Gin is a phenomenon.

Somehow a very specifically flavoured spirit, originating from Holland, has become a staple product on every backbar. It only really dawned on me recently the magnitude of the feat. Whisky, rum, Tequila, Cognac and vodka are all spirits whose flavour are derived from the products that they are made from and in some cases, time spent in oak. Gin is a flavoured spirit, a flavoured vodka in fact, its taste comes from the unique botanicals added during its production, primarily juniper berries, coriander seeds and angelica root.

It is for this reason that gin is wonderful drink to make. The distillers choice of botanicals and the way he/she expresses them in the final product are variables that can be controlled and then appreciated in the end result.

Anyone can make gin at home by ‘compounding’ a botanical essence into a bottle of vodka, or by simply infusing vodka with the chosen botanicals. An infusion of botanicals into a bottle of vodka, though easy to do, will of course result in a murky coloured spirit and potentially the need for aggressive filtration. It is also likely to add a certain chewiness, sweetness and undesirable thick body to the spirit. The other ’simple’ alternative is cold compounding, this would require making a super strong gin essence, probably by infusing a bottle of vodka, then adding some of that essence to a seperate bottle of neutral spirit.  Again, this will require some level filtering, but you can potentially remove most if not all of the colour this way.

The above methods were practiced by one in four Londoners during the gin craze of the 1700’s. Folk would buy in spirit from distillers, then flavour it with turpentine, bay salt and occassionally juniper berries. It became known as bathtub gin for obvious reasons.

There is of course another way to make gin… by distilling it.

The Complete Distiller (1757) by Ambrose Cooper, describes distilling Geneva in the following manner:

Take of Juniper-berries three Pounds, Proof Spirit ten Gallons, Water four Gallons. Draw off by a gentle Fire till the Faints begin to rise, and make up your Goods to the Strength required with clean Water.

This simple process requires only proof spirit (spirit of 50% abv), water and juniper berries. The products are heated in a still together and the vapour is collected and condensed. All vapour is collected until the heavy feints begin to come through at the end. The resulting liquid is then cut with water until the desired strength is acheived. When cut to proof (50% abv), the spirit  is classed as Royal Geneva.

However the above recipe is for a high quality product not typically found in London’s Alehouses at the time, the following recipe for Common Geneva would be what your average street seller would be peddling:

Take of the ordinary Malt Spirits ten Gallons; Oil of Turpentine two Ounces, Bay Salt three Handfulls. Draw off by a gentle Fire till the Faints begin to rise, and make up your Goods ot the Strength required with clean Water.

Nice. The writer then comments:

In this manner is the common Geneva made, and it is suprizing that People should accustom themselves to drink it for pleasure.

Quite.

The Complete Distiller then goes on to mention Holland’s Geneva as “greatly esteemed”, the main difference being that it is based upon French Brandy rather than grain spirit.

Worryingly, over a 100 years on, The Complete Practical Distiller (1880) by Dr. M. La Fayette Bryn describes a mostly unchanged recipe for Common Gin:

Take ordinary malts spirits 10 gallons; oil of turpentine, 2 ounces; juniper-berries, 1 pound, sweet fennel and carraway seeds, of each 4 handfuls; bay-salt 3 handfuls. Draw off by a gentle fire till the feints begin to rise. and make up your goods to the stength required.

What is interesting however, is the introdcution of flavours other than juniper (and turpentine!).

Recreating some of these old recipes would be interesting, though I doubt the results would be all that drinkable in comparison to todays premium gins. An old recipe that does rely on traditional flavours along with more modern production methods (i.e. no turpentine) is this one, for A Buck of Strong Gin (taken from and undisclosed but highly credible source):

• 429 lbs juniper berries
• 265 lbs coriander seeds
• 36.5 lbs angelica root
• 18.5 lbs cassia
• 2 lbs savory

It is this recipe that I would recreate (were I a distiller)… and here is how I would do it:

First you need a neutral base, ideally a spirit that has been rectified to 96%. This could be vodka (though  you’re certanly not going to be saving yourself any money using bottled vodka) or any other neutral distilled spirit. The more neutrality in the base spirit the better the canvas upon which the botanicals can be painted.

This spirit needs to be watered down to around 50% abv (proof) and loaded into the still along with the botanicals. For a 8 litre batch of 50% abv neutral spirit I would use around 35g/litre 50% abv spirit. Exactly when you add the botanicals to the still will affect the final product. Rather like making a cup of tea you may choose to infuse the fruit and spices from cold, or to add them once the proof sprit is already hot. Brands like Beefeater macerate their botanicals for 24 hours before distillation.

As the botanicals heat up in the base of the still, just like in a teapot, the essence of the fruits and spices are released into the liquid. As alcohol vapour evaporates up through the neck of the still these aromatic compounds are carried with it, making their way to the condensor only to drip out as perfectly clear gin flavoured lovliness.

The real skill of the gin distiller comes in to play when cutting the spirit. Just like leaving a teabag in a teapot for too long or too short a time, the soluble oils and compounds from the botanicals are released at different rates during the distillation process. It is for this reason that the distiller cuts away the start and the end of the run of spirit, leaving only a balanced and refined product or middle cut.

In fact each and every botanical will rear it’s head at different times and temperatures during the distillation process, with coriander being the first aroma to fill a distillery when a new batch of gin is under way. Generally the juniper flavours come later on the process, rich leather and pine spices.

After the run is finished and your cuts have been made, you will be left with a spirit of around 70-85% abv. This botanical spirit is ready to be cut with water to bottling strength. This stage is crucial as it marks the end flavour profile of the spirit and can drastically affect the flavours and aromas that are dominant in the product.

I have been fortunate enough to get hold of some uncut gin and had a go at cutting it myself. The process I followed involved cutting the spirit to 60% abv and then adding precise quantities of water to different samples in order to find the perfect abv. I cut to 55%, 50%, 45% and 40% then nosed and tasted the results. Each one displayed hugely differing aromas, from fresh citrus at the higher end of the scale, to warm cinnamon spice in the middle and rich juniper notes at the bottom. The ratios of the botanicals that you use are irrelevant if the final product is not cut with care. The significance of this becomes apparent when you notice the different and very precise abv’s of the most popular premium gins on the market.

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