M. Micallef GNTONIC - When the Fizz Fades
There's a moment early on when it's exactly what you ordered. Lime hits first - cold, sharp, the kind of citrus that makes you close your eyes for a second. Bitter orange follows it in, then crushed peppermint wrapped around a sweetness that reads like an expensive gin and tonic poured over too much ice, on a terrace, in the kind of afternoon that's still deciding whether to be perfect. Sparkling. Briefly addictive. The whole thing lands with the ease of someone who dressed without trying and still managed to look like that. Summer, delivered in full. Then the fizz starts to go flat. It happens gradually, which is almost the problem. The citrus softens without drama. The peppermint cools off and retreats. Lily of the valley and orange blossom step in and steer the whole thing floral and gentle, and suddenly what was a cold, slightly dangerous opening is now something considerably more polished and considerably less interesting. Everything stays impeccably blended - no roug...
