Episode 114 Mediterraneo & History of Gin
Ep. 114: Mother's ruin (brief history of gin) – The Mediterraneo Cocktail
Welcome to Season 7 episode 114 of The Art of Drinking with Join Jules and Your Favorite Uncle
Join co-hosts Uncle Brad and Jules as they explore the sophisticated world of gin, from modern craft cocktails to historic London streets. Jules shares the story behind her signature creation, the Meditaranio—a Mediterranean-inspired gin sour featuring fresh basil and silky egg white that she crafted specially for her sister's Sicilian wedding. This elegant twist on the classic sour perfectly captures the herb-scented warmth of the Italian countryside.
Uncle Brad then takes listeners on a journey through gin's darker past, diving deep into the notorious Gin Craze of 18th-century England. Discover how this beloved spirit went from being a cheap, destructive vice that nearly brought London to its knees to becoming the refined base for today's craft cocktails. From the squalid gin shops of Hogarth's prints to the botanical complexity of modern distillation, explore how gin transformed from social menace to mixology staple.
Whether you're interested in crafting your own herb-forward cocktails or learning about the fascinating social history behind your favorite spirits, this episode serves up the perfect blend of recipe inspiration and historical intrigue.
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A Brief History of Gin
Gin’s story begins in the 17th century with a Dutch spirit called jenever—a malted grain distillate flavored with juniper berries. Originally, it wasn’t created as a cocktail staple, but as medicine. Juniper was believed to have healing properties, and jenever was prescribed for everything from stomach ailments to circulation issues.
English soldiers fighting in the Netherlands during the Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648) were introduced to jenever and brought the taste for it home—coining the phrase “Dutch courage.” By the mid-1600s, gin as we know it began to take shape in England.
Things really took off during the “Gin Craze” of the early 18th century, when relaxed distilling laws made gin cheaper than beer. London was awash in gin shops, and the spirit developed a reputation for both wild indulgence and social chaos. Hogarth’s famous print Gin Lane captured the excess of the era.
Eventually, stricter regulation and improved distilling methods refined gin into something more elegant. By the 19th century, London Dry Gin emerged—a cleaner, crisper style that became the foundation for classic cocktails like the Martini, the Negroni, and the Gin & Tonic (a drink born out of British colonial India, where quinine tonic water helped prevent malaria).
Today, gin is in the midst of another renaissance. From classic London Dry to modern craft expressions infused with botanicals like lavender, cucumber, or citrus, gin has proven itself to be one of the most versatile and enduring spirits in cocktail culture.
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