WEBVTT - Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Gin 0:00:01.120 --> 0:00:03.400 Welcome to Stuff. You should know a production of I 0:00:03.600 --> 0:00:12.400 Heart Radios How Stuff Works. Hey, and welcome to the podcast. 0:00:12.480 --> 0:00:15.200 I'm Josh Clark, and there's Charles w Chuck Brian, there's 0:00:15.320 --> 0:00:21.600 Jerry over there, and we are wasted wasted on excitement 0:00:21.640 --> 0:00:27.520 about talking about Gin. Wasted on excitement? Huh like that 0:00:27.840 --> 0:00:31.120 that's a great motto. Yeah, and not a not the 0:00:31.160 --> 0:00:34.519 worst band name, but not the best. It's not the 0:00:34.560 --> 0:00:37.520 best at all. Take an album title more like, oh, yeah, 0:00:37.520 --> 0:00:40.280 it's a good album title. Maybe it's um Jungle x 0:00:40.360 --> 0:00:43.839 Rays second album wasted on excitement? Yeah? Or Bathtub Gin 0:00:44.240 --> 0:00:48.559 wasted on excitement? Bathtub Jin's a fish song? Oh it is? 0:00:50.960 --> 0:00:53.600 It's funny. I was. I was walking into the neighborhood 0:00:53.640 --> 0:00:57.320 yesterday and I saw a a car that was clearly 0:00:57.400 --> 0:01:00.520 like the child home for for Thanksgiving. It was like 0:01:00.560 --> 0:01:03.920 this kind of beat up jeep from Florida, and it 0:01:04.000 --> 0:01:06.200 had a fish sticker and a grateful dead sticker and 0:01:06.240 --> 0:01:09.520 like one other thing college and this really nice thing. 0:01:09.560 --> 0:01:12.039 And I was like, oh, man, I bet uh, I 0:01:12.080 --> 0:01:17.319 wonder how much weed is hidden in that thing's welcome 0:01:17.360 --> 0:01:23.800 home son? What's that smell? Um? Right? Oh? Were you 0:01:23.880 --> 0:01:26.160 being the Sun where we act play acting. No, it 0:01:26.319 --> 0:01:29.440 just it was that that Civiccas took went down the 0:01:29.480 --> 0:01:32.280 wrong wrong pipe and wrong pipe. Man, what is up 0:01:32.280 --> 0:01:38.120 with those faulty flaps? I don't know, man. Probably I 0:01:38.160 --> 0:01:43.000 love Gin and I love reading about it and researching it, 0:01:44.040 --> 0:01:47.200 and uh I might have a martini tonight as a result. 0:01:47.480 --> 0:01:49.520 I don't think there's any way you could not have 0:01:49.560 --> 0:01:52.240 a martini after reading about Gin for hours and hours 0:01:52.240 --> 0:01:54.480 and hours. Yeah, because Gin and Tonic season is over 0:01:54.520 --> 0:01:57.920 for me, sadly, and I'm into wine season. But wine 0:01:57.920 --> 0:02:00.560 season in martini season. There's some come more aidity there. 0:02:00.840 --> 0:02:04.960 Martini seasons year round, not for me. I mean, I 0:02:05.000 --> 0:02:07.000 don't drink that many martiniz it's a mood thing. Or 0:02:07.040 --> 0:02:10.480 if I'm with Hodgeman, we found them. Sure you can't 0:02:10.480 --> 0:02:14.040 not drink martinis when hodgments around? Yeah, of course, yeah, 0:02:14.720 --> 0:02:21.000 no comment, okay, but correct. So we're talking Gin because 0:02:21.080 --> 0:02:24.520 Gin is great and we love gin um and it 0:02:24.560 --> 0:02:27.240 turns out Jin's got a pretty pretty interesting history to 0:02:27.320 --> 0:02:30.600 it too. And we did an episode not too long 0:02:30.600 --> 0:02:35.040 ago on a short stuff actually on the difference between 0:02:35.240 --> 0:02:37.959 bourbon and whiskey. Right, has that been out yet? Even 0:02:38.040 --> 0:02:40.200 with the way our schedule works on any Wait, it's 0:02:40.240 --> 0:02:43.120 coming out tomorrow now about it? Yeah, yeah, tomorrow is 0:02:43.120 --> 0:02:45.680 in today, or tomorrow is in after this is released. 0:02:45.919 --> 0:02:48.760 Tomorrow is in the people who are listening to this 0:02:49.000 --> 0:02:52.040 the day it comes out tomorrow to them, the very 0:02:52.080 --> 0:02:54.400 select group of humans as far as the dimension of 0:02:54.440 --> 0:03:00.440 time goes, So um, tomorrow, everybody. You'll hear or stuff 0:03:00.440 --> 0:03:02.519 about the difference between whiskey and bourbon, and one of 0:03:02.560 --> 0:03:04.840 the things that really stands out is there are a 0:03:05.000 --> 0:03:09.600 lot of laws surrounding whiskey, especially in the United States. 