Gin - the quintessential cocktail base

It's the quintessential cocktail base - and is positively naked without tonic and a slice of lemon. Currently very much back in flavour, Dave Hughes chronicles the life and times of gin - globally and in South Africa.A recent headline in a weekend newspaper read as follows: 'Man to be whipped 80 times for drinking gin'. A Nigerian Muslim from the state of Jigawa admitted to an Islamic court that he had drunk local gin - ogogoro - in violation of that state's Islamic law. While I respect that religious rules need to be observed, I thought the punishment a bit harsh - especially when gin has had a long historical association with Africa and its peoples.

 

With the Cape an important way station on the spice route, the Lords 17 sent a distiller to the Cape in 1657. Joost Blanc van Imleek brought with him on the Amersfoort two stills. Quite what happened to Mr van Imleek and his two stills appears to be a bit of a mystery - since that's the only reference in company records to the above. According to historical documents the Company imported all its liquor requirements from Jan van Riebeeck's arrival until 1660.

Even after the first wine was made and distillation commenced, the Dutch East India Company paid for imports of Dutch gin and beer, and brandies from Spain and Portugal. This was supplemented with wine from those countries - as well as French and German wine.

It appears that while the commander's table was certainly well supplied with good produce, much of the imported rations for 'the men' was of very dubious quality.

Many incidents of drunken behaviour were reported - and faithfully recorded in old Company documents - but the first really scandalous effort was when a lay-preacher and schoolmaster had to be repatriated as he was 'continually drunk on gin'.

But back to gin… it's believed to have originated in the Netherlands - hence its role as one of the earliest potable alcoholic beverages to be consumed in the first days of European settlement in the Cape.

Another trivial but interesting snippet of information concerns the British troops during the South African War. Officers of the realm were supplied with whisky and gin. Whenever an encampment was established one of the first priorities was to set up the soda water bottling plant - to ensure a supply of clean, filtered and carbonated water for their whisky. The addition of quinine to the soda meant that tonic was also made.

Generations of settlers and travelers to Africa and other spots the malaria mosquito calls home swear by the medicinal benefits of a daily gin and tonic because of the tonic's quinine content.

Medicine is believed to have been behind the establishment of gin. Franciscus dela Boe, also known as Dr Sylvius, a professor of medicine at the University of Leyden in the Netherlands, produced a spirit containing the juice of juniper which was used for treating all sorts of ailments.

Dutch distiller, Erven Lucas Bols, immediately saw the commercial possibilities of this product and distilled a white spirit from rye in the 16th century to which he added some juniper - well known for its diuretic qualities. His intention was to produce a medicinal drink that was pleasant to imbibe. Some believe the name gin is derived from the Dutch word for juniper - jinverbes.

When the Dutch Prince of Orange ascended the British throne in 1688 as William III he brought gin along with him. The product was already familiar to English troops who had campaigned in the Low Countries where they had used the 'substance' prior to going into battle… hence the term 'Dutch courage'.

The arrival of the new King helped popularise the drinking of this strange white spirit. British drinking classes very soon anglicised the Dutch name to gin.
Continuing strife with France meant the drinking of (French) brandy was actively discouraged and William's government passed an Act making the production of gin exceptionally cheap.

It was easy to produce and soon abysmally inferior quality gins flooded the drinking houses. 'Gin shops' proliferated and the excess of drinking even reduced the birth rate! In 1725 annual consumption had reached five million gallons - 17 years later the figure stood at a whopping 18 million gallons for a population that hadn't grown substantially. Most of what was being drunk was made from inferior alcohol and seldom contained juniper.

The sign 'Drunk for a penny. Dead drunk for tuppence. Fresh straw daily.' held more than a hint of truth… and became well used in the equivalent of 'Happy Hour'!

Hogarth's famous paintings 'Gin Lane' and 'Beer Street' showed the disgusting picture of the ruin brought by gin and the good health of beer drinking. Various attempts were made to remedy the situation with the use of punitive duties which only succeeded in driving the illicit product underground. Eventually nature came to the rescue in 1795 when the corn crop failed and its use in distillation was prohibited. Denied access to gin, people turned to ale which was made from barley, a crop that had not been affected.

Gin slowly made its way back toward popularity with brands still familiar today. It did so by giving the consumer top quality through the use of the very best alcohol and the finest flavouring botanicals. Historical records show the Booths family was in the wine business way back in 1569. They had a distillery in London in 1778 although they listed a gin as one of their products as early as 1740. Alexander Gordon, a Scot, established his distilling business in London in 1769 while James Burrough, a trained pharmacist, founded his distilling company in 1863 and produced Beefeater gin. It was in 1857 that the Gilbey brothers established their wine and spirit business - and initially imported South African wine before they began making gin!

