While gin must have a strong juniper flavor (and therefore tends to include juniper berries), distillers are free to add any other botanical ingredient they want to achieve their target flavor. Citrus fruits, nuts and spices often find their place in gin recipes. The only consistent flavor that permeates all gins, regardless of brand or type, is juniper, a subtle pine scent. Gin is an alcoholic beverage that is obtained by distillation from a grain base (wheat or barley).
In an additional procedure, botanical ingredients are added together with water until the desired flavors are met. To be called gin, the spirit drink must have a predominant juniper berry flavor. Juniper is a type of aromatic “fruit” that grows along the branches of junipers. While all gins include juniper, several brands and types of gin contain a diverse potpourri of botanical ingredients, herbs and fruits.
These are some of the most common gin ingredients. If a brand wants to label its gin as dry London gin or Plymouth gin, it must meet specific requirements. Instead of leading the flavor, juniper floats amidst an earthy, organic undertone that makes Plymouth gin a popular base for gin and tonics. Throughout the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, gin began to have an important name in Europe and eventually arrived in the United States.
A famous example of this is Hendrick's gin, which uses two separate stills (one to soak the botanical ingredients for 24 hours before boiling them and another for the steam infusion of different botanical ingredients) and then combines the distillates to obtain the final blend, together with the addition of its renowned botanical ingredients cucumbers and roses petal essence. After that, the alcohol can be collected for immediate bottling or placed in barrels or barrels for aging. Gin cannot be made without juniper berries, because the law requires that it have the predominant flavor of juniper berries in a beverage to be called gin. Gin is also often used as a base spirit drink to produce gin-based flavored liquors, for example, blackthorn gin, traditionally produced with the addition of fruit, flavors and sugar.
Gin originated as a medicinal liquor made by monks and alchemists from all over Europe, particularly in southern Italy (Salerno), Flanders and the Netherlands, to provide vital water from grape and grain distillates. Sometimes known as Chinese parsley, coriander is the second most common botanical gin, after juniper. Dutch or Belgian gin, also known as jenever or genever, evolved from malt wine liquors and is a distinctly different beverage from later gin styles. But what are some of the best gins to mix? What makes a gin ideal for mixing There are many, many different beverages that use gin in combination with other liquors, juices or soft drinks.
The main botanical used for a gin must be the juniper berry, since this is required by law to classify a liquor as gin. The reason why many waiters and master distillers love gin is its versatility as a spirit drink, and the reason is that it doesn't have a unique flavor; each brand and edition has a completely different flavor profile.