Invention of gin

Gin is an alcoholic beverage that has evolved greatly over the last 300 years from its origin. Gin is basically a distilled grain spirit flavored with extract form different plants, mainly the juniper berry. Juniper must be the predominant flavor. Juniper had been used since the 13th century to treat stomach complaints.

Juniper wine had been produced in France since the 16th century. Invented by Count de Morret, the son of Henry IV, it was known as the ‘wine of the poor’.

The Dutch were the first to formulated gin and have been doing so since the late 1500s, where juniper and grain spirit were combined to produce juniper berry elixir known as genievere – French for juniper.

Genievere was entirely different juniper wine. The spirit was for medicinal purposes only, particularly as a remedy for troops suffering from East Indian fevers. But the concoction was so potable that is swept the country as liquor, under the name Geneva or Genever. It contained an ethanolic extract of juniper, said to be a natural therapy for kidney function, coriander for the stomach, and calamus for colic.

Gin started to become known in England when troops returned from fighting the Thirty-Year War (1618-1648). The British supported the Protestant Dutch against Catholic Spain and brought back tales of Genever and its warming properties which had given them ‘Dutch Courage’.
Invention of gin