What Is Gin? The Spirit That Must Taste of Juniper

Key facts

Required lead flavour

juniper

Minimum strength (EU)

37.5% ABV

London Dry sweetening

max 0.1 g sugar per litre

London Dry after distillation

no colour or flavouring added

Legal reference

EU Regulation 2019/787

What makes gin gin: juniper has to lead

Gin is a spirit made from agricultural alcohol and flavoured with juniper berries. The key condition is that juniper has to be the flavour you notice first.

Gin grew out of genever, the juniper spirit of the Netherlands and Belgium, and took its own shape in England in the 17th and 18th centuries. When column stills spread in the 19th century, the base alcohol became cleaner, and a dry style that needed no sugar to cover rough spirit became possible.

The rule exists for a reason. Without a required lead flavour, any flavoured vodka could be sold as gin. Juniper is the line that defines the category, and the EU minimum strength is 37.5%.

Gin, Distilled Gin and London Dry

The three terms differ in how the flavour gets in. The further down the table, the stricter the rules.

London Dry is a method, not a place. A gin made anywhere can use the term if it follows the rules. Dry refers to the near-absence of sugar.

Botanicals you see again and again

Beyond juniper, every recipe picks its own botanicals, usually somewhere around six to twelve. Each one plays a part in the overall aroma.

• Coriander seed: spice with a citrus edge
• Angelica root: earthy, and it helps bind the other aromas together
• Orris root: floral, and it fixes aroma
• Lemon and orange peel: fresh citrus
• Cinnamon, cassia and liquorice: warmth and roundness

Gins built on local botanicals

Distillers in many countries add plants from their own region alongside juniper. Gins that draw on Thai ingredients often use lemongrass, makrut lime leaf, galangal, pandan and butterfly pea flower.

Butterfly pea turns a gin blue, and the colour shifts to pink when it meets acid such as lime juice. That colour usually comes from steeping after distillation, so these gins generally fall outside London Dry, which bans colour added after the still.

However many local plants go in, the rule stays the same. If lemongrass buries the juniper, the spirit cannot be called gin under EU rules.

Reading a gin label

A gin label says a lot in a few words. Start with these three points.

• Category: Gin, Distilled Gin or London Dry tells you how the flavour got in
• Strength: most sit between 37.5% and 47%; higher strength tends to carry botanical aromas more clearly
• Terms like Old Tom or flavoured gin: signal added sweetness or flavour, so not London Dry

Questions people ask