1868 The complete Practical Distiller

103

HOLLANDS GIN.

PROCESS FOR RECTIFICATION INTO HOLLANDS GIN.

This process is conducted as follows : — To every 20 gallons of spirits of the second extraction, about the strength of proof spirit, take 3 pounds of juniper-berries, and 2 ounces of the oil of juniper, and distil with a slow fire until the feints begin to rise ; then change the receiv- ing-can : this produces the best Rotterdam gin. An in- ferior kind is made with a still less proportion of berries, sweet fennel-seeds, and Strasburg turpentine, without a drop of juniper-oil. It, and a better sort, but inferior to the Rotterdam gin, are made at Weesoppe. The distil- lers' wash at Schiedam and Rotterdam are still lighter than that at Weesoppe. Strasburg turpentine is of a light yellowish-brown co- lour, and very fragrant, agreeable smell ; its taste is the bitterest yet the least acid of the turpentines. The juni- per-berries are so very cheap in Holland, that they must have more reasons than mere cheapness for being so much more sparing of their consumption than distillers in this country. Indeed, they are not in the habit of wasting any thing. The two principal modes of preparing geneva in Holland have thus been described by an eminent distiller : " A quantity of flour of rye, coarsely ground, is mixed with a third or fourth part of barley-malt, proportioned to the size of the tub in which the vinous fermentation is to be eflPected.