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Learn something new
Twenty accurate, genuinely surprising facts about the spirit in your glass.
By law in most countries, a spirit can only be called "gin" if juniper is its predominant flavour. No juniper, no gin.
They're the female seed cones of the juniper shrub, with fused fleshy scales that make them look berry-like.
The name traces back to the Dutch "genever" (and French "genièvre"), meaning juniper.
London Dry Gin is a production method and style, and can legally be made anywhere in the world.
Tonic water was a way to deliver quinine, used to prevent malaria. British officers in 19th-century India mixed it with gin — the birth of the G&T.
Quinine, which gives tonic its bitterness and glows under UV light, is derived from the bark of the cinchona tree.
English soldiers fighting alongside the Dutch in the 1600s drank genever before battle to calm their nerves.
In the early 18th century, cheap, unregulated gin flooded London, leading to a series of Gin Acts.
Sloe gin is made by steeping sloe berries in gin with sugar — the result is classified as a liqueur, not a gin.
Coriander seed, angelica root, citrus peel, orris root and cardamom are among the most common companions.
Unlike whisky or rum, gin has no minimum aging requirement — it can be bottled and sold immediately after distillation.
One of the world's best-known gin brands was founded by Alexander Gordon in London in 1769.
Vapour-infusion distilling suspends botanicals in a basket above the spirit, letting rising vapour carry their flavour instead of steeping them directly.
Originally, pink gin was a Royal Navy staple — gin mixed with Angostura bitters — long before fruit-flavoured pink gins existed.
Old Tom Gin, sweeter than modern London Dry, is considered the historical bridge between genever and today's dry gin styles.
Bottled at 57% ABV or higher, the name nods to naval lore that gin at this strength wouldn't stop gunpowder from igniting if spilled on it.
Despite the name, this classic cocktail bitters — a Negroni and pink gin staple — has been produced in Trinidad and Tobago for decades.
Fever-Tree, one of the best-known premium tonic brands, was only founded in the UK in 2004, sparking the modern "proper mixer" movement.
Schweppes introduced the first commercially bottled carbonated tonic water in 1870, building on carbonation techniques from the 1780s.
Gin is technically a flavoured neutral spirit — redistilled or compounded with botanicals — rather than a spirit defined by aging like whisky.
Now you know
The "Gin Fact" category in Amani Gin Roulette draws from trivia just like this.
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