gin

A selection of bottled gins offered at a liquor store

Gin is a spirit which derives its predominant flavour from juniper berries (Juniperus communis). From its earliest beginnings in the Middle Ages, gin has evolved over the course of a millennium from an herbal medicine to an object of commerce in the spirits industry. Today, the gin category is one of the most popular and widely distributed range of spirits, and is represented by products of various origins, styles, and flavor profiles that all revolve around juniper as a common ingredient.

Etymology

The name gin is derived from either the French genièvre or the Dutch jenever, which both mean "juniper".

Varieties

Although several different styles of gin have evolved, it is legally differentiated into four categories in the European Union, with two of those four (Distilled Gin and Compound Gin) being officially recognised in the United States.^[1][2]

The official European Union classifications are as follows:

Juniper-Flavoured Spirit Drinks - This represents the earliest class of gin, which is produced by pot distilling alcoholic grain wash and redistilling it with botanicals to extract the aromatic compounds. Due to the use of pot stills, the alcohol content of the distillate is relatively low (e.g. 68% ABV). This type of gin is sometimes aged in wooden barrels, retains varying degrees of flavour from the grain as a result of its distillation method and may be bottled with a strength as low as 30% ABV. Geneva Gin or Holland Gin is the most prominent gin of this class.^[3]

Distilled gin - Distilled gin is produced exclusively by redistilling ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin with an initial strength of at least 96% ABV (the azeotrope of water and ethanol) in stills traditionally used for gin, in the presence of juniper berries and of other natural botanicals, provided that the juniper taste is predominant. Gin obtained simply by adding essences or flavourings to ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin is not distilled gin.

London gin - London gin is obtained exclusively from ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin with a maximum methanol content of 5 grams per hectolitre of 100% ABV, whose flavour is introduced exclusively through the re-distillation in traditional stills of ethyl alcohol in the presence of all the natural plant materials used, the resultant distillate of which contains at least 70% ABV. London gin may not contain added sweetening exceeding 0.1 gram of sugars per litre of the final product, nor colorants, nor any added ingredients other than water. The term London gin may be supplemented by the term "dry".

Gin - Gin or Compound gin is made by simply flavouring neutral spirit with essences and/or other 'natural flavourings' without re-distillation, and is not highly regarded.^[3]

The minimum bottled alcoholic strength for gin is 37.5% ABV in the EU, and 40% ABV in the U.S.^[1][2]

Some legal classifications of gin are defined only as originating from specific geographical areas (e.g. Plymouth gin, Ostfriesischer Korngenever, Slovenská borovička, Kraški Brinjevec, etc.), while other common descriptors refer to classic styles that are culturally recognized, but not legally defined (e.g., sloe gin, Wacholder and Old Tom gin).

History

By the 11th century, Italian monks were flavouring crudely distilled spirits with juniper berries. During the Black Death, this drink was used, although ineffectively, as a remedy. As the science of distillation advanced from the Middle Ages into the Renaissance period, juniper was one of many botanicals employed by virtue of its perfume, flavour, and purported medicinal properties.^{[citation needed]}

The Dutch physician Franciscus Sylvius is credited with the invention of gin.^[4][5] By the mid 17th century, numerous small Dutch and Flemish distillers (some 400 in Amsterdam alone by 1663) had popularized the re-distillation of malt spirit or wine with juniper, anise, caraway, coriander, etc.,^[6] which were sold in pharmacies and used to treat such medical problems as kidney ailments, lumbago, stomach ailments, gallstones, and gout. It was found in Holland by English troops who were fighting against the Spanish in the Eighty Years War who noticed its calming effects before battle, which is the origin of the term Dutch courage.^{[citation needed]} Gin emerged in England in varying forms as of the early 17th century, and at the time of the Restoration, enjoyed a brief resurgence. When William of Orange, ruler of the Dutch Republic, occupied the British throne with his wife Mary in what has become known as the Glorious Revolution, gin became vastly more popular,^[7] particularly in crude, inferior forms, where it was more likely to be flavoured with turpentine^[8] as an alternative to juniper.

Hogarth's Gin Lane

Gin became popular in England after the Government allowed unlicensed gin production and at the same time imposed a heavy duty on all imported spirits. This created a market for poor-quality grain that was unfit for brewing beer, and thousands of gin-shops sprang up throughout England, a period known as the Gin Craze. By 1740, it is thought by some, though not validated, the production of gin had increased to six times that of beer, although this would only include beer on which duty were paid and by default would not include “home brew” or illegally fermented beer, and is therefore an unreliable thought.^{[citation needed]} However, because of the relative price of gin , when compared with other drinks available at the same time and n the same geographic location, gin became popular with the poor. Of the 15,000 drinking establishments in London, not including coffee shops and ‘drinking chocolate shops, over half were gin shops. Beer maintained a healthy reputation as it was often safer to drink the brewed ale than unclean plain water. Gin, though, was blamed for various social problems, and it may have been a factor in the higher death rates which stabilized London's previously growing population, although there is no evidence for this and it is merely conjecture.^[7] The reputation of the two drinks was illustrated by William Hogarth in his engravings Beer Street and Gin Lane (1751). This negative reputation survives today in the English language, in terms like "gin mills" or the American phrase "gin joints" to describe disreputable bars or "gin-soaked" to refer to drunks, and in the phrase "mother's ruin", a common British name for gin. Paradoxically the "negative" connotations are now becoming associated with "positive" connotations - with the resurgence of gin, upmarket bars now frequently refer to "mother's ruin", "gin palaces", where printed copies of Hogarth paintings may sometimes be found.. Brief poem seen circa 1940, anonymous: "The principal sin, Of Gin, Is, among others, Ruining mothers".

