All About Greek Meze
A Google search brings up something that belongs to Greek and Turkish Mediterranean cuisine: several small dishes served as an appetizer with alcoholic drinks or as a light meal. A kind of tapas, if I am not wrong. But I also found a more accurate definition: A meze is not a meal course like an appetizer (although meze dishes can be served as appetizers), but rather a dish, hot or cold, spicy or savoury, often salty, that is served alone or with other mezes as a separate eating experience. It’s a word rooted in antiquity; the word and usage came to Greece from Turkey. In Greek: μεζέ, plural μεζέδες (mezethes, pronounced meh-ZEH-thes). Therefore, I assume that Citrus Meze means a mix of citrus and anything that tastes like citrus. I was kidding, and Citrus Meze is everything but a Greek Meze!

Let’s find out what is hidden behind this fragrance with a mysterious name. Meanwhile, it is a creation by Jo Malone, which belongs to the ZARA Rain series, together with Zara Rain N°01 - Rose Petal Drops, Zara Rain N°02 - Bergamot & Leather Spritz, and Zara Rain N°04 - Amber & Fig Cashmere. This should equate to a watery, rainy scent that smells fresh, wet, and rainy. The opening is a bomb that explodes in a thousand splinters made of citrus peel. It is very, very sour, so much so that it can look like a barbershop. I imagine a mixture of freshly grated citrus peel, like the ones used in cooking, made of lemons, bergamot, grapefruit, sweet and bitter oranges, limes, tangerines, and kumquats. It's like showering with citrus juice. These fruits’ tart, acidic, and juicy aspects are amplified, bright, and uplifting. There is almost nothing, indeed nothing, that is synthetic. The citrus aromas are natural and vivid. Instinctively, it could resemble other creations by Jo Malone herself, who loves citrus scents, for example, #Fleur d’oranger, Zara Emotions N°04 - Amalfi Sunray EAU DE PARFUM, or even Zara Emotions N°01 - Vetiver Pamplemousse EAU DE PARFUM. But a few minutes are enough to dispel doubts and discover that Citrus Meze takes its identity along its path.

The acidic and airy notes disperse as the perfume settles on the skin and loses some initial intensity. But they remain in the background, making room for a floral, sweet, gooey, and clean accord. Now, I perceive the flowers of citrus plants, both neroli from bigarade oranges and lovely orange blossoms. It is like a wave that alternates its slow coming and going between extreme sweetness and a trace of intense bitterness. All this fantastic citric and flowery interplay is bathed in fresh water, like raindrops and dewdrops. I like how it slowly opens and transforms; every note is controlled, there is no jarring, and the citrus and floral are well balanced. In my heart, I am in a citrus grove in the first light of dawn when the flowers are soaked in dew. Both the opening and the heart are mainly citrus and airy.

This sensation of moist citrus flowers accompanies me in the dry-down, which remains clean and fresh. There is a hint of powderiness, probably due to the akigalawood. Instead, the musky aspect is dominant. It’s not that musk that smells of detergent or wild blackberries, but a greenish and vegetal musk, penetrating, almost sensual and virile. I keep hearing a watery background; it’s like pure, cold water flowing from a spring and along mossy stones.

Citrus Mese is not feminine at all, on the contrary. It belongs to that kind of fragrance like Dior Homme Cologne (2013), without wanting to be a clone, but just catalogued in the same group. You can’t go wrong wearing this fragrance, which is so fresh and clean, which gives the sensation of a white linen shirt just worn after a shower, with the skin still damp. It is perfect for the office, leisure time, and the hot and torrid summer days, but also in the evenings outdoors when I don’t feel like heavy and opulent perfumes. Both the projection and the duration are around moderate. The citrus genre turns into a leather scent after the first few hours.

I’m basing my feelings on a bottle I’ve owned since August 2021.