History of Gin

Explore the History of Gin

JUNIPER HAS A LONG HISTORY AS A PHARMACOLOGICAL AGENT IN MEDITERRANEAN AND EUROPEAN FOLK MEDICINES. IN PARTICULAR, JUNIPER WAS REGARDED AS AN EFFECTIVE ABORTIFACIENT. PASTORALISTS WHO CUT DOWN JUNIPER PLANTS HAD TO ENSURE LIVESTOCK DO NOT FEED ON THE JUNIPER FOLIAGE. PREGNANT CATTLE THAT INGESTED JUNIPER ABORTED THEIR CALVES WITHIN A MATTER OF DAYS. HIGH DOSES OF ISOCUPRESSIC ACID PRESENT IN JUNIPER ARE TOXIC, AFFECTING BLOOD FLOW AND ARE A CAUSE OF ABORTION. IN FOLK MEDICINE, LOW DOSES WERE PRESCRIBED FOR BLOOD, LIVER AND DIGESTIVE DISORDERS UNTIL THE ADVENT OF MODERN MEDICINES. SO IT’S NOT THAT SURPRISING THE SPIRIT KNOWN AS ‘MOTHER’S RUIN’ AND ‘LADY’S DELIGHT’, HARBOURED THE NECESSARY STIMULANTS TO INDUCE MISCARRIAGE.

WORDS CHRIS MIDDLETON

IN THE MEDITERRANEAN, JUNIPER HAS been added to wine and beer since Pharonic times for flavouring and health. Recent archaeological discoveries in Jyllinge, Denmark detected juniper in 200 BCE jars used to store early beer. In Sweden, Gotlandsfrinka is still sold as a spiced beer infused with juniper. Before hops preserved and flavoured ale, juniper, bog myrtle, yarrow and broom were used to ‘fix’ ales and fruits until the sixteenth century.

The first mention of a juniper beverage was in Germany during the fourteenth century. The Germans published 28 tracts on juniper’s pharmacological properties. In the later part of the fourteenth century, German towns became Europe’s distilling centres as liberal City States issued licences to brewers, vignerons and innkeepers to distil aqua vitae for social consumption. Cologne saw the first apothecary in 1255 selling spirits. Juniper was used in both medicinal tonics and to flavour spirits made by commercial distillers for recreational drinking. When these German States descended into political and social unrest, members of their distilling guides in towns like Frankfurt, Nuremburg and Cologne relocated to the Netherlands and Antwerp. At this time, Antwerp was Europe’s leading port and trading centre. Along with their distilling knowledge, they imported their distilling equipment.

The first written official record of using juniper in an alcoholic beverage was in Brussels, 1240, when Thomas Bellingen wrote De Natura rerum describing a drink infused with juniper. In Belgium, 26 years later Jacob van Maerlant recommended boiled juniper in wine to relieve stomach aches. Again in Belgium, Phillip Hermanni of Antwerp was the first author to write about juniper spirit, genever aqua vitae. Gin, genever or French genevieve from the Latin juniperus had arrived.

By the late fifteenth century, it was discovered the Dutch were using cloth bags hung in stills, holding ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, galangal, grains of paradise, nutmeg, sage and juniper. Exotic and flavoursome botanicals were being used to improve palatability and bolster perceived medicinal potency, leading to recreational consumption.

A series of Spanish invasions of the Lowland Countries saw the sack of Antwerp in 1576, culminating in the city’s siege during 1584 to 1585. This forced Antwerp distillers to relocate north to the Netherlands and across the channel to London. In London, these refugee genever distillers planted the seed for the English gin industry. Netherlands shipping towns

such as Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Schiedam and Delft had access to cheap European grain and rapidly grew to become the world centre for genever, or Hollands gin as the British called this export spirit.

The Dutch began to master grain wort and fermentation. They improved hygiene practices (likely a German legacy), ensured cleaner vessels, tubs and later stills sanitised with lime water. This ensured a higher quality product by minimising bacterial contamination and flavour spoilage. Using the basic common still, some with reflux, and improving distilling techniques, the Dutch were able to produce a milder tasting spirit.

Some Dutch distillers added juniper to the wort and distilled a milder genever. Most distilled the wash, introducing juniper cones and hops to the second distillation, or third if they elected. When local juniper could not be procured, German, Italian and Swedish juniper was imported.

Schiedam rose to become the leading town for distilling and malting in the Netherlands. By 1881, it had 392 distilleries employing 3,500 of the population of 5,000. The town’s skyline was a forest of wind mills (grinding grain) and chimneys for malting houses, boilers and stills. The town choked in grey coal smoke. These were small enterprise distilleries with limited capital for expansion, helping explain why the Netherlands was slow to adapt to new technologies, continuing to make genever by their traditional methods. A few years after Belgium separated from the Netherlands in 1830, Belgium had 1,049 steam engines, while the Netherlands only 42.

