We bet you love a G&T, don’t you? How much do you know about gin though? It’s time to find out in our fun facts about gin!
Whether you love sipping a gin and tonic on a sunny patio or indulging in a dry martini at your local bar, gin is a drink that charms with its intoxicating scent and unique flavor.
Infused with a mix of delightful botanicals and juniper berrie,s there isn’t anything quite like gin.
Some say it tastes like drinking pine needles, but there’s so much more complexity when it comes to this one-of-a-kind spirit.
Come along to learn more fun facts about gin from its medicinal origins, to the Gin Craze of the 1700s, to rollin’ down the street with Snoop Dogg.
Did you know that gin is best enjoyed mixed with different alcohols, juices and seltzers, making it unique among its fussier cousins like vodka, scotch and whiskey? Yes, you have gin to thank for current cocktail culture craze.
From bathtub gin, to arctic gin, to gin made from insects, the world of gin is captivating, glamorous, and a little bit kooky. We wouldn’t have it any other way!
Okay, are you ready? Have you mixed yourself a gin and soda, a negroni, or a gimlet? If you don’t feel like a cocktail now, you’ll be whetting your lips after these fascinating gin facts!
Contents:
23 Fun Facts About Gin
1. English or Dutch?
While the Dutch were the first to include juniper in spirits, their version called jenever is more malty and whiskey-like.
The London dry gin that is most popular today was invented after the English brought jenever home from the Netherlands and created their own distilling technique with the juniper berry. It wasn’t until the mid-17th and 18th century that gin really started taking off.
2. What is a juniper berry?
A gin is not a gin without the inclusion of juniper berries. The deep blue berry grows on the juniper shrub which is common all around the world.
The aroma of juniper is woody and the taste is pine-like giving gin that unique flavor we love!
3. Full of delicious flavors
Gin is all about the botanicals it’s infused with. Juniper, of course, is the common denominator among gin, but other common botanicals include orange and lemon peel, coriander, cassia, cardamom, ginger, orris seed and angelica root.
4. Strange brew
Okay, we gave you the most common botanicals, but you came here for some bizarre gin facts too, right?
Some of the oddest botanicals included in gin are jackfruit, seaweed, bamboo, lavender, cream and even gunpowder tea. However, the strangest might be Anty Gin with every bottle infused with 62 red wood ants!
5. Don’t get malaria!
The classic gin and tonic cocktail was invented by British soldiers stationed in India. The soldiers drank quinine tonic water to fight against malaria, but the taste was so bitter they added gin to make it drinkable.
Hence, one of the world’s most famous and refreshing cocktails was born. This was one of the fun facts about gin that really shocked us!
6. Shaken, not stirred
The classic martini lists gin as the main ingredient and the idea of a vodka martini was very unpopular until James Bond started ordering them in the 1960s.
Here’s one of the more fascinating gin facts: In total, Bond orders 19 vodka martinis and 16 gin martinis throughout Ian Fleming’s novels and short stories.
7. Going crazy for gin
In the first half of the 18th century, the British went a little nuts for gin. During its peak in the 1730s, Londoners were imbibing 2 pints of gin each per week
In fact, the period known as the Gin Craze, caused so much strife and alcoholism in the poor of the country that Parliament passed five major acts to try and curb the drinking of gin.
And why did the British drink so much gin? At the time it was actually considered safer and healthier than drinking dirty unfiltered water!
8. Who drinks the most gin?
With roots in England and Holland it’s a safe bet to think they would be the largest consumers of gin. Well, prepare to be shocked.
It’s the Philippines that love gin the most! In fact, the country alone supports 43% of the global gin market. We said these gin facts would surprise you!
9. Gin can break the bank
According to Guinness World Records, the world’s most expensive gin is the Morus LXIV that sold for $4,887.91 in 2018. The lucrative gin is made from the air-dried leaves of a single ancient mulberry tree and takes two years to produce a single batch.
10. A true disease fighter
First it was the gin and tonic to fight malaria, and now we have the gimlet to fight scurvy. Yes, gin was out there combating all the world’s ailments.
