What Is Gin Made From? 11 Classic Gin Cocktails

Gin is a type of spirit characterized by the flavor of juniper berries. Gin makers produce gin by infusing a neutral spirit with botanical ingredients during the distillation process. For liquor to be classified as gin in the United States, it must contain at least 40 percent alcohol by volume (ABV). There are many different types of gin, including Old Tom, Plymouth, Genever, and London Dry, and an array of cocktails featuring the popular spirit, such as the classic Gin and Tonic, Tom Collins, and the French 75.

Gin makers only need a few key ingredients to make gin:

• A fermentable base: Most alcohol-making begins with an agricultural product that will undergo a fermentation process. The most common base for liquor is a mixture of grains—for instance, corn, wheat, rye, or malt barley—though producers can use many other ingredients in this stage, like molasses, honey, apples, grapes, carrots, or potatoes. After undergoing the fermentation process, this base produces ethanol, which gin makers sieve out, leaving them with pure, liquid alcohol.
• Juniper berries: Juniper berries have a woody, pine-like flavor. They are the only required botanical ingredient for liquor to be considered gin and are usually added during the distillation process.
  
• Additional botanicals: Most gin makers add different botanical ingredients during the gin-making process, including citrus peel (often lemon and bitter orange peel), licorice root, angelica root, cardamom, anise, coriander, and cinnamon.

The popularity of gin has ebbed and flowed since its invention:

1. 1. Origins. Juniper-based liquors have multiple origin stories. Some accounts claim that monks in Italy made medicinal juniper liquor as far back as the eleventh century. Others claim the first-known juniper-based alcohol was a Dutch liquor (also used as a medicine) in the sixteenth century. Some accounts attribute the invention of the liquor to an alchemist named Franciscus Sylvius in the seventeenth century. Regardless of its true origins, gin quickly became a popular choice for medicine and imbibing by the mid-seventeenth century.
2. 2. The gin craze. In 1695, the English government placed a high tax on imported spirits. Unlicensed gin production was legal and inexpensive at the time, so thousands of gin pubs opened all across the country, with a vast number of people making and selling their own gin in pot stills. Gin became the most widely consumed liquor in the country. Due to its popularity as a low-cost liquor enjoyed by working-class people, gin was targeted as the cause of many social problems, including excessive brawling, familial neglect, and rising death rates.
3. 3. Legislation and decline. By 1736, the English government introduced legislation to tax gin retailers, reducing its popularity to more standard levels. The drink’s reputation as liquor for the working class adversely affected its popularity among the wealthy, and sales waned.
4. 4. Modern resurgence. Gin’s popularity has been on the rise in recent years, especially with the development of gin liqueurs, like pink gin, rhubarb gin, and sloe gin.

Gin and juniper-based spirits have been around since the sixteenth century. Since then, gin makers have developed many different styles, including:

1. 1. London Dry: London Dry is a distilled gin originating in England. Juniper is typically the most immediately detectable botanical component of a London Dry Gin, with citrus, angelica root, and coriander rounding out the back end. Most London Dry Gin producers bottle their gin at a high proof, making the spirit very versatile for both shaken and stirred cocktails.
2. 2. Plymouth: When looking for the mellow cousin to London Dry Gin, reach for Plymouth Gin. Produced in the South of England and bottled at a lower proof, this gin is distinctly less juniper-forward than London Dry. Plymouth makes for a silky and subtle Martini, with earthy spice notes and a slight salinity. Note that Plymouth does produce a Navy Strength gin—the alcohol content of the distillate is 57 percent alcohol by volume. It is more akin to a London Dry in character and application. While distillers can produce most gin types, Plymouth Gin Distillery in England is the only distillery with the rights to produce this type of gin.
3. 3. Old Tom: An older style of gin that has a rich, malty mouthfeel and a distinct citrusy sweetness, Old Tom Gin is sometimes aged in barrels, making it superb for shaken cocktails like a classic Tom Collins. It also holds its own in stirred cocktails like the classic Martinez.
4. 4. Genever: Genever (or jenever) is a precursor to modern gin that dates back to the sixteenth century. Genever is richer than gin, with a savory, earthy, malty flavor. Distillers make genever in Holland, Belgium, and certain parts of France and Germany, distilling it from malt wine spirits instead of neutral grain spirits. Genever’s flavor palate makes it an excellent choice for a Gin Old Fashioned or any cocktail that contains sweet vermouth.
5. 5. International style: New expressions of gin appear worldwide seemingly every day, from Spain to Japan, Brazil to the United States. Freed from the traditional botanical trappings of the London Dry style, many contemporary gin producers craft their spirits as direct reflections of their geography, incorporating local roots and botanicals. To explore how best to use more niche gins, try using them in a Martini first, then move on to more complex cocktails, like a Negroni.

Here are some classic gin cocktails that you can make at home:

1. 1. Bramble: The Bramble features gin and crème de mûre, a blackberry-flavored liqueur, and its name is a reference to blackberry bushes, known as brambles.
2. 2. French 75: The French 75 cocktail includes gin, simple syrup, fresh lemon juice, and champagne. Serve it in a champagne coupe. Learn how to make a Classic French 75 cocktail.
3. 3. Gin and Tonic: The Gin and Tonic is a simple cocktail made with gin and tonic water poured over ice in a highball glass and garnished with a lime wedge.
4. 4. Gin Fizz: Make a Gin Fizz by mixing gin, lemon juice, sugar, and soda water in an Old Fashioned glass, then serve with a lemon peel garnish.
5. 5. Gin Gimlet: A Gin Gimlet is a simple cocktail made with gin, lime juice, and simple syrup.
6. 6. Gin Martini: A Gin Martini is made with dry vermouth and London Dry Gin, garnished with an olive or lemon twist, and served in a chilled coupe glass.
7. 7. Gin Rickey: A Gin Rickey is simply a Gin and Tonic with the addition of freshly squeezed lime juice. Learn how to make a Gin Rickey cocktail.
8. 8. Gin Sour: A Gin Sour is simply a Gin Fizz without the addition of soda water.
9. 9. Monkey Gland: The Monkey Gland is a classic gin cocktail with an alluring pinkish-orange color, made with dry gin, fresh orange juice, grenadine, and absinthe. Serve it in a chilled cocktail glass.
10. 10. Ramos Gin Fizz: The Ramos Gin Fizz is made with gin, egg white, lime juice, lemon juice, sugar, cream, soda water, and orange flower water.
11. 11. Tom Collins: The Tom Collins is a refreshing, carbonated cocktail made with gin as the base spirit, along with club soda, simple syrup, and lemon juice. Serve a Tom Collins in its namesake glass, the Collins glass.

Learn more about mixology from award-winning bartenders Lynnette Marrero and Ryan Chetiyawardana. Refine your palate, explore the world of spirits, and shake up the perfect cocktail for your next gathering with the MasterClass Annual Membership.