Gin-
The name comes from "genievre," French for juniper. Gin
liquor is a flavored white spirit. All gin is flavored with
juniper berries, and usually other botanicals, like lemon,
coriander, angelica, licorice roots, bitter almonds, and orange
peel. Each distiller guards the secret of his own botanicals,
since they provide the only characteristic distinguishing one
brand from another. Twelfth Century historical records reveal a
distillation practiced for medical purposes that may be attributed
to Chinese, Persians and Arabs. In 1650, Franciscus Sylvius, Dutch
doctor in the city of Leyden, Holland infused juniper berries into
distilled spirits in a search for a cure to kidney and stomach
disorders and created "jenever" gin
liquor. By 1685 the Dutch were exporting more than 10 million
gallons a year and by the early 1700's the craze spread to London,
England. The English Parliament was highly concerned with the 11
million gallon a year consumption and unsuccessfully enacted laws
to stem the flow of gin. Around 1850 the reputation of gin spread
to the upper classes and was served in many of the gentlemen's
clubs in London and elsewhere in Great Britain. Much debate takes
place today about who really coined the martini cocktail
which became a reality in the early 1950's and is considered the
premier cocktail of choice for the millennium
