Gin was created in the back streets of 20th century London, to originally to ward off seasickness, scurvy and even malaria. When William of Orange, a Dutchman, arrived in 1688 to rule Britain, he relaxed the laws on making spirits and the poverty ridden townspeople took complete advantage of this, and thus, the Gin Epidemic started!
The ingredients to make the real thing were quite costly so commoners improvised by mixing things such as; turpentine and sulphuric acid to give the flavour and warming sensation of the real thing. As you can imagine, the toxic drink that was created by the townspeople and distilleries wanting to make money, thrived on the business from people stricken with poverty and soon spiraled into an incredibly horrific addiction. Despair, along with grim news stories came, and it seemed unstoppable. Poverty, social unrest, upper-class monopoly and inferior order to keep workers dependent on employers was the way the London was at this time. There were extreme differences in social classes and this is what fueled the Gin Craze.
There were places such as ‘Gin Lane’, which consisted of ‘Gin Bars’ and horrendously drunk people, in awful states. The ‘Gin Bars’ then grew into ‘Gin Palaces’, customers came in to down shots of Gin and then leave straight after. Alcohol consumption rocketed from 3.7 to 7.4 million gallons and within the space of a year London was out of control until the government stepped in and passed laws in the 1750's regulating the production and sale of gin.
Although gin had a small resurgence during Queen Victoria's reign it fell out of vogue and and by the 1960’s vodka became the drink the drink of choice and most Victorian distilleries moved out of London and closed down.
The New Trend!
Over the past few years, distilleries and bars have been re-incarnating a ‘Gin Craze’ - BUT a controllable one! Fortunately there has been no horrific public drunkenness, (well no more than usual), no ‘Gin Palaces’ serving poverty stricken townspeople with shots of turpentine, only fabulous, new, modern bars, serving the legal, delicious and delightful gins we are blessed with today.
In addition to the traditional brands such as London Gin, Gordons, Beefeater, Pickering’s, Bombay Sapphire and Hendrick's many new brands from every corner of the world are emerging. Appealing to the younger generation "Gin Trends" such as
Numbered Gins and large, colourful, exotic
Gin Cocktails have appeared.
Gin Bars...
And here it is, ‘The Gin Craze’ of the 21st century… It seems this juniper-flavoured spirit is proving to be a wild craze, a massive gold mine and is spreading across the world fast. Gin is making a massive comeback and re-claiming its front row seat on the shelf along with 60 or more others of its kind.
Gin bars are trending all over the place;
Barcelona (Spain),
Glasgow (UK),
Washington (USA),
Bath (UK), South Carolina (USA) and many more places - they are popping up like mushrooms and are proving to be the ‘places to be’ on the bar scene.
Why is gin now in fashion again? Classic bar culture is in fashion, with bar tenders and mixologists trying to work out new recipes, and re-creating recipes from old ones.
For example, one trend that is particularly in fashion and on the party scene at the moment is the Gatsby 1920’s trend. Since the release of Baz Luhrmann’s remake of ‘The Great Gatsby’, it is all the rage at the moment, it has came back with a bang and everyone is throwing these themed parties. They want to have the ambience, atmosphere and experience at their parties to re-create the real 1920’s fabulous parties. So they have prepared drinks menus with beverages such as ‘The Gin Rickey’, and others alike;
“The gently fizzing drink is a summery concoction of gin, lime and soda. The name "Rickey" stretches back far beyond the Jazz Age – the cocktail owes its name to a 19th century army man, Colonel Joe Rickey, who liked his with bourbon.”
People have had enough of the standard, going to the pub, drinking the same thing - it gets boring! They want something different, new recipes, colours, tastes, and experiences. Bars need to have new ideas and keep up with what customers want. Gin bars are different… And that’s what the public like. That’s why they work.
World Gin Day
The concept of
World Gin Day is to get people celebrating all over the world, bring people together, and enjoy the drink. Gin has a massive historic reputation, which makes the drink even more desirable. Thousands of people and companies all over the world get together to celebrate this day.
It all started with a man named Neil Houston in a room full of friends, with some gin, and from this creation has grown into a global celebration!
World gin day is held annually in June, the next scheduled for the 13 June 2015. The festival is a massive aid to gin bars all around the world. It gives them the excuse to do exactly what they want to do, sell gin and make great profits – and what better than to have a promotional day dedicated to just that.
Try
www.gintime.com to find a gin bar near you and check out the latest trend!
