Gin

London 1750, a young boy runs through the cobbled streets weaving in and out of the busy day to day runnings
of this great city. Hurrying along and not stopping to talk to any of his friends the boy has the look of important
business on his face.Wearing a small tweed jacket and patched trousers with a little brown flat cap slightly tilted
to the left. He plays back in his head the words his mother had said not more than 15 minutes ago.

“Run little one, as fast as you can. Don’t stop for anyone; run til you can’t run anymore and when you have the
gin run as fast as you can back here. If you don’t get any then we will surely perish. We need that gin.”

The boy knew that this was important to his mother, he didn’t know why and he had to do whatever he could to
get the precious grog. Finally he turned the corner and walked down a narrow alley, it echoed with the sound of
roudy people. As he entered the main street he stopped and took in his surroundings. The first thing that hit him
was the stentch of feuses and rotting corpses, he could hear the hammer and sawing of a carpenter who was
overwhelmed by a pile of bodies and coffins that had to be made. As the boy started to walk forward he looked
up to find the police cutting a man down who had hung himself, with a priest giving pray to the now desceased,
and on the right, a squabbling group fighting over a prescious bottle, kicking, punching and hitting each other
with anything they couold lay their hands on.

As the boy continued to walk he was trying to remember the name of the man he must see. Struggling to
remember, he paused on a wall to catch his breath and desperatly racked his brains.

Hearing a vicious cry he turns to witness a mother passing out on the steps below him, an empty bottle rolling
out of her hand and a baby dropping from her arms. With a loud cry the tiny infant tumbles to the floor lying
still with no breath left in him. Tears started streaming from the young boys face, how people could live like
this, why is this gin so precious?

A well educated middle-aged man then paced towards the boy enquiring; “William Hogarth?” The boy turned
quickly and recognising the face he stood up sharply. “What on earth are you doing here, does your mother
know?” “It was her that sent me sir, to get the gin.”

The gentleman looked in horror that a parent had purposly sent their child into these parts of London. “Quickly
my boy follow me and don’t dawdle, stay close.” The boy stuck like glue to the man as they weaved in and out
of the crowds. Looking up he could see queues of people with pots and pans, tools and other household goods
pawning them in return for a small bottle.

They finally arrived at a worn brown door, quickly walking through and out the other side; they stopped on a
quiet street. The man turned to the boy and asked if his mother had given him anything, so the boy pulled out
two shillings and gave it to the man. He gave a short sharp whistle and a coach pulled up next to them. The man
put the boy inside and shook the boy hard, “Now listen to me; go straight home and do not stop! Here is one
gallon of gin, that should see your mother through the week. Remember don’t stop or you’ll be sold for this.”

There are several methods of producing gin.

First and most important is London Gin which is produced by the traditional method described below. Plymouth
gin is made in a similar manner.
Secondly, gin can be made from any spirit alcohol made from agricultural product which meets the neutral
alcohol requirements laid down in the spirit drink regulation. The neutral alcohol must be distilled to a minimum
of 96% abv and the residues must not exceed those stated in the neutral alcohol definition. The finest raw
materials for this 'neutral' spirit are either grain (normally barley or maize) or molasses. The best neutral alcohol
has no flavour at all.
Thirdly, gin can be produced by simply flavouring suitable alcohol with flavouring substances which give a
predominant taste of juniper; this method is technically known as 'compounding'.

The flavouring ingredients are all natural and are referred to as 'botanicals'. The type and quantity of each
producer's botanicals vary according to their own closely guarded recipes; all are carefully selected and tested
for purity and quality. All gins include juniper as an ingredient: other botanicals used are coriander, angelica,
orange peel, lemon peel, cardomom, cinnamon, grains of paradise, cubeb berries and nutmeg. Typically a fine
gin contains six to ten botanicals. Like all gins, London gin should have a predominant juniper flavour.

It is said that Gin was invented around 1650 in the Netherlands by Dr. Sylvuis. This man -who is also known as
Franz de la Boé- was Professor of Medicine at Leyden, Holland. Originally, he intended this "medicine" as a
remedy for kidney disorders. He used neutral grain spirits flavored with the oil of juniper. He called it genever
after the French term genièvre meaning juniper. By 1655 it was already being commercially produced and
English soldiers serving in the area, took affection to the spirit.