By the early eighteenth century, the epicentre of gin production and consumption moved to London. In England, the first suppliers of ‘spirituous juniper water’ were apothecary shops during the fifteenth century, selling juniper strong water for colic. By 1621, there were 200 apothecaries in London and they lobbied the City and Crown to form a distiller’s guide. The guild was established in 1638, setting the scene for what would become London’s gin craze. Ninety seven years later, there were over 1,500 distillers and rectifiers in London. The term genever was replaced with gin to describe this English juniper spirit. Cost and supply of juniper saw many London distillers substitute oil of turpentine for juniper, oil of vitriol and grain of paradise (pepper) for ethanol. Adulteration remained a major gin problem until the early twentieth century. As a gallon of gin became cheaper than ale, the quality of the spirit also deteriorated. The subjugated new industrial working class sought cheaper alcohol to escape life’s drudgery. Gin stepped in to serve this want. Production soared from 2.6 million litres in 1684, to 5.5 million litres in 1710, 27 million 1738 and to 32 million by 1743. The bulk of the distilleries and consumption was in London. As other cities industrialised gin, consumption and new distilleries rose to meet their needs.

By the first half of the nineteenth century, numerous Government regulations had attempted to control production and the consumption of gin. Excessive abuses needed curtailing. New distilling and rectification technologies were also producing a greater range of gin styles. Retailing had moved from taverns and laneway homes to the newly built gin palaces, designed to help gentrify gin. Gin and its places of sale were, in the modern parlance, being premiumised. This is when the popular London dry style found favour. London dry evolved during the latter part of the eighteenth century, due to new botanical recipes and improved distillation technologies. The development of rectifying stills and fractionating columns made a cleaner and lighter spirit. Previously, distillers rectified their spirit through charcoal baskets to remove fusel oils and unwelcome congeners. Heavily spiced gins were also formulated to camouflage poor quality spirits and additives. Many were adulterated with chemicals from sulphuric acid (mimicking ethanol) to turpentine (ersatz juniper). Hence, the eighteenth century practises of adding sugar to improve palatability (Old Tom and cream gins) produced new gin styles. The importation of new lower costing botanicals led to new recipes in lighter spirits, finding favour with new generations of English drinkers.

By the mid-nineteenth century the scene was set for modern gins and bottled brands to be stocked on grocery and liquor shelves, not just taverns, gin palaces and public houses.

The story of gin’s modern history is now best explored through advances in production, formulation of new styles and the progressive role of mixers and cocktails. ❧

Old gin boiler

World of Gin and Genever: Gin Revival

THE LONG-AWAITED GIN REVIVAL IS FINALLY HAPPENING. GIN HAS RISEN ON THE BACK OF SPIRIT BRAND PREMIUMISATION, THE UNFOLDING COCKTAIL TREND AND THE EMERGENCE OF CRAFT DISTILLERS.

WORDS CHRIS MIDDLETON

Universally juniper is called a berry, but it’s actually a cone THIS REVIVAL DIDN’T HAPPEN overnight. Bombay Sapphire and Citadelle were two of the first premium gins debuting in the late 1980s. Tanqueray produced its first premium line extension, Malacca in 1997, followed by the game changing Hendrick’s in 2000. These brands laid the groundwork for the revival to burst forth with hundreds of new labels, from dozens of countries. Gin is currently on a premium growth spurt, underpinned by exotic and new flavour combinations, from cucumber to wattle seed. Joining traditional gin distillers and the specialist gins producers are a new generation of small craft distillers. For these new small startups, gin offers next day cash flow, as gin requires no maturation.

Fuelling this demand is a younger audience of drinkers discovering gin. This is not the same gin as the era of their grandparents. These are modern gins pushing out with new flavours, stronger proofs, and marketing their unique provenance, flora and limited editions. They are reinvigorating the category with contemporary brand choices, from classical, to functional and artisanal.

To be a gin or genever, this neutral spirit must contain juniper for flavouring. While juniper is universally called a berry, it’s actually a cone. In fact, it’s a female cone and she takes about 18 months to mature. The fruit’s exterior is a series of fleshy scales, similar to a pinecone.

After mandatory juniper is added into the neutral spirit, the world of gin opens up into a near limitless and creative field of flavour. Gin can be made from any spirit base, including grapes, grains, sugar cane, fruit and tubers. These spirits’ bases are flavoured from an inexhaustible range of botanical ingredients and recipe combinations from spices, sugars, herbs, roots, flower, bark, to even insects. This near infinite palate of ingredients, in differing quantities, produces the discernible flavour differences between many gins. Some can be classified into flavour styles, like London Dry or Old Tom; others rift with new ingredients to formulate new flavour expressions. Welcome to the jazzy world of gin. ❧

Explore Gin Production

THERE ARE THREE FUNDAMENTAL PRODUCTION METHODS THAT ARE ALSO USED AS CLASSIFICATIONS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF GIN.

DISTILLED GIN: This is the traditional method where a grain mash is distilled multiple times, usually up to three times. The last batch distilled contains the juniper cones and the mix of botanicals that make up the brand’s recipe.

REDISTILLED GIN: Neutral spirit is sourced (95% ABV) from a spirit supplier, diluted in water, then redistilled with the botanicals to extract the flavour into the spirit.

COMPOUNDED GIN: Neutral spirit is blended with liquid flavouring essences.

After these basic methods have been completed, some gin can be aged in cask. Over 99.9 per cent of gin is not aged in wood. Only water is added to the stated alcoholic strength, before the gin can be bottled for sale. SPIRIT: DISTILLATION PROCESSES

Distilled gin can be broadly defined by two parts; 1] raw materials for distilling and 2] distilling technologies employed to vaporise the alcohol from the beer/wash and extract the flavour compounds from within the botanical mix. Redistilled gin only uses part of the second as the spirit is sourced.

