The Forgotten Juniper Spirit That Came Before Gin
Genever (Jenever) is considered the historical basis of gin and one of the oldest known juniper spirits, typically distilled from rye or barley malt. Its key ingredient is juniper berry, a medicinal herb used since ancient Egypt around 1500 BC for stomach complaints. The oldest Low Countries record of wine infused with juniper berries dates back to 1269 from Jacob Van Maerlant, a Flemish poet from the world of Bruges, describing the usage of juniper berries in Der Naturen Bloeme. In 1552 the physician Philippus Hermanni mentions something similar in his distilling book Een Constelijck Distileerboec, even if the name Genever is not yet used.
Sylvius de Bouve, an apothecary connected with Leiden after the University was founded in 1575, is often erroneously cited as the one who named Genever after the French word for juniper: Genièvre. However, the Dutchman Casper Jansz Coolhaes belongs to the first generation to use Genever in the language of distilled drink. Numerous sources mention also the Dutch doctor and scientist Franciscus Sylvius, who lived much later in the 17th century, as the inventor of Genever. However, there is historical evidence that Genever was a common drink as early as the late 16th century proves otherwise.
Genever is not gin with a Dutch accent. It begins as malt wine, moutwijn, a pot-still grain spirit, and only then takes juniper. English soldiers met it in the Low Countries as Dutch Courage. The name traveled as Geneva and later shrank to gin. England kept the berry and slowly let go of the malt.
In the 1850s, Genever was a highly popular spirit in the US and millions of liters passed through New York harbor annually, whereas gin from England was almost insignificant in comparison. When Jerry Thomas wrote gin, he often meant Holland gin. Then the category slipped from the American bar and stayed behind in the Low Countries.
Today, Genever is almost forgotten and remains cultural heritage of the Netherlands, Belgium, and parts of France and Germany. It is protected since 2008 under EU law. Oude and jonge are old style and new style, not a promise of age. Genever is a beautiful and overlooked spirit category that is different in taste to Gin, and is used as the basis for various Likör (liqueurs).
Read more about how Dutch Gin came to England, Vesper Martini, Queen Mother Cocktail and Waragi.
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This story is part of The Distilling Culture, an original literary collection conceived, researched, developed, edited, assembled, and curated by Caroline Porsiel. Comprising more than 150 stories first published between 2022 and 2026, the collection explores the history and culture of drinking through Caroline’s research, interpretation, narrative direction, thematic organization, and overarching creative vision. Published by House Of Applejay, Inc.
The Distilling Culture collection © 2022–2026 Caroline Porsiel. All rights reserved. No claim is made to ownership of the underlying historical facts or traditions. Copyright is claimed in the original writing, interpretation, narrative treatment, selection, coordination, arrangement, presentation, and collection as a whole.
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