The Allure of Perfumes and Poisons

What is it about perfume that can make a rational person do very irrational things?

To tie this in with my previous post, I was thinking about an appropriate perfume to wear to a beer festival.  Of course the correct answer to that question is "none", as you want to be able to really enjoy the aromas of the beers without any interfering scents.  But given the intoxicating nature of beer (emphasis on "TOXIC"), one particular perfume sprang to mind based on its name, and it made me laugh.  So on Sunday I got out my bottle of Poison, put just a tiny spritz on (hey, another tuberose perfume!), and remembered why I had this bottle: a very irrational decision over 25 years ago.

In the mid-80's I was a college student, eating ramen noodles and drinking Old Style (and Guinness when I could afford it).  I had already discovered my dangerous attraction to perfume, and had a small and eccentric collection:  Liz Claiborne for Women, Heaven Scent, Houbigant's Raffinee, Anais Anais, Coty's Muguet de Bois, Chantilly.  I used to babysit for a boy whose mother wore Revlon's Ciara, and I  loved that perfume but felt I could never pull off wearing it.  I realize now that I was showing a budding preference for sweetish Oriental perfumes that continues to this day.  

During that time when I was a student, I stumbled upon a magazine ad for a new perfume from Christian Dior called Poison.  It might have been this ad: 

I am not sure if it was the purple bottle, the green box, or really what it was that attracted me.  The beautiful and exotic woman, submissive and alluring in demeanor?  The fact that I was a chemistry geek with its associated almost romantic interest in poisons?  I will probably never know why I NEEDED that perfume.  What I did know was that I was convinced that this was going to be this shy, wholesome, midwestern girl's signature scent;  this perfume was going to transform my life.  I HAD to have it.  

I didn't have a clue as to what this perfume smelled like at this point.  There may have been a fragrance strip that came with the ad;  apparently they started showing up in the early 80's.  I know it was not available at any of the stores in the small university town where I lived.  None of my friends had it, it was very new.  But I was totally convinced in my mind that I had to have this perfume.  

It was the mid-1980s, so I had to figure out a way to purchase the perfume by mail.  I don't remember the logistics of the transaction (check? did I even have a credit card then?), but I do remember that it cost about $60.  In those days this was an enormous sum of money to me, someone who worked for minimum wage ($3.35 an hour, I believe).  But the lure of that perfume was so strong that I was willing to fork over almost half a month's rent for a bottle of eau de toilette before I had even sniffed it properly.  

I do remember the excitement of getting the bottle in the mail, and opening it, and trying it on for the first time.  

I'd love to be able to say I loved this perfume immediately.  Or even to be able to say that I grew to love this perfume over the years.  I can honestly say I "liked" this perfume, and still feel the same way about it today.  It's gorgeous, I'm sure, on the right person, but just not on me.  

Do I regret the decision I made to buy my bottle of Poison?  No.  I still treasure my bottle, and not just for the knowledge it brought me: that sometimes you can work hard and get what you want if you want it badly enough (although you may not like it in the end).  I'm sure a vintage bottle of Poison would be marketable on eBay, but I don't plan on giving up my bottle anytime soon.  I need to keep it so that I'll be able to try it on once every few years and think back on the excitement and mystery and anticipation that this perfume brought me.  

And I confess that I sometimes, albeit rarely, still purchase bottles of perfume before I have tested them, and it still gives me a thrill. 

Great Taste of the Midwest

Back before craft beer became mainstream and I was barely legal,  I attended my very first beer festival.  It was called the Great Taste of the Midwest, and was held in a small park in downtown Madison, Wisconsin, where I was a grad student.  That beer festival has been held each year now for 27 years.   It's much larger than it was back in the day, and it's held in a much bigger park with a better view of a lake.

I've been to many other beer festivals, and they all have their own charms, but this one is in a class of its own.  It's not the biggest beer festival, but it might be the one that is hardest to get tickets to, for good reasons.  There is the gorgeous setting on Lake Monona, the fantastic organization by the Madison Homebrewers and Tasters Guild, and the attention to detail (for example, the program is sized so that it can easily slide into your back pocket).  There is the fact that it is a regional beer festival (only breweries from 10 midwestern states were represented).  It's got it's own iPhone app, and the brewers are often actually pouring their own beers.  Local brewpubs organize free shuttles to and from the event, and cab rides home are only $1.  It's always the 2nd Saturday in August, so the timing is good for both summer beers and the new fall beers.  

