As one of the most commonly used alcoholic drinks in the bartending industry and known as the "heart of cocktails", Gin is very popular around the world.
Former Queen Elizabeth of England was a loyal fan of gin. On her 90th birthday, someone asked her what was the secret of always looking so good and even driving a car herself? The Queen smiled and replied: "I drink a small glass of gin every night."
Gin is also closely related to whiskey distilleries. In the first few years of their establishment, many new whiskey distilleries would make gin while waiting for the whiskey to mature, which could both kill time and recoup funds.
The worldwide gin renaissance started about 10 years ago. In addition to the traditional gin giants the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, wine merchants from all continents have purchased or used existing equipment to make gin, leveraging their unlimited imagination and their own advantages. It expresses the delicate layers of terroir and the variety of flavors is surprising.
The raw materials are unique and the bottle designs are dazzling, so many dinners, bars, and even museums have launched co-branded gins with distilleries.
The "old-fashioned" gin has been transformed into a "high-end product" and is highly sought after by fashion-conscious young drinkers.
"According to IWSR, a red wine and spirits market research company, global high-quality gin sales increased by 15.5% between 2013 and 2014, and the growth rate in Europe reached 29.8%, with a market size of US$935 million. Between 2015 and 2020, global and European sales High-end gin sales are expected to maintain compound annual growth rates of 5.6% and 6.8% respectively.
An official government report shows that as the world's largest gin exporter, the number of gin brands in the UK has more than doubled since 2010, from 31 to 73. This growth stems from the demand for local ingredients and natural botanicals, which can create different tastes. "
Of course, in addition to the above, there are many things worth knowing about "gin" for all veterans in the wine industry. Here are 20 tips to share with those who like gin:
01. Gin, also called gin, is made by fermenting and distilling grains and adding many other plants or spices (cinnamon, cardamom, licorice, fennel, orange peel, etc.) and then distilling. According to the law, one of them must be juniper berries.
Juniper berries contain 87 different antioxidant compounds, and this "superberry" also contains compounds called flavonoids, which have anti-aging, heart-healthy properties and can even help lower blood sugar, which has been shown to improve Appearance of skin, making skin look smooth and youthful
A glass of gin is also very low in calories, at almost 97 calories. By comparison, an average glass of wine contains 150 calories and a glass of beer contains 180 calories. The reason is that gin contains only trace amounts of sugar. Therefore, during weight loss, you can drink some gin
02. Gin originated in the Netherlands. As early as 1269, health drinks related to juniper oil were first mentioned in Dutch publications. In 1660, a professor named Silvius of Leiden University in the Netherlands successfully created gin.
03. Gin was first used to help Dutch merchants, sailors and immigrants in the East India region prevent tropical malaria. It was used as a diuretic and heat-clearing agent. Soon people discovered that this "medicine" had a harmonious aroma, mellow taste, and unique style. Naturally, it was quickly consumed as an official alcoholic beverage.
04. Gin is big and famous in the UK.
After the passage of the Distillation Act in 1690, which allowed unlicensed production and imposed high tariffs on all imported spirits, gin production surged, leading to a "gin boom" in Britain, with thousands of "gin shops" appearing across London. , mobile vendors sell gin from their carts.
05. In the 17th century, the price of gin was very low, and poor people began to become gin consumers.
The price of a glass of gin is even lower than that of a glass of milk. Some pubs even post advertisements like this: Drunk for a penny, Dead drunk for tuppence, Straw for nothing (Drunk for a penny, Dead drunk for tuppence, Straw for nothing) dinner)
06. From 1725 to 1750, the proliferation of gin also made the social problems caused by heavy drinking increasingly serious:
A large number of rural people are pouring into the city. If they can't find a job, they can only buy alcohol on the streets. People who are drunk will pile up on the roadside. Even women start to drink... The birth rate has become very low. In some areas, babies are born under the age of two. Previously, the survival rate was less than 80%, and only 75% survived to the age of five.
There are also tragic incidents such as a mother strangling her two-year-old daughter and selling the child's clothes to buy alcohol; a father beating to death his 11-year-old son who was addicted to alcohol and behaved brutally.
07. Gin with added sugar is called Old Tom Gin. At that time, there was a lack of mature brewing technology, and gin had a strong taste of alcohol and fusel alcohol, so people added a lot of sugar to the gin to make it easier to drink. .
There is a little legend about the origin of the name Old Tom. At that time, the public sale of gin was banned in the UK. At that time, it was customary to have a black cat �� printed on the outside wall of the bar, nicknamed Old Tom. In order to deceive others, the gin was sold through this cat on the wall:
As long as you put a coin into the slit of the cat's mouth, you can receive a glass of gin from the cat's paw, hence the name Old Tom.
08. The oldest gin recipe document comes from 1495, which records the recipe from the Arnhem and Apeldoorn regions of the Netherlands: juniper berries, nutmeg, cinnamon, galangal, Paradise pepper, cloves, ginger, sage and cardamom are soaked in base liquor and then distilled.