British troops fighting in the Low Countries during the Thirty Years' War were given 'Dutch Courage' during the
long campaigns in the damp weather through the warming properties of gin. Eventually they started brining it
back home with them, where already it was often sold in chemists' shops. Distillation was taking place in a
small way in England, but it began on a greater scale, though the quality was often very dubious. The new drink
became a firm favourite with the poor.

Members of the formation by King Charles I of the Worshipful Company of Distillers hold the right to distill
spirits in London and Westminster. It improved both the quality of gin and its image, it also helped English
agriculture by using surplus corn and barley.

In 1688 James 2 passed and is son in law a Dutchman Willam 3 of Orange was his successor, the new protestant
king banned all imports from any catholic countries i.e france, and encouraged local production in gin,he further
more increased tax on beer making gin the cheapest option. Anyone could now distill by simply posting a
notice in public and just waiting 10 days. Sometimes gin was distributed to workers as part of their wages and
soon the volume sold daily exceeded that of beer and ale, which was more expensive.

Some sources claim that one reason for this was the fact that drinking Gin was safer than drinking water.
Another factor of course was that production and distribution of Gin was rather cheap. The local landowners
produced it as a by-product of grain and taxes were very low. As a result Gin was even cheaper than beer or ale.
Thus, popularity spread, it became synonymous with the poor and abuse of the drink was rampant.

Not suprising really that gin became part of the staple drink of the poor, who consumed it in much the same
quanties they did beer. Gin shops were born and public drunkenness and alcohol related illness soon swept the
streets.Gin had become the crack cocaine of London town, poverty and dispare was just beginnnig for the
majjority of Londons poor getting smashed was the only way of escaping reality

In 1729 an excise license of £20 was introduced and two shillings per gallon duty was levied. Retailers also
required a license. This almost suppressed good gin, but the quantity consumed of bad spirits continued to rise.

In 1730 London had over 7,000 shops that sold only spirits. Abuse of alcohol by the poor became a major
problem, which was tackled by introducing The Gin Act at midnight on 29 September 1739, making gin
prohibitively expensive. The Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole and Dr. Samuel Johnson were among those
who opposed the Act since they considered it could not be enforced against the will of the common people.
They were right. Riots broke out and the law was widely and openly broken. About this time, 11 million gallons
of gin were distilled in London which was over 20 times the 1690 figure and has been estimated to be the
equivalent of 14 gallons for each adult male. During 6 years of the Gin Act, only two distillers took out licenses,
yet production rose by almost 50%.

The Gin Act was finally repealed in 1742 and a new policy was introduced with the help of distillers: reasonably
high prices, reasonable excise duties and licensed retailers under the supervision of magistrates. In essence this
is the situation which exists today. Since then many companies established themselves as well-to-do
manufacturers and the gin became the drink of high quality.

Some sources claim that one reason for this was the fact that drinking Gin was safer than drinking water.
Another factor of course was that production and distribution of Gin was rather cheap. The local landowners
produced it as a by-product of grain and taxes were very low. As a result Gin was even cheaper than beer or ale.
Thus, popularity spread, it became synonymous with the poor and abuse of the drink was rampant. In 1751
William Hogarth created the engraving 'Gin Lane’ to display just how rampant the abuse really was.

The Gin produced around that time was the forerunner of what was known as Old Tom's Gin, which was heavily
sweetened. In the 1870's Dry Gin was introduced and Gin took on respectability in England once again. Finer
establishments served "Pink Gins" (with angostura bitter) and the cocktail age dawned in England. About the
same time prohibition began in the U.S.

Gin has been known as Mother's Milk from the 1820s but later in the century it became known as Mother's
Ruin, a description perhaps originating from the earlier Blue Ruin of the prohibition era in the previous century.

