William M. Dowd photo
One of the big news stories emerging from the annual Tales of the Cocktail extravaganza in New Orleans is that gin is making a comeback.
In just one example of numerous stories along the same lines, Nation’s Restaurant News reported that gin “has emerged from relative obscurity to the forefront of the spirits world, thanks to the efforts of bartenders, according to panelists who kicked off this year’s Tales of the Cocktail conference.”
It goes on to quote a variety of bartenders who say they’re seeing a resurgence of gin cocktails and have been working up drinks menus utilizing the ancient spirit.
The trouble is, this isn’t news, and it is misleading. Hints of a gin comeback have been spotted for years now, with no huge resurgence in consumption. Vodka still rules the world of clear spirits, probably because it is so relatively easy to make and because it can be made from virtually any organic matter -- see two new vodka expressions from Vermont Spirits made from milk sugar and maple sap.
Gin takes a lot of tinkering to get just the right mix and balance of botanical ingredients, much different than infusing vodka with various flavorings.
The continual increase in the number of small craft distilleries throughout the country means vodka usually is made first, then gin, neither of which need aging, while the distillers wait for their whiskies to mature for several years before they make a penny from them. So, in the sense that more people are making it, gin may be bouncing back.
At one time, gin was such a ubiquitous liquor it would have been unthinkable to talk about a comeback. What did the drink of both society sophisticates and college sophomores have to come back from? Then came the Vodka Age. The virtually global acceptance of vodka as a one-for-one substitute for gin in mixed drinks and as a standalone drink in flavor-infused styles has in the past quarter-century sent gin reeling. Last year, Americans drank about four times as much vodka as gin.
Gin was one of the earliest spirits many of us tried, usually as a gin-and-juice drink that made some of the less palatable but affordable brands more drinkable. I recall it being the leisure libation of choice in the sports car racing circuit I frequented in the 1970s, as well as a common ingredient in sweet cocktails made for summer barbecues.
The popular gins then were Gordon's, Gilbey's, Beefeater, Plymouth, Bombay, Boodles, Fleischmann's, Seagram's. Some still are hanging in there, particularly Bombay, the English distiller whose Sapphire is the top-selling gin in this country. But, like vodkas, there seems to be a new brand each week vying for the now-limited shelf space the standard gin labels had been clinging to, and they all are trying to differentiate themselves from the pack while tamping down the traditional juniper berry flavor of gin.
Aviation, for example, is a lavender-touched brand cooked up in the Pacific Northwest. Old Raj, from Scotland, has more of the traditional juniper notes but there also is a detectable saffron element. Hendrick's, another Scottish gin, makes quite a point of its distinct cucumber notes. An “American style” gin called Bluecoat has emerged from Philadelphia Spirits to challenge the classic British or London Dry styles.
Gins are, essentially, vodka in that each is at the start a neutral grain spirit. Under U.S. law, gin "shall derive its main characteristic flavor from juniper berries," so it needs the addition of botanicals to be complete. Conversely, basic vodka must be colorless, odorless and tasteless -- which makes one wonder why lawmakers think anyone would adhere to the letter of that law.
While vodka distillers tend to use only a few extra flavors in lengthening their product line, gin distillers tend toward using a global shopping list to fill their complicated recipes. In addition to the necessary juniper, it is not unusual to find citrus, almond, licorice, orris root, coriander, angelica, cassia bark and cardamom in various combinations.
I recall having a lunchtime tasting of various gins with Sean Harrison, master distiller of England’s iconic Plymouth Gin, keeper of a coveted two-century-old gin recipe.
Harrison is a gin man through and through, but he admits there are some very good vodkas on the market that are huge hurdles for gin to clear in its attempt at a comeback. However, he notes of the continual tinkering with vodka recipes, "If they keep on going, pretty soon they'll invent gin."
Comments