Gin, or Jenever has a fascinating history as relayed to us on this tour.
Can you believe that a king turned an entire generation into drunkards?
A new private gin distillery was established on the Lourensford wine estate, and we went to investigate. The marketing director took us on a tour in order to show us their gin making processes and let me tell you that it is very intricate business. They have assembled a group of gin specialists, and not only do they make pure gin, but also some other varieties that contain gin. Oh, and they also make alcohol free cordials.
But let's have a look at the history of gin and you might also be astounded at some of crazy things that took place.
Gin was popularised in England following the accession of William of Orange in 1688. Gin provided an alternative to French brandy at a time of both political and religious conflict between Britain and France. Between 1689 and 1697, the Government passed a range of legislation aimed at restricting brandy imports and encouraging gin production. Most importantly, the monopoly of the London Guild of Distillers was broken in 1690, thereby opening up the market in gin distillation. The production and consumption of English gin, which was then popular among politicians and even Queen Anne, was encouraged by the government. This encouragement was shown in the reduced taxes on the distillation of spirits. No licenses were needed to make spirits and distillers could have smaller, simpler workshops than brewers, who were required to serve food and provide shelter for patrons
By 1743, England was drinking 2.2 gallons (10 litres) of gin per person per year. As consumption increased, a campaign for more effective legislation began to emerge, led by the Bishop of Sodor and Man, Thomas Wilson, who, in 1736, had complained that gin produced a "drunken ungovernable set of people". Prominent anti-gin campaigners included Henry Fielding (whose 1751 "Enquiry into the Late Increase in Robbers" blamed gin consumption for increased crime and increased ill health among children), Josiah Tucker, Daniel Defoe (who had originally campaigned for the liberalisation of distilling, but later complained that drunken mothers were threatening to produce a "fine spindle-shanked generation" of children) and – briefly – William Hogarth. Hogarth's engraving Gin Lane is a well known image of the gin craze, and is often paired with "Beer Street", creating a contrast between the miserable lives of gin drinkers and the healthy and enjoyable lives of beer drinkers.
So, King William of Orange was in 1715 responsible for turning a nation into a drug crisis, as you will see in the source link above.
But let me show you what we saw on the gin tour.
This big steam pot below is the catalyst of the gin making process. It cooks alcohol to very high temperatures.
This was the old plant that they started with, still in use, but that big pot above has taken over to replace it.
The two stainless steel tanks are full of alcohol that feeds the purification system.
From the big pot, the contents are filtered through the towers and depending on the changeable filters in use inside the towers, different flavors of gin are produced. The gin content can even be filtered out in the towers to produce alcohol free fruit juices.
This below was another machine that they use to produce pure alcohol.
Here below you can see the entrance to the building, and the products on show at the left hand on the counter grabbed my attention.
Just have a look at this. Some great Christmas presents, including alcohol free items.
Even a snow globe that lights up, and if you turn this bottle upside down, a snowflake cloud descends inside the bottle.
Oh yeah, it was so worth it to go on this tour of the ginologist building, with its wide and green lawn at the front, where clients can sit on the lawn with friends and families. At times the place is crowded with people, but we decided to visit on a non busy day.
Note that this is not a one man business, as they also have other branches in the country, and thousands of bottles are distributed to the branches and shops from this distiller.
We are non drinkers of alcohol and they had us testing the tastes of their non alcohol fruit drinks. It was tantalising to the tongue and wonderful. The staff are experts and friendly, and it was really great to visit the place.
So, if you are ever in the area, I would encourage you to pay the Ginologist a visit, as I can guarantee you that you will not be disappointed.
Here is their contact website
I hope you enjoyed the pictures and the story.
Photos by Zac Smith-All Rights Reserved.
Camera: Canon PowershotSX70HS Bridge camera.
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