But the two things that really set this beer fest apart from the others, for me at least, are the many crazy experimental beers that are brewed especially for this festival and the equally zany fads and fashions that arise among the patrons of this unique event.  I still remember a pizza beer, brewed with tomatoes, oregano and garlic, and a "sausage-fest" beer made with smoked malts and fennel.  These beers and others like them won't ever make it to a store near you, but they are amazingly fun to taste.

Similar to the uniques of the brews found at this event, certain apparel worn to the Great Taste won't likely be worn elsewhere. 

In the case of both the beers and the cult fashions found at the Great Taste, there are interesting trends noted each year, some which stick around to become mainstream (at least for beer fests) and some of which, perhaps deservedly, do not.  I'm going to attempt to describe some of my findings in both areas from this year's festival.

Festival beer trends 

There are still plenty of crazily hopped beers, beers with >10% alcohol by volume, and every possible variation on the theme of Belgium;  they are here to stay.  There were many geeky beer t-shirts, many unusual hats, and one-off costumes. 

Aging beer in booze barrels was popular again this year.  Bourbon-barrel aged beers have been around for a long time;  it's a great way for a brewer to make a special limited edition beer for a beer festival, and their popularity has expanded to various commercial offerings.  The re-use of other types of alcoholic beverage barrels is a newer twist.   Several breweries, including Karben4 Brewing of Madison Wisconsin, and Atlas Brewing of Chicago served gin barrel-aged brews,  which works well with the lighter summery styles with more herbal and floral character, like Saisons.   I sadly did not get to try Peony from Brugge Brasserie (Indianapolis, IN), which is a strong Belgian golden ale aged in chardonnay barrels, nor the Brandy Farmagedden (brandy barrels) or their Funk-o-Dile Dundee (red wine barrels) or the Luke’s Lips Blonde Ale (raspberry mead barrels).  Many breweries had special offerings aged in various wine and whiskey barrels, including Goose Island's Violet Hour Manhattan BCS, which was an imperial stout (13% ABV) aged in a "3rd use bourbon barrel that had previously held a Manhattan cocktail".  

Previously used barrels, of course, are not free of microbes, and they can impart their own character to the beer.  Along those lines, there were many, many beers utilizing brettanomyces and other wild yeasts or other microbes including lactobacillus and pediococcus.   I particularly enjoyed the Brett Cornucopia from Peace Tree Brewing (Knoxville, IA), a refreshingly sour saison made with local Iowa sweet corn.  

It does seem like every possible vegetable, fruit, herb, and spice were included in beers represented at the Great Taste this year (but no carrots this year that I found;  a few years back Short's had a fantastic carrot cake beer that even seemed to have the cream cheese frosting due to the likely inclusion of lactose).  

Here's just a sampling of the kitchen-sink of ingredients that could be found in brews yesterday:

• Beets
• Cucumber
• Mushrooms
• Pumpkin (not in as many beers as in previous years)
• Hot peppers of all kinds, including ghost peppers in Space Ghost, a fine and fiery stout from Central Waters 
• Rhubarb (including the beautiful and delicious Backyard Rustic from Minneapolis Town Hall Brewing

• Berries of all kinds, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries,  elderberries
• Apricot (very popular this year)
• Peaches
• Plums
• Cherries, sweet, sour
• Grapes
• Tangerine
• Grapefruit
• Lime
• Mango
• Guava
• Passion fruit
• Hibiscus flowers
• Pineapple
• Toasted coconut
• Sage 
• Rosemary
• Basil
• Tarragon
• Mint
• Lemongrass
• Lavender
• Coriander
• Spruce
• Juniper
• Black pepper
• Pink peppercorn
• Chestnuts
• Almonds
• Vanilla
• Chocolate
• Carob
• Coffee
• Tea
• Cinnamon
• Nutmeg
• Cardamom
• Ginger
• Pickling spice (!)

A few very unusual beers deserve note.  One, which I regrettably did not try, supposedly included long john donuts in Long Polymer John Donut Ale (Dark Horse Brewing Company, Marshall MI). 

However, I did get to try a memorable and very tasty and drinkable brew from Short's Brewing Company (Bellaire, MI):  PB and Banana Wheat made with, yes, roasted peanut butter and banana.  

