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Dec. 8th, 2007 02:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
coraa1. I stumbled upon Infusions of Grandeur, a site where a pair of Mad Scienticians (sic) make an exciting variety of vodka infusions. They start by quintuple-filtering the cheapest back-of-the-bottom-shelf vodka through a Pur water filter -- this removes a lot of the impurities that make cheap vodka unpleasant. (The vodka still isn't shooting-grade or anything, but it's smooth and neutral which makes it perfect for infusing, and anyway infusions would be kind of a waste of genuinely good vodka anyway.) They then steep a wide and exciting variety of things in the vodka for varying lengths of time, testing as they go.
This method has resulted in fruit vodkas (like apple, lime, orange, and pineapple), nut vodkas (almond and coconut), spice vodkas (cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, vanilla, etc.), infusions-that-are-actually-suspensions/solutions (caramel, honey and chocolate vodkas), and more... esoteric infusions (garlic -- which apparently makes a good marinade -- and chile pepper). I want to get a back-of-the-bottom-shelf vodka, a water filter pitcher and some spare filters, and some infusion materials, and make some. (Caramel and chocolate and cinnamon and vanilla and apple and coffee and strawberry sound good -- that is, individually, not in one big mix, of course -- and there are a couple of infusions that are perfect for filling holes in my gift list....)
2. This author promo written by a romance writer (video on YouTube, mild/humorous sexual references -- nothing explicit, but I probably wouldn't watch at work) is absolutely freaking hilarious. It's so good to see someone with a sense of humor about their own genre and writing!
3. I have settled on a name for my steampunk ball persona: Lady Cordelia Jameson Peabody. (I'm trying without much success to convince Pav that he wants to go as Doctor Justinian M. Pavastone, but he's not biting.) Cordelia is a Gentlewoman Scholar of diverse Interests and some Means, and a widow, who has an interest (an academic interest, she maintains) in studies natural, mechanical and occult.
4. More BPAL. Rather than try to pick out individual scents (which it turns out I kind of suck at, and also, if you want that there are a million people on the BPAL forums who can do it brilliantly), I'm just giving impressions.
Dragon's Eye
Description: A piercing, radiant perfume: dragon's blood resin, lily of the valley, lilac and galbanum.
Vial: High sweet lilac, like standing before a tree in bloom in springtime. One note, pure and strong as a bell.
Wet: Lilac with lily growing in its shadow. Two notes: harp and flute music. Gentle warmth, early-spring sun on water. Mmm.
Drydown: Lilac and lily, and sweet faint resin, all bound up in springtime sun-green-and-water. Easing off, mellowing but not fading, sweet and light but not thin.
I like this one quite a lot -- no shock, as I like both lilacs and lilies. It's a nice, not-too-complex, sweet-but-not-powdery floral.
Bow and Crown of Conquest
Description: And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer. Nobility and haughtiness befitting the Antichrist: sage, carnation and cedar with lavender, vanilla, white musk and leather.
Vial: Musk and leather. Martial notes, hard and unyielding.
Wet: Musk and leather still, and yet beneath them something spicy and warm. Sage and vanilla. The edges of a campfire. Unexpected sweetness, softening edges.
Drydown: Vanilla and leather, smoke and sage, musk fading into the background. Lovely warm notes. Not so much riding to war anymore as sitting by a campfire, rubbing fragrant oil into saddle-leather. I didn't expect it to mellow this much, or sweeten. Lovely.
Dry: Leather fading away. Vanill and sage and just the faintest whiff of musk and smoke. Warm and rounded, strong but smooth. Mmm. I like this much more than I would have predicted at first.
Centzon Totochtin
Description: The Four Hundred divine rabbits of the Aztec pantheon that preside over parties and drunkenness. Bittersweet Mexican cocoa with rum, red wine, and a scent redolent of sacrificial blood.
Vial: Cocoa powder, bitter almonds. Hard and bitter.
Wet: Still chocolate, still almonds, and something... metallic, but not like blood. Copper shavings. Harshness.
Drydown: Chocolate-almonds, very dark and bitter, and, finally, rum along with metal. Strange soapy notes. Not really my kind of scent -- which is funny, because I love both chocolate and almonds.
Dry: Dark, bitter, hard; chocolate-almonds and rum (but not red wine). Harsh detergent scents make an odd counterpoint. I think my skin doesn't like this; it's picking up all the harsh notes, and losing all the rich ones.
Coyote
Description: The Native American Creator / Trickster God of Chaos and Change. The warmth of doeskin, dry plains grasses and soft, dusty woods warmed by amber and a downy, gentle coat of deep musk.
Vial: Musk, ginger-amber, leather. Spicy-strong and smoky.
Wet: Suede and dry grass and summer sunlight.
Drydown: Oh, lovely! Sweet mellowing of the musk, softening of the suede... a furry scent, a warm scent. It smells like summer, sweet but peppery, drygrass and amber, warm and dry.
Dry: Mellows out without losing complexity -- warm and sweet but not candy-sweet, dry-grass and dust and doeskin, ginger and amber and coyote, sunlight on fur. Yes. My first 5ml investment, and I don't regret it.
