Three kinds of lime go into Fancy Frolic, and only two of them come from the citrus. Shed One Distillery uses lime leaf, fresh lime zest and lime flower, the blossom of the tree that British English calls lime and botanists know as linden, and pairs them with strawberries, elderflower and ginger in a gin created, distilled, bottled and labelled in Ulverston, Cumbria.

The three limes work in different registers. The zest is immediate and sharp, the leaf greener and more aromatic, and the linden blossom softer, with a honeyed, floral lift that has nothing citrus about it. Strawberry brings fresh fruit without syrup, elderflower widens the floral side, and ginger keeps the palate lively so the gin never turns merely delicate. Juniper returns at the end to keep the finish dry. Great Taste Award judges noted a pronounced aroma of fresh lime punctuated by spices, and a well-balanced, vibrant flavour.

It is a summer gin born in winter: it was created while watching Gertie, a Border Terrier, frolicking on a wintry beach, with thoughts drifting to hazy, sunny days. It is bottled at 43%, which gives the lime character good intensity, and it took a Bronze from the World Gin Awards 2022 alongside its Great Taste Award. Ulverston sits on the edge of the Lake District, near Morecambe Bay.

The distillery's own serve swaps ice cubes for frozen strawberries and adds a slice of lime, and it is worth following, because frozen berries chill the drink while releasing their flavour slowly as they thaw. Drop a few frozen strawberries into a tall glass, add a 4 cl measure of gin, top up with 10 cl of Fever-Tree's Naturally Light tonic and finish with a lime wheel; the light tonic leaves the lime and the strawberry at the front.