RAW MATERIALS: Distilled gin is made when a distillery undertakes all the processes at the distillery, from grinding grain, making wort, fermenting the wash, distilling it into spirit, then distilling the botanicals in the final spirit run to produce gin. When gin is made from grape wine or molasses, this means fermenting the raw material, distilling it into a spirit, then finally distilling the spirit with botanicals to produce gin.

When distillation arrived in the Low Countries, small alembic pot stills distilled wine into eau de vie, to which herbal compounds were added. When famines and poor harvest affected the vineyards, distillers were forced to use grain, or stale ale. Grain had a long record in beer production, but was shunned as the spirit quality was deemed inferior to grapes when distilling was first started. As fermentation and distillation methods improved, grain spirit gained approval. A variety of grains and different mash bills created a multiplicity of grain-based distillates, from barley, rye, wheat, oats and later corn. When sugar houses began refining imported muscovado sugar loafs in the seventeenth century, cheap leftover molasses from the loaves began to enter the repertoire of distiller’s raw materials. The Napoleonic Wars forced the French to find an alternative to sugar cane when they lost control of their

Wheat field. A variety of grains can be used to distilled gin, from barley, rye, wheat, oats and corn

Alembic, a traditional pot still Caribbean colonies. They pioneered the cultivation and processing of sugar beets as an alternative source of sugar and for use in spirit distillation. Potatoes, notably in Germany, were another economic source for distillation that gained popularity in the mid-nineteenth century.

DISTILLING TECHNOLOGY, THE STILLS: The original stills were small alembics made of glass, ceramics as well as pewter, copper and other metal alloys. Copper soon proved itself to be the ideal material to make spirits. From the late eighteenth and nineteenth century, English gin distilleries began purchasing their malt spirit from specialist malt distillers, including large volumes of cheap Scottish malt spirit, which they redistilled (rectified) with botanicals to produce their gin. When continuous distillation arrived during the 1840s, English gin distilleries were amongst the most enthusiastic users of Coffey stills. This new technology was a significant contributor to the London dry style due to the spirits being much lighter and cleaner in taste.

ALEMBIC: This is the traditional pot still used by gin distilleries and is popular with modern craft gin producers. Beer or wash from fermented grain, grape or other raw materials is batch distilled. Some distillers introduce their basket of botanicals in the second, most at the third distillation run. These gins can have more body as the spirit rectification for not being as light as the other still technologies. CONTINUOUS STILL: The continuous still became popular by the mid-nineteenth century. Fractionation column strips out alcohols and congeners such as esters, aldehydes, ketones and phenols, producing a spirit of up to 95% ABV purity. This highly rectified spirit is called neutral alcohol. GNS is the industry term, meaning either grain of Grape Neutral Spirit, or CNS, Cane Neutral Spirit. Gin producers can use this ‘vodka-like’ spirit, diluting it with water and then adding botanicals, to manufacture are distilled gin or blend compounded gin.

RECTIFYING COLUMN STILL: This is a hybrid batch still incorporating both pot still and small column still. The column has chambers separated by trays, sieves or plates. This permits fractionated distilling between the chambers, producing a cleaner spirit at a higher proof than the traditional pot, but not as pure as continuous stills.

Distilling spirit is the first stage of production; extracting the flavours from the botanical is next.

FLAVOUR EXTRACTION METHODS

There are two basic methods to flavour infuse the spirit with the botanicals to produce gin.

DISTILLED AND REDISTILLED GIN: Both methods necessitate the botanicals to be distilled inside the still. Distilled gin as we have learnt is when a distillery undertakes the whole manufacturing process, while a redistilled gin producer sources ethanol from another distillery and completes the process by redistilling the ethanol with their botanicals. They dilute 95% ABV neutral alcohol in water prior to distilling. Placing loose botanicals, in cloth bags and metal baskets they extract the botanical flavours through a single distillation. In the nineteenth century, the English gin industry developed the Carterhead, a metal basket suspended in the still neck so vapour extraction released the essential oils and aromatics in the basket.

Gin can then be watered down to the label’s stated per cent ABV and bottled, as low as 37% ABV in Australia, or much higher, which incurs the burden of higher excise based on the label proof. The distilling temperature, the length of distillation and the cut point all affect the flavour and shape the style of each gin.

As an example, Beefeater and Plymouth use English wheat (GNS distilled to 95% ABV). Beefeater macerates its botanical formula for 24 hours, whereas Plymouth macerate for 90 minutes then redistil. Hendrick’s uses two distilling methods; the Bennet still has its botanicals soaked for 24 hours and then distilled; the other 50 per cent of their gin has the botanicals distilled in the Carterhead still, then blended, diluted in water and bottled.

