything about it!

Buzz Off – The Tribe has Spoken!

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It looks serene but….

It looks serene but it’s a jungle out there! It’s like being in the TV show “Survivor” 24/7!

I live less than 10 minutes from the city of Sydney, but I may as well be living in the swamp. In fact I feel a bit like Tammy Tyree who lived in the Mississippi swamps. Just call me Tammy. I am a bit cut-off from civilisation as I can’t talk on my mobile phone inside the house  – so it’s freeze out the back in winter when making a call or fend off the mosies in summer! A few years ago a neighbour told me my suburb was actually reclaimed swamp/wetlands and that there is a huge water table underneath us. Sydney actually has lots of underground water which would explain all the insect, especially mosquitoes and cockroaches. My other neighbour has frogs but I’ve unsuccessfully tried for years to get tadpoles. I gave up with my pond but I’m serenaded all summer with the croaking from next door.

So anyway……. for years my friends have baulked at sitting outside in the beautiful garden  because the mosquitoes are vicious. They are so big a friend once said “the mosie that followed me down the hall needs its own bedroom”. I have always made my own insect repellent in a mist bottle, but it has never been enough. Last year I got a few torches to burn citronella oil and that really helped. It’s the flame and smoke that keeps those little biters at bay. Add the topical application of some essential oils and a little bit of peace can be found in my backyard.

torch with a flame keeps those biters at bay

I now have a mosquito net over my bed because they are so bad at night it’s like a form of torture.

aaahhhhh peace at last

I have given up on the mist and gone for pure essential oils. After much trial and error I have found the best oils to keep away the insects are (in any combination):

Lemongrass

Citronella

Basil

Peppermint

Lavender

Clove

Thyme

and any oil that has a pungent aroma. No sweet pretty oils can be used, it will only attract them! Lavish these oils all over you especially around the ankles, neck and ears and anywhere where your flesh is exposed!

Of course having a gin and tonic will help as the quinine is supposed to be a malaria preventative, in case you get bitten by a mosie with the virus.  Ok, well it’s probably not strong enough in the tonic we now drink, but my when my father was in the British Army, serving in Africa, they were given salt and quinine tablets. Salt for replenishing minerals and quinine against malaria. Interesting eh?

Essential oils, a G & T, a mosquito net and a Survivor-like torch is my recipe for getting through summer in Sydney. When I quench the flame at the end of the evening I silently say “the tribe has spoken”, and retire inside.