***
My second sets of imps has arrived, too. It contains:
Bought imps of: Snake Oil, Lady MacBeth, Persephone, Gluttony, Veil, Baobhan Sith, Jezebel, Tiger Lily, The Apothecary, Greed, Carnal, Black Rose.
Also got the following freebies thrown in: Black Forest, Jabberwocky, Yew Trees, Seance, Vampire Tears
This method has resulted in fruit vodkas (like apple, lime, orange, and pineapple), nut vodkas (almond and coconut), spice vodkas (cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, vanilla, etc.), infusions-that-are-actually-suspensions/solutions (caramel, honey and chocolate vodkas), and more... esoteric infusions (garlic -- which apparently makes a good marinade -- and chile pepper). I want to get a back-of-the-bottom-shelf vodka, a water filter pitcher and some spare filters, and some infusion materials, and make some. (Caramel and chocolate and cinnamon and vanilla and apple and coffee and strawberry sound good -- that is, individually, not in one big mix, of course -- and there are a couple of infusions that are perfect for filling holes in my gift list....)
2. This author promo written by a romance writer (video on YouTube, mild/humorous sexual references -- nothing explicit, but I probably wouldn't watch at work) is absolutely freaking hilarious. It's so good to see someone with a sense of humor about their own genre and writing!
3. I have settled on a name for my steampunk ball persona: Lady Cordelia Jameson Peabody. (I'm trying without much success to convince Pav that he wants to go as Doctor Justinian M. Pavastone, but he's not biting.) Cordelia is a Gentlewoman Scholar of diverse Interests and some Means, and a widow, who has an interest (an academic interest, she maintains) in studies natural, mechanical and occult.
4. More BPAL. Rather than try to pick out individual scents (which it turns out I kind of suck at, and also, if you want that there are a million people on the BPAL forums who can do it brilliantly), I'm just giving impressions.
Dragon's Eye
Description: A piercing, radiant perfume: dragon's blood resin, lily of the valley, lilac and galbanum.
Vial: High sweet lilac, like standing before a tree in bloom in springtime. One note, pure and strong as a bell.
Wet: Lilac with lily growing in its shadow. Two notes: harp and flute music. Gentle warmth, early-spring sun on water. Mmm.
Drydown: Lilac and lily, and sweet faint resin, all bound up in springtime sun-green-and-water. Easing off, mellowing but not fading, sweet and light but not thin.
I like this one quite a lot -- no shock, as I like both lilacs and lilies. It's a nice, not-too-complex, sweet-but-not-powdery floral.
Bow and Crown of Conquest
Description: And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer. Nobility and haughtiness befitting the Antichrist: sage, carnation and cedar with lavender, vanilla, white musk and leather.
Vial: Musk and leather. Martial notes, hard and unyielding.
Wet: Musk and leather still, and yet beneath them something spicy and warm. Sage and vanilla. The edges of a campfire. Unexpected sweetness, softening edges.
Drydown: Vanilla and leather, smoke and sage, musk fading into the background. Lovely warm notes. Not so much riding to war anymore as sitting by a campfire, rubbing fragrant oil into saddle-leather. I didn't expect it to mellow this much, or sweeten. Lovely.
Dry: Leather fading away. Vanill and sage and just the faintest whiff of musk and smoke. Warm and rounded, strong but smooth. Mmm. I like this much more than I would have predicted at first.
Centzon Totochtin
Description: The Four Hundred divine rabbits of the Aztec pantheon that preside over parties and drunkenness. Bittersweet Mexican cocoa with rum, red wine, and a scent redolent of sacrificial blood.
Vial: Cocoa powder, bitter almonds. Hard and bitter.
Wet: Still chocolate, still almonds, and something... metallic, but not like blood. Copper shavings. Harshness.
Drydown: Chocolate-almonds, very dark and bitter, and, finally, rum along with metal. Strange soapy notes. Not really my kind of scent -- which is funny, because I love both chocolate and almonds.
Dry: Dark, bitter, hard; chocolate-almonds and rum (but not red wine). Harsh detergent scents make an odd counterpoint. I think my skin doesn't like this; it's picking up all the harsh notes, and losing all the rich ones.
Coyote
Description: The Native American Creator / Trickster God of Chaos and Change. The warmth of doeskin, dry plains grasses and soft, dusty woods warmed by amber and a downy, gentle coat of deep musk.
Vial: Musk, ginger-amber, leather. Spicy-strong and smoky.
Wet: Suede and dry grass and summer sunlight.
Drydown: Oh, lovely! Sweet mellowing of the musk, softening of the suede... a furry scent, a warm scent. It smells like summer, sweet but peppery, drygrass and amber, warm and dry.
Dry: Mellows out without losing complexity -- warm and sweet but not candy-sweet, dry-grass and dust and doeskin, ginger and amber and coyote, sunlight on fur. Yes. My first 5ml investment, and I don't regret it.
***
My second sets of imps has arrived, too. It contains:
Bought imps of: Snake Oil, Lady MacBeth, Persephone, Gluttony, Veil, Baobhan Sith, Jezebel, Tiger Lily, The Apothecary, Greed, Carnal, Black Rose.
Also got the following freebies thrown in: Black Forest, Jabberwocky, Yew Trees, Seance, Vampire Tears
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Date: 2007-12-11 03:20 am (UTC)