QandAs: Food

What is Gin?

Answer:
Gin is a double-distilled liquor traditionally

infused with the essence of juniper berries, which gives it a distinctive pine flavor. Other natural ingredients, known as botanicals, can also be infused in gin's pure grain alcohol base to create different flavors and levels of sweetness or dryness.

Gin started out as a medical tonic in 17th century Holland, where locals referred to the bitter concoction as genever, the Dutch word for the evergreen juniper berries it contained. Eventually the liquor's name would be informally shortened to gin. Traditional gin begins with a distilled pure grain alcohol as a neutral base. Juniper berries are added to the full-strength alcohol and the mixture is distilled a second time to yield a juniper-infused liquor. Some older methods did not include a second distilling, but more of a long-term steeping with various botanicals and a thorough straining before bottling.

Gin can be a very complicated beverage, considering the number of potential botanicals which can be added to it: almonds, angelica, aniseed, caraway seed, cardamom pods, cassia, cinnamon, citrus peel (lemon, orange, and bitter orange), coriander seed, cubeb berries, cumin seed, fennel seed, ginger root, iris root, licorice root, nutmeg, paradise grain, savory, star anise, and violet root. The most essential botanical, however, remains the juniper berries which give gin its name and distinctive flavor.

In order to make gin more palatable, it must be reduced with water to approximately 40% to 50% alcohol by volume, (approximately 80 to 100 proof). Gin is not often served straight, but more likely to be mixed with tonic water or a splash of vermouth to adjust the relative dryness. Gin is the main liquor in a classic martini recipe, often garnished with a green olive or pearl onion. Additional olive juice would make it a dirty martini. Gin is considered a white liquor, which means it can be combined with other white liquors such as triple-sec, vodka and rum in elaborate bar drinks such as Long Island Iced Teas.


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