 Gin
The most important thing to remember about gin is that it is a flavored spirit. Without the flavorings it would be vodka!
Originally, the phrase “London dry gin” specified a geographic location – that the gin was produced in or near London. Now, the term is considered to be generic and is used to describe a style of gin. Virtually every gin on the market uses the term dry.
By definition, gin is the distillate of a grain mash with various flavoring agents. It gets its primary flavor from juniper berries, but many other herbs and spices go into the makeup. The botanicals come from all over the world; cardamom from Sri Lanka, cassia bark from Vietnam, orange peel from Spain, coriander seed from Czechoslovakia, angelica root from Germany. Most of the juniper berries themselves are imported from Italy. There are dozens of other possible ingredients.
Production
The vast majority of gin found on a back bar or in the well is either English dry gin or American dry gin. The English version uses 75% corn, 15% barley malt, and 10% other grains for the mash. The fermentation process is similar to that of whiskey. Following fermentation, the resulting liquid is distilled and rectified through a column still, producing a pure spirit of at least 190 proof. Distilled water is added to reduce the spirit to 120 proof. The liquid is then re-distilled with the many flavoring agents.
Methods vary from producer to producer. Some combine the botanicals with the spirit and distill the new mixture, while others suspend the botanicals above the spirits in the still and let the vapors pass through the many flavoring agents. The spirit that comes off is reduced to bottling strength, anywhere from 80 to 97 proof, with distilled water.
American gin is produced using one of two standard methods – distilling and compounding. Distilled gin is made primarily by adding the flavoring agents during a continuous process. There are two fairly similar methods of achieving this – direct distillation or re-distillation. In direct distillation, the fermented grain mash is pumped into the still. Then it is heated and the spirit vapors pass through a gin head, a sort of percolator basket filled with juniper, herbs and other natural ingredients. It picks up the delicate flavoring agents as it passes through, and then condenses into a high-proof gin. Water is added to bring the product down to its bottling strength – usually 80 proof.
The other method – re-distillation – differs only in that the fermented mash is first distilled into a flavorless neutral spirit. Then it is placed in a second still, containing a gin head, and is re-distilled with vapors absorbing the flavoring agents.
Compound gin – a less costly method – is simply the combination of neutral spirits with the oil and extracts of the botanicals. However, the dominant flavor must be from juniper berries.
Federal regulations do not permit any age claims for gin, vodka, and other neutral spirits. |
