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I’m embarrassed to say that I was a touch uninformed about the gin-making process, despite consuming a fair few glasses of the stuff on a weekly basis (responsibly, of course).

Is there anything better than a G&T on a Friday to herald in the weekend? Or a Monday evening, to ease the pain?

You’d have a tough time finding something that could top that.

But I digress – there’ll be plenty of time to sing its praises later, but for now, let’s bone up on some knowledge.

Gin starts its life as a neutral (often grain-based) spirit. It’s essentially pure ethanol, to which flavours are added through a process called re-distillation.

While spirits like vodka keep their natural flavour, in order for something to be called ‘gin’ it has to be flavoured with juniper berries.

We’ve looked into the history of gin and the health benefits of juniper berries, but we’ve never really gone into why and how juniper berries became a central ingredient in the drink, especially, as Country Life points out, because juniper berries are notoriously difficult to cultivate:

‘Juniper has everything against it,’ explains [juniper farmer] Andrew Wright, who describes it as ‘a bit of a diva’.

“Female plants will often fail to catch the pollen when pollutants block off their receptors, seeds must first be eaten by birds and then go through two frosts. We need at least 30 plants to ensure a healthy population and milder winters are proving to be a problem.”

With a temperament akin to that of Mariah Carey, it seems odd that it would become the ingredient that defines in a wildly popular drink.

Then again:

It turns out that humans and juniper berries have had a long association. Most famous, of course, is the flavouring the shrub brings to gin, first distilled in Holland in the 16th century. (The Dutch for juniper is genever, which became Anglicised to ginever and then to gin.) Used whole, the berries lend a bitter crunchy bite to game dishes, and were traditionally used to flavour bread and fruit cake in the North of England.

The link goes back even further. The ancient Greeks ate them during Olympic events to increase stamina, and the Romans used them as a substitute for pepper. In ancient Egypt, they were believed to be a cure for tapeworm infections.

As if you needed another reason to enjoy the stuff.

It also holds a fascinating place in folklore:

The shrub is rich in folklore and there’s a long-standing belief that it can avert evil influences. A juniper planted by an elder was said to catch witches and, in Wiltshire, a juniper branch in a beehive would protect the hive from magic.

You now know how to protect your beehive from magic. You’re welcome.

The long and short of it is that juniper berries have been a part of our history for a while, so when folks were looking for something to flavour otherwise bitter and unpleasant alcohol, juniper seemed like a good fit, and they were right.

As gin has continued to travel with us through history, we’ve perfected it and found ways to complement that juniper flavour with other botanicals that reflect the regions in which the gin is made and enjoyed.

If you’re Capetonian (or just someone with excellent taste in gin), you’ll find loads of local flavour in the award-winning Cape Town Gin Pink Lady infused with hibiscus flower and rose petals.

Or, keep it classic, in a tall glass with some premium tonic.

Like those who came before you, spanning thousands of years, how you enjoy the humble juniper berry is entirely up to you.

We’d suggest a gin-based option where at all possible.

[source:countrylife]