Finding The Right Gin For Your Gin Martini Recipe

Gin is a grain spirit flavored with juniper berries and botanicals . The spirit base of Gin is primarily grain (usually wheat or rye), which results in a light-bodied spirit.  The chief flavoring agent is the highly aromatic blue-green berry of the juniper, a low-slung evergreen bush that is commercially grown in northern Italy, Croatia, the United States and Canada. Additional botanicals can include anise, angelica root, cinnamon, orange peel, coriander, and cassia bark.  All Gin makers have their own secret combination of botanicals, the number of which can range from as few as four to as many as 15.

Most Gin is initially distilled in efficient column stills. The resulting spirit is high-proof, light-bodied, and clean with a minimal amount of flavoring agents.

Low-quality "compound" gins are made by simply mixing the base spirit with juniper and botanical extracts.  Mass-market gins are produced by soaking juniper berries and botanicals in the base spirit and then re-distilling the mixture.

Top-quality gins are flavored after one or more distillations.  The base spirit is re-distilled one last time, during which the alcohol vapor passes through a dried juniper berries and botanicals. The vapor gently extracts the aroma and flavor from the oils and other compounds of the berries and spices on its way to the condenser. The resulting flavored spirit has a noticeable degree of complexity.

London Dry gin tends to have a delicate flavor, while Dutch or Holland gin will have more intense flavors components.  The differences are due largely to the fact that Holland gin is produced by immersing the botanical mixture directly into the grain mash prior to distillation or extracting the essential oils from the botanical mixture with the heavy distillate from a fermented mash of grain, consisting of corn, rye, and barley malt. As a consequence, the flavors produced during fermentation become flavor components of the final product.

In our experience, London Dry gin is typically used for mixing a martini.  If you are inclined to favor gin, consider Beefeater London Distilled Dry Gin, Bombay Sapphire London Dry Gin, or Tanqueray.  There are others, to be sure. 

Selecting Unique Martini Glasses