In countries like Australia, the gin market is rapidly growing. You can take this beverage as an ingredient in other drinks like a cocktail. Gin is a distilled spirit containing prominent botanical flavours of flowers, juniper, and dried and fresh fruit. Its name comes from Genever.
It’s a derivative of the Latin term Juniperus, which means juniper. The gin that’s sold today has a minimum of 40 per cent ABP and a prominent juniper influence. Today, you can find gins from famous brands, like the Mountain gin, whose gin variety is infused with locally foraged botanicals. Other varieties of their gin also contain vodkas, and there are also pre-mixed drinks that you can take on any occasion.
What Is the Taste of Gin
Different brands of gin have their distinct taste, but most dominantly feature a pine flavour that’s a product of juniper berries. Other prevalent botanicals employed in gin are liquorice root, orris root, angelica root, grapefruit peel, and cassia bark. Although all the gins have a juniper flavour, the presence of additional ingredients makes every brand of gin genuinely distinct.
Types of Gin
There are two significant kinds of gins that are highly common. A distilled gin is prepared by fermenting an alcohol base that’s very similar to how brandy or whiskey is produced. Redistilled gin is a product of the second distillation of a specific neutral spirit. Both these types of gin get their flavour through an infusion of dried or fresh juniper berries and a bunch of other botanical ingredients.
A less common type of gin is compound gin. This gin blends juniper berry essence with a neutral spirit to acquire flavour. Apart from these three types, there are other styles of gin as well. The benchmark for high-quality gin is the London Dry Gin. It has a light body, is very dry, and has a prominent juniper note. Plymouth Gin is lighter than London Dry and has a greater citrus-forward style. There’s also an Old Tom Gin, which is a sweeter version and has a simple syrup.
What Is a Sloe Gin?
A sloe gin is prepared from sloe berry. It’s a tiny plum-like fruit that’s a native of England. Sloe gin is a wintertime drink and forms after steeping the berries in gin to obtain their flavour. After that, sugar gets added, and the mixture is filtered, which results in a gin liqueur.
How Is Gin Made?
The prime difference between redistilled and distilled gin is associated with the base alcohol. The redistilled gin uses a spirit that’s already distilled as the base. The distilled gin has a lower ABV fermented alcohol which is derived from sugar beets, grains, grapes, sugarcane or potatoes.
The botanical and juniper flavours are infused into the spirit using either of the two methods described above. The botanical ingredients are boiled directly and steeped in the base alcohol in the distilled gin. But in the redistilled one, the botanicals remain above the liquor and give their aromas and flavour through vapour infusion.
Gins from the Mountain brand, like mountain gin, use new growth pine needles and mountain pepper berry. In combination with lemon myrtle, fresh orange zest, coriander, and juniper create a flavour and scent that reminds you of the fresh air of mountains and the smell of tall pines. The combination of flavours is very refreshing and vibrant. Thus, this kind of gin is best taken with a light tonic or mineral water and an orange peel.
Thus, every gin utilises juniper as a significant ingredient. But after that, there are not many limits to the elements a distillery can use. You can find a range of flavours in gin. That’s what makes the spirit quite diverse and exciting.
