The sine qua non of gin, short for the Dutch "jenever" is "jenever", which, in English, is "juniper."
Without juniper, you don't have gin.
Juniper, of course, is an evergreen conifer. Now, there ARE differences between the smells and tastes of juniper, spruce, and pine, but, well, they're more similar than not.
But there are gins that use the juniper as only one of the flavorings, often using coriander and orange peel as other major flavorings. Rose, star anise, and grains of paradise are also ones that are used.
So there are gins which have other flavors BESIDES the juniper -- but gin definitionally has juniper as a major flavor component.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-30 03:37 am (UTC)Sort of.
The sine qua non of gin, short for the Dutch "jenever" is "jenever", which, in English, is "juniper."
Without juniper, you don't have gin.
Juniper, of course, is an evergreen conifer. Now, there ARE differences between the smells and tastes of juniper, spruce, and pine, but, well, they're more similar than not.
But there are gins that use the juniper as only one of the flavorings, often using coriander and orange peel as other major flavorings. Rose, star anise, and grains of paradise are also ones that are used.
So there are gins which have other flavors BESIDES the juniper -- but gin definitionally has juniper as a major flavor component.