The (historical) Makings of Gin…Part 2

With juniper, a medicinal herb, being touted as a tonic to cure all manner of ills, the use of which was first mentioned in apothecaries' recipes from the 16th century. It has been claimed that English soldiers, providing support to the Spanish in Antwerp, were drinking jenever, the Dutch word for juniper berry, for its calming effect before heading into battle – from which derived the term ‘Dutch courage’. It was also drunk with lemons as a source for vitamin c to stop scurvy.

At first, the recreational juniper berry spirit was derived from distilled wine instead of grain. Experts have theorized that the “Little Ice Age” across Europe in the mid-sixteenth century made harvesting grapes difficult, reducing the availability of imported wine for the Dutch to create juniper berry water. Inevitably this caused a shift to a grain-based spirit.

The predecessor to the London dry style gin we know, and love is called jenever. Jenever, made from a mash containing barley malt that is fermented and distilled to produce a spirit called malt wine, which carries a more malty flavour profile than modern (English and American) dry gins.

Relying on their richer, savoury, more earthy notes, Dutch gins have less additives of botanicals and flavours. However, this means they tend not to combine well with other beverages and are usually served neat or with water.

Introduction Into Great Britain

Jenever became hugely popular in Great Britain, when William III became the King of England in 1689. Hailing from the Netherlands, and a jenever drinker, he influenced the popularity of gin further by banning the importation of French brandy. He was also responsible for the government of the day passing the ‘Act for encouraging the distilling of brandy and spirits from corn,’ allowing unlicensed gin production. The overall result? An impressive 400% increase in gin production in Britain and a period known as the Gin Craze.

Being cheap it was regularly consumed by the poor and blamed for rising crime, misery and madness. With gin joints allowing women to drink alongside men, gin became known as ‘mother’s ruin’, believed to be the cause of women neglecting their children and turning to prostitution. How many tears in a bottle of gin?

In the 1820’s, the invention of the column still brought rise to the ‘London dry’ style gin. Coined due to the production process, not where it is produced, it must follow strict criteria to be called as such. One being all the botanicals must be added during the distillation process only and must be natural.

Around this time, British colonies in the Tropics used gin to mask the bitter flavour of quinine, the only effective anti-malarial compound. Quinine was dissolved in carbonated water to form tonic water and the rest, as they say is history!

Resurgence of gin, particularly artisanal craft gin began in the early 2000s, and it has been growing from strength to strength ever since. Australia now has over 300 gin distilleries across the country. With unique botanicals to create distinct flavours Australia’s gin is fast becoming a standout on the world stage. Commercial giants Four Pillars being named 2023 International Gin Producer of the Year for the third time, in the International Wine and Spirits Competition. And this year, Barossa Distilling Co. took out the award for ‘World’s Best Flavoured Gin at the 2024 World Gin Awards for their ‘Barossa Shiraz Gin’... pretty impressive for a country that has only been producing gin for 30 years!