Gin was invented in the mid seventeenth century by a Dutch doctor who claimed that his new spirit cured a variety of ailments; because it was flavoured with oil from juniper berries, the doctor called his wonder tonic genever, meaning juniper, a word that derives from the Latin name for the juniper plant, juniper us. When the spirit was introduced to England in 1706, its name was changed from genever to geneva, thanks to the mistaken belief that the spirit was somehow connected with Geneva, a city in Switzerland. Once in England, the new and inexpensive spirit became wildly popular among the poor, so much so that in less than ten years its name was shortened to the more English sounding gin. Widespread addiction to gin also caused it to lose its reputation as a cure-all, becoming instead an embodiment of social evil: whereas one author, writing in 1706, politely defined geneva as “a kind of strong water,” another author, writing only a few years later in 1714, called it “that infamous liquor.” By 1736, gin alcoholism had so decimated the lower classes of England that parliament passed laws restricting its sale. Today, gin is employed in dozens of mixed drinks, including gin and it, the it being short for Italian vermouth. Sloe gin, which is actually a cordial rather than a true gin, takes its name from the blackthorn berries that flavour it, berries known as sloe since the eighth century.
Gin is an alcohol-based beverage that lacks color and is made from rye and barley or corn, flavored with juniper berries. As it is distilled at a high strength, gin is considered the purest form of alcohol. Unlike brandy, gin does not mature or improve with time.