THE HISTORY OF GIN.
When a Dr. Franciscus de la Boe in the Dutch university town of Leiden developed a therapeutic spirit with juniper and spice flavors, he marketed it as a diuretic. Genever quickly gained popularity across the English Channel, first as a medicine (Samuel Pepys recorded in 1660 that a dosage of “strong water brewed with juniper” cured a bout of “colic”), and subsequently as a beverage.
By imposing high charges on the import of brandy from the Catholic wine-producing nations, the Dutch Protestant William of Orange became the first Protestant monarch of England in 1689, and the rest is history.
To fill the void, he encouraged the manufacturing of grain spirits (corn brandy, as it was then called) by eliminating tariffs and licensing costs for the manufacture of indigenous goods such as gin.
Historically, it has been shown that prohibition never works, yet there are drawbacks to unrestrained alcohol manufacturing as well. Approximately one-quarter of the homes in London were utilized for the manufacturing or sale of gin by the 1720s, according to historical estimates.. The situation of widespread intoxication got severe.
A classic portrayal of similar conduct in Gin Lane by the cartoonist Hogarth has the words “Drunk for a penny/Dead drunk for twopence/Clean straw for Nothing” on a sign over a gin store.
Panicked efforts by the government to outlaw gin manufacture, such as the Gin Act of 1736, led in vast clandestine distillation and the unscrupulous marketing of “medicinal” spirits with whimsical names such as Cuckold’s Comfort and My Lady’s Eye Water, among other things.
Although the effects of cheap gin combined with extreme poverty continued well into the nineteenth century, a combination of reimposed government controls, the growth of high-quality commercial gin distillers, the increasing popularity of imported rum, and a general sense of public exhaustion helped to bring this mass hysteria under control.
It was historical truth that inspired Fagin’s irritated remark to a youngster in the film Oliver: “Shut up and drink your gin!”
Whatever part of the world the British Empire traveled, English-style gins moved with it. Many famous Americans, like Paul Revere and George Washington, were noted for their fondness for gin in the British colonies of North America, and the Quakers were well-known for their custom of sipping gin toddies after funerals.
The mid-nineteenth century saw the beginning of a low-key restoration of gin’s reputation in the United Kingdom. During the early 1700s, the harsh, sweetened “Old Tom” varieties of gin gradually gave way to a new, cleaner variety known as dry gin as taste preferences changed.
This kind of gin grew associated with the city of London to the point that the phrase “London dry” started to be used to refer to the style in general, regardless of where it was actually made in the world.
Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management (a wildly popular Victorian cross between the Joy of Cooking and Martha Stewart lifestyle books) was being read by genteel middle-class ladies as they sipped their sloe gin (gin flavored with sloe berries) and looked up gin-based mixed drink recipes in Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management (a wildly popular Victorian cross between the Joy of Cooking and Martha Stewart lifestyle Drinking gin became more popular among members of the British military, especially among officers.
In the 1800s, hundreds of gin-based mixed cocktails were created, and mastery of their preparation was considered an important part of a young officer’s education.
The most well-known of these drinks, the gin and tonic, was invented as a method for Englishmen stationed in tropical colonies to get their daily dosage of quinine, a bitter drug used to prevent malaria, without having to drink it. Quinine is still present in modern tonic water, but as a flavoring agent rather than as a medicinal ingredient.
GINGER BATHTUB
In the United States, gin manufacturing may be traced back to Colonial times. However, the introduction of National Prohibition in 1920 provided a significant boost to the industry.
Moonshining stepped in to fill the void created by the closure of commercial distilleries in a short period of time.
However, the clandestine character of illegal distilling worked against the creation of the then-dominant whiskies, which all needed some maturing in wood barrels before being released into the market. It was impossible for bootleggers to keep and mature their illicit whiskey, and the caramel-colored, prune-juice-laced grain alcohol alternatives were widely regarded as odious by the general public.
A bathtub was used to manufacture bathtub gin, which did not need any maturing and was quite simple to make since it was made by combining raw alcohol with juniper berry extract and other flavors and spices in a big container such as a bathtub (hence the name bathtub gin).
These gins were often of low quality and flavor, which contributed to the widespread popularity of cocktails in which the mixers helped to mask the taste of the basic gin. In 1933, the repeal of Prohibition brought a stop to bootleg gin manufacturing, although the spirit continued to be popular in America’s drinking scene for many years after.
Before vodka took over as the major white spirit in the United States in the 1960s, gin was the leading white alcohol in the country. It has maintained its appeal, which has been aided lately by the resurgence in popularity of the martini.
THE ESSENTIAL ELEMENT OF GIN
Rogue Distillery and Ale House produce Spruce Gin.
Genever manufacturing in Holland was swiftly incorporated into the enormous Dutch commercial system, and the commodity became widely available.
Because of the amount of essential spices that were coming from the Dutch colonies in the East Indies, Rotterdam quickly became the epicenter of genever distillation. Distilleries sprung up all over the city to take use of the abundant spices (present-day Indonesia).
Many of today’s prominent Dutch genever distillers can trace their roots back to the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, when the country was still known as the Netherlands. Firms such as Bols (founded in 1575) and de Kuyper (founded in 1574) are examples (1695).
During the early nineteenth century, Belgium produced its own juniper-flavored liquor, known as jenever (with a j), in a way similar to that of Holland (which dominated Belgium for a brief while during the period).
Both World Wars I and II saw the German occupation of Belgium, which had a particularly negative impact on jenever makers, who were forced to abandon their copper stills and pipes, which the occupying Germans used for the fabrication of shell casings. The current small number of Belgian jenever distilleries cater exclusively to the domestic market in their own country of Belgium.
