Gin — an alcohol with an unusual history

First it was a medicine, then a drink of the ruling classes and workers, but also a payment for work. Today we note a renaissance of the culture of consumption of this alcohol with a very characteristic aroma.

[Photo by Toni Cuenca from Pexels]

Common juniper is a species of evergreen shrub widespread throughout the northern hemisphere. Its characteristic aromatic cones have long been used as a spice but also as a medicinal agent. The extract was used as a diuretic, cholagogue and in the past as an abortive. Nowadays, juniper extracts and oil are also used in phytotherapy. In the 14th century a tincture with juniper berries, whose composition is not fully known, was used as a remedy during the great plague epidemic that killed 30–60% of Europeans. Juniper berries were also put into distinctive beaked masks by doctors caring for the sick. Although we have no illusions that juniper or a tincture made of its berries were able to fight the disease, a glass of gin could definitely improve the mood of the sick.

Common juniper cones — [Photo by Valentina Bondarenko, Pexels]

The popularity of gin, at that time called Dutch jenever or French genièvre (both simply mean “juniper”), began to grow to such an extent that in the 17th century in Amsterdam alone there were 400 distilleries…