Why do so many people hate Gin?

[YAYME]

As a former Gin hater, I can understand it's bad rap. People say it tastes like christmas tree. I counter that you really haven't enjoyed it. I started enjoying it when I sniffed it like a fine wine and inhaled the botanicals. I know many of friends that have had bad run ins in their teens with Gin or given it up because of cheap Gin. Or really haven't had a nice Gin cocktail. So explain to me why Gin, which I sometimes refer to as vodka for grown ups. Is so disparaged? Me, I want to get all cool obscure, craft Gin I see.

[Luna2372]

I love gin. As a long time bartender, at the end of the night, the drink of choice for most of us was clean, cold, clear dry gin on the rocks with a splah of tonic. It felt almost medicinal. To clear all those yucky sticky sweet drinks you poured all night.

I'm and old school Tanq girl, regular not 10.

[e_bone]

I married a 'martini lover" who wants Vodka "martinis" only. We have a two shaker situation every night. It's outrageous, inefficient and wrong.. But I can't abide the tasteless sipping of Vodka. If she wasn't German I'd threaten her. But she kind of scares me.

[EvergreenDan]

Ha ha. Made me laugh.

No problem with that shaker. Use a mixing glass and stir. (This from a guy who actually likes shaken Martinis for sentimental reasons.)

Suggestion: Start adding a small amount of gin to her vodka until she develops a taste for it. I got my wife off Splenda in her coffee using this technique.

[sanjacinto]

What I find surprising is that when people talk about gin, there seems to be this idea that it has an overwhelming flavor that might turn people off. I would say that even stronger tasting and botanical-heavy gin is, compared to most other spirits, pretty light. I can understand people just not liking the taste of gin, but I've always thought of it as having a much more crisp, refreshing flavor than pretty much any other distilled spirit.

[EvergreenDan]

Gin was my first spirit, but I mixed it with Mountain Dew when I was 15. I had never drunk Mountain Dew except out of a can, and was alarmed to discover its electric yellow color in the glass. As I drink my morning coffee today, the thought of this makes me -- literally -- slightly nauseous.

I think rum's molasses flavor may be the easiest spirit to learn to like for a novice drinker. Apart from vodka's non-flavor of course.

[MinistryOfPie]

I cannot understand why people don't like gin. I think they have never had a decent gin cocktail and it does matter what kind of gin you use. Some are excellent. Some are christmas tree essence. I infuse gin with lots of different fruits and flavors and it's always a success!

[cheesehead in recovery]

Boodles. I've become a fan.....

[hawkeyeui93]

BOODLES has become my go-to gin and is reasonably priced to boot!

[CrazyOne]

Pretty new to gin here, but I'm finding it interesting. I think the first time I tried it was about last summer when someone had a big bottle of Bombay Saphire at a gathering. I poured a bit in a cup (this was an outside, picnic sort of gathering) at one point and sipped and went "Hm, that's interesting". So I made a gin and tonic, because all the ingredients were available and others were making them. Not bad. Later I bought some Bluecoat at home, and that was a lot different. I tried making a martini with that once, complete with vermouth, but that didn't interest me much. Bluecoat is different enough that I'm not sure it really goes with vermouth anyway. Eventually I used all that, not sure how, I might have made a few gin and tonics with it. More recently and currently got a bottle of Beefeater, and made what turned out to be a really enjoyable gin and tonic with that tonight, mixed with Whole Foods 365 tonic.

So it seems I like gin just fine. :-) Waking up to that fact is good, will keep trying some different ones. Maybe I'll even try a martini again, but seems like getting decent vermouth here is difficult.

[Jenny Ondioline]

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned this on at least one other thread about gin long ago, but different people have different associations with liquors. Here in Boston, gin is often associated with the country-club, white pants after Memorial Day crowd. Whereas my college girlfriend, who was born and raised in one of Houston's roughest areas, refused to drink gin because she associated it with the crowd from her old neighborhood that she referred to as "roughnecks." So it's not always about the taste.

[lemons]

So that they can leave more for me, thanks.

[Pixie Muse]

Because the last time I had some, (ok I had too much) I ended up in the men's bathroom.

[kpaxonite]

and are you male? ...... and if not sounds like a good time lol

[jpc8015]

My philosophy is that any cocktail that can be made with vodka can be made better with gin.

