How to taste Gin and build up a strong flavour memory

You have just purchased a new bottle of Gin and you are excited to get stuck in and have a few G&Ts, and rightly so. However before you dive on in I would suggest that you get to understand this Gin and where it fits compared with other Gins. This knowledge base will make the whole Gin drinking experience so much more enjoyable. First of in order to get a clear picture of the Gins taste you need to have a frame of reference I suggest picking 3-4 other Gins and trying your new Gin back to back with these other gins.

Trust me this is half the fun of Craft Gin and what better way to spend an evening/afternoon.

One of the best things about Gin is that once its opened you can simply put it back into the cupboard ready for next time. This makes it ideal for regular taste and compare sessions allowing you to build up a strong flavour memory/patchwork to reference and allowing you to better understand the gin category as a whole

Gin can be a great Winter Warmer

When you think of Gin you most probably think summer and tonic. The humble G&T first created to keep British soldiers Malaria free is a fantastic drink and one that almost all Gin drinkers consume on a regular basis but in its traditional format ie plenty of ice and tonic tends to be a bit cold for those chilly winter evenings.

One of the best things about Gin for me is its versatility as a drink. If you’re anything like me there is a different drink and a different way of drinking it that covers just about every mood/situation/weather scenario. Now these differing scenarios could be filled with a different spirit/beer/wine/cider or whatever you normally drink. On the other hand this post will hopefully give you some ideas on how to make simple changes to adapt your Gin collection to suit just about any scenario. Yes that’s right I drink a lot of Gin in Winter!

Winter is stereotypically the season for strong dark spirits heavy dark ales or deep mahogany coloured red wines. There are plenty of great winter Gin drinks that I enjoy that don’t require a lengthy internet search for obscure boutique ingredients. Here are some of my favourites.

A Botanical Adventure

There is an amazing diversity of flavours in Gin these days, the booming craft market has seen that anything from earth worms to rare forest fungi are being used to flavour Gin. This leads to a sometimes confusingly wide variety of flavours available to the modern distiller and Gin drinkers. The trend currently gaining popularity is attempting to categorise these Gins into a limited number of niches that more accurately align with your taste buds than the terms London dry or contemporary. 

Buddha's Hand Fruit

These categories are often characterised by certain botanicals so lets give you a bit of a rundown on these categories and some of the Gins that fit into them. You will have to note that the categories are in no way definitive as different taste buds experience different flavours more strongly and some Gins will balance on a knife edge between 2 categories. However hopefully my experiences will be useful to help you figure out where your taste preferences lie and help select your next bottle of Gin.

A Journey through Gins lesser known relatives (Part 5: Navy Strength)

Navy Strength Gin is produced just like regular Gin except for its powerful 57-58% alcohol content, that’s enough to knock you on your ass quick smart if your not watching your drinks.

History

Navy Strength Gin as suggested by its name was consumed by the British Royal Navy as they cruised around the globe colonising and generally creating trouble. The British government actually regulated in the 18^th century that there Royal Navy ships should have a quantity of Gin aboard at all times.

This Gin was often stored in the same area as the Gun powder and certain savvy officers quickly realised (no doubt after particularly energetic drinking sessions) that if the Gin spilt onto the gunpowder and the gunpowder fizzled or failed when lit that there Gin was low in alcohol content.

So they discovered that Gin needed to be a minimum of 57% or in those days british 100 proof to ignite. A simple test of soaking the gunpowder in Gin and lighting it was devised as a means to ensure that there Gin was not being diluted by dodgy distillers and merchants.   

The Juniper Dilemma

Should Juniper be the dominant flavour or one of many flavour components.

Juniper a coniferous plant in the genus Juniperus has a fleshy fruit like female seed cone which when distilled gives Gin its distinct Pine flavours, or so Wiki tells me.

Current Market

When one thinks of the flavour of Gin, Juniper is what most people believe they are tasting.

That is ofcourse not necessarily the case, what im saying is that people don’t necessarily know what the flavour of Juniper is and many popular Gins arguably don’t taste like the pine needles from your Christmas tree. People have come to associate Gin as a spirit that is generally refreshing and can be spicey, fruity, floral, earthy or Piney or in the case of a good one all of the above. So basically when you consider the current market offerings there are many often big name products that I would not consider as having juniper as the predominant flavour.

The Dilemma

So the Dilemma that is creating a bit of a stir at the moment is ofcourse how to define Gin should Juniper be the predominant flavour or just a flavour component. Should the Juniper content be legislated or is a wif of a single juniper berry in the general direction of the distillery enough.

A Journey through Gins lesser known relatives (Part 4 Barrel Aged Gin)

Aged Gin is not something entirely new if you refer back to Part 1 of this series on Genever the Dutch have been barrel aging for many centuries. However it has had new life breathed into it in recent years with an explosion of new brands from around the globe.

So why would you age a Gin? Seems a little counter intuitive to the bright fresh flavours that Gin makers are normally trying to achieve? You may be right in that this style of Gin is not necessarily going to be consumed in a traditional G&T or Tom Collins and so it may not appeal to some Gin drinkers.

However aged Gin is a very exciting new development for Gin that will help consumers to realise that Gin has more to offer than simply being something you smother with tonic water, Gin should be seen as a spirit that is worth sipping on its own. Craft gins are often extremely unique and flavoursome with incredible diversity available but often limited to cocktails and the G&T through tradition and stigma.