COMPOUNDED GIN: Compounded spirits is an old British definition for spirits redistilled or that have had any flavour communicated thereto, or ingredient or material mixed therewith. This method extracts the essential oils and aromatic volatiles by mechanical or chemical processes from the botanical. These concentrated essences are blended with ethanol (GNS) to produce gin. Standard methods of extraction are maceration by soaking in solvent, counter-current extraction, ultrasound, percolation, pressurisation and steam treatment to extraction by supercritical fluids like CO2. Liquid essences are supplied from specialist companies for blending to the gin recipe to the brand’s flavour profile. ❧

Explore Gin Styles and Ingredients

AROUND TWO DOZEN GENEVER AND GINS HAVE LEGAL PROTECTION. A FEW ARE INFORMALLY RECOGNISED AS HAVING A DISTINCTIVE FLAVOUR PROFILE, SUCH AS THE LONDON DRY AND OLD TOM. OTHER GINS ARE MARKETED BY THEIR PROVENANCE AND MAY INCLUDE A NATIVE BOTANICAL FROM THEIR PLACE OF ORIGIN.

STYLES OF GIN

As gin first proliferated on the continent, this is where daughter genever had many fathers, so this is the where our exploration of gin styles begin.

GENEVER: Genever, compared to gin, differs in production primarily due to the addition or use of malt wine. An archaic term, if not misleading, as it is grain-based, not wine. This expression reaches back to when the first grains were distilled, when they used the existing wine language to be described as malt wine. Grain distillers still use the terms low and high wines to describe the two stages in batch distillation. Malt wine is the spirit after its first distillation, usually around 15 to 25% ABV. Some will be added to the final product. Originally, grain spirit quality was not as good as grape eau de vie, so the addition of juniper became a required flavouring with an added aura of medicinal value. Genever is malty and sweet to taste. Gin has no malt wine added.

Being batch processed was the most common method for the distiller to add the juniper to the third redistillation or rectification batch. After continuous distillation had been invented, some Belgium distillers adapted to the times, adding more neutral spirit to the finished genever. Many distillers stayed with the old methods (vieux systeme), hence the distinction developed between the new (jonge, lighter, drier with higher proof) and old methods (oude, malty/ sweet pot still style).

After hundreds of years and many

Juniper cones (berries) in a gin cocktail

regional styles, in 2008 the European Union, declared a number of genevers protected under ‘Product of Origin’, or having an appellation of geographic indexation. Genever can be made in Belgium, the Netherlands, as well as in specific regions in France, Germany, Spain, Lithuania and Slovenia.

Genever/jenever: Belgium, Netherlands, France and Germany; minimum 30% ABV, usually 35 to 38%, blend of malt wine and neutral spirit

Grain genever or graanjenever: Belguim, Netherlands, France, using neutral spirit

Old genever or oude jenever: Belgium and Netherlands, traditional malty, slightly sweeter young genever or jonge jenever: Belgium and Netherlands, modern no barrel, drier and lighter style as it uses neutral grain with less than 15 per cent malt wine

Hasselt genever: Belgium, region that has strong juniper taste with other botanicals

Balegemse genever: Belgium, a town of East Flanders geographic origin

Peket de Wallanie: Belgium, Wallonia region in the speaking French territory

O’de Flander or original east-Flemish

grain genever: Belgium, minimum 35% ABV and producing both oude and jonge styles

Genievre Flander Artois and Pas de Calais:

France, near the Belgium border

Ostriesischer Korngenever: Germany, East Friesland

Steinhager: Germany

Spisska borovicka: Slovenia

Slovenska borovicka: Slovenia Slovenska borovicka Juniperus: Slovenia

Spiaska borovicka: Slovenia

Inovecka borovicka: Slovenia

Liptosvska borovicka: Slovenia

Plus two gin with definitions

Gin de Mahon: Menorca Spain

Vilniv Dzinas gin: Lithuania

Gin may have its roots in Britain, but the word gin has travelled worldwide so any distiller, anywhere, making a spirit with juniper flavouring, can use it.

GIN (BRITISH): When genever came to England, it was abbreviated to gin. English gin also took a different path to genever in how it was made. British gin was made from distilled barley malt; no low wines are added (malt wine). Gin would become a lighter spirit with different botanical recipes. Two hundred years ago English towns with gin distilleries produced regional gins, such as London, Plymouth and the lost Bristol and Portsmouth styles. Most gins today are known by their place of origin, not their style. London or dry style is made all over the world. As craft distillers blossom around the world, the addition of native plant and local production is creating new diversity, such as American, Canadian, French, and Australian gin. This variety is why gin is enjoying a revival; it is both local and global.

Starting at the home of gin, England has the greatest number of classifications and definitions for its British gin.

LONDON GIN, OR DRY GIN: Recognised as a special alcoholic spirit under the EU Spirit Drink Regulations, from May 2009. London gin is obtained exclusively from ethanol of agricultural origin with a maximum ethanol content of five grams per hectolitre of 100% ABV equivalent. Flavour is introduced through the re-distillation in traditional stills with ethanol in the presence of all the natural plant materials used, the resultant distillate of which is at least 70% ABV. London gin may contain a small amount of sweetening, no colorants, nor any added ingredients, other than water. The term ‘London gin’ may also be supplemented by the term ‘dry gin’. The UK/ EU has set the minimum bottled alcoholic strength for gin, distilled gin, and London gin, as a minimum 37.5% ABV.