Gin clawed its way back to respectability and the drinking habits of the empire colonists (those pesky mosquitoes…) enhanced its prestige. Fleets of ships took to the oceans to service the far-flung Empire and, while rum was the drink of the rank and file, gin was the tipple of the officers.

Although locally produced on a small scale, until World War II the international brands were imported into South Africa to supply the keen market. After the cessation of hostilities, Gilbeys was the first of the 'London' producers to begin local production, setting up a distillery in the last outpost of the colonial empire - Pietermaritzburg - in 1951. Other gin distillers followed suit: Gordons, who made Isando their production base, while Burroughs Beefeater gin was made by Distiller's Corporation, and Stellenbosch Farmers' Winery (SFW) made Booths.

The only local product to challenge the dominance of the big London names was Old Buck gin - through the efforts of Sedgwick Taylor and SFW.

The gin made in South Africa is called 'London dry'. Contrary to the current European trend of banning the use of any place names on liquor labels - like Port, Sherry and Champagne - the British seem quite amenable to their capital city being punted on our gin labels.

To the best of my knowledge there are now only two gin distillers still in London - Beefeater in Kennington, near the Oval of cricket fame, and the old Chelsea Distillery in Clapham.

The modern gin is a clear, un-aged alcohol flavoured by re-distilling in the presence of the flavouring botanicals. The different flavours of various brands depend entirely on the botanicals - not only what they are but also the proportion used.

Booth's High and Dry has about half the weight of botanicals of fuller flavoured gins. Most London dry gins contain juniper - usually the main flavouring - coriander seeds, angelica root and seed, and minute amounts of citrus peel, cardamom, cassia bark, liquorice, orris root (the root of a certain iris) and maybe even nutmeg, ginger and other spices.
The origins of the botanicals tell a fascinating story of their own, coming from exotic places like Morocco, Java, West Africa, Central Europe and China. The 'dry' comes from the fact that at one time a lot of gin was sweetened. About the only survivor of sweet gin is the curiosity occasionally found in London under the name 'Old Tom'.

After some years of very little action gin sales the world over are showing signs of life. An interesting case study is Plymouth gin which, as the name suggests, is produced in the historic port town of Plymouth - and has been for more than 200 years. It's a gin closely associated with the British navy.

The Coates family established their distillery in the Old Black Friars Monastery near the Barbican in Plymouth in 1793 - and it remains a working distillery, having survived bomb damage in WWII. It was also where the Pilgrim Fathers gathered in 1620 before they set off for the New World aboard the Mayflower.

As you approach Plymouth by road there is a large billboard that states 'Plymouth, twinned with tonic'!

Their gin was almost dead five years ago with international sales of less than 5 000 cases. Sales estimates for 2002 are over a 100 000 cases.

Burgeoning interest in gin has inspired a host of modern pack changes best illustrated by Gordons with their new oblong, tapered, upright bottle.

One of newest additions to the gin market has been the introduction of organic gin - spirit produced from organically grown grain and botanicals all certified from organic producers.

A relative newcomer to the gin world is Bombay Sapphire, sold in its distinctive pale blue-tinted bottle. Some folk are disappointed to discover that the gin is not the same colour!

A drink that has never truly gone out of fashion, the gin and tonic has played a major role in society throughout the ages. Gin was a staple of every drinks cabinet when cocktails were de rigueur. That's a story in itself…. especially the dry martini; gin and 'french', with French vermouth; gin and 'it', with Italian Vermouth, not to mention 'pink' gin, with bitters.

Gin is one of the most versatile spirits and seems poised for another lease of life either as a most refreshing G&T, a cocktail ingredient, or as an appetising 'pink'. The future of gin is looking rosy.

Still life The spirit used is as neutral as possible so as not to interfere with the flavouring botanicals. It can be sourced from various grains, such as barley, rye or maize, or can originate from molasses or even high-rectified grape spirit.

The stills are usually fairly simple pot stills with long, narrow necks. The botanicals are placed in the pots with the spirit. As the still heats up, the vapours rise in the neck taking the flavours and aroma with them to be condensed into liquid gin.

Some variations exist in production with ingenious continuous stills being used where the vapour is passed through the botanicals, which are on stainless steel trays that can be rotated and so replace the botanicals as required.