Gin is a distilled spirit flavored with juniper berries.
Gin is made by fermenting wheat, corn, and rye with malted barley, and then distilling it with juniper berries and other spices mixed in. It does not need to be aged, which made it an attractive product during Prohibition.
Gin was invented in Holland, and came to England during a war in the early 1600’s. It was the original “Dutch courage”, a term that means courage gained from being drunk.
Gin became very popular among working class people in England, because it could be brewed from grain unfit for making bread or beer, and it wasn’t taxed, unlike other distilled spirits. It was often flavored with turpentine. Lots of extreme drunkenness and otherwise immoral behavior during the Gin Craze (1700-1750).
The English in India prevented malaria with quinine. Since quinine is very bitter, they mixed it with carbonated water and gin, with a lime : the gin-and-tonic.