Gin Shop

Gin varieties in numerous flavours

Gin is available in our gin shop in almost endless flavors. We offer an impressive selection of different gin varieties such as Dry Gin, London Dry Gin, Old Tom Gin or Flavoured Gin. You can also find the right fillers and equipment for mixing cocktails in our gin shop.

The history of Gin

Juniper has been used since the 13th century for the treatment of metabolic diseases. In times of plague the herb was used to smoke out the rooms. After the plague, alcohol was produced mainly for consumption. As grain was more readily available than wine and could also be distilled from the 16th century onwards, a Europe-wide culture of brandy production developed. The subsequent addition of juniper to grain brandies laid the foundation for Dutch jenever. The Spanish-Dutch War also brought gin to the English who fought on the Dutch front. They copied it and developed it further.

Production of Gin

Basic ingredients

At the beginning of the gin production is the distillation of neutral alcohol. Neutral alcohol is produced from various carbohydrate-containing raw materials such as grain or molasses. The initially tasteless alcohol gets its typical taste from the addition of juniper berries and other botanicals such as coriander seeds, lemon or orange peel.

Botanicals in Gin

What would a gin be without juniper and botanicals?

Juniper and the added botanicals are the ingredients that make gin gin. Mainly different berries, fruits, herbs, spices, barks, seeds, peels of fruits and also roots are used. Both the exact quantities and the recipes are usually subject to strict secrecy and are often a trade secret of the manufacturers. Since creativity can be given free rein in the supply of botanicals, exotic spices such as cumin, aniseed, fennel seeds, ginger, cardamom or nutmeg are often used. Only juniper berries must be included in every gin.

Gin production steps: maceration - distillation - storage - bottling

Basically, a distinction is made between aromatization during and after distillation. Different methods such as cold extraction, hot extraction or multiple aromatization can be applied.

Cold extraction (maceration)

In cold extraction, various ground or pressed botanicals are added to the neutral alcohol. As the ingredients have been ground or squeezed, they can develop their full variety of flavors. After a few weeks the distillate is filtered, slightly diluted and bottled.

With multiple maceration, the gin gains depth and acquires more nuances of taste. However, it may then no longer be marketed as "London Dry Gin". This designation stands for a unique maceration.

Hot extraction (digestion)

Another manufacturing method is the hot pull-out. In this process, various botanicals are crushed and placed in the 70 degree warm alcohol or "bathed". The spices and herbs can thus release their ingredients into the alcohol in a gentle way.

Multiple aromatization (percolation)

The method of multiple aromatization is also called steam infusion. Here, botanicals are placed in large sieves above the firing apparatus. The gaseous alcohol is passed through these sieves with steam. In this way, the many different flavors are dissolved and gently passed on to the spirit.

Distillation

After a further distillation, the gin-typical clear spirit is produced. In order to select by-products such as fusel oils, methanol and vinegar pomace, the distillation process is followed by a separation of upstream and downstream. The middle run or the end product is reduced by the addition of water to a drinking strength of 37.5% vol. Gins with a higher alcohol content are often associated with a rounder taste.