Although gin originated in Holland and grew into its most popular form in England, its most ardent modern-day users may be found in Spain, which boasts the world’s greatest per capita consumption of alcoholic beverage.
Despite the fact that production of London dry–style gin started in the 1930s, substantial use did not begin until the 1960s, when the bizarre combination of gin and cola became widely popular.
GIN and its Dutch cousin genever (known as jenever in Belgium) are white spirits that are flavored with juniper berries and so-called botanicals (a diverse array of herbs and spices), as well as other botanicals. Gin’s spirit base is primarily grain (usually wheat or rye), which results in a spirit with a light body and a delicate flavor.
Genever is predominantly created from “malt wine” (a blend of malted barley, wheat, maize, and rye), which results in a fuller-bodied spirit that is akin to malt whisky in taste and texture.
An extremely tiny number of genevers are produced in Holland and Belgium by distilling straight from fermented juniper berries, which results in very highly flavored alcohol.
The juniper berry, which is a very fragrant Bluegreen fruit found on a low-slung evergreen shrub (genus Juniperus) that is commercially farmed in northern Italy, Croatia, the United States, and Canada, serves as the primary flavoring ingredient in both gin and genever.
Anise, angelica root, cinnamon, orange peel, coriander, and cassia bark are examples of other botanicals. The botanical combinations used by each gin and genever producer are proprietary and may vary from as few as four to as many as fifteen in number.
The Distillation of Gin (Gin Distillation).
The majority of gin is originally distilled in high-capacity column stills. The resultant spirit is high proof, light-bodied, and clean, with just a small quantity of congeners (flavor compounds) and flavoring additives.
Genever is distilled in pot stills, which are less efficient than column stills, resulting in a lower-proof and more flavored spirit.
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“Compound” gins, which are of low quality, are prepared by simply combining the base spirit with juniper and herbal extracts. Gins for the mass market are made by soaking juniper berries and botanicals in a base spirit and then redistilling the combination many times.
The flavors of premium gins and genevers are created in a unique way. After one or more distillations, the basic spirit is distilled a final time to remove any impurities.
A chamber in which dried juniper berries and botanicals are hung allows the alcohol vapor to pass through during the final distillation. As it passes through the chamber on its approach to the condenser, the vapor slowly removes aromatic and flavorful oils and compounds from the berries and spices. The flavored alcohol that is produced has a remarkable level of complexity.
EUROPE’S GIN REGIONS
Dry gin is largely produced in the United Kingdom, using column stills.
Because dried lemon and Seville orange peels are included in the botanical mix, British gins are often high proof (90° proof or 45 percent ABV). Gins from the United Kingdom are often blended in mixed cocktails.
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Genever is made mostly in pot stills in Holland and Belgium. Genevers are produced at a lower proof than English gins and have a heavier body.
Many of these gins are matured in oak barrels for one to three years. Fruit-flavored genevers are now available from several genever manufacturers, the most well-known of which being black currant. Genevers from the Netherlands and Belgium are often served cold and uncut.
In the North Sea coast area of Frisia, Germany makes a genever-style gin known as dornkaat. Both Dutch genever and English dry gin have a heavier body and a more delicate taste than this spirit. German gin is often served chilled and straight up.
Spain produces a significant quantity of gin, all of which is made using column stills in the London dry style. The majority of it is marketed as a cola mixer.
NORTH AMERICA is a country in North America.
The United States has the biggest gin market in the world. The majority of domestic gin is made in column stills, with London dry gin accounting for the majority of it. American dry gins are less flavorful and have a lower proof (80° proof or 40% ABV) than their English equivalents. Even brands that originated in England, such as Gordon’s and Gilbey’s, are subject to this prohibition.
Seagram’s Extra Dry, the best-selling gin in the United States, is a unique cask-aged dry gin. The gin has a light straw hue and a smooth taste thanks to three months of age in charred oak barrels. Gin has been a key focus for American craft distilleries, with notable examples being Distiller’s Gin #6 from North Shore Distillery in Lake Bluff, Illinois, and Rehorst Premium Milwaukee Gin from the Great Lakes Distillery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
THE MEANING OF LIFE AND THE MARTINI
The martini, a gin, and white vermouth combination is the most well-known among hundreds of gin-based mixed beverages. The origins of the martini are debated, as they are with other popular mixed beverages.
According to one theory, it originated from the late-nineteenth-century martinez drink, which was a fairly cloying combination of Old Tom–style gin and sweet vermouth. According to a breakaway sect, it was founded at the Knickerbocker Hotel’s bar in New York City in the early twentieth century.
The gin-to-vermouth ratio began off at two to one, and it’s been becoming drier since then. Winston Churchill, the famous British leader who spent a considerable lot of thought and attention to drinking, believed that just sliding the cork from the vermouth bottle over the glass of gin was adequate.
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GIN CLASSIC MARTINI COCKTAIL
Combine the following ingredients in a shaker: • 2 ounces (60 ml) gin • dash white vermouth
• Fill with ice
Shake vigorously and pour into a martini glass or a small glass. Serve with an olive as a garnish.
COLLINS, TOM
Combine the following ingredients in a large glass: • 2 ounces (60 ml) gin
• Lemon juice, 1 ounce (30 ml)
• 15 g sugar (1 tablespoon)
Fill the glass halfway with ice and stir. Fill the glass halfway with club soda.
TONIC AND GIN
Ice should be added to a tall glass. • 112 ounces gin (45 ml)
• Fill with tonic water
Serve with a lime slice as a garnish.