Homemade Infused Gin: Foraged Botanical Winter Spirits (2024)

FAQs

What is the best botanical for gin? ›

Juniper berries are the most important botanical in gin. They are what give your favourite spirit its piney, woody and slightly sweet flavour.

It's so easy! Simply select the botanicals you want to taste, add them to your gin and tonic or gin co*cktail. Results are best with London Dry Gin or an 'own label' brand. Create stunning botanical ice cubes that will impress your friends time and again.

'Pretty much every gin in the world will have four base botanicals: juniper, coriander seeds, a root (usually angelica), and then a citrus peel,' says Tom Hills of East London Liquor Company.

The primary three ingredients used in the majority of gins are juniper, coriander and angelica. Even though these are the most popular, there are hundreds of flowers, roots, fruits, berries and nuts that are used to create a palate for each gin that makes it distinctive.

The American style gin is made with just nine simple botanicals to make the perfect sipping experience: juniper, coriander, angelica root, grapefruit, sweet orange peel, almond, cardamom, elderberry, and lemon peel.

Juniper is the primary (and legally mandated) botanical with which gin is flavoured, but creative distillers can also add an array of herbs, spices, citrus, and other ingredients to build a custom flavour profile.

The juniper berries in gin contain elements which can help to fight infection and prevent heart disease, as well as improve the blood's circulation around the body; these powerful little seeds are a superfood, and also help to fight liver and kidney disease.

8 Botanical Gin has lovely citrus notes, making it a beautiful gin for citrus co*cktails, like a gimlet. We suggest serving No. 8 with dehydrated orange & a light tonic or soda.

Gin can be classified as a botanically infused vodka. Vodka is called the “conception spirit” as it can be seen as the base from which other spirits are derived. So if you add traditional gin botanicals, like juniper, you can make gin from vodka. But not all botanically infused vodkas are gin.

In addition to juniper berries these Botanicals include angelica root, coriander seed, licorice, orris, gentian and ginger root, lemon and orange peels, Cassia bark, blackthorn fruit, cubeb pepper, star aniseed, thyme, rosemary, sage, rose, elder and chamomile flowers, nutmeg and many more.

Is Tanqueray a botanical gin? ›

Tanqueray London Dry Gin is a balanced, multi-layered combination of botanicals. A four step distillation process is involved in the making of Tanqueray London Dry Gin. The only flavours you will get after the distillation are those of the botanicals and you should get no flavour from the neutral spirit, only strength.

Juniper Berries

“It wouldn't be gin without juniper, you can smell gin just by crushing a juniper berry in your hand.” Red Door Gin's signature botanical is punchy, piney and fresh flavoured.

Most Gins contain next to Juniper berry and citrus botanicals such as lemon and bitter orange peel, anise, angelica root and seed, orris root, liquorice root, cinnamon, cubeb, savoury, lime peel, grapefruit peel, dragon eye, saffron, baobab, frankincense, coriander, nutmeg and cassia bark.

The juniper used most widely in gin production is Juniper communis, a small tree or shrub that can live for up to two hundred years. Juniper is typically sold either whole or as crushed or cut berries.

The root of angelica is the part most commonly used in gin production, though there are some gins that use the flower or the seeds instead. Beefeater for example, uses both the root and the seed in their botanical line up. Once distilled, angelica has an earthy flavour.

The most important botanical in gin is juniper berries, which give gin its characteristic piney and slightly medicinal flavor. Coriander seeds are often used as a complementary botanical to juniper; they provide a gentle spice and citrusy notes.