The gin craze caused social chaos? Strange wine

Gin is also called gin, gin or gin. /kloc-in the 0 th and 7 th centuries, the Dutch used gin as the raw material for making spirits. At that time, the Dutch drank a large glass of this wine before each battle to increase their fighting courage. The magical effect that the British brought to gin for the sake of the black Dutch is called "Dutch courage".

Let's see how gin is notorious. At first, gin was really a serious wine. At first, it was used as a medicine to treat kidney disease, stomachache, backache, gallstones and gout.

Half a century after the invention of gin, it caused a "gin madness" in Britain. The government allows the production of gin without a license, but at the same time imposes heavy taxes on all imported spirits, such as French brandy. So gin became an affordable wine for everyone. People in the street are thirsty for gin.

How tragic the scene is, let's take a look at william hogarth's print "Gin Lane".

William hogarth, Jinxiang, 1759

First of all, let's take a look at how many people are drinking in such an alley scene: in front of a golden restaurant named "kilman" in the middle of the picture, a group of people are crowded together excitedly.

On the right, there are two ladies talking while drinking, and there are a group of drunks fighting next to them. Further to the left is a terminally ill or drunk man, sitting in a cart, while the people next to him are still filling him with wine! Look at them again, a mother is pouring gin into her child's mouth, and the child's expression is dumbfounded. By the way, the name of the store is really good ~

In the lower right corner of the picture, there is another person who is unconscious. Judging from his bony chest and back, he should be one of the poor people who are addicted to this "golden wine fever". He has an empty cup in one hand and a basket in the other. There is a bottle of wine and a piece of paper with a pun "the downfall of Mrs. King" written on it.

In the distance, a man was holding a pole, which had poked a child, and her mother ran out from behind crying. In the distance of the picture, there is a dying dead man. Next to the coffin, a child was crying.

There is a topless woman in the center of the photo. Already drunk, the ulcer on her leg reminds people that she is a prostitute with syphilis. Her child had no clothes to wear, and someone gave her a suit. She killed the child and sold her clothes for gin.

There is also a pawnshop on the left of the picture. Pawnshop owners are the happiest. People are lining up to sell iron, changing money for gin at all costs.

Death, alcoholism, accidents ... everywhere in this painting reveals a chaotic atmosphere. This is because this is/kloc-the East End of London in the 8th century. Here, there are many farmers who lost their land in the "enclosure movement" and displaced foreign immigrants. But dependence on gin is not indulgence. In this era when gin is cheaper than food, the poor can't afford food, but they can afford gin. Faced with a desperate and helpless life, we can only paralyze ourselves with gin and escape from this world.

At that time, another work of Hogarth, Beer Street, produced this painting. It's also about drinking, but in this photo of beer street, people look healthy and happy. With the development of industrial civilization, people enjoy their life by drinking beer in the process of hard work, and the spring is bright and prosperous.

William hogarth Beer Street, 1759

So how do people evaluate these two works? At that time, connoisseurs (especially the rich class) put these two works together and came to an amazing conclusion: drinking beer can get God's blessing, while drinking gin will go to hell. In their eyes, the chief culprit of poverty and moral corruption is gin, not the other way around.

So the government began a large-scale campaign to eliminate gin, as if the poor disappeared after eliminating gin.

Sculpture of Gin Shop in Krusek (1829)

Andersen is also a man of this era. It is said that someone laughed at his mother for drinking. His answer at that time was this: When it was freezing in winter in Denmark, my mother wanted to be a washerwoman by the river. She wanted to warm her frozen body and had to drink water. Otherwise, what else can she do?

Of course, this also highlights the popularity of gin. Later, the British government raised the tax on gin to control the output of gin, but the effect was not good, and even caused riots among the bottom workers. The riot lasted for 30 years before it gradually subsided. Because of this riot, gin makers have been drinking high-quality gin and gradually become the national wine of Britain!

Modern gin-grains are usually fermented by distillation, and the taste of gin is added after distillation.

Distill gin-Distill it again with gin and other spices.

London dry gin-after distillation, there is no smell, only some water.

In Europe and the United States, this classification has strict legal provisions. First of all, the minimum alcohol content is 37.5%. It is not allowed to add any artificial color and aroma, and the base wine must be distilled again with juniper and plant components. The alcohol content must reach at least 70% during distillation, and only water, extra base wine and a very small amount of sugar (less than 0. 1g per liter) are allowed after distillation.

Take beafeater as an example

This is the only brewery in London that still makes gin (the rent in London is expensive). The classic beef pie itself is complex enough, in which the angelica dahurica flower brings a lot of fresh fragrance, and the sour taste and sweet taste are in perfect balance. Other representative works of the winery, such as Beefeater 24, have added Japanese fried tea, China green tea, grapefruit peel and other flavors on the basis of traditional spices. Beefeater London Garden adds spice flavor of lemon verbena and thyme. But the most special thing is the Reserve of Beefeater Burrough, a round pot-bellied bottle with a light straw color. This wine is distilled in small batches and aged in Bordeaux oak barrels, adding floral and apricot fragrance.

Grain, juniper and spice are put into the fat belly of copper pot distiller for fermentation distillation, and the cooled liquid is divided into head/middle/tail. There is a lot of lemon and orange smell in the head, and this part will be disposed of directly. The middle part will be canned, and the tail is too bitter to eat.

Juniper is one of the most important raw materials. The most classic taste of gin is the aroma of gin, which consumes 500 tons of gin every year.

Gin is the base wine of a very important cocktail and is called "the soul (heart) of a cocktail". For example, world-famous cocktails such as Martini, Commander Singapore, Pink Lady, and Jin are all based on gin, and cocktails based on gin can better show the unique personality of gin and will not have any impact on the taste of cocktails.

The bartender's suit is very handsome.

Bonus: Classic cocktail recipe

Gin tonic

Method: Add about half of the ice cubes into a straight tall glass. Pour in at least 80% tonic water and about one ounce of gold, and stir a little. Put in a slice of lemon.

1.？ Martinez

60 ml old Simon Ratt

30 ml of red absinthe

1 ds orange bitter wine

Stir and put in a sedan chair.

Decoration: orange twist

2.？ Mr Simon (Salvato calabrese)

60 ml old Simon Ratt

15ml mandolin Napoleon

10ml Kimberly

1 lb agave syrup

Stir and put in a sedan chair.

Decoration: orange twist

3.？ Dutch lemonade

60 ml old Simon Ratt

30 ml fresh lemon juice?

20 ml simple syrup

Fill it up with soda water

Built in a long wine glass

Decoration: lemon peel

4.？ Crushing celery basil

60 ml celery ginger

30 ml of fresh lemon juice

20 ml simple syrup

2 basil

Shake it and put it in a large flat glass to make small squares.

Garnish: basil branches and celery sticks.

5.？ Celery and apple soda

60 ml celery ginger

30 ml lime

20 ml simple syrup

1/4 fresh green apples

1/2 celery stalks

1 egg white

Stir, shake, and strain into a drink with ice cubes, and inject a small amount of soda water.

Decoration: green apples and celery

6.？ Celery Jim te

40 ml celery ginger

30 ml Italian beer

1 a little fresh lime

Stir in a car or put it on ice in a flat glass.