1/2Gin becomes a hipster drink － by Amie Tsang, NYT Jan. 15, 2019 ジンの人気復活
British distillers, eager to avoid market saturation, search for a global crowd
Ever since European apothecaries began distilling and selling it as a cure-all in the 16th century, the juniper-flavored liquor has been revered as a medicine, vilified for fueling public disorder and consumed in a multitude of every-season cocktails.
Now, it is stirring up a specialized tourist trade in the homeland of London dry gin, thanks in part to entrepreneurial bottling and branding.
After surging for a decade, gin sales in Britain reached nearly 2 billion pounds, or about $2.6 billion, through last fall, compared with ￡1.26 billion for the same period in 2017, according to the Wine and Spirit Trade Association. Drinkers of pink and flavored versions have helped make it the country’s second-most-popular spirit, ahead of whiskeys and behind only vodka, the group said.
Gin has gotten so popular in Britain that the country’s Office for National Statistics added it back to the basket of goods it uses to measure inflation after a 13-year absence.
Many of the newer products share the flavor of juniper, but others vary widely from traditional dry gin, which, by European law, must be distilled from natural plant materials and have a minimum of 37.5 percent alcohol by volume.
The revival has spawned gin-flavored marmalade and gin-scented candles, prompting fears of overkill among some British producers. As a result, they are seeking new growth overseas.
The Birth of a Boom
Sam Galsworthy and Fairfax Hall, childhood friends from Britain, were working in the beverage industry in the United States in the early 2000s and watching microbreweries and craft distilleries multiply around them.
They tried to start a gin distillery in West London in 2007 but were quickly stymied by bureaucratic rules more than 250 years old.
In 1751, British officials, worried that too many people were succumbing so-called mother’s ruin, passed the Gin Act to stamp out small-scale and home production by limiting the making of gin to stills with a capacity of at least 1,800 liters.
Mr. Galsworthy and Mr. Hall lobbied the government to ease the restriction, and in 2009, their company, Sipsmith, was granted a license to produce gin. The decision opened the door for other small distilleries.
Gin making has exploded in Britain since then. The number of distilleries grew to 419 in 2018 from 113 in 2009, according to the Office for National Statistics.
The distilleries have become popular tourist destinations. Sipsmith says it gets about 25,000 visitors a year. Taste-testers like that － those buying the experience as well as gin － have helped fuel the growth in sales.
“It's part of a food culture that probably didn't exist in the U.K. 20 years ago,” said Miles Beale, chief executive of Britain’s Wine and Spirit Trade Association. “People are drinking less, but they're more interested in what they're drinking. They will spend money on it.”
Sam Galsworthy and Fairfax Hall, childhood friends from Britain, were working in the beverage industry in the United States in the early 2000s and watching microbreweries and craft distilleries multiply around them.
They tried to start a gin distillery in West London in 2007 but were quickly stymied by bureaucratic rules more than 250 years old.
In 1751, British officials, worried that too many people were succumbing so-called mother’s ruin, passed the Gin Act to stamp out small-scale and home production by limiting the making of gin to stills with a capacity of at least 1,800 liters.
Mr. Galsworthy and Mr. Hall lobbied the government to ease the restriction, and in 2009, their company, Sipsmith, was granted a license to produce gin. The decision opened the door for other small distilleries.
Gin making has exploded in Britain since then. The number of distilleries grew to 419 in 2018 from 113 in 2009, according to the Office for National Statistics.
The distilleries have become popular tourist destinations. Sipsmith says it gets about 25,000 visitors a year. Taste-testers like that － those buying the experience as well as gin － have helped fuel the growth in sales.
“It's part of a food culture that probably didn't exist in the U.K. 20 years ago,” said Miles Beale, chief executive of Britain’s Wine and Spirit Trade Association. “People are drinking less, but they're more interested in what they're drinking. They will spend money on it.”
