The Art of Gin Making
Choosing the Right Materials
Apart from the undeniable aesthetic appeal, copper plays an important, even essential, role in the gin-making process. While stills can equally be made from stainless steel, aluminium, and a range of other materials, we find that copper is the very best option. It helps, firstly, that copper is exceptionally good at conducting heat.
Understanding Distillation Techniques
A more complex still with a chamber called the ‘reflux’ condenser, where steam is filtered and some of the unwanted elements are returned to the boiling vessel. You don’t need to make ‘cuts’ on this type of still.
Depending on what a distiller is trying to create in his gin, he or she can use a pot still or a reflux still. And there are modifications distillers can make to further hone in on their desired flavor profile.
Choosing Base and Botanicals
Firstly, you should consider the type of base spirit you will use to create your gin. Popular options include vodka, wheat, or barley, but any neutral grain spirit can be used. You should also think about the botanicals you will use to infuse the gin with flavor.
A great gin starts with a great mash. Most gins are made using a variety of grain such as corn, barley or wheat.
It can be easy to assume that if the cook strays too far from their gin flavoring, the finished product may not be well received. In other words, the gin has to taste like gin.
All in all, it can take anywhere from two weeks to several months to produce a batch of gin, depending on the size and method of production.
Different Stills for Different Gins
What still is used for gin?
A pot still is typically used for the production of gin. The pot still allows for variation in the finished product, due to different levels of reflux and re-distillation.
You can make gin by simply ‘steeping’ plants, herbs or spices in vodka. This method is often used to make gin at home. The steeping time impacts flavor profile. For some gin distillers, 24-48 hours is ideal.
Gin originated from genever, an older, maltier style. Genever has two styles – oude and jonge. Oude contains more malt wine (15-50%) and is weightier. Jonge has less malt wine (up to 15%) and is lighter. Gin evolved from genever and became popular in Great Britain.
Gin can be consumed mixed with tonic water in a gin and tonic. It can also be used to produce flavored gin liqueurs, like sloe gin, with fruit, flavorings and sugar added.
What kind of still do you need to make gin?
The typical configuration for making gin is quite simple: a kettle with a top-mounted helmet and no column. This style has been used historically because reflux columns were not yet widely used. They are still acceptable today, as well, because your base spirit is already clean, neutral and high proof.
To make gin, good quality vodka and juniper berries are needed. The vodka is infused with the juniper berries and other botanicals to impart flavor. Some gins are also steeped in butterfly pea flower, which gives them color changing properties.
Although steeping is an easy way to make gin, using a pot still allows for better control and purity. The pot still is heated to boil the liquid and the steam passes through a condenser where it cools back into liquid form. This method produces a better mouthfeel and exposes the spirit to more copper contact, which removes undesirable compounds.
Proponents of vacuum distillation claim it produces a fresher flavored gin since the botanicals don’t need to be cooked. However, scaling up vacuum distillation is difficult.
While pot stills are common, some distillers use column stills. They allow for continuous production rather than single batches. But column distillation may lose some flavor complexity.
So in summary, to make gin at home, vodka can be infused with botanicals. But to make it commercially, using a pot still or column still allows for better control, efficiency and purity. The still type impacts the flavor profile and production quantity.