DISTILLED GIN: Distilled gin, as previously explained, is produced by redistilling ethanol of agricultural origin at a strength under 95% ABV in stills traditionally used for gin, in the presence of juniper cones, other natural botanicals and artificial flavourings, provided that the juniper taste is predominant. Gin obtained by adding essences or flavourings to ethanol of agricultural origin is not distilled gin, but a compounded gin. Sweetening is permitted, as is approved colouring, with water added to reduce the ethanol to below 37.5% ABV.

JUNIPER-FLAVOURED SPIRIT DRINKS: Produced by pot distillation using a fermented grain mash to moderate distillation strength (for example 68% ABV) and then redistilled with botanicals to extract the aromatic compounds. It must be bottled at a minimum of 30% ABV. Juniper-flavoured spirits can also be made by adding approved natural flavouring substances to a neutral spirit of agricultural origin. The predominant flavour must be juniper.

PLYMOUTH GIN: Only one distillery in Plymouth, Devon coverts this protected geographical status, the Coates/Black Friars Distillery. This gin is regarded as more fruity and aromatic with earthy roots, and even slightly sweeter, with less juniper flavour compared to London dry.

Beyond the regulatory definitions, there are other geographic and flavour styles of gins recognised by the trade and used in consumer marketing.

FRUIT GIN: Infused fruit or fruit based materials, often known as gin cordials or liqueurs. The most popular is sloe gin, using blackthorn drupes with added sugar. Gin liqueurs are sold at minimum 25% ABV.

BOTANICALLY DOMINANT GIN: The search for product differentiation has produced gin brands that use a dominating botanical such a cardamom, liquorice or damson. Brands market a distinctive flavour highlight, such as Gordon’s Crisp Cucumber or Elderberry gins. This has followed Gordon’s tradition of flavoured gins, evidenced by Orange gin (1921 – 1988), Lemon gin (1929 – 1988) and their Old Tom gin (1921 – 1987).

In the eighteenth century, two other sweeter gin styles were developed in London. Not enjoying geographic protection, craft distillers have started to revive them for use in cocktails. OLD TOM GIN: Sweetened with sugar, and often more highly flavoured. This gin style appeared in the late eighteenth century when gin palaces were being erected to attract a better clientele. Two origin stories credit the invention of this gin to either Thomas Chamberlain or Boords. ‘Tom’ Chamberlain was the distiller at Hodges distillery, Lambeth London. This sweetened version was sold by his ex-apprentice, Thomas Norris, who opened a gin palace on Great Russell Street, Covent Garden in the 1780s and naming the product after Chamberlain. The other version was an early black cat and barrel label, ‘Old Tom’ by Boord’s distillery at Clerkenwell London. Black cat signs had once been the clandestine identifier for unlicensed homes selling gin and later used on public houses.

CREAM GIN: Made with sugar and cream, even milk, then stored in cask for short aging. It was sold at gin palaces from the eighteenth century. By the mid-nineteenth century, it fell out of favour. Recently, this style was resurrected in Britain.

REGIONAL GINS: The mushrooming of craft and boutique non-distiller brands has triggered the marketing of numerous provincial gins, from brands claiming Scottish gin credentials (Islay’s Botanist, to Edinburgh gins) to production in small country hamlets. In Scotland, this claim can be somewhat ironic. London may be the home of British gin, but Scotland for decades has produced and bottled at over 70 per cent of the UK gins for brands like Beefeater, Tanqueray and Gordon’s. The latest trend is to market gin made with seasonal botanicals or offer vintages taking provenance to an even sharper point.

AUSTRALIAN GIN: Australia was the first country to specify product and labelling standards for gin. On October 12th 1906, the first laws defining gin were enacted, ‘Spirits (other than gin, Geneva, Hollands, schnapps and liqueurs) distilled in Australia shall not be delivered from the control of Customs for human consumption unless they have been matured by storage in wood for a period of no less than two years. A further two years later it was revised to, ‘Gin is the spirit distilled from barley malt, grain, or grape wine, which has been redistilled from juniper berries or flavoured with a preparation thereof.’

Licorice root can be a botanical used to flavour gin

By 1913, the Act further added, ‘Spirit may be coloured by means of caramel, and flavoured by means of such flavouring as are permitted by Customs, and sweetened by means of sugar. The declaration of caramel colouring and of flavouring is not required. The excise law ensured all gins must be a minimum alcoholic strength of 37% ABV’. When protectionist trading barriers rose after the First World War, the leading English gin producers moved their production to Australia. W & A Gilbey’s and the Distillers Company Ltd set up distilleries in Victoria to manufacture their English gin brands. The dismantling of trade barriers after the Second World War eventually made these distilleries unviable and the distilleries closed during the 1980s. Gin manufacturing would not return to Australia until the craft movement started in the 1990s.

INGREDIENTS

Gin has three basic ingredients: spirit base, flavourings (botanicals) and water. These combinations of distillates and natural flavourings permit gin to offer near endless flavouring nuances and marketing claims.

SPIRIT BASE: Flavour variations in the base spirit are due to the raw materials distilled such as grape, grain, cane, fruit, tuber et cetera., the distillation methods (pot with more congeners to column making near-neutral spirit), the number of distillations and rectifications, to differing bottle proof strengths (37 per cent to 70 per cent ABV) and consumer organoleptic sensibilities. Using the UK as a country case study, six different spirit bases are in use: Chilgrove gin uses a grape base spirit, Waitrose London dry gin molasses spirit, William’s Great British extra dry gin uses a potato spirit, Mason’s Yorkshire gin uses beet spirit and London Cut uses a whey based distillate. Most distillers use a grainbased spirit whether the gin is produced in a pot still, pot column rectifier, or continuous still.

