Gin, I learned recently, was invented by a doctor and has often been regarded as good medicine. The 17th-century Dutch physician known as Dr. Sylvius mixed juniper berries and grain alcohol in the hope that the concoction would cure kidney disorders. He called his invention "genever," derived from the French word for juniper.
The "medicine" tasted good and caught the fancy of English soldiers fighting on the continent. They brought a taste for this "Dutch courage" back to their home, where the name was changed to "gin."
It was subsequently blamed for many societal ills. Nonetheless, the British took their gin with them to "the colonies," including India, where they paired it with a quinine mixture known as tonic, thinking the mixture would mollify the effects of malaria.
And so today, when the summer sun sinks below the yardarm, the mixture of gin and tonic - claimed to provide stress relief - is served around the world.
A key to gin is how its "botanicals" - the seeds, roots, berries and other flavored ingredients - are melded with its alcohol. That is what Nelson Carey and Chris Attenborough told me when I spoke with them last week at Grand Cru, a liquor store and wine bar that Carey owns in North Baltimore. Having conducted a one-night gin tutorial last month at Johns Hopkins Homewood Museum, they were filled with facts about gin.
Sylvius and the Dutch made gin in pot stills, Carey told me. The British produce gin in both pot stills and column stills. The alcohol is distilled several times and is married with the botanicals. How this blissful union occurs varies from producer to producer.
While every gin maker adds juniper berries to its mixture, additional ingredients vary, Attenborough said. Some producers have coriander, rose petals or cinnamon in their mixture. In general, the price of gin is determined by the type of ingredients in the botanicals and the amount of hand labor used in the gin-making process. So-called top-shelf gins start at $20 a bottle.
To get some sense for the way botanicals affect flavor, I tasted two top-shelf gins, Hendrick's and Bombay Sapphire, and a less-expensive gin I usually mix with tonic, Gordon's London Dry. I sipped them on ice. Later I mixed them with tonic.
Hendrick's is made in Scotland with an infusion of botanicals that includes cucumber and rose petals. The rose-petal aroma was compelling, but the flavor was, as Hendrick's describes it, "peculiar." I even tried it with tonic, using a slice of cucumber instead of lime.
I preferred the Bombay Sapphire. Thick and luscious, it had several layers of flavor.
The Gordon's London Dry was, by comparison, mild-mannered.
Mixed with tonic water, the gins lost many of their distinctive notes.
My conclusion: The better the gin, the less you should mix with it. Sipping a finely made gin over ice may take the edge off summer's heat. But I often crave quinine, for medical reasons, and a gin and tonic, even made with a lesser gin, hits the spot.
rob.kasper@baltsun.com
HOW THEY RATE
BEST SIP
Bombay Sapphire, England, 750 milliliters, $22.50. Potent and luscious, this gin is infused with 10 botanicals. I tasted the juniper berries, the lemon peel and the licorice. My favorite gin on ice; I felt like I was losing value when I diluted with tonic.
BEST BARGAIN
Gordon's London Dry, England, 750 milliliters, $10. This is not complicated, but a nice mix of juniper and citrus notes. It is ideal for gin and tonics.
ALSO TASTED
Hendrick's Gin, Scotland, 750 milliliters, $33. The aroma is an intriguing mix of rose petals and juniper berries. The botanicals include cucumber and yield an almost medicinal flavor that, in the word of the producer, is "peculiar." It does go well with a slice of cucumber.