What’s a gimlet you ask? Simply, one part sweetened lime juice and four parts gin!
11. The healing power of juniper
Often called the Grandfather of Gin, the Dutch physician Franciscus Sylvius started prescribing juniper-based spirits for ailments such as infections, tape worms, and gout as early as 1550! This is considered one of the earliest forms of gin that people drank (though more for medicine than pleasure).
12. Gin and the royal family
The British Royal Family released their own official gin in 2020 called Buckingham Palace Gin. There’s also a rumor they have their silverware cleaned with gin!
Not only that, Queen Elizabeth II’s favorite cocktail was Dubonnet and gin, which she drank almost every day. Legend.
13. Gin in the tub
When prohibition began in the United States in 1920 an interesting concoction was born: bathtub gin. That’s right, illegal booze distilled in open vats and sold under the cover of darkness.
While it might sound fun to create a bathtub full of booze, it led to the deaths of over 50,000 people from tainted alcohol.
14. The rise of the cocktail
Bathtub gin was so disgusting on the palate that the prohibition-era liquor actually spawned cocktail culture.
To mask the hideous taste of homemade hooch cocktails including the gin rickey, old fashioned, French 75, and bee’s knees were all born.
15. Gin from the arctic
The most northern produced gin in the world is Ungava from Quebec, Canada. Ungava uses only hand-foraged botanicals found in the arctic climate.
The unique botanicals include nordic juniper, black crowberry, rose hip, Labrador tea and cloudberry. It also has a bright yellow color from the rose hip!
16. Lifestyles of the rich and famous
Famous faces who have listed gin as their go-to libation include writers Ernest Hemingway and JK Rowling, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Pop legend Madonna, First Lady Michelle Obama and crooner Frank Sinatra.
17. Rollin’ down the street
Arguably, the most popular song about gin is the Snoop Dogg hit, Gin and Juice. Released in 1994 off his debut album Doggystyle, Gin and Juice was a top-10 hit on the Billboard 100 and has sold over 700,000 copies. It’s listed by VH1 as the 8th greatest hip-hop song of all-time.
18. A famous movie line
The most famous mention of gin on the silver screen was in the 1942 classic, Casablanca. Humphrey Bogart delivers the famous line: “Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine.” It was ranked by AFI as the 67th best movie quote of all-time.
19. The best-sellers
In 2021, 96.9 million cases of gin were sold worldwide. Are you wondering what companies have a stranglehold on the market? These are the gin facts for the investors out there!
1. Gordon’s (7.4 million cases) 2. Tanqueray (5.6 million cases) 3. Bombay Sapphire (4.4 million cases)
20. Who makes the most gin?
The United Kingdom certainly leads the way when it comes to distilling gin with 1,722 gin distilleries. Second is the USA with 722 varieties. Coming in a close third is Germany who produces 692 unique gins.
21. Gin around the world
The World Gin Awards take place every year rewarding distilleries from around the world. With England being the top producer you’d likely guess they’d win most of the awards.
However, in the recent 2022 edition, the top prizes went to distilleries from New Zealand, Lebanon and Argentina. Like we said, gin can be produced anywhere!
22. The healthiest alcohol
The juniper berry is high in antioxidants, vitamin C and flavonoids, making gin one of the healthiest alcohols… if you can call any alcohol healthy.
It also has low calories and can prevent bloating. Let’s raise a toast to drinking gin (in moderation) for our health!
23. It’s a celebration!
We don’t need a special day to enjoy a few gin cocktails. Just give us a patio in the sunshine and a refreshing G&T and we’ll be happy all day.
However, if you want to celebrate the fabulousness of gin, the best day to do it is June 12th, World Gin Day.
Who wants more fun facts?
If you’re looking for some recommendations, these are a few of our favorite fact books to buy. We use these when planning fun trivia nights with family and friends!
Did these fun facts about gin make you crave a cocktail? Or do you prefer champagne, beer, or vodka? Whatever your preference, we hope you learned some new and interesting gin facts. Cheers!