There are different production methods used to liberate the botanical flavours affecting the gin style and flavour intensity.

BOTANICAL INGREDIENT FLAVOURING: Any plant producing a pleasant and safe flavour compound can potentially partner with juniper. Every country, even region adds an indigenous flora to give a local flavour or unique claim to make their gin appealing to the consumer. For example South African gin uses velt herbs, Icelandic gin uses native flora and Australian craft gins choice from dozens of bush foods and plants. There are even experimental gins adding non-plant matter, such as the Cambridge Distillery, that distills with red ants. Anty gin claims to contain 62 ants per bottle.

From the hundreds of potential botanicals around the world, over 99 per cent are formulated with less than 20 plant ingredients. The backbone botanicals of English and especially London dry gins have recipes with ten common ingredients. Each brand can tailor its gin flavour profile by how it executes its botanical recipe and which ones they use.

Juniper cones: Essential ingredient giving gin its legal and sensory note of sharp, piney resin

Coriander seed: Lemony/orange warm, nutty flavour, fresh note

Angelica root/seed: Sweet, then hot, aromatic and bitter, delicate, celery-like

Lemon/orange peel: Bitter, zesty citrus note

Liquorice root: Sweet anise flavours

Orris root: Fragrant, floral violet with raspberry taste

Almond nut: Nutty acrid or bitter note

Cardamom seed: Pungent aromatic and sweet menthol/citrus flavour, fresh note Cassia bark: Sweet cinnamon-like spiciness

Pepper berry: different peppers bring flavour profiles, for example, grain of paradise are hot, pungent with hint of citrus to green, pink and black peppers

The country origin even affects the aroma compounds and its pungent intensities. Black peppers come in a wide variety of taste profiles with discernible varieties such as Malabar [India], Tellicherry [India], Sarawak [Indonesia], Lamprey [Sumatra], Vietnam, Madagascar, Talamanca del Caribe [West Indies], Kamput [Cambodia], Penja [Cameroon] and Puhnpel [Micronesia]. Beefeater uses 50 tonnes of juniper a year. They obtain juniper berries from five different countries to balance out seasonal and regional variances. Prolonged storage (after six months and humidity/moisture levels) can diminish juniper’s flavour retention.

ADDITIVES: Under different national jurisdictions and styles, additives such as sweeteners (sugar and honey) can be added, along with infusing of fruits, other natural flavourings and colourings.

WOOD MATURATION: Traditional genever was often stored for a short period in oak casks for transport and for dispensing to the drinker. With the desire to promote more premium gins, wood maturation has become a feature of a few modern gins, especially amongst craft gin distillers in the UK, US and Australia. Established, global gin brands have also started offering wood aged gins such as Beefeater’s Burroughs Reserve Cask Finished and Hayman 1850 Reserve, rested in scotch casks. ❧

Cardamom seeds, a botanical that can be used to flavour gin

Explore Gin Cocktails

GIN’S MAIN USE HAS BEEN AS A COCKTAIL INGREDIENT. ITS ABILITY TO REINVENT ITSELF FOR OVER 400 YEARS, HAS MADE IT THE SECOND MOST POPULAR SPIRIT BASE FOR COCKTAILS AFTER RUM. THE SUCCESS OF GIN HAS BEEN ITS ABILITY TO FORM NEW PARTNERSHIPS WITH THE CHANGING WHITE SPIRITS FASHIONS, WHILE REMAINING THE PERENNIAL FAVOURITE WITH CLASSIC MIXERS AND COCKTAILS SUCH AS G & T AND THE MARTINI.

COCKTAIL CULTURE RECEIVED A BIG injection of excitement about 150 years ago, when ice and carbonated waters started to became available all year round.

Jacob Schweppes created the soda fountain in 1770s; however, it was not until a London soda manufacturer, Erasmus Bond patented the first carbonated tonic water on May 28th 1858, that gin found its favourite mixer. Bitter quinine and juniper, sweetened in tonic water was refreshing and endowed G & T with perceived health attributes. Australia invented mechanical refrigeration in 1873. Ice would soon become accessible all year around, and no longer be shipped in large blocks from Boston on wooden sailing ships.

The emergence of new elegant hotels in the Americas during the early nineteenth century saw a wide range of new and innovative cocktails being concocted. Fortified wines and new liqueurs also provided new inflection points for adventurous bar staff to experiment with gin. Exotic fruits and essences became increasingly accessible, adding to the exciting flavour choices and garnishes. The new flavour combinations for gin seemed endless.

Gin glassware began to appear, notably the elegant Martini glass, designed with the long stem to keep the drink cold by avoiding the hand’s warmth reaching the liquid contents. The highball glass allowed some gin cocktails to have cut ice added, and the tumbler to retain the effervescence of gin & tonic.

