Secouez-Moi, S'il Vous Plaît

That curvy profile, the gorgeous design sense, that sunny hue, the gentle tickle across your tonsils... what's not to like about Orangina?

Modern Orangina hails from Boufarik, Algeria, where the lovely Miss Gina got her official paperwork in 1951, but this was after a long gestation period beginning in orange-scented Valencia, Spain (naturally) where a Dr. Trigo had squeezed Narangina before 1936.

I won't go into her long and storied advertising history but must note that the soothing cerulean blue label with the unraveling orange logo appeared in 1953, thanks to some poster art by Bernard Villemot, and I believe we're all the better for it.

Orangina made her belated U.S. appearance in 1978 under a pseudonym, Orelia. Although she was heavily courted by Coca-Cola, that transglobalmegacorp lost her to another, and she remains something of a cult beverage — if there can be such a thing — delightfully embraced by the likes of brooding lit rockers, Net monkeys and craftsters.

In the end, do we really care about her age, her changing faces, her fans or her keepers? No. Miss Gina is a classic, and I fall in love again every time we meet. It's that juicy kiss, that sunny glow, that citric perfume, that effervescent essence... it's about being present in the moment. All the rest is just window dressing.