From Ashwagandha to Sumac: The New Frontier of Ginology Written by GARY SPEDDING, PH.D.
SEVEN UNIQUE GIN BOTANICALS
ABSTRACT: With more than 250 touted ingredients used in more than 2,800 gins worldwide, where does one begin to create standout greatness or novelty in shelf-stable gins? Formulation depends on the correct matching of botanicals (plus a few other unusual, esoteric, or unexpected ingredients) and looking at terpenic and other chemical class volatile flavor notes. Not all gins work well with the same classic cocktails — we have to think about the clash or harmonious synergy with the cocktail ingredients and gin flavor profile components. The art of the mixologist also comes into play, as well as understanding the new sensory (sensomics) term: the aroma cloud. Some recent publications are helping reveal the secrets behind creating a more well-integrated flavor expression and leading the way forward to assessing which ingredients will marry well in the next generation of ginology. This paper briefly assesses those developments and then covers base details on seven botanicals that have come under scrutiny of late or that have been used in some new gin: Ashwagandha, capers, mahua flowers/seeds, oak moss, purple perilla, rose root, and sumac.
Introduction The vast world of plant terpenes is regarded as the key notes for most gins, starting of course with the quintessential components found in juniper. In assessing gin ingredients today, however, we can find 250 ingredients used in around 2,800 gins worldwide. A number of these would be rare, unusual ingredients, and some are not actually botanicals. A recent and important paper has appeared in the literature with a backup or supporting citation link to a novel algorithm for predicting which botanicals will work well together and those that might prove a terpenic overload with respect to certain flavor notes (1). The new paper by Ramirez, et al., covers a base of 160 botanicals, and these are detailed in a flavor wheel (1). This author recently took that data and created a more useful gin flavor map directionally illustrating all the herbal qualities found in a plethora of gins. Recent literature discusses the basics and also more detailed formulas, rules, and ratios (some dating back to the 1930s) for botanical mixing (“Still Magic” by M. Thompson is a must-read, 2). An article titled The Vast and Fantastic World of Botanicals co-authored by Molly Troupe and me appeared in the pages of this magazine six years ago (#23, 2018). The esteemed author and gin expert Aaron Knoll has also authored several Artisan Spirit articles on the topic (including issue number 30, Spring 2020; number 38, Spring 2022; number 39, Summer 2022; number 40, Fall 2022; number 44, Fall 2023; and number 45, Winter 2024), and we can see Knoll’s notes on the gin fixative effect in Distiller magazine (2019). Matthew Pauley covers the selection of juniper also in Distiller magazine (2023). Leading into the discussion on the Ramirez paper noted above (1), Paul Hughes and coauthor Ian Hartzog covered Ginnovation — which was used by the Ramirez group as the best base working formula for gins and provided the starting point for the generation of their algorithm assessing the selection of different ingredients (from around 160 botanicals) based on mapping distances with respect largely to the individual botanical’s terpene contents (Hughes & Hartzog — “Artisan W W W . ARTISANSPIRITMAG . C O M
Spirit issue number 23, Summer 2018). The references above provide a solid starting-point to look at gin formulations, with readers encouraged to seek online details on each botanical or ingredient they wish to evaluate for their own prospective new gin. Run the details through the online algorithm (which, as indicated to me via personal communications, is continually being updated as new information becomes available) and see what pans out. It is important to balance out the volatile components by using botanicals that act synergistically, not antagonistically, with respect to final gin flavor profiles and stability. More research is needed into the currently “nebulous” gin fixative effect.
The Seven Botanicals The thrust of this paper is to introduce some new or novel botanicals for gin formulation. A set of seven figures — based on reduced details from an original set of Ginfographics, simplified here for better visual appeal (Figures 1-7) — form the main data sets for these botanicals. The main references that appear in the original graphics, alongside text comments and facts, are not covered below with numerical referencing as is usual for such papers. However, a set of key references by botanical name headings and those that provided the details for each botanical are noted in the references section. A few additional references are noted numerically in order of appearance in the introductory text. The botanicals chosen were selected for coverage based on questions that were posed to the author or from seeing their use in some new and interesting gins. The in-text details below provide additional clues as to flavor derived from such plants, the gins they are used in, some botanical details, and other notable facts. As a general note, the terpenoids in plants are widely recognized, conceptually and/or empirically, for their aromatic qualities and important roles in traditional herbal remedies, as well as in biomaterials and biofuels. While they are the major volatile players, other compounds are noted in the graphics, either by general chemical class or individually. Some act as antioxidants (flavonoids), 89