Just like every other female on the planet, when I heard the Sex and the City movie was finally hitting the big screen I made plans with some of my closest girlfriends to celebrate by dressing up, drinking martinis and heading to the theater.

The biggest problem was finding the correct drink. Do you choose cosmos because they were made mainstream by the show or do you go for more edge?

An annual part of moving from spring to summer for me is the ritual transition from the beloved warm amber of the single-malt Scotch to the icy clear shimmer of the gin martini, up, dry, with a twist of lime.  Which is not to say that I’d decline a Scotch June, July or August, or a martini at Christmas time … any more than I’d refrain from red wine with fish if that’s what I was in the mood for; sometimes the heart wants what the heart wants.  But generally speaking, I do martinis in the summer.

Which made New Hampshire Business Review’s most recent Top Shelf Tasting event a perfect compliment for the season– a gin tasting on a warm June evening at Cotton (www.cottonfood.com/) , along the banks of the Merrimack River in Manchester’s historic Millyard.

True to Magic Hat Brewing Company’s playful comical side, they’ve come out with a “Summer Variety Show” 12-pack, which includes the No. 9, (always a hit), Circus Boy, (a hefeweizen), Hocus Pocus and the Summer Odd Notion. No. 9 and Circus Boy are both year-round beers. The 12-pack is marketed as a magic show not be missed.  True, the two beers I sampled, Hocus Pocus and Notion, made me call for an encore.