Spirits of Dutch: Gin

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A transparent gin glass bottle that has square shapes, tapered to the bottom with a "Schiedam Genevea" inscription in the body. Source: museum rotterdam

Brief History of Gin

Des Zeemans allerbest Compas Is een gevult Jeneverglas is a line from an Old Dutch poem that literally translated means "the best compass for sailors is a full bottle of Genever (Gin, in Dutch). The term "Gin" comes from the Dutch "Genever" or "Geneva" which means juniper or juniper berries in French. Gin was first discovered accidentally in the mid-1600s by Fransisco de La Boe, a Professor at Leiden University in the Netherlands. Gin is an alcoholic beverage made from distilled malt, barley, or rye and flavoured with juniper berries, coriander seeds, or angelica root. Starting from an experiment to make kidney medicine by Professor de La Boe based on the previously mentioned ingredients, he accidentally invented what we know today as Gin.

Gin was first sold as a medicine in apothecaries. Gradually, gin gained popularity as an alcoholic beverage due to its cheap production with easily available ingredients. Gin became a drink for the lower class including soldiers. The Dutch soldiers then introduced gin to mainland England. The British people welcomed the beverage which soon became the national drink of England. William of Orange (William III of England, 1650-1702) also introduced gin to the English nobles and it was accepted at the Court.

In the mid-1700s, the consumption of Gin in British society was increasing which made King George II become worried by his people. Instead of regulating to reduce Gin consumption, he passed a regulation that set a high tax on alcoholic beverages including Gin. From then on, Gin was no longer in general circulation but was included in the sale of pharmacies again. The British public then used the term "bitters" as a cover for Gin transactions in those days.

Shape of Gin Bottle

Gin containers have come in various shapes over the centuries. Stoneware bottle variations are commonly used as gin bottles, but originally gin bottles were square shapes and made from glass. The square bottle shape was designed to fit in wooden boxes to make shipping easier as well as more effortless to remove from the wooden boxes. Gin bottle storage boxes (kelderflessen) are also referred to as kelder. Generally, a kelder can store from 6 to 15 Gin bottles.

a wooden case for gin shipping. Sumber: Visscher, R. Sinnepoppen (original from 1614) (ed. L. Brummel); Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague 1949, p. 52.

In the 17th century (1600s) and 18th century (1700s) AD, square-shaped bottle containers were commonly used by chemists and pharmacists. Since Gin is categorised as a medicine, it can be assumed that it was distributed using bottle containers from the beginning. The shape of the 17th-century and 18th-century AD bottle containers differ in that the former has straight sides while the latter has a tapered shape at the bottom. The colour of the bottles varies from olive yellow, olive green, and black.

When viewed from the shape of the neck and mouth of the bottle, there are differences in the shape of the early production bottles (1700s) with the new ones (1800s). At first, the mouth shape of Gin bottle relatively wide or as called flared mouth with the neck shape that tended to be shorter. If viewed at the 1800s bottle shape, there would be a longer neck shape and mouth shape that tended to be smaller compared with gin bottle in older years. There is also a collar or bottle collar as an additional part added to neck bottle when the glass bottle making process.

Kelder with straight-sided square Gin bottle contents (17th century). Source: Munsey (2009, 44)

Regarding the origin of the Gin bottle containers found, it is relatively difficult to distinguish between Gin from the Netherlands, England, and America because English and American glass production comes from the Netherlands and vice versa. It is also the same when discussing the dating of Gin bottles. Unlike wine, the bottle seals found on Gin bottles are rarely dated because Gin does not need an aging process. The only thing that can be noted about Gin dating is the physical condition of the bottle by looking at the roughness, discolouration, and glass damage on the bottle.

Variation of Gin

• Jonge Genever, literally translated as "young gin", the term refers to the new and more modern (post-WWII) way of making gin. Jonge Jenever contains 15% malt wine with sugar content limited to 10 grams per litre. This gives Jonge Jenever a flavour that is no sweeter than traditional gin making.

• Oude Genever, literally translated as "old gin", the term "old" does not refer to the aging process as in winemaking but rather the traditional manufacturing process. Unlike Jonge Genever, Oude Genever has more sugar content at 20 grams per litre but with the same malt wine content of 15%, Oude Genever has a sweeter taste.

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