A Distilled History of Gin: From Criminal to Craft
The history of gin is a long and tumultuous one. From once being considered as a medicine, gin has evolved past being regarded as a criminality-causing concoction to becoming a handcrafted, speciality industry. It couldn’t be more different – but how did we get here? What caused the astonishing boom in gin distilleries in the UK, to over 800 in the last decade? The answers lie in the distilled history of gin.
From as early as 70AD, juniper, the key ingredient of gin, was considered to be a medicinal product with numerous health benefits. A favourite of apothecaries, juniper has always been a historical catch all for illnesses – from treating jaundice in Ancient Egypt, to a treatment for the Black Plague[1] in the 14th century. The Ancient Romans were the first to infuse juniper into wine – effectively making the first rendition of what we now know as gin. Centuries later, Dutch people began to produce a liquor made from juniper berries, which they called jenever. This was similarly regarded as medicinal at first, with mothers even being recommended it to ease the ailments of their babies. It was during the 17th century Anglo-Dutch Wars that England discovered this delightful liquor. They observed soldiers quaffing back jenever before entering the battlefield – this, of course, is where we get the term ‘Dutch Courage’ from. As with many things, jenever was exported by the British and anglicised to become ‘gin’… but not quite as we know it. Gin was often mixed with the considerably less appetising turpentine, along with traces of sawdust and sulphuric acid being found in the mix.[2]
The gin wheels were then rather oiled by King William III in the 17th century. He, through a number of taxations and blockades on alcohol from other countries, along with the newly instated Corn Laws in England, indirectly facilitated the explosion of gin – to the point where it was cheaper than beer. The times were difficult for people and social mobility had stagnated. This meant that many of those who were worse off relied on gin as a form of comfort or salvation. England entered a period where gin was regarded as the cause of all troubles and discontent in society. Nowhere can this be seen clearer than the etching of ‘Gin Lane’ by William Hogarth, depicting the ruinous chaos and despair caused by gin. Murder, negligence, and all sorts of other crimes were blamed on the seemingly dastardly spirit. Things became so bad that the Gin Act was introduced in 1751, which aimed to bring down general gin consumption by banning gin distilleries of under 1800l capacity.
‘Gin Lane’ by William Hogarth
Gin’s fortunes changed in around 1830. It was then that new methods of distilling were introduced, meaning gin was now a much cleaner and purer spirit. So: less turpentine and more alcohol. Simultaneously, during the years of the British Empire, troops found gin easier than beer to store in the hot confines of the ship stores. Gin and tonic hit the scene in the British Empire in India, as well as other tropical colonies, where quinine (an anti-malarial) was consumed in the form of tonic water. This tasted famously disgusting, so gin was added to make it more palatable, along with squeezes of lime – or lime cordial – to keep scurvy at bay. And thus, the gin and tonic was born, and many regard it as making British Colonialism possible[3], through maintaining the health of colonial sailors, troops and conquerors.
Gin was fairly well regarded during the next centuries, but since 2009, there has been a marked shift in the way that gin is perceived and consumed. Some have even started calling it the “gin boom”. Much of this we have Sipsmith to thank for – a gin distillery based in London. Just over a decade ago, the founders of Sipsmith tried to open their gin business, but came up against some very old legislation preventing them from doing so. That’s right – the antiquated 1751 Gin Act, which had been quietly sitting there for centuries. After a lengthy legal battle, Sipsmith was able to get the Act repealed, thus meaning small distilleries now had the right to produce gin. This effectively popped the cork on the craft gin industry, and artisan alcohol-makers could now carefully curate and monitor ever-smaller batches of exclusive alcohol. Since 2009, the number of gin distilleries has risen by almost eight-fold to a whopping 820 distilleries in the UK, according to the ONS[4]. This occurred in tandem with the general cultural shift towards consumers wanting to know the source, ethics, and story behind a product. Small gin business could now create an identity and an allure by their limited batch sizes and mysterious recipes. An interesting parallel is that many craft gin companies now utilise 18th century aesthetics for their gin – fancy, curlicue type and old-fashioned phrasing – which harks back to the days when gin was regarded as criminal fuel. The history of gin is evident even within the most modern of distilleries.
The “gin boom” has given rise to many ingenious new techniques around creating gin. Many distilleries venerate their botanicals[5]. Botanicals are the natural ingredients which infuse gin with its flavour. They tend to fall into several categories, such as flowers (rose, lavender), spices (coriander, cardamom, anise), and citrus peel (grapefruit, lemon). A good example of this is Hendrick’s gin, which is infused with rose and cucumber, along with notes of orris root, yarrow, coriander seeds, elderflower and lemon peel, amongst others. With their gin being distilled in small 500l batches, Hendrick’s is exactly the kind of distillery which would have previously been banned prior to 2009.
One gin company innovating the gin scene is Cambridge Distillery, which produces high quality and specialised gin. The founder, William Lowe MW, explains how traditional gin production methods heat spirit and juniper to 78-100 Celcius, then gin is created[6] from the cooled evaporated liquid. The problem is, this method obliterates much of the flavour of a lot of natural ingredients. Given that Cambridge Distillery uses plants from the Cambridge University Botanical Gardens (even including apples from Isaac Newton’s tree!), it’s no surprise that they want to keep a hold of those flavours. Real care goes into tailoring the temperature and conditions for each botanical, so as not to lose the flavour during distillation. This is helped by the use of a “low-pressure novo-dimensional vacuum distillation” process – the name of which is enough to make anyone tremble. Cambridge Distillery appears as a kind of mysterious, precise chemistry, and shows how craft gin distilleries are evolving with new scientific processes and innovations.
Gin has gone through a number of major shifts in quality and public opinion over the course of history. Having once been a turpentine-infused “mother’s ruin”, gin has been transformed into what we now consider to be a nuanced, creative and expensive luxury. Sipsmith opening the door for small gin companies in 2009 has led to a sparkling new variety of distillation techniques and ever more interesting botanical combinations. The “gin boom” appears to be ceaseless, and surely will be gracing our glasses for years more.
References
[1] Hippensteele, A. (2020) Fun Fact: What Did Nursing Mothers Drink for its Medical Properties in the 17th Century? Pharmacy Times. Available at: https://www.pharmacytimes.com/view/fun-fact-what-did-nursing-mothers-drink-for-its-medical-properties-in-the-17th-century
[2] Bossart, C. (2018) The Complete and Slightly Insane History of Gin in England. Vinepair. Available at: https://vinepair.com/articles/england-gin-history/
[3] Caplan, N. (2014) How Gin Made British Colonialism Possible. The New Republic. Available at: https://newrepublic.com/article/117808/gins-responsibility-british-empire
[4] Pellegrino, S. (2022) Boom in UK Gin production as distillery numbers rise. The Drinks Business. Available at: https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2022/01/boom-in-uk-gin-production-as-distillery-numbers-rise/?edition=asia
[5] Newman, K. (2019) Gin Botanicals: Decoded. Craft Gins. Available at: https://craftgins.co.uk/gin-botanicals/
[6] Cambridge Distillery. (n.d.) Q&A with Cambridge Distillery co-founder and Master Distiller, William Lowe MW. Cambridge Distillery. Available at: https://cambridgedistillery.co.uk/blogs/news/talking-with-will-about-molecular-drinks-distillation-and-lorem-aunching-our-new-website