January 11, 2006
organic gin
Yesterday I stumbled upon a most intriguing find at my local apothecary: Juniper Green Organic Gin, “The world’s first organic London Dry Gin”. It’s quite yummy, and very good for you. In fact, I recommend drinking a tall glass of organic gin every day.
Now my quest for organic tonic begins.
Wikipedia has an interesting story about 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 Gin Act 1736 imposed high taxes on retailers but led to riots in the streets.
18th century London sounds like a crazy place. Chances are if you lived there around that time, you were probably soaked in gin or beer almost all the time.
A little learning is a dangerous thing;
Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring:
There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain,
And drinking largely sobers us again.
- Alexander Pope (1688-1744)
You can bet Pope was totally wasted when he wrote that.
Rollin down the street, smokin indo, sippin on gin and juice
Laid back with my mind on my money and my money on my mind
- Snoop Dogg (1971-)
Snoop didn’t live in 18th century London. But he is from the LBC, which stands for the London Buddhist Centre.
And everyone knows, Buddhists love their gin.
tags: alexander pope, drinking, gin, london, organic, poetry, snoop dogg
posted: 11:28 pm
I heard from the bartender at the Bayshore that there is a new gin infused with cucumber. Imagine a Pimm’s without a real cucumber slice!
I made my own juniper gin concoction when I was a Linnaea Farm Student. There was a juniper bush on the farm and I filled a large mason jar with the hard blue berries. Then I poured in a healthy dose of sugar and filled it to the rim with Gin. Every few weeks I turned it upside down to mix the flavours and a few months later I had a mighty fine beverage. Probably easier to buy it at the liquor store but it’s always fun to make your own!
mmm… that sounds yummy
once i tried to make my own absynthe, adding wormwood, anise, and other herbs to 100-proof grain alcohol, and letting it soak for a couple weeks. i brought it out at my birthday party. it was disgusting! insanely bitter and totally undrinkable.
luckily i had a backup - i had also soaked ground-up pot leaves from a plant i had grown that summer in 100-proof (the active ingredients in pot are alcohol-soluble). it tasted great and everyone who had a shot was south of the border in no time.