Gin

Gin is brandy flavored with juniper berries, which was originally supposed to be a suitable remedy for kidney disorders. Franciscus Sylvius (1614-1672), professor of medicine at the University of Leyden (Holland), is credited with inventing gin, but the timeline makes no sense. Already in 1606, 8 years before his birth, the Netherlands had taxed Geneva (as gin was called at the time). Who really invented gin is difficult to say with certainty, there are many realistic candidates, including a Dane.

The English discovered gin when they took part in the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) in Holland and saw the Dutch soldiers drinking gin before going into battle. The term "Dutch Courage" was born and the English brought gin home with them. However, it was only at the end of the 17th century that gin really became popular and produced in England. The war against France meant that they did not want to import spirits (brandy) from there, and the taxes on it were raised enormously. This created a healthy market for gin, which was easy and cheap to produce yourself.

In the first half of the 18th century, England experienced what was called the "Gin Craze". Many people over-consumed gin and the city of London had a real epidemic of extreme drunkenness. It provoked moral outrage and a legislative backlash comparable to the war on drugs in modern times.

Gin has over time become synonymous with Great Britain and the British people. Throughout the 19th century, when gin made its big breakthrough, the upper class believed that gin was for the proletariat - something that the lower class drank to be influenced. However, the picture changed when the British naval officers started drinking gin. This also laid the foundation for the cocktails of the time, such as the Gin & Tonic.

The production of gin

The main ingredient in the manufacture of gin, in addition to juniper, is column-distilled neutral spirit with a strength of 96%, which is usually made from grain. Spirits made from molasses are not to be preferred as they will be too sweet. The neutral spirit is then treated differently, depending on the type of gin you want to achieve.

It is entirely up to the producer which ingredients and how much of them are used in the production of gin, the EU simply requires that the dominant flavor is of juniper and the alcohol percentage is a minimum of 37.5%. There are three different methods of producing gin, read them below.

• Cold compounding

  The process begins by extracting oil essences from juniper berries and other herbs and spices. The essences are mixed with the neutral spirit. The result is a gin that possesses faint spice aromas, something that gin is otherwise known for. It probably won't come as a surprise, but this is the cheapest way to produce gin and definitely the easiest if you want to try making your own gin. Gin produced by this method must not be called "London Dry Gin" or distilled gin.
  
  

• Distilled gin

  This is the method by which most gin is produced. Here you add the desired ingredients (no essences) to the neutral spirit and redistill it in a pot still. To create a stronger aroma in the gin, select some, such as Beefeater, allowing the mixture of ingredients and neutral spirits to stand for up to 24 hours before distilling. The method is of course more expensive, but you get a more aromatic and long-lasting aftertaste in return.
  
  

• Flavored gin (steam infusion)

  Hendrick's gin is one of the most well-known gin brands that use this method for the production of their gin. Just as in distilled gin, a second distillation is done here, but with flavored gin, ingredients are not added to the neutral spirit as it is distilled again. Ingredients are placed in a basket that is above the liquid in the still. This means that when the alcohol evaporates it is passed through the ingredients where it extracts their aromas before being condensed and collected. This special form of distillation is done with a still called a Carterhead still. The result is a gin that is in the style of others, but where the complexity is less significant. A good gin for those who don't usually like gin that much.

Classifications of gin

There are many different types of gin, the taste, blend and aroma of which are very different from each other. Read below how the different types of gin came about and how they differ from each other.

• London Dry

  When talking about gin, London Dry is usually the type that comes to mind. It is made from neutral spirits, where different types of grain are normally used, and is usually column distilled. Although the type is called London Dry, it is not limited to a geographical location, alluding only to the production method. The alcohol percentage is typically at least 45, which gives an aggressive and crisp gin with prominent flavors of juniper and citrus.
  
  

• Plymouth Dry

  Plymouth Dry takes its name from the port city of Plymouth in England, and according to English legislation may only be produced within this geographical area. This gin type is not nearly as dry, but has a sharper and richer juniper flavor compared to London Dry.
  
  

• Old Tom

  This is a gin recipe that was popular in the 19th century in England. In modern times, however, it has become rare, but within the last few years it has had a revival. It is slightly sweeter than London Dry, but slightly drier than Genever. Before the introduction of column distillation, gin was a completely different experience than today. The quality was often variable, so it was customary to add sweeteners to camouflage the unpleasant taste. An Old Tom Gin has 2-6% sugar that is added after distillation.
  
  

• Genever

  Genever, also known as Dutch gin, is distilled from malted grain mash similar to that used in the production of whiskey. "Oude" (old) genever is the original style, which is straw-coloured, relatively sweet and aromatic. "Jonge" (young) Geneva has a drier tane and lighter body. Some genevers are aged for one to three years in oak barrels. Genever tends to be lower in alcohol percentage than English gin, which is usually 36-40%. This type of gin is usually produced in the Netherlands and Belgium.
  
  

• Navy Strength

  The wild boy of the class, who does well with his minimum 57.1% alcohol. Until 1816, when the hydrometer was invented, the percentage of alcohol could not be calculated, and certainly not when you were at sea. The sailors in the English fleet were entitled to a daily ration of gin or rum, but often the spirits did not comply with the promised percentages. Gunpowder ignites if you use spirits of at least 57.1% as an ignition agent, and thus it was easy for the seafarers to check whether the contents of a barrel had the right strength.
  
  The type gives some different flavor nuances because the ingredients behave differently in strong alcohol.
  
  

• New style

  This category can also be called "New Western" or "American", to indicate the wild west of gin. The category is a bit of a "trash bin", as it contains all types of botanical distillates that do not immediately fall within one of the above categories. As with other gins, the juniper berries are of course a constant, but from there you can experiment freely.

Typical ingredients in gin

Below we have tried to describe the most typical ingredients in gin. The first ingredient is juniper, which is in all gins, and from there the ingredients are used less and less. The list can be used as inspiration when making your own gin.

• Juniper

  For it to even be called a gin, the main ingredient must be juniper. Juniper berries are found on coniferous trees (hence the aroma of fir wood), and although they are called juniper berries, they are not berries, but small pine cones with unusually fleshy and juicy seeds.
  
  

• Coriander

  Coriander seeds have a spicy and somewhat floral aroma. The oil from the seeds dominates the aroma in all gins that contain it.
  
  

• Angelica

  Here it is mainly the roots and seeds that are used. Often, angelica can be confused with juniper in gin, as the aromas are similar. However, the aroma of angelica is slightly more woody.
  
  

• Lemon

  The peel from lemons contains a lot of essential oils, which the distillers love to use. It gives the gin a specific aroma and taste of citrus.
  
  

• Orange

  As with lemon, here the peel from the oranges is used. Typically, bitter oranges are used, but in recent years, people have started experimenting with sweeter oranges.
  
  

• Orris root

  This ingredient is rarely added for its taste, but rather for its aroma. The root has a very prominent smell of violets. However, adding orris root to one's gin is a laborious process. The root takes about 5 years to grow large enough to be harvested, and then about 5 years to dry.
  
  

• Cardamom

  This ingredient has come to the fore in recent times, as many modern gins contain a strong note of cardamom. Cardamom has a characteristic taste of citrus and eucalyptus.
  
  

• Licorice

  Licorice, with its strong taste and faint sweetness, has been widely used in Old Tom gins to mask the taste of the alcohol. Although similar in taste, licorice is not related to fennel, anise, or star anise.

These were the most common ingredients. Typically, there will also be other slightly more special ingredients inside. Specifically, what is in a given gin can be read in the reviews we have written below.

Reviews of gin

Cocktails with gin