0:03:09.840 --> 0:03:12.880 What makes whiskey whiskey, what you can call a specific 0:03:13.000 --> 0:03:15.280 kind of whiskey, what you can put on the label 0:03:15.320 --> 0:03:18.239 of some kinds of whiskey. Lots and lots of um 0:03:18.440 --> 0:03:23.560 laws exist. Don't forget that one. The spirit of America, 0:03:24.480 --> 0:03:29.000 the native spirit of America, That's what it was. But 0:03:29.080 --> 0:03:31.799 with gin, it's quite the opposite. Basically, as long as 0:03:31.840 --> 0:03:36.280 you have a neutral grain spirit that is distilled that 0:03:36.400 --> 0:03:42.680 I think eighty proof or higher, you can add whatever 0:03:42.760 --> 0:03:44.800 flavor you want to it, and that you can call 0:03:44.840 --> 0:03:50.120 it gin okay, which is not whatever you're if you 0:03:50.280 --> 0:03:54.800 buy that thing that I just described. Although it's technically 0:03:54.880 --> 0:03:58.240 legally gin, it's not really gin. A lot of people 0:03:58.320 --> 0:04:02.760 call it flavored vodkas. But gin, you there are specific 0:04:02.800 --> 0:04:04.840 steps you want to follow, their specific things you want 0:04:04.880 --> 0:04:07.400 to do, and more than anything, there's probably going to 0:04:07.480 --> 0:04:11.480 be a taste of juniper to it. Yeah, that is 0:04:11.600 --> 0:04:15.280 that used to be very much the case now, and 0:04:15.320 --> 0:04:17.680 we've talked a little bit about this on other episodes. 0:04:17.760 --> 0:04:21.039 Just uh Tangentially, I think is that there are many 0:04:21.160 --> 0:04:24.080 artisan gin makers now that are doing all kinds of 0:04:24.120 --> 0:04:30.400 crazy gen's and some many issuing the juniper altogether, that 0:04:30.480 --> 0:04:35.000 beautiful little evergreen shrub and those little cones that have 0:04:35.200 --> 0:04:42.159 that piny uh citrusy peppery taste that we love so much. Yeah, 0:04:42.200 --> 0:04:44.320 by the way, I should say, our our buddy Ben 0:04:44.360 --> 0:04:49.279 Harrison of the Greatest Generation and Friendly Fire, he I've 0:04:49.279 --> 0:04:51.479 seen this online elsewhere, but as far as he knows, 0:04:51.480 --> 0:04:55.599 he invented it a smoked gin and tonic where he 0:04:55.720 --> 0:05:00.440 gets a little uh like a chef's torch and smokes 0:05:00.560 --> 0:05:04.560 juniper berries and then throws the glass on top of 0:05:04.600 --> 0:05:08.320 it upside down and let's it just smoke up, and 0:05:08.360 --> 0:05:11.040 then turns it over and adds the ice and the 0:05:11.560 --> 0:05:13.719 and the rest of the mixings there. I would like 0:05:13.800 --> 0:05:16.520 to try that. I've had like smoked Manhattans and smoked 0:05:16.520 --> 0:05:19.919 whiskey drinks, would smoked kind and did they do the 0:05:19.960 --> 0:05:23.520 same thing, Yeah, same same process. But I've never ever 0:05:23.560 --> 0:05:26.800 heard of a smoked chin and tonic, So hats off 0:05:26.839 --> 0:05:29.400 to Ben if he did invent that. Yeah, it was good. Uh. 0:05:29.440 --> 0:05:31.359 And I also want to and I know shouted it 0:05:31.400 --> 0:05:35.400 up before, but I get this local tonic now, that's delicious. 0:05:36.040 --> 0:05:40.919 That is the real deal, you know, the Chinchona bark um. 0:05:40.960 --> 0:05:44.640 And it's very different than if you're used to traditional 0:05:44.720 --> 0:05:49.279 like schwepts tonic. Doesn't taste anything like that. It's you 0:05:49.360 --> 0:05:52.960 cut it with soda water and it's a very very 0:05:53.000 --> 0:05:57.160 lovely taste. Oh yeah, it's like good tonic waters, just 0:05:57.400 --> 0:06:00.360 amazingly good. Yeah. And that's you know, if you're talking 0:06:00.360 --> 0:06:04.320 about like fever tree will buzz market um, that is 0:06:04.320 --> 0:06:06.480 still a little more of a traditional tonic. This stuff 0:06:06.520 --> 0:06:10.240 is brown, uh and syrupy, and then you