Gin: Short History

Gin: a Short History

                If modern Vodka is the bastard love child of Russia and Poland, then gin is the illegitimate offspring of an affair between the Dutch and the British. The English word Gin comes from the Dutch word Genever, which is Dutch for Juniper, the main ingredient of the light bodied spirit. Gin was originally being distilled by the Dutch in the 1500’s and gained fame for causing fearlessness in the Dutch Soldiers. This fearlessness brought a whole new meaning to liquid courage. English mercenaries, who fought alongside the Dutch took note of the spirit and brought it home across the channel.

However, gin’s popularity with the British wouldn’t fully blossom until William of Orange, a Dutchman, took the English throne. The monarch popularized the beverage by taxing Brandy imports from France, while simultaneously taxing beer at home to encourage gin distillation on Anglo soil. King William also helped popularize gin on a personal level by taking in vast quantities himself, setting a drunken example for his people to follow.

While popularity for gin grew, its market would balloon even more due to the lack of regulation. Citizens would establish Gin shops, in which they would create prison quality alcohol in dirty bathtubs without any concern over taste, quality or health. Over-indulgence created a ‘Gin Craze’ which found men, women, and even children consuming over 2 pints weekly. The balloon would pop, however, when deaths from toxic gin stills and overconsumption became widespread in London. After a couple decades of legislation named ‘Gin Acts’, distillation finally became regulated to a safe level in the 1750s with Alexander Gordon, of Gordons’ Gin, being one of the first major companies to appear.

Gin maintained its popularity in Western Europe, but wouldn’t begin to be embraced in the America’s until the second half of the 19^th Century. Cocktails had helped establish gin’s foothold across the Atlantic, but prohibition would all but stop the progress of Gin, as it had done to all spirits. At the end of prohibition gin came back even stronger thanks to the popularity of the martini as well as the help of Hollywood movie stars like Humphrey Bogart. Vodka would eclipse gin in North America in the 1950’s and 60’s, with the Vodka Martini becoming a more prominent alternative to the original. Nowadays, gin is on a rebound, finding a home in the hipster subculture.

Works Cited

McFarland, Ben, and Tom Sandham. Thinking Drinkers: The Enlightened Imbiber's Guide to Alcohol. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 164-170. Print.

Hellmich, Mittie. Ultimate Bar Book: The Comprehensive Guide to over 1,000 Cocktails. San Francisco: Chronicle, 2006. 168-170 Print.

Phillips, Roderick. Alcohol: A History. N.p.: n.p., n.d. p 123-130. Print.