Gin, wine, and whiskey. Some may consider these three to be the holy trinity of alcoholic beverages. When you focus on gin, in particular, it does have a very long history dating back all the way to the 13th century when it was commonly used as a medicine. Times have changed much since then and so has gin. In the modern Australian gin distillery industry there are three ways to create a gin and so without further ado let’s cut to the chase:
Distilled gin:
Gin connoisseurs argue that this is the right way or rather the only way to make gin. It is also alternatively called the one-shot method.This involves distilling some fermented type of spirit such as vodka together with certain botanicals such as juniper. The amount of botanicals added is such that it is neither low nor high but just right for the quantity of liquid present in the sill. The essence extracted is then suspended to the basket to expose to the steam. The solution is finally rounded off by adding the required amount of water.
This method does come with its own set of caveats though. Distilling gin is a very hands-on process and the people who perform this process are called distillers.As this process requires a lot of manual work such as measuring the amount of each botanical to be mixed and knowing when to add the right amount of water, a large number of people are required to produce distilled gin on a large scale. The method also produces very less compared to others, which adds to the problem.
Despite this, some experts reckon that all the extra effort and cost is worth it. People have commented that such type of gin tastes better and even has less of fatty acids and compounds.
Concentrate:
This is kind of the opposite of the one-shot method. The person working on making the gin adds a large number of botanicals to a very small amount of water. After the distillation process, neutral spirits such as vodka are added to the highly concentrated mixture. This technique requires far less manpower for the average Australian gin distillery and is thus faster to make. That being said, there are still people who prefer one shot distilling due to its more hands-on approach.
Cold compound:
This is one of the cheapest methods of making or distilling gin. It involves adding either real or artificial botanicals to a neutral spirit. Nothing fancy. Although this method is largely shunned by the public there are still quite a few distilleries who don’t mind using it.
At the end of the day whatever gin you drink, it’s probably it. Because really, who can say no to a glass of gin?