This document is currently held in the British Library.
09. After learning about this recipe, American bartending expert Philip Duff, together with several authoritative scholars in the wine industry (such as Dave Broom, who authored the Whiskey Distillery Encyclopedia "World Whiskey Map") and two distillers, went to the Cognac region of France. The distillery EuroWinegate has reproduced this gin:
Gin 1495Verbatim, 1495 Fenghua Reborn Gin
10. The decline of gin is mainly due to the influence of vodka.
In 1946, the United States began to use overproduced potatoes to produce vodka. With the emergence of new classic cocktails such as Moscow Mule and Bloody Mary, vodka with low price and less odor became the new favorite of cocktails. Sales volume in the U.S. market once exceeded that of bourbon. In the 1980s, gin almost disappeared in the United States.
In the UK too, the 1960s became obsolete and people turned to wine, blended whiskey and sherry.
11. Gin's "resurgence" around 2000 was also an important milestone in gin innovation.
Many new gins no longer focus on highlighting the flavor of juniper, but instead add some elements that were rarely seen in past recipes. Since 2009, matured gin has appeared one after another, adding further changes to the flavor of gin. .
12. Mature gin means that gin is made through "barrel aging". It can be barrel-aged, or you can add wood blocks or barrel sides to the gin to obtain the flavor.
The selection of various barrels also enriches the interest of gin, bringing the tannins of wine barrels, the nutty or fruity aroma of sherry barrels, the creamy vanilla and spices of bourbon barrels, and even peated whiskey to gin. The smoky peat smell of the barrel.
13. There are roughly two methods of producing gin at present.
The first is the traditional distillation method. The alcohol is diluted with water to about 45%, then spices are added and placed in a still for distillation. The distillate is trimmed off and then diluted with water to between 37.5% and 47.3%.
The second method, the blending method, is used to produce inexpensive gin. It is made by distilling plant ingredients or spice grounds mixed with a small amount of alcohol in a small still, then mixing it with a small amount of ordinary alcohol and diluting it with water.
14. Common gin classifications and brands are as follows:
According to statistics in 2024, 7 of the TOP9 gin brands with sales exceeding one million cases have declined. But global gin sales are expected to grow by 5.5%, second only to agave.
The TOP9 best-selling gin brands in the world are as follows:
Gordon's (owned by Diageo), Tanqueray (owned by Diageo), Bombay Sapphire (owned by Bacardi), Beefeater (owned by Pernod Ricard), Seagram's (owned by Pernod Ricard), Hendrick's (owned by Grant & Sons), Larios (owned by Suntory) owned), Barrister (Russian emerging brand), Gilbey's (owned by Diageo)
16. Worldwide, the city with the largest gin consumption is neither the United States, which loves bartending, nor China, the main consumer, but the Philippines, where drinking in public may face charges.
Ginebra San Miguel is a gin produced in the Philippines. Approximately 22 million boxes of gin are consumed in the country every year, making gin sales in the Philippines account for about 1/2 of the world's sales. It is really loved.
17. The most common gin cocktail is "gin and tonic (gin + tonic water)", which comes from the popularization of medicinal uses of "quinine" extracted from tree bark and the production of tonic water.
In 1825, the British who went to India mixed gin with quinine powder, sugar, lime and soda water to cool down the heat and prevent malaria. This became the prototype of gin and tonic.
In 1858, London businessman Erasmus Bond saw the business opportunity and used quinine to make tonic water for sale; in 1870, the carbonated water brand Schweppes produced the world's first carbonated water using quinine and other flavor ingredients, sugar, soda water, etc. The first sparkling tonic water, named Indian Tonic Water.
18. Gin-based cocktails are quite rich. In the famous 1953 novel "The Long Goodbye", it was written that "the real Gimlet should be pure only gin and Rose brand lime juice."
In addition to gin and tonic and gimlet, common gin cocktails include the following:
Gin Fizz (gin + syrup + lemon juice + soda water), White Lady (gin + Cointreau + lemon juice + egg white), Dry Martini (gin + dry vermouth), Negroni (Gin + Campari + Sweet Vermouth)…
19. In addition to Queen Elizabeth, the famous former British Prime Minister Churchill is also known to drink gin. His favorite "martini" is actually a glass of pure gin, because he doesn't like to drink vermouth at all.
However, it is rumored that when he drinks this pure gin martini, he still needs to prepare a glass of good vermouth because he wants to watch it while drinking.
20. Many people's earliest understanding of gin is probably "Gin", the man in black who gave Kudo Shinichi medicine and turned him into an elementary school student in the "Detective Conan" animation.
He is calm-minded, ruthless and cruel. Kudo Shinichi described him as "seeming to have killed many people but didn't care". He is also his most difficult enemy. It is no exaggeration to describe him as "an emotionless killer".
