Gin Foundation Botanicals

Like most alcoholic beverages, Gin was created as a medicine by Italian monks back in the 11th Century. Over the years is has become the popular drink that it is today, loved across most of the world, traditionally enjoyed with tonic but is now enjoyed in many, many different ways. Gin is distilled using a neutral spirit (ours is grape based) and a variety of botanicals. While there are five foundational gin botanicals, the one mainstay is Juniper. Let’s discuss these botanicals in a little more detail below:

Juniper
The number one, must have botanical in gin is Juniper. If it doesn’t have juniper in it, it’s not gin - rather just think if it as being a flavoured vodka instead. Juniper, a cone rather than a berry, is the female seed cone produced by the conifer bush. The juniper berry has a strong piney flavour with green citrus notes, which is one of the major distinctions of gin. London Dry Gins are very juniper forward and are known to highlight the juniper berry. While juniper is commonly used in making gin, it is also commonly used in cooking, is medicinal, and has been used as beading for jewellery in the past.

Coriander Seed
Coriander, also known as cilantro, is the second most popular botanical in gin, and lends flavours of citrus, nuttiness and spice to the gin. The seed is used in making gin, rather than the leaf itself, and while some distilleries talk about using coriander, the generally mean coriander seed. While one may think that coriander only lends a spicy flavour to a gin, it actually has a strong, sharp, zesty citrus flavour rather than the mellow, soft citrus flavours from citrus peel. This makes coriander a truly versatile, unique and important part of the gin making journey.

Cardamom
Cardamom (not Cardamon as Sam used to say) like to many botanicals used has it’s roots in medicinal use - interestingly enough it was used as both a toothpaste and in embalming. Ponder on that for a moment. The most common cardamom used are green cardamom pods, however black cardamom can be used and lends a smoky finish which green cardamom provides some eucalyptus flavours to the gin. While cardamom is normally quite strong in its flavour in curries, in gin it lends a slightly perfumed flavour with sweet notes on the front of the palate and spice at the back of the palate.

Citrus
While you’re getting hints of citrus from a number of others botanicals, distilleries tend to use a type of citrus in their gin in addition to the other botanicals. Generally speaking, the citrus peel is used rather than the flesh of the fruit itself, however there are many distilleries who use all of the fruit itself. Lemon is the most commonly used citrus in gin, however distilleries are using many different types of citrus, especially if they are native to the their local area. At Drifters End we use three different type of cirtus in our Australian Dry Gin, which combined with the other citrus elements from the botanicals gives a beatifully complex citrus tone to the gin.

Roots
There are three common types of roots used in gin production: Angelica, Orris, and Liquorice. Angelica is the most commonly used root, however the others do have their place and are used based on their slightly different falvour profiles. The roots lend an earthy element to the gin, with liquorice root adding a slight aniseed flavour and orris root adding floral and sweet undertones. We use a variety of the the roots in our various gins at Drifters End.

Modern gins will always have Juniper in them, however the degree to which the other four foundational botnaicals are used is entirely up to the distiller and the flavour profile they are trying to create. Craft gins may also include a nubmer of other botanicals that one would never even think of using in a gin - our Spiced Pumpkin Gin is a perfect example of this.

So get out there and try something a little different today, knowing that Juniper will always be there with you!