The Gin Act 1736 imposed high taxes on retailers and led to riots in the streets. The prohibitive duty was gradually reduced and finally abolished in 1742. The Gin Act 1751 was more successful, however. It forced distillers to sell only to licensed retailers and brought gin shops under the jurisdiction of local magistrates.^[7] Gin in the 18th century was produced in pot stills, and was somewhat sweeter than the London gin known today.

In London in the early 18th century, much gin was distilled legally in residential houses (there were estimated to be 1,500 residential stills in 1726), and was often flavoured with turpentine - to generate resinous woody notes in addition to the juniper.^[9] As late as 1913, Webster's Dictionary states without further comment, " 'common gin' is usually flavoured with turpentine."^[10]

Another common variation was to distil in the presence of sulphuric acid. Although the acid itself does not distil, it imparts the additional aroma of diethyl ether to the resulting gin. Sulphuric acid subtracts one water molecule from 2 ethanol molecules to create diethyl ether, which also forms an azeotrope with ethanol, and therefore distils with it. The result is a sweeter spirit, and one that may have possessed additional analgesic/intoxicating effects - see Paracelsus.

Dutch or Belgian gin, also known as jenever or genever, evolved from malt wine spirits, and is a distinctly different drink from later styles of gin. Jenever is distilled at least partially from barley malt (and/or other grain) using a pot still, and is sometimes aged in wood. This typically lends a slightly malty flavour and/or a resemblance to whisky. Schiedam, a city in the province of South Holland, is famous for its jenever-producing history. It is typically lower in alcohol content and distinctly different from gins distilled strictly from neutral spirits (e.g. London dry gin). The oude (old) style of jenever remained very popular throughout the 19th century, where it was referred to as "Holland" or "Geneva" gin in popular, American, pre-Prohibition bartender guides.^[11]

The 19th century gave rise to a style of gin referred to as Old Tom Gin, which is a sweeter style of gin, often containing sugar. Old Tom gin faded in popularity by the early 20th century.

The column still was invented in 1832, making the distillation of neutral spirits practical and enabling the creation of the "London dry" style, which was developed later in the 19th century. London Dry gin is usually distilled in the presence of accenting citrus elements, such as lemon and bitter orange peel, as well as a subtle combination of other spices, including any of anise, angelica root and seed, orris root, licorice root, cinnamon, almond, cubeb, savory, lime peel, grapefruit peel, dragon eye, saffron, baobab, frankincense, coriander, grains of paradise, nutmeg and cassia bark.

In tropical British colonies gin was used to mask the bitter flavour of quinine, which was the only effective anti-malarial compound. Quinine was dissolved in carbonated water to form tonic water; the resulting mix became the origin of today's popular gin and tonic combination, although modern tonic water contains only a trace of quinine as a flavouring.

Gin is a popular base spirit for many classic mixed drinks, including the martini. Secretly produced "bathtub gin" was commonly available in the speakeasies and "blind pigs" of Prohibition-era America as a result of the relative simple production. Gin has remained popular as the basis of many cocktails after the repeal of the American Prohibition.

Sloe gin is traditionally described as a liqueur made by infusing sloes (the fruit of the blackthorn) in gin, although modern versions are almost always compounded from neutral spirits and flavourings. Similar infusions are possible with other fruits, such as damsons (damson gin).^{[citation needed]}

A ‘National Gin Museum’ can be found in is in Hasselt, Belgium. There are others.

Classic gin cocktails

A well known gin cocktail is the martini, traditionally made with gin and dry vermouth. Several other notable gin-based drinks include:

Notable brands

See also

• List of cocktails

References

• Deegan, Grant (Fall 1999). "From the bathtub to the boardroom: gin and its history". MY2K: Martini 2000 1 (1). http://www.mixology.com/issues/my2k/science/gin.htm. 
• Dillon, Patrick (2002). The Much-lamented Death of Madam Geneva: The Eighteenth-century Gin Craze. London: Headline Review. ISBN 0-7472-3545-7. 

External links

• [2] EU definition original source - scroll down to paras: 20 nand 21 of Annex II - Spirit Drinks

Look up gin in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Gin news page - Alcohol and Drugs History Society
• Gin in Victorian London

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