you you 0:06:10.320 --> 0:06:13.200 mix it with the soda and it's it becomes sort 0:06:13.200 --> 0:06:15.839 of a real version of that stuff. So it's probably 0:06:15.920 --> 0:06:18.279 very similar to stuff they're drinking in India in the 0:06:18.360 --> 0:06:21.240 nineteenth century, I think, so, so we'll go we'll get 0:06:21.279 --> 0:06:23.720 all we'll get to all that. Let's go back to gin, 0:06:24.120 --> 0:06:26.400 all right, So you start off if you want to 0:06:26.400 --> 0:06:28.880 make gin. And I have a gin making kit from 0:06:28.960 --> 0:06:31.280 last Christmas I still haven't used. And I'm this has 0:06:31.320 --> 0:06:33.520 inspired me to go home today and actually make my 0:06:33.560 --> 0:06:37.680 own gin and then pound it. I'll bring some in. 0:06:37.720 --> 0:06:42.039 We can all take a sip, just a sip. But 0:06:42.200 --> 0:06:47.040 you start with that base spirit um ethyl alcohol. That's 0:06:47.400 --> 0:06:50.960 a BV that you can power a car on. And 0:06:51.000 --> 0:06:53.640 then you read distill gin and that is one of 0:06:53.640 --> 0:06:58.080 the keys here, a real real gin. You redistill that 0:06:58.200 --> 0:07:02.200 spirit with whatever, but handicles you end up choosing, right. 0:07:02.240 --> 0:07:05.440 But typically the main botanical that's used in the main 0:07:05.560 --> 0:07:09.600 flavor profile of gin, aside from alcohol you can power 0:07:09.600 --> 0:07:14.360 your car on is that juniper berry. That's that kind 0:07:14.400 --> 0:07:18.960 of piny evergreeny um. Some people call it like drinking 0:07:18.960 --> 0:07:23.040 a Christmas tree. What makes gin gin? Once you've had 0:07:23.040 --> 0:07:26.000 a sup of gin, you will never mistake for anything 0:07:26.000 --> 0:07:28.400 else for the rest of your life. That's right. And 0:07:28.400 --> 0:07:32.120 that bass spirit can be um also, And you should 0:07:32.160 --> 0:07:35.680 also wait until you're twenty one to have that of course. Uh. 0:07:35.720 --> 0:07:38.320 That base spirit can be wheat, it can be rye, 0:07:38.360 --> 0:07:41.080 can be corn, it can be barley, but it can 0:07:41.120 --> 0:07:45.720 be really anything. There you can make potato gin or 0:07:45.760 --> 0:07:48.640 apple gin. I saw this company in Ireland. There was 0:07:48.680 --> 0:07:53.600 an article on Vice by Elizabeth Rusche Um Ireland's best 0:07:53.640 --> 0:07:56.920 gin is made out of milk. Yeah, that Bertha's gin. 0:07:57.720 --> 0:08:00.560 They make it. Uh, And this is produced full in Ireland, 0:08:00.560 --> 0:08:02.480 which is a great thing because it's a byproduct of 0:08:02.880 --> 0:08:09.840 cheesemaking that way um sweet way. They they they use 0:08:09.920 --> 0:08:13.360 that to make gin. It's crazy. Yeah, They ferment the 0:08:13.440 --> 0:08:17.640 way and then use that they distill that fermented beer basically, 0:08:18.440 --> 0:08:21.040 and then you distill that further in the process of 0:08:21.440 --> 0:08:23.920 or the presence of botanicals, and then you have gin. 0:08:24.360 --> 0:08:26.880 It's just this multi step process. But because you're step 0:08:27.000 --> 0:08:31.600 you're starting out with such a ridiculously high proof um 0:08:31.640 --> 0:08:36.320 alcohol like neutral alcohol. You can use basically an old 0:08:36.360 --> 0:08:39.640 shoe to make that that neutral grain spirit. It's gonna 0:08:39.679 --> 0:08:43.760 taste virtually the same as neutral grain spirit made from 0:08:43.760 --> 0:08:47.440 a neutral spirit made from barley or from way, or 0:08:47.480 --> 0:08:51.679 from potatoes or grapes. It just is the the alcoholic 0:08:51.840 --> 0:08:55.280 essence of those things. Yeah, and apparently that fermented way 0:08:55.480 --> 0:08:59.280 is what makes Bailey's as well, which I didn't know 0:08:59.760 --> 0:09:04.400 bay Lilie's Irish whiskey. I did not know that either. 