By this time the battle for trade was hotting up between the beer shops and the gin shops. Following the 1820
'Beerhouse Act', beer was sold free of licensing control and 45,000 beer shops - aimed to be the cosy homes
from home - had appeared by 1838. Spirit retailers still required licences and, to compete with the beer shops,
they devised the 'gin palaces' which first appeared about 1830. These were designed to be an escape from home.
As home for the poor - who continued to be gin's main supporters - was often a sordid slum, the gin palace was
large, imposing and handsome and even luxuriously furnished. By the 1850s there were about 5,000 such places
in London and Charles Dickens describes them in his 'Sketches by Boz' in the mid-1830s as "perfectly dazzling
when contrasted with the darkness and dirt we have just left."

In the mid-1830s the temperance movement started. Whilst it failed to make a big impact, it did encourage much
debate on drink which was still a problem. Thomas Carlyle wrote of gin as "liquid madness sold at tenpence the
quartem". By 1869 this led to an Act licensing the sale of beer and wine (spirits were still licensed). Two years
later a further Act was introduced which would have halved the number of public houses in the country, but
public opinion was outraged. One bishop stating in the House of Lords that he would "prefer to see all England
free better than England sober" and the act was withdrawn.

As reforms took effect, so the gin production process became more refined. So gin evolved to become a delicate
balance of subtle flavours, and began its ascent into high society.

Gin triumphed in the 1920s, the first Cocktail Age, after having been scarce during the 1914 - 1918 World War.
Gin became the darling of the famous Cunard cruises. During the 20s and 30s the newly popular idea of the
cocktail party crossed the Atlantic from the USA to Britain via an American hostess who wanted to fill in for
her friends the blank time between teatime and dinner.

During prohibition, the Americans used a different recipe to produce Gin: by taking the poisons out of denatured
alcohol to recover the ethyl alcohol. This was then flavored with juniper, diluted, and bottled. The name for this
was "bathtub gin" and it probably tasted like the name. There were seventy-five different formulas to denature
the alcohol, so if the purification process was not done by a skilled chemist, vile, and even deadly results
occurred. In those days the meaning of the line "to die for" was totally different from today's meaning.

During prohibition, the Americans used a different recipe to produce Gin: by taking the poisons out of denatured
alcohol to recover the ethyl alcohol. This was then flavored with juniper, diluted, and bottled. The name for this
was "bathtub gin" and it probably tasted like the name. There were seventy-five different formulas to denature
the alcohol, so if the purification process was not done by a skilled chemist, vile, and even deadly results
occurred. In those days the meaning of the line "to die for" was totally different from today's meaning.
Gin and Tonics were -like Gin itself- originally developed as a medicine. In this case to help fight malaria.
When the British were in the East they became susceptible to malaria and eventually found out that quinine (an
ingredient in Tonic Water) was useful for getting rid of the disease. Well, as you would probably expect,
drinking Tonic Water by itself is pretty nasty (unless you've acquired a taste for it) and they had problems
getting the British in the East to drink it.

Along comes our friend Gin to be mixed with the Tonic Water, which not only made drinking it much more
pleasant, but also created an excellent drink that would be remembered from then on, even if its relationship to
the disease was forgotten. So, as you can see, Gin and Tonic Water came about due to medicinal reasons, then
caught on later for thier more pleasurable aspects.

On a minor note, the Lime (served in any GOOD Gin and Tonic) being a citrus fruit (and therefore containing
Vitamin C) helps to prevent scurvy. Usually the limes are not the dominant ingredient of Gin and Tonic, so they
won't actually get rid of scurvy if you've already got it - unless you drink alot of Gin and Tonics of course.

Come the 1950’s Gin was once again at its peak with the help of Hollywood, promoting a flamboyant and
sophisticated spirit. Stars of the big screen drank gin martini’s and various other concoxions being mixed over
the every busy entertainment bars.

However this complex and delecate spirit was soon to take a side step to the rapid growth of Vodka and it would
once again fall to the shadows. Now gin has a place in the heart of many and is slowly making a comeback with
many new and exciting products beiing launched, Gin is being re-formed and designed to suit an everchanging
market.

Of the five essential spirits gin is the only one that really has a reputation to live down. Over the years it has
been the calamatous curse of the urban poor, young girls in trouble trying to inflict misscarrage, the bathtub
brews of prohibition that rotted your guts, and the storm clouds of severe depression, this exquisite spirit was
behind it all but started out as something quite different.