The first reference to a spirit flavoured with jenever-juniper was in C13th Flemish manuscripts. Bols family distillery opened in Amsterdam in 1575 and by the early 1600s, the Dutch were seriously producing gin in hundreds of distilleries in Amsterdam alone.
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The invention of the distillation column led to a significant shift in quality and the emergence of the new gin, London Dry style. The smoother taste of the distilled spirit allowed for the botanicals’ aromas to dominate, so many companies developed a wider range of flavourings.
The Thirty Years’ War (1618-48) was significant. When British soldiers were fighting alongside the Dutch, they saw that the Dutch soldiers were extremely courageous. This bravery was attributed to the calming effects of the jenever that they sipped from small bottles hanging from their belts/aka Dutch courage. English soldiers returning home from the war spread the news and the Dutch soon began to export it in their vast shipping fleet.
Distillation of gin in Britain started when King Charles I formed the Worshipful Co. of Distillers in 1638. But traditional gin continued to travel across the English Channel to Britain, particularly with Prince William of Orange and his Dutch troops, as noted. When they took the British throne, William & Mary allowed the British to make and sell spirits, providing they came from home-grown English corn. King William eliminated taxation and licencing on local gin, whilst raising taxes on imported foreign spirits. Spirit prices dropped and heavier beer taxes increased the demand for gin; this helped raise the money needed for King William’s exhausting wars.
With water-borne diseases prevalent in large British cities, gin became the safe drink for the poor in the late C17th-early C18th. 7,000+ spirit shops sprung up around London and gin became the opium of common people, and historians thought that by 1720 a quarter of London’s households bottled their own gin! The Gin Craze era was so remarkable that Parliament had to pass 5 major legislative acts in 22 years, trying to limit the gin drinking.
Gin Lane 1751 by William Hogarth depicted social breakdown supposedly caused by gin. He showed the drinking craze of the mid-1700s led to neglectful, drunk mothers who couldn’t even protect their own children. Thus gin came to be called Mother’s Ruin! The brewing industry had asked Hogarth to illustrate that beer consumption was far healthier than drinking gin.
Largely successful, the Dutch Gin Act 1751 passed and the passion for gin finally slowed down in the Netherlands. However in Britain lots of fun was still to be had at the Frost Fairs on the frozen River Thames; crowds would gather to find the stalls selling hot gin and gingerbread! Enterprising Londoners looked to make a quick profit from fairs.
As consumption rose, the British government tried to curb the growing gin-passion by introducing a distiller’s licence for an unthinkable price: £50. Pieces of legislation were introduced in the mid C18th, to legalise licensed retailers and outlaw unlicensed gin shops. Amazingly it happened. Consumption dropped and more respectable firms took up distillation, producing better quality products and joining high society. Yet the Gin Act of 1769 led to days of riots across London in protest; it had gone too far.
built in the Victorian era, renovated since
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The British Empire expanded into hot climates; mosquitos carried malaria, but the soldiers and colonists had little immunity. As they took over the governance of India, British immigrants faced the ravages of malaria. But the British could only protect themselves against malaria once quinine was discovered in 1820, even if it tasted bitter. A local cure came from the bark of the fever tree which contained the bitter quinine. To make it more palatable, sugar, lime, ice and gin were added; the G&T was born, the distinctively British colonial drink. Needless to say when the troops arrived back in Britain the practice came with them.
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Bols Distillery, Amst
Another medical demand on gin occurred in the British Navy. It was believed that Angostura bitters relieved seasickness and as with tonic, the sailors agreed that bitters were a great accompaniment to the gin. Luckily the navy looked after its officers who were paid a portion of their wage.. in gin. Plus it was found that bitters produced a widely enjoyed pink gin.
In the late 1820s the first Gin Palaces were established for Britain’s gentlemen. They had to be licensed and sell wine, but mostly their lavish bars were selling gin. They were based on the new fashionable shops being built then, expensively fitted out with long counters, luxurious furnishings, ornate mirrors, etched glass and gas lights.
After campaigns led by the Prohibition Party and the Women’s Christian Temperance Union in U.S, the Volstead Act was passed in 1919 banning alcohol consumption. Most citizens were unhappy during the 13 years of Prohibition, so illegal bars multiplied. And gin cocktails were developed, to disguise the taste of cheap gin. Smuggled alcohol was insufficient to satisfy demand, so many got their own alcohol via moonshine and boot-legging. Bathtub Gin emerged in 1920 when desperate distillers went underground, using household tools to make cheap spirits.
After campaigns led by the Prohibition Party and the Women’s Christian Temperance Union in U.S, the Volstead Act was passed in 1919 banning alcohol consumption. Most citizens were unhappy during the 13 years of Prohibition, so illegal bars multiplied. And gin cocktails were developed, to disguise the taste of cheap gin. Smuggled alcohol was insufficient to satisfy demand, so many got their own alcohol via moonshine and boot-legging. Bathtub Gin emerged in 1920 when desperate distillers went underground, using household tools to make cheap spirits.
