The Scuttlebutt on Gin
Last week, as I was researching and typing up all the definitions of distillation, I used gin as a running example throughout the post. The more and more I researched, the more different terms I ran across describing different types of gin.
I had no idea the world of gin terminology was so vast and complex!
I’ve seen most of these terms on labels around bars and liquor stores, but honestly I only knew the background and meaning of a few of them.
First, to cover the most basic of definitions, what is gin? Per regulations, to be qualified as gin:
1. The base spirit must be of agricultural origin.
2. It must be distilled to an “initial alcoholic strength of at least 96%.”
3. The neutral base spirit is then redistilled “in the presence of Juniperus communis L. and other botanicals.”
But, like everything in the alcohol world, there’s not “just gin”, there’s different types, strengths, and labeling, and knowing all that can help you discern what your type of gin is. Here are a few key pieces of terminology that are good to know:
Jenever (Genever)
We’ll call this the OG gin. Gin’s ancestor. The beginning of gin.
Genever is a Dutch spirit made up of a distillate of corn-wheat-rye (called malt wine) blended with a juniper-infused distillate. You could call it “Dutch gin” but you’d get yelled at by those in know, since it’s actually quite malty more than botanical.
I’ve seen it called “a lovechild of the marriage between whiskey and gin”. Which is cute and makes sense from a flavor profile explanation, but again, Genever came first so calling it a lovechild is putting the cart before the horse.
I won’t go into the full history or how it’s made here, because I find it too interesting to do it in 2 sentences (which means eventually there’ll be a full post about it)!
Suffice it to say, it made its way to England in the early 1500s and over a few centuries became so popular that everyone wanted to quell the dependence on the Dutch for it. Thus England began distilling their own and calling it Gin, which is just a shortened form of Genever.
Since 2008 Genever is an official AOC (Appellation d’origine contrôlée) meaning it can only be called Genever if it was distilled in The Netherlands, Belgium, or very specific parts of France or Germany.
One last tidbit - there is actually a correct way to drink Genever. And I am not joking when I share this with you! Matt and I did this same thing when we were traveling around the Netherlands.
London Dry Gin
This is perhaps the most well-known gin variety, especially sine the most famous and easily found gins on shelves are London Dry gins (think: Tanqueray and Bombay Sapphire).
What I find interesting, is that historically this term is more similar to a Wine Designation of Origin certification than a recipe you must follow (which would be more similar to bourbon or rye).
However, over the centuries that has changed, and now there are specific processes that must be followed, though the flavor profile can still be whatever you want it to be and it doesn’t have to be made in London.
The current regulations in order to use the words “London Dry Gin”:
- The base spirit must have fewer than five grams per hectoliter of 100% alcohol. This rule sounds intense but really it’s just ensuring that we don’t have methanol in our gin which, while technically alcohol, is rather poisonous and dangerous.
- The distillate must have at least 70% abv.
- It may not be colored or shaped in anyway after distillation.
- Botanical flavors must be imparted via distillation (as opposed to any of the other methods we discussed last week!)
- Must be a dry gin - meaning little to no sweeting is added. More specifically, LD gins cannot be sweetened in excess of 0.1 grams of sweetening products per liter of the final product. They are allowed just that much for traceability.
- All natural plant materials are used. This is particularly interesting because any gin that uses mushrooms (and there are a few) cannot be considered LD gin.
In summary, London Dry Gin regulations are all about process, not flavor nor location.
Old Tom Gin
I think I like the story behind this one best. It goes that outside of certain pubs in England in the 18th century would be a wooden placard with the picture of an old tom cat. At that time, the English government was trying to crack down on gin consumption through steep taxes and difficult licenses.
Of course this didn’t at all stop the flow of gin, it just moved it “underground”.
Thirsty patrons would put slide their money into a small opening under the cat’s paw on the sign and a bartender on the other side would pour a shot of gin into the lead tube for that person to catch in their mouth or a cup.
Gross, unsanitary, and lead-based… but at least they got their gin!
