Gin is an alcoholic spirit flavoured with juniper berries. In Europe, the minimum alcoholic strength for bottled fin is 37.5% whilst in the United States it is 40%. There exists two different categories of gin; distilled gin and compound gin. London dry gin belongs to the first category and is the most common style of gin.
London dry gin is distinguished by its use of citrus botanicals and spices in addition to the predominant juniper content during distillation. The citrus botanicals used are usually lemon or bitter orange peel. The spices can range from anise to dragon eye, saffron to coriander, licorice root to frankincense, and from nutmeg to dragon eye. The only permitted additive in London dry gin is water, sugar or any colorants are not permitted. One is certainly not allowed to add their herrenuhren watch in!
The name ‘gin’ pertains either to the Dutch ‘jenever’ or the French ‘genièvre’, both meaning ‘juniper.’ The Enyclopedia Britannica of 1911 asserts that the word ‘gin’ is abbreviated from ‘Geneva’ which the dictionary claims is derived from the French ‘genièvre’.