Page 47 - Thirst Magazine Issue No. 3 Coffee & Tea

start to see things moving in that part of the
world. He deregulates the distillation industry
in the UK and the popularity of juniper
distillates from southern and central Europe
finally begins to permeate the British Isles.
The word ‘genever’ starts to be bastardised
to ‘Gin’ in the UK, and the production
techniques in creating it begin to differ. In
1702, around half a million gallons where
consumed, but by the death of William of
Orange in 1727 that number has sky rocketed
to around 5 million gallons a year. We begin Juniper berries
our journey into something known as the ‘Gin
Craze’ or ‘Gin Madness’, a kind of on/off drugs
epidemic afflicting England which lasts for
around 200 years! ONE OF THE MAIN REGULATORY
It is worth noting that whilst initially
genever had been the reserve of the wealthy, FACTORS IN PRODUCING GIN IS
gin was most definitely the drink of the
impoverished at the time, and the Gin Palaces THE REQUIREMENT THAT IT IS
of London in the 19th century grew as a ‘PREDOMINANTLY FLAVORED OF
kind of garish pastiche of opulence for the
downtrodden. Equally, within this height JUNIPER’, EFFECTIVELY MEANING
of imperialism, the botanicals used in gin THAT GIN SHOULD
production came from more and more far
flung and exotic places, giving the working
class drinker an experience of escapism TASTE MORE
almost, from the arduous nature of life during
the industrial revolution.
So what do we have up until this point? OF JUNIPER
Certainly traditional British brands such as
Gordons (distilling since 1769), Tanqueray THAN OF
(1830) and Beefeater (1863) dominate the
market as we move towards the early 20th
Century and the zenith of gin’s popularity ANYTHING ELSE.
in Europe and the US. Perhaps this is
where the myth of gin being traditionally a
‘quintessentially British’ tipple stems from.
But as our story indicates, its roots are in
Persian technology, Mediterranean medicine, So how did Bombay Sapphire unleash
Dutch recreational drinking, and with flavors this second wave of the ‘Gin Craze’ upon the
from Asia, Africa and beyond! Indeed right world, and what has its impact been?
here in Malaysia, Malacca played an intriguing Bombay Sapphire, with their fabulously
role in bringing many of the flavours of gin marketable blue bottle, and floral blend of
to Europe by trade routes, possibly the reason botanicals helped the gin industry win back
that the Tanqueray Malacca Gin is named drinkers (likely from the vodka market)
after it. to the juniper cause by… not being overly
From the 1950’s onwards the rise and juniper-ous!
rise of gin hits a stumbling block. With One of the main regulatory factors
the popular march of vodka being led by in producing gin is the requirement that
the Smirnoff brand, gin falls out of fashion it is ‘predominantly flavored of juniper’,
and into obscurity. Perhaps the only brands effectively meaning that gin should taste more
that survived during this period are the of juniper than of anything else. Although
aforementioned English powerhouses Bombay Sapphire certainly still belongs in
(and maybe this is another reason it became the traditional ‘London Dry’ section of the
thought of as a drink the Brits gave to the gin market (traditional and regulation heavy
world). Then, Bombay Sapphire hits the gins), it was the first gin amongst the major
market in 1987, marking the beginning of international players to temper the juniper
the second coming for gin. within its blend, and to use other botanicals to

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