Keep your gin up

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Keep your gin up

Friday, 05 June 2020 | Pioneer

Keep your gin up

Evonne Eadie, Reserve Brand Ambassador of Diageo, explores the evolution of gin, its growth as a popular spirit and gives a lowdown on the best ways to enjoy this liquid

From war to mass addiction and palaces to naval ships, gin has been through it all. Since the late 1600s, the drink has been both a trailblazer and a traditionalist. The world’s first substance epidemic of the masses and savoured by royalty — gin has seen it all. Over the course of this article, we will explore the evolution of gin, how it has developed into the popular spirit we drink today and, most importantly, how best to enjoy this glorious liquid. So, let’s first define what exactly a gin is. It’s a spirit that has been flavoured with botanicals through distillation or compounding, with the most important botanical called juniper. Though there are a few examples to the contrary, as a whole, gin is not aged.

Evolution

During the war with William of Orange the British soldiers witnessed the Dutch soldiers scull a healthy measure of this Dutch Genever before charging madly into a battle and thus was born the phrase, ‘Dutch Courage’. Like with many things, the British adopted this foreign substance and made it their own. Refining it to suit their palates and rebranding it as quintessentially English. 

This new spirit quickly grew in popularity with both the upper and middle class in Britain. The upper class praised it for its refined flavours and exclusive nature, while the lower class praised it for its significantly higher abv (alcohol by volume) to their staple, beer. This popularity among the masses grew into addiction and London in particular was faced with a widespread epidemic. To curb the consumption, the government introduced a number of laws. One of those being the Tippling Act 1751, which regulated both sale and production of poor quality ‘bathtub gin’ — a poorly made, unregulated and dangerous liquor.  Thus, paving the way for commercial brands like Gordon’s and later, Tanqueray to grow in popularity bringing to market the gins we love today.

In more recent history, gin fell out of favour during the late 20th century with the increase in popularity of vodka, which had been growing since the late 1950s. Vodka being more neutral in flavour could provide a boozy element to drinks without influencing the flavour of other ingredients. From a brand point of view, this was a marketer’s dream, it could be promoted due to the fact you could have several drinks at lunch and no one would smell it on your breath when you returned to work.

Over time gin became synonymous with older folk, less trendy and was seen as a depressant. Gaining names like ‘Mother’s Ruin’ as it was considered something you would find gathering dust in your grandmother’s closet rather than being ordered at a bar. Fast forward 20 years and gin is now in a true renaissance as discerning drinkers become more educated on what they are putting in their glass and transitioning from less flavoursome spirits like vodka into the versatile world of gin.

GIN IN INDIA

There are wonderful ties between India and gin. Not only is the country closely connected through the abundance of botanicals and spices often used in production. It is also the birthplace of the Gin & Tonic. It was here that the British discovered quinine — the key botanical in tonic water — offered protection against malaria. It is important to note, that this is most likely due to repelling mosquitoes, and not curing or preventing malaria. So the only logical step to take with this newfound discovery was to up the intake of G&T’s. Cheers!

With the trade routes in operation, quinine was transported all over the world and the combination of gin, quinine or tonic and lime was sold as medicinal cures for many common health issues.

Market

While the gin category has been growing steadily around the globe for the past decade. We are seeing that trend take off in India primarily in the last 12-18 months. This is exciting because the growth of consumption leads to the growth in variety, so expect to see more gins behind the bar.

A contributing factor to the increase in number of brands is the endless botanical combinations which means an endless range of gins on offer. In comparison to the whisky, which primarily relies on aging to influence flavour and requires to stay in barrels for several years, thus, tying up significant resources. In short, this means you can have a differentiated, saleable product in market within a short span of time, making gin a more economical product to produce.

While there is significant innovation with production methods, many of the world’s most successful and popular brands still use tried and true methods like Tanqueray, who has followed the same recipe and production since 1830. However, they often innovate for new releases. For example, Tanqueray No. 10 was the first gin to use whole citrus fruit when it launched in 2000. An experiment that took two years to perfect, and aren’t we glad they persevered.

consumption occasions

Gin is possibly the best base spirit for mixing as it has a pre-existing base richness without an overwhelming flavour profile. This makes it perfect for cocktails as the botanicals give hint to flavours that can be amplified through additional ingredients.  When creating cocktails with Tanqueray No. 10, which uses whole citrus and chamomile, I am instantly inspired to use fresh herbs like mint or basil, or more relaxing flavours like honey to compliment the chamomile.

The versatility of gin makes it equally suited to long, refreshing drinks for summer as well as stiff, fortifying concoctions for the colder nights. I’m delighted to share some of my favourite gin cocktails and when I consume them.

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