How Is Gin Made and How Is It Distilled?

Before we get technical about all the different ways gin can be made, it’s worth defining what gin is first, how it's made, and what it is made from. The world of the juniper-infused spirit is incredibly diverse, boasting a wide range of botanical ingredients and distillation techniques.

Gin is an alcoholic beverage obtained by distillation from a base of grain (wheat or barley). In a further procedure, botanicals along with water are added until the desired flavors are met. To be called a gin, the spirit must have a predominant flavor of juniper berries. Juniper is a type of aromatic “fruit” that grows along the branches of juniper trees.

So, what are the key ingredients in gin?

• Juniper berries • Type of grain • Gins come in different styles and flavors. Accordingly, the spirit can be infused with a variety of herbs, botanicals, and spices. Common botanicals in gin are citrus, seeds, and rosemary.

Legal definitions of gin are very similar in the US, EU, and other countries. The United States defines gin as an alcoholic beverage of no less than 40% ABV (bottled at not less than 80 proof) that possesses a predominant flavor of juniper berries.

Moreover, gin produced exclusively by original distillation or by redistillation gets termed as “distilled”.

Any gin starts its life as a neutral (often grain-based) spirit. It’s essentially pure ethanol, and then flavors are added through a process called re-distillation.

There are many different methods of distillation, each of which can be used to create different flavors of gin. The two most common forms for extracting flavors from botanicals are:

• Steep method of gin distillation
• Vapor infusion method of gin distillation
• Combination of the two above
• Vacuum distillation method

This traditional method is also the most common one. The base spirit is placed in a pot still (a vessel that holds the liquid and can be heated), along with the juniper berries and other botanicals. This base spirit can, for example, be vodka.

Then, the botanicals are steeped for as long as 48 hours. Some producers will, however, distill the liquid almost immediately. Once completed, water is added to reduce the distillate to bottling strength.

This method is still used by Beefeater’s Gin, for example. Unique to their production is steeping lemon peels and Seville oranges, whole juniper berries, and other natural botanicals for 24 hours before distillation.

Well, the ingredients and distilling processes are different. You can make vodka from more or less anything - wheat, rice, corn, barley, rye, sorghum, grapes… the list goes on.

Whether it’s made from grains or potatoes, once it’s all been mashed up, it’s the enzymes that get to work and create the fermentation and sugars needed for it to become Vodka.

Multiple distillations, filtration, and search for the purest water to use in vodka’ contribute to the neutral character of the “little water.” Usually, vodka has an alcohol content of 40-55% and is less flavorful than other Spirits - which is why some don’t care for it, and for others, it’s their go-to cocktail buddy.

In this process, the botanicals never come into direct contact with the neutral base spirit. Instead, they’re placed into baskets in the still, above the base spirit, which evaporates and rises up and infuses with the botanicals when boiled. The infused vapor then condenses into a liquid. Finally, water is added to reduce the alcohol to its bottled strength.

This method is said to give a more gentle flavor to the spirit, and is used by producers such as Sibling Gin, and the iconic Bombay Sapphire, which favored this production method to create a lighter style of Spirit.

While some botanicals are steeped, others will be placed at the top of the still to infuse the vapors. One famous example of this is Hendrick’s Gin, which uses two separate stills (one for steeping botanicals for 24 hours before boiling, and one for vapor infusion of different botanicals) and then combines the distillates for the final blend, along with the addition of its well-recognized cucumber and rose petal essence.

In recent years, there’s been a rise in more unusual production methods. As producers try to develop new styles and flavors of gin, to push the category and find a niche, the need for trying new ways of extracting flavors, and using more unusual botanicals, has grown.

One such way is the vacuum distillation method, favored by producers of Sacred Gin, Cambridge Dry Gin and Victory Gin.

As the name suggests, vacuum distillation is when the redistillation of botanicals takes place in a vacuum. The vacuum - and here’s the techy science bit - creates a lower boiling point for the ethanol, which in a pot still would be somewhere around 85 - 95°C. The lower temperature means that the botanicals are essentially cooked less than they would be in a normal still, resulting in a more fresh-flavored gin at the end of it all.

There is a number of different gin styles and classifications

• London Dry gin: Made only by pure grain spirit and natural botanicals
• Genever: Made with malt wine
• Navy Strength: The spirit has at least 57% ABV.
• Plymouth gin
• Old Tom gin: Sweet flavor
• Homemade infused or flavored gin: Sweet due to infused fruit and added sugar.
• Aged gins (which are matured in oak barrels, many of which have previously contained bourbon, Scotch, or even Vermouth).

The one thing that all these different styles of gin have in common is the dominant juniper flavor! By the way, Flaviar offers amazing gin-themed Tasting Boxes™, including premium and rare brands. Perfect for true connoisseurs of the juniper spirit! Moreover, if you are worried about your expenses, check out our selection of Best Gins under $50.

It’s not just how the botanical flavors make their way into a gin that affects its flavor. Every gin is made to a specific recipe, with a specific number and weight of botanicals.

While the flavor of one batch made by steeping and boiling will be different from the one made using the vapor infusion method, even using the same method, and the same botanicals can have different results.

STEP 1: Pour 750 ml of vodka into the bottle. It doesn’t need to be top-shelf, but use a decent one that you'd be willing to drink by itself. STEP 2: Add about one ounce of juniper berries. Cap the bottle, and give it a shake. Then, let it sit for 24 hours in a cool, dark place. The liquor gradually starts to take on a yellow tinge here. No worries, you didn't somehow ruin this grown-up science experiment. This is perfectly normal. Whew. Okay, moving on. STEP 3: Create a combination of a botanical blend (e.g., 1.2 oz of juniper berries, 0.35 oz of coriander seeds, and 0.35 oz of angelica root) and add it to the bottle and shake, shake, shake! A botanical blend can consist of anything you want. If you don't have much experience, it's tough to know if a blend is good or not before making it, so feel free to play around!       Step 4: Wait for another 12 hours to allow the gin to develop flavor.       STEP 5: Grab your sieve and strain out the botanical blend. STEP 6: Your gin is ready to be consumed! Store it out of sunlight in a glass bottle for up to 1 year.            

It’s the job of a distiller to ensure that the botanicals used in a gin are treated in a way which results in the same flavored end product, despite, for example, using different crops of berries, seeds and herbs over the course of a brand’s lifetime.

Variances in a single batch of juniper berries will occur naturally, so it’s up to the distiller to taste a number of samples from each botanical crop in order to ensure consistency in flavor.

So the next time you’re drinking a gin (and hopefully that’s now, reading this), think about all the individual botanicals which have made it into your glass, think about the method used to create it, and think about - and thank - the distiller who undoubtedly spent months trying batch after batch, to get that recipe spot on.

Here’s to you, gin fistillers the world over. Cheers!