Gin. Is it Really Just Flavored Vodka?

The warm weather might make you think of lighter gin or vodka based cocktails, especially served over ice. Think vodka tonic or gin & tonic. But what is gin? Could it just be juniper flavored vodka?

Gin is defined as a clear, distilled alcohol with the flavor of juniper berries. Depending on who is making the gin, will determine how strong the juniper berry component is. Doing research for this, I found that most distillers will use six or more botanicals in their version of gin. Here are a few that are typically used, coriander, angelica root, orange peel, lemon grass, lemon peel, cucumber. As I mentioned, the recipe for each gin will be determined by the distillery, what they want their overall taste profile to be.

Gin also comes in a few different styles:

• London Gin, a dry style of gin, usually featuring more citrus notes (the most common commercial style of gin available)
• Plymouth Gin, not as dry as the London style, known for having less of the juniper characteristic
• Old Tom, this is a little different from the above two styles. This can be a bit richer, as far as body and flavor, and occasionally found sweetened or aged. Old Tom is one of the key ingredients for the classic cocktail Martinez.
• Genever. When I first asked a gin lover about Genever gin, she explained it to me as 'a more gin-ny gin.' I of course had no idea what she meant until I tried it. This is a bit heavier bodied, richer gin, that is more like a sipping whiskey. Drunk (or should I say sipped) very cold and usually with food.

When you find yourself at a local distillery or craft cocktail establishment ask them about their styles of gin. See if you can sample them or try them in a cocktail. Decide for yourself if it is simply a juniper flavored vodka (or not).