
In
its basic form, gin is vodka that has been redistilled
with herbs and botanicals. Many are used like citrus peels, coriander,
ginger, rose petals, nutmeg, and cassia bark, but the most prominent
is the juniper berry. Dr. Sylvius, a Dutch professor and physician
is credited in making gin as a cure-all tonic in the 1650’s.
Today, many alcohol historians debate this because the juniper
berry was quite plentiful in Italy, which leads them to believe
that Italian monks first made gin.
The
three main categories of gin are: London dry gin,
Plymouth English gin and Genever (also spelled Jenever). The word
Genever is Dutch for juniper and the word gin is a shortening
of the word Genever.. Holland and Belgium make Genever, which
is considered the original style of gin made in pot stills. It’s
sweeter than London dry gin. London dry gin is the most popular
because it mixes well. It doesn’t have to be made in England
(America, Germany, and Spain make gin as well). Plymouth English
gin can only be made in Plymouth. And it was the first gin used
in a printed recipe in a Martini.
Old Tom Gin is the only
produced example we have today of what sweeter gin use to taste
like. It got its name from a cat shaped plaque that was mounted
on the outside of some English pubs. One could deposit money in
the cat’s mouth then place their mouth on a tube between
the cats paws. A barman inside would pour a dram of gin into the
tube. How about that for an ancient vending machine!
Gin
became the crack cocaine of London in the 1700s
and into the 1800s. It was cheaper than ale and led to Gin Madness,
The Gin Act and Gin Lane. London turned into a slum full of poverty
and despair. Artist William Hogarth captured the time when he
engraved Gin Lane in 1750. Now fast forward to the early 1900s
and you’ll find that gin makes a 180-degree turn due to
Hollywood glamorizing it served chilled in a cocktail glass (Martini
glass) on the silver screen. All anything needs is a little time.
| In the 1900s Hollywood
portrayed gin as a glamorous and sophisticated spirit served
in a Martini glass (cocktail glass). |
 |
London gin is distilled from a mixture that contains
more barley than corn. It's drier than Dutch gin and they will
even say that on the label, London Dry Gin. Dutch gin is distilled
from a mixture of barley, malt, corn and rye and is slightly sweeter
than London gins.
The most popular brands of gin are; Bombay, Beefeater, Gordon's,
Boodles, Tanqueray, and Plymouth.

The most popular drinks made with gin are, the classic Martini,
Tom Collins, Pink Lady, Gibson, and Gin & Tonic.
Gin Facts
| Bombay Sapphire’s bottle is a translucent light blue
with the herbs and botanicals listed down the sides |
 |
 |
The dark green Tanqueray bottle is said to be modeled after
a British fire hydrant or a cocktail shaker. Most believe
that ‘s the latter because the Tanqueray 10 bottle looks
like a cocktail shaker as well. |
| The first Seagram’s gin bottle was textured with starfish
and seashells. |
 |
 |
Sloe gin is not gin. It's a liqueur made from sloeberries. |
| Artist William Hogarth engraves, Gin Lane, which depicts
the time in 1750 showing poverty and misery. The engraving
shows slummy London streets with a gin cellar with the inscription,
Drunk for a Penny, Dead Drunk for Two Pence, Clean Straw for
Nothing, an exposed room shows that a man has hung himself,
a carpenter is trying to sell his tools, a housewife tries
to sell her pots, people are fighting, laughing, and drinking,
and a woman who was breast feeding drops her baby. |
 |
Homemade gin made during prohibition was called
bathtub gin because people would make it in their bathtub.
America’s first distillery was built in Staten Island and
produces gin in 1640.
The first health warning is printed on a bottle of gin in 1751.
Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world she walks
into mine.
--Casablanca
Snoop Dog came out with a song
and album called Gin & Juice: got me some Seagram's
gin, everybody got they cups, but they ain't
chipped in...now Seagram's has come out with some flavored
Gin & Juice spirits. |
 |

Martini
Books
