Gin Botanicals
Hundreds of botanicals can be used to flavour gin. Making it one of the broadest categories in spirits in terms of flavour, origin and styles.
Juniper Berries
Juniper Berries are the most crucial botanical used, which is essential in gin-making. Fact: Gin is derived from the word juniper! Regardless of all the different styles of gins; the one thing that they will all have in common is that they are all predominantly juniper flavoured.
Coriander Seed
The Coriander Seed is nearly as common as a juniper itself, appearing in many gin products. Coriander has a long history of importance for food and a perfumer’s ingredients. Depending on the distiller will depend on where the botanical is sourced from. The Coriander Seed all at once will give off a citrusy, nutty and a little spicy variety of flavour.
Angelica
Angelica can be an unfamiliar major gin ingredient used, with many not realising how commonly used this botanical is. Similar to Coriander, Angelica is closely related to the carrot family. The herbs which make up the Angelicus genus grow nearly everywhere in the northern hemisphere. The role of the botanical is to act as a binding agent. Promoting combining the other botanicals together to enhance the variety of flavours each one gives off.
Lemon Peel
The Lemon Peel is the most common citrus fruit used in the gin, providing a distinct citrus aroma. Like other citrus fruit, Lemon peels contain a large amount of limonene. The aromatic is mainly responsible for the bright aroma of citrus.
Orange Peel
When it comes to oranges, these can be divided into two subcategories- sweet and bitter. Both types of oranges can be found in gins. Typically, the peel of a Seville Orange (bitter) is used to dry. The peel of the sweet orange is used fresh.
Orris Root
The Orris Root is known to help hold the other fragrancies in place- a fixative in perfume for many centuries. They are left for up to 5 years to dry before being ground into powder, added to water and distilled. The Orris Root binds and stabilizes other flavours; making it more likely to detect by its effect on other ingredients.
Cardamom
Cardamom is another botanical becoming more common in the gin world! Its exotic aroma adds an expressive, spicy note. It is one of the most expensive spices, with very little needed to impart its strong flavour. Cardamom can be challenging to work with as its essential oils and aromatics are very volatile and degrade quickly.
Liquorice root
Liquorice carries a unique taste; a sweet, woody botanical which contains a natural sweetener. A common misconception is that people assume that Liquorice root is similar to Liquorice sweets- which is wrong!
Grains of paradise
Grains of paradise are rarely used outside of traditional African food cultures. The seeds have a woody, almost piney aroma and are slightly reminiscent of cardamom.
Other Botanicals
Other important botanicals may include Lavender, which is increasingly becoming more popular in using some gins. As well as a fragrance, lavender is used as a flavouring. Many distillers normally opt to steep it in their pot at the last minute to avoid dominance over the rest of the botanicals. Fennel may be used by gin distillers to impart a liquorice-like warmth and spice, becoming more common, especially in contemporary style gins that emphasise herbal profile. As gin continues to expand globally, new botanicals are starting to increasingly appear never before, being distilled with juniper.
Our Gin
We have our award-winning Gin Distillery at Get Er Brewed, Frankie & Eileens, so you can have confidence that we are supplying the finest gin botanicals available in the world.
Frankie & Eileen’s: This premium liquid comprises a variety of 13 botanicals, left to mature in a copper still for 36 hours before starting the distiller process. The still (did we mention is hand-built locally with the copper sourced from Ireland) is then run low and slow to ensure the best cuts are made- as the flavour is Frankie and Eileen’s top priority!
Botanicals used are Juniper, English Coriander Seed, Angelica, Lemon Peel, Irish Potato Peel and Pea Pods (which in fact work in harmony with the Macedonian Juniper Berries and Spanish fruit peels), Orris Root, Liquorice Root, Cardamom, Grains of Paradise, Cassis, Bitter Orange, Sweet Orange.
Gin Botanicals available for Craft Distilleries in bulk can be bought here:
https://www.geterbrewed.com/gin-botanicals-en/
https://www.geterbrewed.ie/gin-botanicals-en/
We have smaller quantities of luxury Gin Botanicals available in the following links:
https://www.geterbrewed.ie/luxury-gin-botanicals/
https://www.geterbrewed.com/luxury-gin-botanicals/
The blog is written by Lauren Shaw, our new Gin Brand Ambassador and Sales Executive for Get Er Brewed.