Gin has one of the most storied pasts for the drinks industry. It’s English heritage tells stories of aristocracy and class, but not of how Gin really started out.
Let’s start at the very beginning shall we?
200AD – It is said that the use of Juniper dates back to this date. Used in ancient medicine due to claims it can cleanse the kidneys and liver when mixed with alcohol
1568-1648 – Eight’s Year War saw the Dutch introduce the English to Genever – also referred to as ‘Dutch Courage’. Genever was made from malt wine and juniper berries.
1689 – William of Orange take to the thrown and brings his love of the juniper spirit across to England.
1694 – Gin becomes cheaper while the prices of beer rise.
1720-1751 – ‘The Gin Craze’ was in full swing. Women where the biggest fan and it soon became own as ‘Mothers Ruin’. It was a time where the poor could buy a pint of Gin for less than a pint of Beer.
1751 – William Hogarth created ‘Gin Lane’. A print which highlighted the horrors of St Giles, London at the height of the Gin Craze and it portrayed just how the love for the crazy cheap clear stuff had caused distress and squalor. The Gin Law was soon brought in to help the issue.
1761 – Thomas Dakin opens Greenall’s Distillery in Warrington.
1769 – Alexander Gordan opened up Gordan and Company in Bermonsey.
1793 – Plymouth Gin starts production and remains the only British Gin that is being made in the same distillery it started at.
1870 – Schwepps launched an Indian Tonic water and the Gin and Tonic was founded.
1920s – Gin returns to yet another downfall.
1988 – Bombay Sapphire is launched. The first for a number of years within the UK.
2016 – At the start of the year there were 233 licensed UK gins producers alone.
2020 – There are more flavoured Gins than ever before and Gin has become a world over drink, popular with people of all ages and genders.
Overall I can say that we maybe in another Gin Craze right now, but to the other end of the extreme from the 18th Century. Today it’s a drink for anyone. A drink to be enjoyed and sipped on while catching up with friends, and by no means is it a cheap drink. It’s great to see how it’s changed through the ages and turned itself around so to speak.
ginandcoast.co.uk 