The Spirit of Juniper

A radical new history of gin-and a challenge to everything you think you know about its origins.

Gin is one of the world's most familiar spirits, wrapped in one of its most persistent myths: invented in Holland, adopted by England, and unleashed on London during the notorious eighteenth-century Gin Craze. The Spirit of Juniperdismantles this story.

Drawing on medical manuals, household records, excise documentation, and nineteenth-century chemical treatises, drinks historians Dr. Anistatia Miller and Jared Brown reveal that gin was never a single invention or the product of one place or moment. Instead, it emerged gradually-through medieval medical distillation, household spirit-making, expanding trade networks, and Britain's evolving tax and classification systems. Gin wasn't discovered. It was assembled.

Tracing the slow dissolution of boundaries between gin, genever, and hollands into a single industrial spirit, this book asks a bigger question: how do "origins" themselves get invented?

Perfect for readers of drink history, British social history, and the history of science and taxation-The Spirit of Juniper offers a fresh, evidence-driven account of how gin became gin, from two of the field's leading authorities.

REVIEWS:

"For years the gin story has been told as a neat linear narrative, but of course history, and spirits history in particular, is much more complex. The Spirit of Juniper tracks multiple threads from across different countries and perspectives and weaves together the true evolution of juniper spirits across Europe. Pour yourself a cold martini and get ready to explore one of the most comprehensive and fascinating accounts of juniper's real beginnings."-Emma Stokes, GinMonkey.co.uk

"With the clarity and punch of gin itself, The Spirit of Juniper takes you on an odyssey through the noble spirit's long and misunderstood history. Clear the shelves of previous attempts at gin's history, Anistatia Miller & Jared Brown latest book distils the truths and dispels the myths of England's - yes, England's - great contribution to the spirit world."-Hamish, Smith, CLASS magazine

"Team Mixellany have done it again! Taking their meticulous research on the history of gin even further, they've worked hard to debunk many common myths. What is the difference between "gin" vs. "geneva"? (Turns out plenty.) What really happened during the famous 18th century "Gin Craze"? (Also turns out plenty, just not the way we learned about it.) And what did writer Daniel Defoe have up his wig about gin anyway? (Sounds like it should have been a Martini!) Lots to take in here, but anyone writing about gin should start with this book. Or just start here if you're even gin curious. Better chill some glasses while you read."-Amanda Schuster, New York City based writer and author of "New York Cocktails" and "Signature Cocktails"