Gin history, from medicine to community chaos to grand palaces

 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.

Gin Lane 1751,  by William Hogarth
Tate Britain

Like so many products, gin was originally produced as a medic­ine, distributed by Dutch chemists for the treatment of gout and dys­pep­sia. Consumed in large enough quantit­ies, it pro­b­ab­ly did help ame­l­­iorate the symptoms, albeit temporar­ily. Dutch physicians in the ear­ly 1600s created the drink, mix­ing jun­ip­er berry oil with a sp­ir­it to make medicine more pleasant for pat­ients. And with added botan­icals. In fact it was so palatable that “ill­ness­es” soared as the masses wanted the gin that was only available in pharm­acies.

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.

The Gin Palace, Dublin
built in the Victorian era, renovated since
designmynight

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.

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.

Bols Distillery, Amsterdam

Artistic gin cocktails
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