A Journey through Gins lesser known relatives (Part 3: Old Tom)

Often talked about as the missing link between Dutch Genever and modern London Dry Gin, Old Tom is a sweetened style of Gin that was popular in the 19^th century, it is also a style that almost disappeared entirely until its recent comeback.

History

I thought I would start with the history first because this time because as you will see the modern day versions are likely somewhat different from their predecessors.

Old Tom Gin became popular in the early 19^th century there is evidence that in its early days it was around 20% and more of a liquer. By the end of the 19^th century it was closer to the 40% strength we know today.

There are a few different possible stories as to where the name Old Tom came from and no real evidence linking any of them to the name. The most common and interesting is that of Captain Dudley Bradstreet in the 1730s. So this is before the name Old Tom was popularised. The legend goes that to get around the clampdown on Gin sales at the time the enterprising captain nailed a black cat sign to the side of its house with a led pipe concealed in one of its paws. Customers would simply push a coin in the cats mouth and the captain would pour Gin down the pipe into the customers cup/mouth.

A Journey through Gins lesser known relatives (Part 2: Sloe Gin)

Sloe Gin is another classic British creation that is not widely consumed because most countries lack the vital ingredient that gives this Gin variety its characteristic flavour. This ingredient is of-course the Sloe Berry.

Sloe Berries grow on the Blackthorn plant and are not commonly mass cultivated but are often found in local hedgerows throughout the British country side. Sloes harbour an extremely bitter/astringent and unpleasant flavour. However the crafty Brits found a great use for them in Sloe Gin.

How is it made

Because the berries mostly grow wild there are limited numbers of commercially available Sloe Gins and these tend to be seasonal products. Sloe Gin is more of a traditional homemade beverage.

A Journey through Gins lesser known relatives (Part 1: Genever)

So we have talked about Gin and what Craft Gin represents in my earlier posts, one area we haven’t covered is the fringe Gin categories, you may have heard of Genever, Sloe Gin or Old Tom but perhaps had no idea of what that meant. Stay tuned over the next few days to find out what these are, how they are produced and a little bit of History about these unique relatives of traditional distilled Gin.

I thought it only appropriate to start at the beginning with Genever or Jenever as this style of Gin is the

forefather of Gin, without Genver Gin as we know it today would not exist.

Gevener /Jenever

How is it made

Gin myths are just that

Gin is great stuff but has developed a bit of a bad reputation stemming from the 17th century Gin Lane.

Those of you reading this are probably already big fans of Gin but as your sitting there in the sun enjoying a refreshing G&T or sipping on that tantalising Martini the look of pure satisfaction on your face is bound to peak the interest of those less fortunate around you.

And I am sure you have witnessed the puckering of the lips and creasing of the brow that sometimes follows when you tell them you are drinking Gin.

Here are a few of the more common complaints directed at Gin and how you can turn them around and perhaps convince those less fortunate of what they are missing out on.

William Hogarths 1751 paintings Gin Lane and Beer street,
used to depict the evils of drinking Gin.

“Mothers Ruin isn’t it” yup quite possibly if you were living in 17^th /18^th century London. Gin does have a sordid past but that all adds to its intrigue. When

How is Gin made and what makes a Gin “Craft"

For those new to distilling here is a rundown on the basic process and the additional processes that set Gin apart from other spirits. I will follow this with a few insights into the workings of a craft distillery.

First things first you start with a volume of some form of grain, molasses, potato, or other sugar containing material. This is soaked/heated to extract the sugars then a yeast is introduced to the resulting mash the yeast turns the sugars into alcohol and voila! a little filtering and you have a liquid that is ready for distilling.

This resultant liquid is relatively low in alcohol so now it is time for distillation. The liquid is heated up to around 80 degrees C where the ethanol begins to evaporate and rise up the still. Now you will note that at 80 degrees C this temperature is not high enough to evaporate water so you are effectively extracting the ethanol out of the mix leaving the water behind in the still. As the steam rises upwards in the still it reaches a point where there is a condenser this condenser is essentially a part of the still that is being cooled.  So your vapour that is mostly ethanol is cooled back below the 80 degree C mark and becomes a liquid again. This liquid runs down a separate tube and is collected ready for phase 2.

Juniper Berries are what makes Gin Gin.

So Why is Gin Unique?

Gin still has another round of distilling to go. Where your vodka is ready to bottle and your whiskey is ready to go into casks Gin still has another round of distillation to instill its unique taste.

Why you should be drinking Gin

Why Gin, why not Whiskey, Tequila or even Vodka?

Don't get me wrong i love a good whiskey, Rum or even Vodka where Gin pips them all for me is in the variety of flavours and methods available to distillers of Gin.

For me there are 2 Key reasons to drink Gin:

1) Creativity: Gin is a spirit that is not heavily defined by restrictive regulations like Whiskey as long as there is Juniper in the product and it has been created through distillation your good to go. This leaves a lot of room to be creative there are thousands actually more like millions of different botanicals and combinations of botanicals that can be used.

2) Craft: Gin can’t simply be produced by adding flavouring as with most vodka in other words there is craft as well as tradition and innovation involved in how Gin is produced.