gin

strong liquor flavored with juniper berries a trap for birds or small mammals

often has a slip noose a machine that separates the seeds from raw cotton fibers a form of rummy in which a player can go out if the cards remaining in their hand total less than 10 points separate the seeds from (cotton) with a cotton gin trap with a snare

"gin game"

]]This article concerns the beverage. For other uses see Gin (disambiguation).''Gin is a distilled beveragespirit, or strong alcoholic beverage. It is made from the distillation of white grain spirit and juniper berries, which provide its distinctive flavour. The taste of ordinary gin is very dry (property of alcohol)dry, and as such it is rarely drunk neat. It should not be confused with sloe gin, a sweet liqueur traditionally made from sloe berries (blackthorn fruit) infused in gin.The most common type of gin, typically used for mixed drinks, is "London dry gin", which refers not to appellation or origin, but to style and distillation process. London dry gin refers to a high proof spirit, usually produced in a column still and redistilled after the botanicals are added to the base spirit. In addition to juniper, it is usually made with a small amount citrus botanicals like lemon and bitter orange peel. Other botanicals that may be used include anise, angelica root, orris root, cinnamon, coriander, and cassia bark.A well made gin will be very dry with a smooth texture lacking in harshness. The flavor will be harmonious yet have a crisp character with a pronounced Juniper flavor.Other types of gin include jenever (Dutch gin), Plymouth gin, and Old Tom gin (said to approximate the pot-distilled 18th century spirit).In Hasselt, Belgium you can find a National Gin Museum.

History - Gin originated in the Netherlands in the 17th century - its invention is often credited to the physician Franciscus Sylvius. From there it spread to England after the Glorious Revolution put a Dutchman on the English throne. Dutch gin, known as ''jenever'', is a distinctly different drink from English-style gin; it is Distillationdistilled with barley and sometimes aged in wood, giving it a slight resemblance to whisky. Schiedam, in South Holland, is famous for its jenever. Jenever is produced in a pot still and is typically lower in alcohol and more strongly flavored than London gin. Gin became very popular in England after the government created a market for poor quality grain that was unfit to be used in brewing beer by allowing unlicensed gin production and at the same time imposing a heavy duty on all imported spirits. Thousands of gin-shops sprang up all over England. By 1740 the production of gin had increased to six times that of beer and because of its cheapness it became extremely popular with the poor. Of the 15,000 drinking establishments in London over half were gin-shops. Beer maintained a healthy reputation as it was often safer to drink the brewed ale than unclean plain water, but gin was blamed for various social and medical problems, and may have been a factor in the high death rate that caused London's previously increasing population to remain stable. The reputation of the two drinks was illustrated by William Hogarth in his engravings ''Beer Street'' and ''Gin Lane'' (1751). This negative reputation survives today in the English language; terms such as "gin-mills" to describe disreputable bars or calling drunks "gin-soaked". The 1736 Gin Act imposed high taxes on retailers but led to riots in the streets. The prohibitive duty was gradually reduced and finally abolished in 1742. The 1751 Gin Act however was more successful. It forced distillers to sell only to licensed retailers and brought gin-shops under the jurisdiction of local magistrates. Gin in the 18th century was produced in pot stills, and was somewhat sweeter than the London gin known today. In 1832 the column still was invented, and later in the 19th century the London dry style was developed. Gin thus became a more respectable drink, often drunk mixed with quinine-based tonic water in malarial areas of the British Empire. See - Gin and tonic. Many other gin-based mixed drinks were invented, including the martini cocktailmartini. Gin, in the form of secretly-produced "bathtub gin", was a common drink in the speakeasyspeakeasies of Prohibition-era America. It remained popular as the basis of many cocktails after the repeal of Prohibition.

Common mixers for gin -

Vermouth - in a dry martini cocktailmartini

Tonic water - in a Gin and tonic

Soda water - in a Gin Rickey

Ginger ale

Orange juice

Lemon juice

LimeLime juice

GrapefruitGrapefruit juice

Cocktails with gin -

Martini

Tin roofTin Roof

Tom Collins,

Maiden's Prayer

Greyhound (cocktail)Greyhound

Salty Dog

Gimlet (cocktail)Gimlet

Gin and Tonic

Pimm's N°1.

Todd's Frog

Famous gin brands - that has been partially consumed.]]

Beefeater - first produced in 1820

Bombay - Distillationdistilled with eight botanicals

Booth's

Bombay Sapphire - distilled with ten botanicals

Gordon's ginGordon's

Plymouth ginPlymouth - first distilled in 1793

Seagram's

Tanqueray

Other gin brands and variations -

Anchor Junipero Gin - produced in California by Anchor Steam Brewery

Bafferts Gin - DistillationTriple-distilled with four botanicals in England

Bellringer Gin - 94.4 proof English gin.

Bols Gin

Bombadier Military Gin

Boodles British Gin - 90.4 proof gin

Boomsma Jonge Genevere Gin

Burnett's Crown Select Gin

Caballito: Panama's finest export gin

Cadenhead's Old Raj Gin - 110 proof gin containing a small amount of saffron, which imparts a slight yellowish/greenish tint.

Citadelle - distilled with nineteen botanicals in France

Cork Dry

Cascade Mountain Gin - uses hand-picked wild juniper berries, distilled in Oregon

Demrak Amsterdam - distilled five times with seventeen botanicals

Dirty Olive - olive-flavored

Gilbey's London Dry Gin

Gin Llave - Argentina's prime and extra-smooth concoction.

Greenall's Original Gin

Hamptons Gin

Hendrick's Gin - infused with cucumber, coriander, citrus peel and rose petals

Juniper Green Organic Gin - first gin made from all organic ingredients in England with four botanicals

Leyden Dry Gin - Distilled three times in small batches, twice in column stills then in a pot still

Quintessential

Steinhäger

South Gin - triple distilled in New Zealand using nine botanicals, two of which are native: manuka berries and kawa kawa leaves, believed by the indigenous Maori people to offer medicinal properties

Swordsman

Van Gogh Gin - Dutch gin produced with ten botanicals in small batches. Triple distilled, twice in column stills then in a traditional pot still

External links -

tastings.com A thorough article about the history and types of gin.

gintime.com - Gintime.com

victorianlondon.org - Gin in Victorian London

argace.co.nr - ARGACÉ's official website A dynamic student association from Québec to revitalise the image of Gin (particularly Holland's great jenevers)

References -

Patrick Dillon. ''Gin: The Much-Lamented Death of Madam Geneva: The Eighteenth Century Gin Craze''. ISBN !1932112006.Category:Gins *Category:Alcoholic beveragesCategory:Distilled !beveragesda:Ginde:Gines:Ginfi: Ginifr:Gin? !(boisson)ja:ジンnl:Ginnn:Gin no:Ginpl:Ginro:Ginsv:Ginzh:琴 酒

Alambiques.com
Web dedicada a los alambiques.
http://www.alambiques.com/

Plymouth Gin
The original Plymouth Gin - England, the history, the culture, the links, the pilgrims, distillery.
http://www.plymouthgin.com/

Gin Miller Fitness
Tour schedule, workshop presentations, and work-out products from the creator of step aerobics.
http://www.ginmiller.com

Card Games
The largest collection of card game rules on the Internet, with information about hundreds of card and tile games from all parts of the world.
http://www.pagat.com/

Bombay Sapphire Gin
Includes product information, gin and martini history, and cocktail recipes.
http://www.bombaysapphire.com/