Other trends:  beers showcasing single hops varieties, use of new hops varieties such as Citra and Calypso, creating unusual flavors with just the Rheinheitsgebot-permissable ingredients, lots of Berliner Weisses and Saisons, cocktail inspired beers (mojito beer, anyone?).  

Fashion at the fest

On to the apparel!  I think most of these photos speak for themselves.  

Beer goggles were big this year: 

I'm not sure how much blame Bell's Brewing gets for the goggles, but they were big on the Mad Scientist theme this year, and I did end up somehow bringing home some goggles myself with their logo stamped on them.  

Kilts were also uber-popular, particularly the Utilikilt, which I have not yet been able to get my husband to acquire:

Note the long flowing lines of this kicky kilt;  lovely with those sandals. 

But never fear:  there were plenty of old-school hops garlands and pretzel necklaces and lederhosen. 

So those are some of the trends I observed at this year's Great Taste.  Here's hoping I score tickets next year again!  

Frederick Malle: Portrait of a Lady

It's the Saturday morning after the blonde IPA and a campfire with the dogs, and in a few hours I'll be at a beerfest.  So a good time, perhaps, to explore my other passion and indulgence, which is perfume.

I've been on a tuberose kick lately, which is a very round-about way of getting to my topic.   White florals are not my favorite (nor are they a love of my husband's), but in the dog days of summer, I feel compelled to try to wear them. Tuberose is perfect for these kind of days, for me, at least.  It projects a creamy, sweet, heavy vibe which seems made for lounging by a large body of blue water.  And the natural coconut undercurrent makes it even more perfect.

The three tuberose fragrances that have been in my recent rotation include Histoires de Parfume's Tuberose Animale, Beyond Love, prohibited by By Kilian, and Cambienne: Vernal Orgy by Possets.   Perfumistas will notice several omissions from this short list, including Fracas by Bandit and also Carnal Flower by Frederick Malle.

I have not tried Carnal Flower yet, although I have had it on my wishlist for a while.  Before I invest in even a decant of this scent (it's pricey!), however, I thought I should re-evaluate another perfume that I already have from the same house and same perfumer (Dominique Ropion, who also created a true favorite of mine, Lab on Fire's What We Do in Paris is Secret).

Portrait of a Lady is from Frederick Malle's Editions de Parfums collection.  Although it is a newer perfume, launched in 2010, it's name (based on the Henry James novel, which I realize I need to read) and its composition (rose and patchouli) harken back to older classics.  I had a decant of this rolling around in my collection, and had tested it about a year ago.  At that time, I was a bit "meh" on this perfume.  However, I know how important it is to give perfumes multiple chances, as some of my absolute favorites did not light me up initially.  

Portrait of a Lady is still a spicy, complex rose fragrance on me at first.  It's not my grandmother's sweet and basic rose, and it's not a goth rose despite the patchouli.  It's classy, beautiful, rich, graceful, and dark.  In time, the benzoin and musk come out, giving it a lovely and still elegant sweetness.  It's long lasting and has decent sillage.  I'm afraid I'm falling a bit in love with this perfume.   It's sophisticated and mature and complicated yet principled.  

It's not at all a scent to wear to a summer beerfest, though (not that any perfume is appropriate for a beer fest).  :)  

Ale Asylum Blonde IPA

It's a Friday, and my husband got a great job offer today.  He starts Monday.  So it's time to celebrate!!!

Additionally, the Great Taste of the Midwest is tomorrow, and some preparatory induction of dehydrogenases is in order.

We picked up a growler of Ale Asylum's Blonde IPA, on the advice of my friend and coworker Julia, who gave it high marks.  I'm a pretty big fan of Ale Asylum;  I think their beers are consistently quaffable and often very interesting (remembering a blood orange beer of theirs this past winter...).  They do hoppy beers extremely well, and while I do LOVE the malt monsters from the brewery on the other side of town, sometimes I really crave those alpha acids.

Blonde IPA is a limited edition beer available on draft at the brewery.  It's a beautiful, slightly hazy, light golden color in the glass with a generous, plush head.

As expected from the brewery and the moniker, the nose on this one is quite hoppy, with a hint of strawberry and warm weather fruit.  The initial taste is hoppy and perhaps a bit thin... but clean and refreshing with none of the skankiness that some overhopped beers have.

I like it more and more as I drink it, perhaps as expected since it is at 7.5% ABV... I still prefer some of Ale Asylum's other brews, but this is a great beer for a summery Friday night.