Gin proved adaptable, inventive and secured its place in the world of spirits. ❧

YEAR 1600s 1695 1731 1736 1759 1800s 1803 1823 1862/7 1876

1882

1884 1887 1888 1910c 1919 1935 COCKTAIL INGREDIENTS

PUNCH gin, water, sugar, spices, even wine

FLIP

gin, beer, sugar and heated with a hot iron GINGERBREAD gin served with hot gingerbread SANGAREE SLING gin, sugar, port wine gin, sugar, water

CRUSTA gin, maraschino liqueur, lemon, bitters

JULEP

gin, sugar syrup, mint leaves TWIST/TODDY gin, lemon juice GIMLET gin, lime juice (pink with bitters) TOM COLLINS gin, lemon juice, sugar, soda water (originally old tom) RICKY BIJON TUXEDO FIX gin, soda, lime gin, chartreuse, vermouth, orange bitters gin, vermouth, maraschino, absinthe, bitters gin, raspberry cordial, sugar, lemon

MANHATTAN MARTINEZ gin, lemon and orange juice, mint leaves gin, dry vermouth, triple sec

MARTINI

gin, vermouth, ice SINGAPORE SLING gin, pineapple juice, cheery liqueur, benedictine NEGRONI EMERSON gin, rosso vermouth, campari gin, sweet vermouth, lemon juice, maraschino liqueur

Gin in Australia

AUSTRALIA IS SERVED WITH OVER A HUNDRED GIN BRANDS FROM OVER A DOZEN COUNTRIES, INCLUDING OVER THREE DOZEN AUSTRALIAN CRAFT LABELS.

BY THE TIME THE FIRST SYDNEY newspapers began publishing in 1804, the Sydney Gazette was reporting 100 gallons of Hollands gin was for sale at 2/6- per gallon from the Boston based Mary. Hollands (Dutch gin) and English gin were a regular part of the cargoes coming to Sydney Cove. By the 1840s, Lowndes Altona Old Tom and Guernsey Cordial gin, as well as hogsheads of genever from Schiedam was being landed. The 1850s saw Tanqueray, Booths and Pidgeon Cream gin imported. Brands continued to be exported from England and the Netherlands until the 1920s, when tariffs made importing too costly.

Gin was one of the first spirits legally made in Australia. In the early 1820s, the Sydney Distillery, Lowes Hobart distillery and the Brisbane Distillery in Sydney were the first domestic distillers of gin. By 1830, gin held 10 per cent of spirit consumption, 17 per cent by 1850. Gin was the preferred alcoholic beverage among the women in the Colonies. Gin has always been by far the most popular among female population, until vodka and white rum appeared in the 1950s.

Gin remained at around 15 per cent of all spirit consumed until the Second World War. After the War, gin struggled against the new generations of drinkers and the new flavourless white spirits, vodka and white rum. Mediterranean and European immigrants also brought ouzo, grappa and schnapps to their new country. Over the following decades gin shrunk to about 3.5 per cent share, sustained by gin & tonic and martinis.

MAJOR MILESTONES IN AUSTRALIAN GIN DISTILLING

1629: On June 4th the Batavia foundered on the Australian west coast. In its provisions were genever, brandy and wine casks, including gin drinking vessels called Bartmann & Bellarine jugs. Ships of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) were all provisioned with genever since the early seventeenth century

1804: January, London gin and Hollands/ genever were among the inbound cargoes; soon Bengal gin flavoured with turpentine joined this trade

1824: Rowland Loane’s Derwent distillery Hobart TAS begins producing gin, sold in October and Thomas Lowe’s Cascade distillery in Hobart begins making and selling cordial gin

1825: Underwood’s Sydney distillery & Robert Cooper’s Brisbane distillery start making gin

1826: Cooper’s Brisbane distillery NSW export wheat gin to Hobart

1838: Sydney compounders Sussex and Antwerp distilleries both formulate gins

1864: Dunn’s Warrenheip VIC produces 2,000 gallons a week

1868: Wendouree gin VIC is made at Ballarat

1869: Melbourne distillery VIC (distiller Kretz from Holland), produces 200 gallons a week

1878: Ageston gin QLD begins making gin from molasses spirit using locally grown juniper

1879: Milton distillery QLD uses cane spirit to distil gin

1923: Moorook distillery SA uses grape spirit and markets Old Tom gin

1929: Distillers Company begins gin distilling at Corio VIC, making Burnett’, later Vickers gin

1930: W & A Gilbey’s begins distilling in Melbourne VIC

1985: UDL at Corio and Gilbey’s cease producing domestic gins due to low tariffs

1997: Sullivans Cove Hobart produced first modern small batch gin (Wellington)

2016: Over 40 craft producers market over 70 gins from every state in Australia. ❧

Archie Rose distillery located in Rosebery, NSW

Fever-Tree

YOU CANNOT UNDERESTIMATE THE INFLUENCE OF A MIXER, PARTICULARLY WHEN USING HIGH QUALITY SPIRITS. FEVER-TREE’S RANGE OF NATURAL PREMIUM MIXERS IS BREATHING SOME MUCH-NEEDED LIFE INTO THE MIXER AND SOFT DRINK CATEGORY BY REBELLING AGAINST THE MAINSTREAM IDEA OF SUBSTITUTING NATURAL INGREDIENTS WITH ARTIFICIAL ALTERNATIVES, AND BY DOING SO, HAS HELPED CHANGE CUSTOMER AND INDUSTRY PERCEPTIONS OF THE CLASSIC LONG DRINK. THE CLASSIC GIN & TONIC IS FIRMLY BACK ON THE COCKTAIL CIRCUIT AND PLENTY MORE ARE ON THE WAY, NOT SURPRISING CONSIDERING FEVER-TREE IS SERVED IN SEVEN OF THE WORLD’S TOP 10 RESTAURANTS. AFTER ALL, IF ¾ OF YOUR DRINK IS A MIXER, MAKE SURE YOU USE THE BEST.