0:09:04.720 --> 0:09:06.400 And this I gotta try this stuff though it's called 0:09:06.440 --> 0:09:09.959 Birth is Revenge or Bailey's Irish Cream. I'm sorry. Yeah, 0:09:10.000 --> 0:09:12.200 would you say Irish whiskey? Yeah, no, No, it's the 0:09:12.400 --> 0:09:15.600 it's the coffee additive. That's that Connor McGregor stuff for 0:09:15.640 --> 0:09:18.800 grandma Um. Birth is revengel. It looks delicious and it 0:09:18.920 --> 0:09:23.439 is uh fully made in Ireland. And Bertha apparently it 0:09:23.520 --> 0:09:28.440 is a cow. Yeah. She she died at like age 0:09:28.440 --> 0:09:31.320 forty nine after giving birth to thirty something calves over 0:09:31.360 --> 0:09:35.240 her life. Yeah, she was a very prolific milk cow 0:09:36.000 --> 0:09:39.200 in many ways. Yeah, but they they're not the only 0:09:39.240 --> 0:09:42.640 game in town making way based chin. There are others 0:09:42.679 --> 0:09:46.120 as well, but supposedly again it's it's they say that 0:09:46.160 --> 0:09:49.320 there's something in the way that even once it's distilled 0:09:49.360 --> 0:09:53.800 into its spirit, um, there's some there's some mouth feel 0:09:53.880 --> 0:09:56.760 to it or some flavored profile. But a lot of 0:09:56.800 --> 0:09:58.920 people argue that that's just not the case. That no 0:09:58.960 --> 0:10:00.720 matter what you make it from You're going to arrive 0:10:00.760 --> 0:10:06.160 at basically the same base neutral spirit. Okay, Okay, we'll 0:10:06.160 --> 0:10:08.800 find out. I'll just let me have something. I'll try 0:10:09.880 --> 0:10:13.880 Bombay sapphire, which will learn later on. Um, perhaps kick 0:10:13.960 --> 0:10:16.520 started the resurgence of gin. Yeah. Did you know that 0:10:16.600 --> 0:10:18.839 in the United States? No, but it makes it a 0:10:18.880 --> 0:10:21.200 little bit of sense now that I see the dates 0:10:21.480 --> 0:10:24.240 in the timelines when it came over. But uh, they 0:10:24.440 --> 0:10:28.920 very proudly display their ten different botanicals on the bottle licorice, 0:10:29.040 --> 0:10:36.400 juniper of course, uh, kubab berries, angelica, root almonds, coriander, cassia, 0:10:36.480 --> 0:10:41.040 bark iris, root lemon, peel, and grains of paradise. Very nice. 0:10:41.360 --> 0:10:44.559 And I like a Bombay sapphire martini. That's a that's 0:10:44.559 --> 0:10:46.719 a good fallback for me, although I'm a plymouth man 0:10:46.800 --> 0:10:49.760 through and through when it comes to martiniz and I 0:10:49.840 --> 0:10:54.040 like generally I like the Hendrix uh. And I like Tankaray, 0:10:54.040 --> 0:10:56.400 good old fashioned Tankaray for the tonics. I'll get a 0:10:56.520 --> 0:11:00.120 Hendricks martini when I'm out and about, But if if 0:11:00.120 --> 0:11:02.640 I'm like making it myself, I used to like the 0:11:02.720 --> 0:11:06.320 more boring, straightforward London dry Jin's right. This is the 0:11:06.360 --> 0:11:09.920 traditional ones for the martini. And then I realized, like, no, man, 0:11:10.200 --> 0:11:11.920 you want to go the exact opposite of that. You 0:11:11.960 --> 0:11:15.680 want like the most botanical gin you can find for 0:11:15.800 --> 0:11:19.640 a jin martini because I mean it's basically gin with 0:11:19.679 --> 0:11:22.120 a little bit of vermouth, right, So you want to 0:11:22.160 --> 0:11:26.520 taste your gin. So I've kind of gravitated towards stuff 0:11:26.559 --> 0:11:30.720 like um the botanist Um or St. George's botaniv Oore. 0:11:31.320 --> 0:11:35.959 Those are two really really like I guess botanicals. The 0:11:36.000 --> 0:11:38.080 best way to put it. Gin's that are out there 0:11:38.080 --> 0:11:41.720 that are really really tasty is that George that tastes 0:11:41.760 --> 0:11:46.480 like feet. So no, that is their aged like Ray 0:11:46.520 --> 0:11:50.040 Posado gin that I didn't love that where they made 0:11:50.040 --> 0:11:53.480 it like it was like kind of a mescal or 0:11:53.679 --> 0:11:57.440 or aged tequila style gin where it was gin, but 0:11:57.480 --> 0:12:01.520 it had like some quality of like really like long 0:12:01.600 --> 0:12:05.680 aged tequila. I think you weren't prepared for it. I 0:12:05.720 --> 0:12:07.680 