Applications of natural ingredients in alcoholic drinks - Natural Food Additives, Ingredients and Flavourings - page 382

Table 16.13 Categories of gin

Category (typical %
ABV)

Grain base for spirit 1 Addition of botanicals Type of still/number of

distillations

Ageing Botanicals

Geneva (Jenever or
Hollands) (37.5)

Barley, maize, rye At fermentation and/or

second (and third)
distillation stage (as
whole botanicals or as
gin distillate)
To grain neutral spirit
(GNS) (as whole
botanicals or as gin
distillate)
To GNS (as gin
distillate)

Pot still/two (three for
'double gin')

Cask, glass or
stainless steel

Juniper berries, plus a selection
of allspice seeds, angelica roots,
cardamon seeds, cinnamon bark,
coriander seeds, ginger
rhizomes, hop fl owers, lavender
fl owers, malted barley, lemon
peel, orange peel, orris roots
and others. Gin distillate is
made by macerating botanicals
in GNS for several days,
distilling slowly under vacuum
and diluting the distillate with
pure water to about 70% ABV.

Distilled gin (e.g.
London dry, Mahon,
Plymouth) (40-45)

Barley, maize, wheat Pot still/many (GNS

base will most likely
have been produced in
a continuous still)
None

None

Compound gin (35-40) Barley, maize, wheat None

Note: 1 Barley is malted and others are usually liquefi ed/saccharifi ed by cooking.