ABOVE: Congo – View from the FeverTree Plantations.

OPPOSITE: One of the Founders Tim, removing the bark from the cinchona tree as this produces the quinine. FEVER-TREE SOURCED THE HIGHEST quality quinine, used in the tonic waters, from the original Cinchona trees (colloquially known as fever trees) from the last remaining plantation in wartorn Congo; fresh green ginger from the turbulent Ivory Coast blended with a chocolatey ginger from Cochin in the south of India, and ginger from Nigeria, to make their Ginger Ale and Ginger Beer. Lemon thyme and rosemary from Provence are infused with lemons from Sicily to make their Mediterranean Tonic Water, the first tonic water created to complement vodka, and their Premium Cola contains vanilla sourced from Madagascar. Natural sugars such as cane sugar and fruit sugar have replaced sweeteners and high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) to create drinks that will complement and enhance premium spirits. By using all natural ingredients and a well-researched method of chilled carbonation, you not only get a decent amount of effervescence but also a completely different style. It’s very similar to the level of carbonation found in Champagne with very small bubbles, which give Fever-Tree mixers a velvety feel and lingering character.

When it comes to Tonic water, it’s not just about the basic quality of the mixer. Whether it’s the more robust Indian tonic or the light and floral Mediterranean tonic, you can balance the flavour with your selected spirit. With a range of flavours, such as elderflower and lemon, Fever-Tree products give mixed drinks a new lease of life. ❧

FEVER-TREE NATURALLY LIGHT TONIC WATER

Our Naturally Light Tonic Water is the world’s first all-natural, lower calorie tonic water. With 58% fewer calories, there is no need to compromise on taste as this delicious, crisp tonic water combines fruit sugars and natural quinine with citrus, aromatic botanicals and soft spring water

FEVER-TREE MEDITERRANEAN TONIC WATER

Made by blending essential oils from flowers, fruits and herbs to create a delicate and floral tonic, perfect with a smooth vodka or light gin. Can also be enjoyed as a sophisticated ‘adult’ soft drink FEVER-TREE PREMIUM LEMONADE

A blend of real lemons, spring water and ’sfumatrice’ extracts of Sicilian lemons, and contains no artificial preservatives or sweeteners. Perfect in a refreshing vodka & lemonade

FEVER-TREE ELDERFLOWER TONIC WATER

Offering a light and subtle character, the delicate and sweet flavour of elderflower is perfectly balanced by the soft bitterness of the quinine. Providing a summery twist to the classic gin and tonic, the refreshing floral flavour works equally well as a sophisticated soft drink

FEVER-TREE PREMIUM LEMON TONIC

Premium Lemon Tonic is our name for Bitter Lemon. One of the most sophisticated mixers invented, this delicious drink has been ignored by many for years until Fever-Tree revitalised it. By blending the highest quality Sicilian lemon oils with our signature quinine from the Congo, we’ve restored the taste and quality of this fantastic mixer

FEVER-TREE GINGER BEER

Naturally brewed with authentic ginger and spring water, Fever-Tree Ginger Beer offers a deep, long-lasting ginger character that is not too sweet on the palate. Try in a classic Dark & Stormy, Moscow Mule, non-alcoholic Gunner, or simply on its own

FEVER-TREE PREMIUM INDIAN TONIC WATER

A blend of subtle botanical flavours such as hand pressed bitter orange oil from Tanzania mixed with spring water and the highest quality quinine. Try it out in a classic G&T and notice the difference FEVER-TREE SODA WATER

Fever-Tree used soft spring water to create a premium mixer with just the right amount of carbonation. FeverTree Soda Water’s versatility allows it to mingle with just about anything on your bar. Try with a fine whisky or bourbon or any of your favourite spirits or liqueurs FEVER-TREE GINGER ALE

Our Naturally Light Tonic Water is the world’s first all-natural, lower calorie tonic water. With 58% fewer calories, there is no need to compromise on taste as this delicious, crisp tonic water combines fruit sugars and natural quinine with citrus, aromatic botanicals and soft spring water

FEVER-TREE PREMIUM COLA

Developed to enhance the flavour of brown spirits such as Rum and Whisky, it contains roasted barley, herbal extracts, spices and essential oils including lemon, lime and Madagascar vanilla

Australian Gin Distillers

OVER THE YEARS, AUSTRALIAN GIN DISTILLERS HAVE BEEN TAKING THE WORLD BY STORM, WINNING INTERNATIONAL AWARDS AND BEING ACKNOWLEDGED FOR PRODUCING SOME OF THE BEST GINS IN THE WORLD. DIVE IN TO AUSTRALIAN GIN PRODUCERS ON PAGES 38 TO 47, THEN DISCOVER MORE ABOUT GIN PRODUCERS FROM ACROSS THE GLOBE FROM PAGE 48.