How Are They Made?

Gin

It is generally recognised that gin was first produced in the late 16th to early 17th Century in Holland by the Dutch Professor Franciscus de la Boe, more commonly known as Dr Silvius, in the University of Leiden.

Gin was introduced to England in the 17th Century by British soldiers returning from the Thirty Years War during which they were given 'Dutch Courage' (Genever) prior to battle. The English then shortened 'Genever' to gin.

The popularity of gin

By the late 1700s brands still popular today such as Plymouth and Gordon's were already producing gin, followed by Tanqueray in 1830 and Beefeater in 1863.

The popularity of gin was assured with the advent of cocktails, such as the 'G&T' (which was invented in the 1800s to disguise the bitter tasting anti-malarial drug quinine), the classic Martini, and the Bloody Mary in its pre-vodka days. This popularity contributed not only to improvements in quality and growth of production, but also firmly established gin's place in high society.

Producing Gin

There are two methods of producing Gin defined by the European Community Regulation, the body governing spirit drinks; Cold Compounding and Distillation.

Cold compounding

Cold compounding is the process of adding botanical flavour essences to an already distilled neutral spirit. The end product is commonly known as 'bathtub' gin. It is cheap and easy to produce, however the end product can be of poor quality and often unappealing.

Distillation

Distillation involves the botanical ingredients being added prior to the spirit being redistilled in a traditional still, normally made of copper. Using various methods such as maceration, steaming, or varying the length of distillation, different characteristics can be brought out. London Dry Gin, Plymouth and Genever are all distilled gins.

Gin can be made from any spirit alcohol that meets the requirements of original or agricultural strength (at least 96% ABV) and purity set by the EC Regulation. The finest base for this 'neutral' spirit is either grain or natural sugars (molasses) and has no flavour at all.

The botanicals, or flavouring ingredients, can be chosen from a list of around fifty, with a typically fine gin blending between five and ten in their production. They type, quantity and quality of each brand’s botanicals vary with their own recipes, but all gins include juniper, with this being the predominant flavour.

UK gins produced are bottles after distillation as they do not require any period of ageing.