Gin Flashcards
Why do we call them white spirits?
We do so because they appear to have gone straight from the still to the bottle, without any time in the barrel. As we’ll read below, there are exceptions, but, in general, white spirits don’t see time in barrels and so they are transparent or “white.”
What is Gin?
Gin is a spirit that is typically triple distilled, based upon neutral grain spirits, and cut with distilled water.
In most cases, the grain spirits have been created through a double or triple column still distillation. Then the grain spirit is distilled a final time in a pot still with botanicals including juniper, oil of juniper, coriander, orange peel, lemon peel, anise, cassia, bitter almonds, caraway, cocoa, angelica root, orris root and many other ingredients. For proprietary reasons, producers zealously guard their botanical recipes.
What does citrus peel add?
Citrus peel adds lemon, orange and lime elements; that seems obvious.
What does coriander add?
Coriander, the seed of the cilantro plant, adds an herbal aroma, but also brings a tart, even grapefruit-like flavor to the gin.
What does cassia add?
Cassia brings a somewhat bitter note, something like tonic water.
What do other ingredients add?
Other ingredients may offer floral notes, vegetal notes, even tea flavors; flowers, vegetables, and tea might also be a part of the recipe.
London Dry Gin
Juniper and/or citrus tend to dominate the botanical profile. Alcohol range is from 37.5 to 55 percent by volume; the traditional strength is 47 percent.
Genever or Hollands Gin
Genever or Hollands gin is produced in the Netherlands, Belgium and small parts of France and Germany. It has some yellowish color, may be distinctly sweet, in opposition to London Dry, and can be powerful and oily. Made mostly from the pot-stilled barley/rye distillate known as “malt wine,” usually with neutral grain spirits blended in, it’s always more malty/grainy/cereally than herbal or fruity/spicy. Alcohol range is from 35 to 50 percent by volume.
Plymouth Gin
Plymouth, England is home to a single gin distillery, Blackfriars, and a distinctive style called Plymouth. Plymouth Gin is lower in alcohol than London Dry varieties but owns an earthy richness that is unique. Alcohol is 41.2 percent.
New or International Style GIn
So-called “New” or “International Style” gins are as diverse as the many places from which they derive. Alcohol range is from 40 to 55 percent by volume. Typically, other botanicals than juniper tend to dominate.
Who was Arnaud de Villanova?
Arnaud de Villanova was credited as gin’s inventor. He is credited with developing the European practice of distillation in the thirteenth century A.D., perhaps acquiring the skills developed centuries earlier by Muslim scholars, Geber and Avicenna.
Why were juniper berries used?
Juniper has long been known to possess healthful properties (that’s why we drink gin now, right?). Masks made of juniper were believed by some to offer protection from the plague. Juniper is likewise believed to aid when ailments of the kidneys strike.
Who invented Gin as we know it?
In the end, it was the Dutch who invented the spirit we know as gin. The word is theirs, as well. They call juniper genever in Dutch; the British turned that word into “geneva” and then abbreviated it to “gin.” For the Dutch, alcohol’s preservative abilities were ideally suited to retain the character of the spices and fruits they were trading.
Why is it called Dutch Courage?
The British called the drink Dutch Courage because they frequently hired Dutch mercenaries to do some of their military dirty work. The Dutch mercenaries were known to drink copious amounts of genever and were notoriously effective in their ferocity.
How did it become the drink of England?
But the British and many of Continental Europe’s monarchs did not get along in the late 1600s. So, the English Crown decreed that any British subject could distill this so-called Dutch Courage, in the hope that the increasingly thirsty British people would stop buying French brandy and that perhaps Holland’s genever might be supplanted as well. As history depicts, the plan worked.
By the early 1700s, Dutch Courage had become “Mother’s Ruin.” The ravages and dislocations of the Industrial Revolution were at least partially blamed on gin, which had swept through England’s burgeoning cities like liquid crack. Gin was accused of being evil. With distilleries working in seemingly half the back rooms of London churning out inexpensive, semi-poisonous spirit from the cheapest materials available, that description wasn’t far-fetched.
How did Old Tom gin originate?
By the early 1800s, English gin’s style had distinguished itself from the malty, rich Dutch style. Where the Dutch worked to make the best, most flavorful (pot-still) base spirit they could and then flavored it simply with juniper and small amounts of other spices, the English relied on a base spirit that was rectified—that is, redistilled and filtered to remove as many traces of the base material as possible—which was then flavored with a complex mix of botanicals and then, usually, sweetened. This style was known as Old Tom gin.