wonder if you'd like it now knowing like what it 0:12:07.840 --> 0:12:10.280 was going into it. Maybe. I mean, I'm always hip 0:12:10.320 --> 0:12:13.360 to try something, but I'd love a good high quality 0:12:13.440 --> 0:12:16.320 London Druy gin. That's my jam. Sure, I mean, I'm 0:12:16.320 --> 0:12:18.680 with you. I just like the more botanical ones these 0:12:18.760 --> 0:12:23.080 days than I used to the Britannical, the puritanical ones, 0:12:23.160 --> 0:12:25.559 the ones that don't have any alcohol at all. So 0:12:26.280 --> 0:12:28.199 I think we should quickly talk about before we take 0:12:28.200 --> 0:12:30.800 our first break, about just how you distill it, because 0:12:30.800 --> 0:12:34.079 there's a couple of ways, um, and then we'll take 0:12:34.120 --> 0:12:37.680 our break. But the first way is steeping, and that 0:12:37.840 --> 0:12:40.600 is you know, you steep tea, and it's the same thing. Basically, 0:12:40.600 --> 0:12:44.040 you have your base spirit heating up and it simmers, 0:12:44.600 --> 0:12:47.120 and then you have those botanicals right in there and 0:12:47.160 --> 0:12:50.200 the oils are releasing and it's just infusing through the 0:12:50.200 --> 0:12:53.120 whole thing the other way. And you know, Emily has 0:12:53.120 --> 0:12:54.880 a still. Now, I would love to maybe get in 0:12:54.880 --> 0:12:56.880 there and try some of this for real. I did 0:12:57.000 --> 0:13:00.280 not know that. Does she like carry a Tommy gun round? 0:13:00.280 --> 0:13:02.880 And where flooral link for coat? Now she's got a 0:13:02.880 --> 0:13:05.600 copper still. She's uh. She goes to Athens, Georgia once 0:13:05.640 --> 0:13:09.520 a week to harvest herbs and then distills herbs for 0:13:11.080 --> 0:13:13.199 I did know that. Yeah, it's very cool. That is 0:13:13.240 --> 0:13:14.720 super cool. It's a lot of fun to see her 0:13:14.720 --> 0:13:17.240 out there doing that stuff. Yeah, that's neat. Uh. And 0:13:17.280 --> 0:13:20.520 then the other way is vapor infusion, and that is 0:13:20.559 --> 0:13:22.600 what Bombay sapphire does, and that is when you have 0:13:22.679 --> 0:13:27.520 the botanicals in a basket hanging above the boiling spirit 0:13:27.600 --> 0:13:30.480 and that that vapor rises and it does it more 0:13:30.520 --> 0:13:34.280 through like that steam. I guess right. So, or you 0:13:34.320 --> 0:13:36.880 can combine the two, which is what another kind of 0:13:36.880 --> 0:13:41.160 Saint George Gin Tara wir Um does where they use 0:13:41.320 --> 0:13:44.480 the steeping method for most of the botanicals and then 0:13:44.480 --> 0:13:47.400 they use the vapor method for I think like Douglas 0:13:47.440 --> 0:13:51.480 fur and bay Laurel leaves. So it's it's got like 0:13:51.559 --> 0:13:54.640 kind of the tea of botanicals brewing and then's just 0:13:54.840 --> 0:13:58.880 vaporizing through those other those last two. It is pretty 0:13:58.920 --> 0:14:02.000 cool actually, all right now we'll take a break and 0:14:02.040 --> 0:14:04.480 we'll come back and talk a little bit about the 0:14:04.559 --> 0:14:32.840 types of gin, which also entails some history right after this. Okay, 0:14:32.880 --> 0:14:35.239 we've taken our break, we had our little half sandwiches. 0:14:36.120 --> 0:14:37.960 We're ready to talk about. So I can't believe you 0:14:38.040 --> 0:14:40.560 still cut the crust off. It's very interesting for a car. Well, 0:14:40.760 --> 0:14:42.800 I just think it's a little I always has like 0:14:42.800 --> 0:14:45.600 as that crusty taste to it. Then I'm not fine. 0:14:46.040 --> 0:14:48.320 They've always maintained if they didn't call it crust, kids 0:14:48.400 --> 0:14:51.920 might eat it. Do you think. Yeah, I think if 0:14:51.960 --> 0:14:54.400 you said, you know, the do you want the magic 0:14:54.480 --> 0:14:57.080 ring left on your bread? I think kids would probably 0:14:57.120 --> 0:14:59.080 have a whole different view. But if you say, do 0:14:59.120 --> 0:15:03.200 you want the crust? I disagree. I think that magic 0:15:03.360 --> 0:15:07.480 ring would be a gross term. Now look at that 0:15:07.600 --> 0:15:11.480 magic ringy, old guy, he keeps staring at us. We'll 0:15:11.560 --> 0:15:17.880 just insert Josh Clark's magic word of choice magic ringy. Yeah, 0:15:17.920 --> 0:15:19.520 I mean it doesn't even have to use the word magic. 