[nsenada]

I hated gin until I tried Hendrick's. It seemed much more floral and citrusy than gins I had in the past, and didn't taste like pine sol. Subsequently, I came to appreciate other gins as well, and do like Bombay Sapphire for a martini. I think some of this change of taste (as noted above) may have to do with an aging, jaded palate seeking out new stimuli.

[Dapuma]

Hendricks got me into gin as well, now i like many varieties of gin

Nolet's is very good and floral - try it with a bit of muddled sugar in the bottom of the glass with some lime and club soda (i dont care for tonic)

Beefeater's 24 is also good, more juniper forward than the previous two but not quite as junipery as a full on london dry gin

[kpaxonite]

I started with and have always loved tanqueray (ten or reg)

[deet13]

Back when I was first starting out in the Army, back in the mid-80's, one of my buddies always hooked me up with Gordons G&T's whenever we went drinking.

I seriously despised the spruce-bomb flavor in the beginning; but because it was free, I eventually acquired the taste for it. I've been using Gordons as my daily gin ever since.

Using Gordons in a Gin Old Fashion is probably one of my favorite ways of drinking it, excluding a Negroni...

IMO, zin1953 is on the money.

[huiray]

I find Hendrick's really nasty. Bombay Sapphire, however, is very nice. Most other NON-FLORAL stuff is fine. I love my G&Ts and don't want stuff other than the juniper taste and smell in it. Did I mention I hate Hendrick's?

[zin1953]

People hate gin for the same reason(s) they hate anything that's alcoholic and consumable . . . either they haven't been exposed to a "good" one, had a bad experience with a "cheap" one when too young to know better, or they have yet to acquire a taste for it/isn't to their taste.

No great secret here. The stronger flavors something has, the "tougher" it is to like. I used to be a Scotch drinker -- more so than I am today -- but as much as I enjoyed the Highland, Speyside, and Campbelltown malts, I never enjoyed the intensity of a "classic" Islay malt. I could appreciate it was a well-made whisky, and I could understand how some people could love it, but I was never one of them . . . .

Personally, I think that's why Hendrick's is so popular: it's the gin for people who like vodka.

Cheers,
Jason

[Dr. Edna Williams]

Gin is a bit of an acquired taste. As we mature, we appreciate food and drink with more depth. Things that were unpalatable in youth and early adulthood, take on an interesting flavor and feel as we grow older. Other examples of this might include complex cheeses and fermented foods.

The bad rap may come from simply a lack of appreciation of complexity or just, as you say, drinking too much of it at too early an age.

Having lived in a British Colony, I grew accustomed to the ever popular Pimms. A great GNT really does hit the spot on a warm day. Bombay Sapphire Gin is the one to chose.

A twist of lime might be an appropriate addition on a warm day.

Vodka is a truly tasteless spirit. Perhaps that is why we now see so many flavors. Why not just have good Stolichnaya vodka and add fruit and fruit juice is my approach.

Gin, in contrast, requires no flavored mixer. In fact, it would truly be a waste to add anything fruity or flavorful as it is the complex botanical medley that gives gin it's unique flavor

That 'christmas tree' taste that you refer to is the juniper berries that contribute to the herbal blend.

Juniper berries are a strong medicinal, kidney stimulant and even have psychoactive powers.

Taken sparingly and properly, in the appropriate small doses, Juniper berries have a strongly cleansing property. They have been used to cure diabetes, arthritis, constipation, depression, and many chronic difficult conditions for many centuries by many cultures throughout the northern hemisphere. With strong antiseptic properties, they are one of earth's oldest medicines.

The complex resins of Juniper berries are difficult for modern chemistry to characterize.

Feed some Juniper berries to the birds and watch how they respond and fly even higher and happier!

[kpaxonite]

I love gin and juice it gives a kick that vodka doesn't have.

[EvergreenDan]

YAYME -- it's great to see you liking gin. It seems you appreciate more challenging flavors that when you first started posting here!

I was with Dr. Williams until the part about mixing with gin. I think gin stands up just fine to flavorful ingredients. The Negroni contains two powerhouses -- Campari and sweet vermouth. I assure you that the individual character of the gin comes through, even in the classic 1:1:1 ratio, much less the leaner ratios some prefer.

As for juniper curing baldness and balancing the federal budget, I await double-blind peer-reviewed studies. ;)

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