What is genever

A.� Genever is Dutch gin which has been around for centuries. Gin, made from juniper berries, arrived in Flanders in the late 14th century. It was first used as a health tonic and Lucas Bols, father of commercial gin production, built his first distillery in 1575 near Amsterdam.

Genever became a staple part of the Dutch/Belgian diet, used to cure everything from stomach upsets to give soldiers a numb fearlessness in battle. Regiments of English mercenaries who went to fight for the Dutch during the Thirty Years War (1618-48) came home with tales of Dutch Courage thanks to genever.

Genever grew in popularity across Holland while other spirits flourished in Britain and European countries. Farmers began to produce their own genevers from excess grain and soon every house would have a jar (or stone crock bottle), for making genever. In fact, genever remains Holland's national spirit

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Q.� How is it made

A.� There are three categories of genever. Oude,� the old straw-coloured, pungently sweet style: Jonge, a newer style which arrived with the continuous still; and Korenwijn, which is a cask-aged product with a high percentage of malted spirit. Each distiller will have its own method of production but in general, genever differs from London Dry gin by being based on a heavier spirit. Traditionally, this has been made from moutwijn (malt wine) which is a low-strength spirit made from a mash of wheat, rye and malted barley distilled in pot stills. The Schiedam-based firm Floryn uses pot still grain, which gives a slightly lighter spirit, while Hooghoudt produces a fine double-stilled pot still genever. Many genevers are still packaged in stone crock bottles.

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Q.� Is genever made with juniper

A.� Other botanicals are used as well as juniper but it its the way the distillers handle their flavouring ingredients which gives gever its distinctive style. Bols, for example, passes the vapour in a fourth distillation over the juniper berries for its Corenwyn. In many cases it is the point at which the juniper is added that makes the difference. Several Dutch firms have come up with lighter styles to attract younger drinkers as beer has increased in popularity. Newer-style brands include Bokma's Royal Dark, which is aged in Limousin oak, while there are some lower-strength flavoured genevers which taste like blackcurrant, fruit schnapps or an English sloe or damson gin.

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Q.� Where does juniper come from

A.� A lot of the world's junipar for gin production comes from italy. The berries are handpicked from October to March.Spice merchants either send distillers samples after the October harvest, or distiller seek their own supply. There is generally a long period to assess the quality of the berries.

Distilers extract the essential oil from each of the samples, put it in neutral alcohol and then nose all the samples - perhaps up to 200 - blind. Only then will they pick the supplier. The berries are examined for oil content, and they try to find something that has the same character as their gin.

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By Katharine� MacColl