The Esoteric World of Botanical Alcohol

Alcohol has been consumed since time immemorial whence man learned to distill. Or it could be much earlier perhaps during the prehistoric times, that man came across a fermenting fruit like grapes or strawberry. Concomitantly a heated debate on justification of liquor consumption is on, but humans drink and continue to drink till this day. It is an important recreational element in our societies.

No kind of ban, prohibitory order or religious injunction works, and people find ways and means to consume bacchus everywhere. Even in India with Hindu majority which considers alcohol as unhealthy, wine was a permitted drink for Devas. Somras as it was called was imbibed without any qualms, but the mortal abstained.

In modern-day democracies, some countries or states prohibit alcohol sales, manufacture and consumption. While in some countries like India, tribal communities are allowed to brew liquor from Mahua fruit without license. This is as a respect to their traditions, since Mahua liquor is part of their lifestyle.

All over the world license is required to distill alcohol and thus there is a control over production and sales especially in Europe. In Estonia advertisement is restricted for alcohol and so is the sales period. In some European countries the control on consumption is brought about by increasing taxes, and thus raising the price. But things do not work out this way, since illegal distillation takes over and bootleggers become active.

Most of us including regular tipplers understand alcohol as a single liquid which is ethanol made potable by the distillation process and controlling its percentage to tolerable level. Most of the beer drinkers know that their drink is flavored by herbs but many hard liquor consumers comprehend their booze as a single entity. This is true for scotch whisky, rum, vodka, tequila and so on. Very few understand that smoothness and changes in the aroma and taste is brought about by water and raw materials used, period of storage in casks or maturation and the process of distillation.

Take the example of gin, lot many have no idea the role played by the botanical. As a matter of fact, Juniper the principal flavoring agent is a berry of sorts. Craft liquor distilleries are using varied botanicals to flavor their gin. This kind of botanical spirit also powers some vodka and rum but the usage is widespread among gin distilleries.

When it comes to this wonder spirit sky is the limit and please note it is no gin in absence of Juniper, but that is not the end. Distilleries in Europe use amazing mix of herbs, roots, flowers, ground spices and essential oils to power their blends. The possibility of creating esoteric combination is limitless in case of this clear liquid spirit.

No wonder there is such a vast range of craft gin these days. This type of botanical liquor is distilled everywhere due to popularity of the drink not only in Europe. The botanical marvel has become immensely localized due to availability of infusions within the reach. But paradoxically many brands have become globally popular. This phenomenon is not due to the size of the distilleries or in case of large alcohol companies, even small batch distillers have crossed over the boundaries and sell their labels across the continents.

The recipes are created by master blender especially those at the helm of boutique distilleries. The amazing combination of elements available for flavoring and aroma is key to produce a unique gin and capture niche slots electric fast. This is creating a severe competition among the producers the World over and entering the domain of universal labels.

With these botanical wonders a new paradigm has set in the monopoly is being destroyed by craft and small batch distillers especially in EU. If it is the esoteric in drinks that you are seeking than the best is to become a gin drinker. What more besides the lovely flavors you might benefit from antioxidants, vitamins and minerals that accrue due to herbal infusions.

Uday writes on Estonian alcohol as an enthusiast and writer. He also writes on gin alternatives that are no alcohol beverages from Estonia. It is a country near Baltic Sea in EU.

Uday writes often on Indian wildlife especially about the tigers. He works as a naturalist and is fond of travel. Uday also provides search engine optimization service and website contents in English.