0:15:19.520 --> 0:15:21.320 But what would you call krusts? That sounds better to 0:15:21.360 --> 0:15:24.520 a kid. I'm saying, no, matter what you called it, 0:15:24.560 --> 0:15:27.960 I think it would become synonymous with something gross. I know, 0:15:28.040 --> 0:15:30.520 but I'm asking you to yes. And fine, let's see 0:15:31.120 --> 0:15:33.880 yes and is not my strong suit. I failed out 0:15:33.880 --> 0:15:37.200 of improv yours is more. No but a right, no, 0:15:38.040 --> 0:15:44.960 there's no butt it's no. Uh. The rainbow ring? Okay, great, 0:15:45.320 --> 0:15:48.720 the rainbow circle love. I don't like it. I'll go 0:15:48.760 --> 0:15:51.320 back and edit this part out. All right, So let's 0:15:51.320 --> 0:15:54.880 talk about gen um. We already talked about the fact 0:15:54.960 --> 0:15:57.560 that it has to be if you ask me, really 0:15:57.640 --> 0:16:03.120 distilled with these botanicals to real gin, otherwise flavored vodka. 0:16:03.200 --> 0:16:07.200 That name as can come up and that's a dirty word, yes, 0:16:07.240 --> 0:16:11.920 But distilled London dry gin. Uh. Some of the big 0:16:11.960 --> 0:16:15.120 big cats beef Eater and Gordon's and tank a Ray 0:16:16.360 --> 0:16:18.920 are some of those those big daddy London drys. Like 0:16:18.960 --> 0:16:21.320 I said, I'm a Plymouth guy. I like Plymouth too, 0:16:22.800 --> 0:16:26.880 But these are not sweet. That's why they're called dry gin's. Right. 0:16:27.040 --> 0:16:30.680 Sweet gin's are um have a long history and they 0:16:30.680 --> 0:16:35.440 actually predate gin for for by many many years. But 0:16:35.760 --> 0:16:38.120 the London dry gin is what most people think of 0:16:38.120 --> 0:16:41.000 when they when they think of gin, and a London 0:16:41.080 --> 0:16:44.960 dry gin is actually a subcategory of a larger category, 0:16:45.040 --> 0:16:47.760 which is distilled gin. You got gin, which is basically 0:16:47.760 --> 0:16:51.280 flavored vodkas which you could literally put any flavor into 0:16:51.320 --> 0:16:55.360 this neutral spirit and call it gin. Distill gin means 0:16:55.600 --> 0:16:58.160 it went through that process like we described before the break, 0:16:58.600 --> 0:17:01.840 and London dry as one of the us. That's right, right, 0:17:02.840 --> 0:17:05.159 is that basically what you just said. I mean, I 0:17:05.200 --> 0:17:08.760 was listening and following it, but it just seemed off interesting. Well, 0:17:08.760 --> 0:17:11.160 I'm glad you cleared that up. I'm sorry, that's all right, 0:17:11.800 --> 0:17:13.960 then we get to Old Tom Jin and this has 0:17:14.000 --> 0:17:17.560 an interesting history of his etymology. Um and I got 0:17:17.560 --> 0:17:21.600 this from Mark vir Thaller at Tales of the Cocktail 0:17:21.680 --> 0:17:25.920 dot com. Apparently the name Old Tom comes from uh 0:17:25.920 --> 0:17:31.119 these plaques that hung outside of pubs that looked like 0:17:31.240 --> 0:17:33.840 they're there. It was like the shape of an old 0:17:33.840 --> 0:17:37.680 Tom cat's head. And get this, and this is amazing. 0:17:38.240 --> 0:17:42.479 Apparently in London, if you had this sign hanging up 0:17:42.520 --> 0:17:45.840 in the window, underneath the cat's paw was a slot 0:17:45.880 --> 0:17:48.600 and a lead pipe and a touched to a funnel, 0:17:49.160 --> 0:17:51.840 and you could go down the street in England and 0:17:51.920 --> 0:17:54.160 drop a coin in the slot and get a shot 0:17:54.200 --> 0:17:57.600 of gin in your mouth. Yeah, from under the cat's paw. Amazing. 