What’s interesting about old tom, is that there are no hard and fast rules surrounding what can be called “old tom” and what can’t be. It’s not like bourbon or scotch, or even base gin, as long as it does first qualify as gin and you want to slap “old tom” before that, then sure, go ahead.
If you’re looking for some sort of guidelines, it’s usually sweeter than London Dry Gin but slightly dryer than Genever. So if you’re looking for a middle ground, this one might be for you!
Navy Strength Gin
Again, here we see no specific flavor profile or even designated process here! Any gin with more than 57.15% alcohol is considered a navy strength gin.
Why?
Well, alcohol was used as a ration in the British Royal Navy and was stored on ships in wooden barrels below deck, usually right next to barrels of gun powder. Just in case the gin barrels started leaking and soaking into the gunpowder, the alcohol in the gin had to be at least 57.15% as the gin-soaked gunpowder would still burn with that amount of alcohol in it.
As with any rule, you have to wonder how many times that happened before they figured it out and put regulations around it…
Plymouth Gin
Yet again we see something different here.
First, Plymouth gin is both a brand and a style of gin. It’s been distilled on the same premises in Plymouth, Devon (EN) since 1431.
It’s considered a sub-type of London Dry Gin, but has more earthy flavors to it, due to more root ingredients being used in its botanicals. It’s also often called more “citrusy” than LD Gin and interestingly, usually even more “dry” as well.
What makes Plymouth Gin truly unique is it’s the only English Gin (and one of three in the entire world) with a GI - a Geographical Indication. This means legally only gin distilled in Plymouth, Devon can be called Plymouth Gin.
Bathtub gin
We’ve talked about the delightful Genever, the strict London Dry Gin, and the protected Plymouth Gin… so let’s travel to America and talk about the embarrassing trash of gin: bathtub gin.
Technically speaking, bathtub gin isn’t even necessarily gin. It’s any homemade spirit, made in amateur conditions, using raw alcohol, water, essences, an essential oils.
The term comes from Prohibition in the united states, when moonshiners were fermenting a mash from whenever they could get their hands on: corn sugar, fruit, beets, even potato peels, to produce high-proof alcohol, adding glycerin and juniper oil, then watering it down from their bathtub sink, since the bottles were too big to fit under the kitchen sink spigot.
While it tasted and smelled as nasty as it sounds, this era is where many cocktail recipes sprang from, as bartenders made up beautiful concoctions to try and cover up the awful flavors of the homemade spirit, loosely dubbed “gin”.
Nowadays, there are a few brands that have adopted the “bathtub gin” phrasing and some folks use it as a synonym for compounded gin; which, if you remember from last week, just means the botanicals are infused after the distillation process is complete. These gins tend to be spicer and more herbal than the English gins we’ve discussed.
So don’t be afraid of the term “bathtub gin” if you see it on shelves… unless you somehow find yourself back in the 1920s. Then be afraid, be very afraid.
Sloe Gin
And finally, last but not least for today! This gin again uses our knowledge from last week’s post.
Sloe Gin is “normal traditionally-distilled gin” that is then macerated with the sloe berry and sugar, which both sweetens the product and lowers the alcohol to ~15%.
So technically speaking, the end result is actually not a gin but a liqueur.
A sloe berry is the berry from the blackthorn plant and impart a reddish-purplish hue with flavor comparable to cranberries, currants, and tart cherries.
Overall, it’s sweeter and a bit more tart than your standard gin. It’s quite well known for it’s cocktail: the Sloe Gin Fizz. It’s a highly bubbly, pink fizz concoction with lemon juice, sugar, egg white, and a top-up of soda.
Weekly Adventure
Woof! This week was a doozy! Good for you for making it this far; If you have, you definitely need a drink. So go wander the gin aisle at your local liquor store and make an informed decision regarding which gin you’re going to go with.
Cheers,
Molly
References:
https://theginisin.com/regulations/what-is-london-dry-gin/
http://www.bythedutch.com/gin-son-of-genever/
https://www.eastimperial.com/blogs/education/navy-strength-gin
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plymouth_Gin
https://www.plymouthgin.com/en/distillery/
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bathtub%20gin
https://theginisin.com/gin-reviews/bathtub-gin/