Gin

What gin is

Gin is a distilled spirit built on neutral alcohol and shaped by botanicals, and one botanical outranks the rest: juniper. The wording differs between jurisdictions, but the rule is the same everywhere — if it does not taste predominantly of juniper, it is not gin. The rest of the recipe belongs to the distiller. Coriander seed, angelica root, citrus peel, orris root, liquorice and assorted spices are the usual company, anywhere from half a dozen botanicals to more than twenty.

Its ancestor is generally taken to be genever, the malt-based juniper spirit of the Low Countries. Accounts of how it reached England in the seventeenth century differ in their details; what is not disputed is that English gin spent its first century being taxed, restricted and legislated about.

How it is made

Start with neutral spirit, usually from grain, then move the aroma of the botanicals into it. The common method is maceration followed by redistillation: the botanicals steep in the spirit and go into the still with it, or sit in a basket through which the rising vapour passes. Many distillers do both. The distillate is cut with water to bottling strength, typically around forty per cent. No cask ageing is involved, so the character comes almost entirely from the botanical recipe and from where the distiller makes the cuts.

The main styles

• London Dry — a method, not a place. All flavour must be acquired during distillation, nothing aromatic may be added afterwards, and sweetening is negligible. Dry, direct, juniper first.
• Old Tom — the rounder, lightly sweetened older style that most nineteenth-century recipe books assumed.
• Genever — blended with malt wine, grainy and thicker in texture, closer to whisky than to London Dry.
• Contemporary — juniper is still there, but citrus, florals or local botanicals are pushed forward. Most distilleries founded in the past two decades work in this register.

What it tastes like

Resinous coolness, citrus-peel oil, an earthy and faintly bitter root note, a dry finish. Gin's aromatics are structural: they give a drink its frame and let acidity, sweetness and bitterness find their places rather than covering them. The same qualities appear in the search tool's vocabulary, explained on the flavour tags page.

Gin in cocktails

Nothing in the classic canon works harder. With nothing but vermouth and a long stir it becomes a Dry Martini; in equal parts with Campari and sweet red vermouth it becomes a Negroni, bitter and sweet in one mouthful. Lengthened with tonic it is a Gin Tonic; shaken with lemon juice and liqueurs it is an Aviation; topped with champagne it is a French 75; split four ways it is a Last Word. Few bases stretch from austere to bitter to sour to sparkling the way this one does.

Choosing a bottle for mixing

No brands, three questions. Does the style suit the drink? A dry, juniper-forward gin holds its shape against vermouth and bitter liqueurs; a floral or fruit-led contemporary gin sits better with citrus and bubbles. What strength? A higher bottling keeps its outline after shaking or stirring, while a low-strength gin is easily flattened by dilution. What does the label list? The botanicals are usually printed on the bottle, and that list is more honest than any adjective.