0:17:57.920 --> 0:18:00.359 I saw that too. I saw that it originated Chuck 0:18:00.400 --> 0:18:03.760 with this guy named Captain Dudley brad Street. And the 0:18:03.800 --> 0:18:06.199 whole reason he started doing this was because there was 0:18:06.320 --> 0:18:10.040 a law that said that the informant had to know 0:18:10.119 --> 0:18:13.400 the name of the person who was selling the illegal 0:18:13.520 --> 0:18:16.320 gin for the cops to have probable cause to raid 0:18:16.359 --> 0:18:20.040 a place. So he hold himself up in this house 0:18:20.080 --> 0:18:23.960 on this one alley, Blue Anchor Alley and started selling 0:18:24.040 --> 0:18:26.960 gin that way anonymously, and because no one knew who 0:18:27.000 --> 0:18:29.600 was selling it, the cops could never raid the place. 0:18:30.960 --> 0:18:34.040 But yeah, it was under the paw of old like 0:18:34.119 --> 0:18:36.880 a like a statue or sign or something of an 0:18:36.880 --> 0:18:41.639 old paw urn Old Tom cat Old Tom went away. 0:18:42.040 --> 0:18:43.800 It was very much sweeter. That was when they were 0:18:43.880 --> 0:18:47.800 using sugar and a lot of botanicals, because the bass 0:18:47.840 --> 0:18:50.840 spirit wasn't that great taste wise, so they loaded it 0:18:50.920 --> 0:18:55.080 up with sugar and this other stuff, and prohibition basically 0:18:55.200 --> 0:18:58.280 killed Old Tom jin for a long time. By the 0:18:58.320 --> 0:19:02.200 time people's started, you know, prohibition was over, they didn't 0:19:02.240 --> 0:19:04.560 really have a taste for it anymore. And it is 0:19:04.640 --> 0:19:06.560 it is made a come back in recent years, though, 0:19:06.640 --> 0:19:09.560 a bit of a comeback. You if you are interested 0:19:09.560 --> 0:19:12.800 in trying, and you should start with ransoms Old Tom gin. Ye, 0:19:13.240 --> 0:19:18.840 it's just beautiful. What about navy strength gin? I love 0:19:18.880 --> 0:19:21.359 that stuff. Have you ever had that? I don't know 0:19:21.400 --> 0:19:23.680 if I have or not. Actually, it will make you blind, 0:19:24.320 --> 0:19:29.399 Like your hangover is noticeably worse the next day for 0:19:29.480 --> 0:19:34.600 the same amount of booze. It's just stronger stuff. I 0:19:34.640 --> 0:19:38.360 think anchor. I believe anchor makes a navy's strength. Gin 0:19:38.440 --> 0:19:42.440 That make sense. Um, I'm almost positive that's who's I've had. 0:19:42.800 --> 0:19:45.720 But it's it's just like this higher proof. I think, 0:19:45.760 --> 0:19:48.240 like gin can be as low as like thirty seven 0:19:48.280 --> 0:19:52.160 and a half percent, and navy's strength is at least 0:19:52.160 --> 0:19:57.000 fifty and there's just a noticeable difference in it, and 0:19:57.040 --> 0:20:00.240 the taste is it's you know, it's not tear doably 0:20:00.359 --> 0:20:02.880 much different. It's just the potency of it. But it's 0:20:03.480 --> 0:20:05.600 it got its name from a pretty great little legend 0:20:05.680 --> 0:20:09.399 from what I understand. Yeah, that's um in the Navy. 0:20:09.160 --> 0:20:11.320 They loved them some gin in the Navy, and they 0:20:11.320 --> 0:20:14.480 actually got gin rations and so sailors would test it 0:20:14.560 --> 0:20:17.920 out to see if it was you know, up to 0:20:18.000 --> 0:20:20.880 snuff or if it was watered down, and they would 0:20:20.960 --> 0:20:23.520 drizzle it over a little pinch of gunpowder and then 0:20:23.600 --> 0:20:26.800 light it, and if it lit, then it was navy strength. Yeah. 0:20:27.000 --> 0:20:30.000 I love it. And it's not like a legal classification 0:20:30.119 --> 0:20:32.159 or anything, is it. It's just kind of like a 0:20:32.600 --> 0:20:35.159 well it says it says navy strength gin is at 0:20:35.240 --> 0:20:38.639 least fifty seven point one per cent, So at least 0:20:38.680 --> 0:20:40.560 I don't know if there's a law in the EU 0:20:40.880 --> 0:20:43.600 or if that's just a sort of a standard. But 0:20:43.680 --> 0:20:46.639 that's that's where the name came from at least. Yeah, yeah, 0:20:46.760 --> 0:20:51.840 and it's potent stuff. What about Geneva? Uh so that 0:20:52.000 --> 0:20:54.520 is basically like the predecessor of Gin, right, I mean 