Gingham

 The gingham cocktail is inspired by this Bath and Body Works fragrance:

About the fragrance

I first purchased this fragrance as a body lotion when it debuted in 2020 based on a review that said it was similar to Beautiful Day and Country Chic, both of which I liked in the past. I liked Gingham right away, so I later purchased it in this fragrance mist as well as a hand soap and hand cream. It is currently available online as a fine fragrance mist, moisturizing body wash, body lotion, body cream, hand cream, shower gel, shea butter cleansing bar, travel size shower gel, and travel size fine fragrance mist. There is also a wallflower fragrance plugin, 3-wick candle, concentrated room spray, and wallflower fragrance plugin 2-pack available in this fragrance, but the fragrance profile is slightly different. Gingham has inspired two additional fragrances, Gingham Love (currently available online as a foaming sugar body scrub, eau de parfum, fine fragrance mist, body cream, body lotion, shower gel, moisturizing body wash, and a gift set) and Gingham Heart of Gold (currently unavailable online), and according to the Bath and Body Works website there are several other fragrances inspired by Gingham coming soon.

The scent notes listed for this fragrance are:

Blue freesia

White peach

Fresh clementine

Violet

Clean musk

Designing the cocktail

I used peach soda as the mixer because I already had it on hand. Peach sparkling water would work too. Clementine flavor is hard to come by, so I decided to substitute orange flavor since they are very similar. I chose blue Curacao to match the color of the packaging. I used white rum for the musk note. For the violet note, I used the same violet syrup and dried sweet violet blossoms I used in my Saltwater Breeze cocktail. Freesia petals are edible, but they are hard to come by so I left that note out. If you grow your own freesias or are able to locate dried freesia petals, feel free to include them.

Recipe

1 oz blue Curacao

1 oz white rum

½ oz violet syrup

6 oz peach soda or sparkling water

Freesia petals (optional)

Violet petals

Place two ice cubes in a glass. Add blue Curacao, white rum, and violet syrup. Pour in peach soda or sparkling water. Garnish with freesia and violet petals. For a non-alcoholic version, omit the blue Curacao and white rum. Add orange or clementine simple syrup. Add blue food coloring to recreate the blue color if you wish.

The finished cocktail

 

  I enjoyed this cocktail. Peach and blue Curacao were the strongest flavors, giving it a fruity profile. The rum and violet syrup were harder to detect. The violet petals had a licorice-like taste, which contrasted well with the sweet fruitiness of the peach soda. If I had included freesia petals, they would have introduced a peppery flavor, which would also have served as a nice contrast to the overall sweetness. I also found this cocktail very visually interesting due to its color and the floral garnish. I wasn't sure what color blue Curacao and peach soda would make when combined, but I was pleased with the resulting indigo. If a colorless mixer such as the peach sparkling water I used for Cashmere Glow were used instead, the cocktail would have a clearer blue color. I would recommend this cocktail to anyone who likes sweet fruity drinks.