0:20:54.640 --> 0:20:57.520 that this Dutch drink that was first drunk too for 0:20:57.560 --> 0:21:00.359 people to get drunk off of. Yeah, that's aid more 0:21:00.400 --> 0:21:05.360 out of a malt wine. I think fifteen to malt wine. Um, 0:21:05.400 --> 0:21:07.200 and so it you know, it can kind of it's 0:21:07.280 --> 0:21:09.560 sort of like the maltiness of a whiskey, but the 0:21:09.600 --> 0:21:12.960 botanicals of a gin. I think I've always heard that 0:21:13.000 --> 0:21:16.720 Old Tom and Geneva are a lot alike. Yeah, they 0:21:16.720 --> 0:21:21.560 bear a resemblance. Interesting, but um so, Geneva is like 0:21:21.640 --> 0:21:23.560 a pretty good place to start as far as this 0:21:23.720 --> 0:21:27.160 history of Jin goes, because it was, like I was saying, 0:21:27.200 --> 0:21:30.000 like a a proto Gin, like one of the first 0:21:30.920 --> 0:21:33.720 I guess, the direct predecessor of gin as we understand 0:21:33.720 --> 0:21:37.760 it today. But even further back than that, that essential 0:21:37.800 --> 0:21:42.120 component of Jin, the juniper berry, has been used at 0:21:42.200 --> 0:21:46.639 least since the seventies and now the nineteen seventies, I 0:21:46.640 --> 0:21:49.680 mean just the straight up seventies. There's a recipe from 0:21:49.680 --> 0:21:54.160 Pliny the Elder from seventies six or seventies seven CE 0:21:54.680 --> 0:21:58.119 um that used juniper berries and you just were supposed 0:21:58.119 --> 0:22:00.879 to boil some white wine with junipers and then drink 0:22:00.920 --> 0:22:03.800 it and it was a curative um and probably got 0:22:03.840 --> 0:22:06.760 you pretty drunk. And then I thought about this. This 0:22:06.840 --> 0:22:09.920 was like two years before he died, and at um 0:22:10.000 --> 0:22:13.880 the eruption of Vesuvius interesting that weird kind of chilling. Well, 0:22:13.920 --> 0:22:15.439 we see had a nice couple of years there at 0:22:15.480 --> 0:22:18.840 the end. He definitely did. The word Geneva g e 0:22:19.080 --> 0:22:22.720 n E d r is actually Dutch for juniper uh, 0:22:22.760 --> 0:22:26.080 and it is it does come hail from Holland. Uh. 0:22:26.119 --> 0:22:29.879 And apparently in the thirteenth and fourteen centuries these and 0:22:29.960 --> 0:22:33.560 this was when people were using herbs as medicine. Uh. 0:22:33.600 --> 0:22:35.439 They you know, obviously still do that today. That's what 0:22:35.480 --> 0:22:39.439 Emily is doing. But um apothecaries there were experimenting with 0:22:39.480 --> 0:22:43.080 all kinds of curative herbs and medical tonics and stuff 0:22:43.119 --> 0:22:46.600 like that, and juniper was definitely in that category. But 0:22:46.640 --> 0:22:50.960 where Geneva took a right turn was they said, wow, 0:22:51.080 --> 0:22:54.000 let's just get drunk and like it's not so much 0:22:54.040 --> 0:22:58.720 a cure all. But I mean, maybe maybe it cures 0:22:58.760 --> 0:23:01.080 some things, but it was a It was a drink 0:23:01.119 --> 0:23:03.600 that you drank to get drunk. It was like, yeah, 0:23:03.640 --> 0:23:06.360 the first spirit out of I believe, out of Europe 0:23:06.440 --> 0:23:08.159 for that people drank. I mean they have beer and 0:23:08.200 --> 0:23:11.240 wine and everything before, but Geneva was like this. That 0:23:11.480 --> 0:23:15.080 like the first hard blicker. I think that people really drank. 0:23:15.119 --> 0:23:18.520 And like you said, it was a malted wine, right, yeah, 0:23:18.560 --> 0:23:20.639 that's the base, which sounds like something you buy in 0:23:20.640 --> 0:23:24.439 a convenience store, drink out a paper bag, like malted wine. 0:23:24.960 --> 0:23:27.800 But um, they would add like sugar to it. And 0:23:27.880 --> 0:23:30.160 it had juniper, which is why a lot of people 0:23:30.200 --> 0:23:33.199 say this is the direct predecessor Gin. And it was 0:23:33.240 --> 0:23:38.160 how the UK was introduced to Um Gin was Geneva 0:23:38.560 --> 0:23:43.040 because I think in the um fifteenth century maybe something 0:23:43.080 --> 0:23:46.840