How is gin made? Ask that question in a busy pub and you'll hear confident talk of copper stills, secret recipes and mysterious botanicals, most of it half right. The real answer is better than the folklore. Gin begins life as a neutral spirit, essentially vodka, and only becomes gin when juniper takes charge of the flavour. How the juniper gets in there is where the story forks, because there are two ways to make gin: one that needs a distillery and a licence, and one that has been done in kitchens for centuries and still is. This guide walks through both, from the legal definition to the still room to the bottle, and shows exactly where a home gin kit fits into a very old story.
What is gin made from?
Strip away the mystique and gin has a surprisingly short ingredients list: a neutral base spirit, juniper berries, and whatever supporting botanicals the maker chooses.
The base spirit is the unglamorous part. Neutral spirit is alcohol distilled to a very high strength, around 96 percent, usually in tall column stills designed to strip out almost every trace of character. It can be made from wheat, barley, maize, molasses, grapes or even potatoes, and by the time the columns have finished with it, it hardly matters which. A blank canvas is the whole point. Plenty of gin makers don't produce their own base at all; buying in neutral grain spirit is normal practice right across the industry, from craft sheds to household names.
The botanicals are where gin becomes gin. Juniper is not optional: under UK and EU rules, a spirit can only be called gin if juniper is the predominant flavour, and it must be bottled at 37.5 percent alcohol or stronger. Around that juniper backbone, makers layer supporting botanicals. Coriander seed, angelica root, citrus peel, orris root, cardamom and liquorice are among the most common, though modern gins have used everything from cucumber to seaweed. So the recipe on paper is short: strong, clean alcohol, juniper firmly in charge, and a supporting cast chosen by the maker. Everything else is technique.
How is gin made in a distillery?
The classic method, the one behind nearly every clear gin on the shelf, is redistillation. It runs in four broad steps.
- Start with neutral spirit. The distillery takes its high-strength neutral spirit and usually dilutes it a little, ready for the still.
- Add the botanicals. Juniper and the supporting botanicals go into the spirit, often left to steep for hours or overnight so their oils begin to loosen.
- Redistil. The still, traditionally a copper pot still, is heated. Alcohol vapour rises through the botanicals, carrying their aromatic oils with it, then condenses back into liquid. The distiller makes cuts as the run progresses, discarding the harsh early vapours and the dull late ones, keeping only the heart of the run.
- Cut to bottling strength. The spirit comes off the still far too strong to drink, so it's blended with water down to bottling strength, then bottled and labelled.
There's an elegant variation worth knowing about: vapour infusion. Instead of steeping the botanicals in the liquid, some distillers suspend them in a basket in the neck of the still, so the rising vapour passes through them on its way to the condenser. The alcohol never touches the botanicals as a liquid at all, which tends to produce lighter, more delicate gins.
Either way, notice what redistillation does to colour. Only the volatile aromatics travel with the vapour; the colour of the steeped botanicals stays behind in the still. That is the entire reason commercial gin is crystal clear, and it's a detail that will matter in a moment.
Is gin made from vodka?
Essentially, yes, and it's not the scandal it sounds. Vodka is neutral spirit brought down to bottling strength, and neutral spirit is exactly what gin is built on. A distillery wouldn't call its base spirit vodka, but the liquid going into a gin still and the liquid inside a vodka bottle are very close relations. Gin is what happens when that blank spirit meets juniper.
What keeps gin from being mere flavoured vodka is the law and the juniper. A flavoured vodka can taste of anything; a gin must taste first and foremost of juniper, or it isn't gin. Think of vodka as the canvas and gin as the finished painting.
Home gin making makes the relationship literal. A compound gin kit starts with an ordinary bottle of shop-bought vodka, because it's the closest thing to distillery neutral spirit you can legally buy. And inexpensive vodka is genuinely the right choice, not a compromise: the subtle character that makes a premium vodka premium would simply vanish under the juniper. Save your money for good tonic.
What is compound gin, and how do you make gin without a still?
Here's the part most gin drinkers have never heard. There is a second, older way to make gin that skips the still entirely: compound gin, where juniper and botanicals are steeped directly in the spirit until it tastes like gin, then strained out. No boiling, no vapour, no copper. The method picked up the cheeky nickname bathtub gin in Prohibition-era America, but compounding is far older than the nickname, a tradition stretching back centuries before every bottle came with a brand story.
It's also the only way to make gin at home in the UK, because distilling spirits without a licence is illegal here. Steeping botanicals in a spirit you already own is completely legal and needs no licence at all, which is exactly how our kits work. The Gin Making Kit is compounding, boxed: you add the juniper and botanical blend to a bottle of vodka, leave it to infuse for under a week, taste as it develops, then strain and bottle. If you want more room to experiment, the Ultimate Gin Making Kit carries 13 botanicals, makes up to ten bottles and infuses in a couple of days, while the Colour Changing Gin Kit uses blue pea flowers to make a gin that shifts from blue to pink the moment the tonic goes in.
One honest difference to expect: colour. Because nothing is redistilled, compound gin keeps a little of what the botanicals give it, and dried orange and lemon peel lend the finished gin a light amber glow. Commercial gins are clear only because they're redistilled after the botanicals go in, leaving the colour behind in the still, and that step can't legally happen in a home kitchen. So the amber isn't a flaw. It's the signature of a true compound gin, made the old way, and it tastes none the worse for it.
What does London Dry actually mean?
Not London, for a start. London Dry is a production standard, not a postcode, and a London Dry gin can be made anywhere in the world. To earn the name, all of the flavour must come from redistilling natural botanicals with the spirit, and essentially nothing may be added after distillation except water. No flavourings sneaked in afterwards, no colourings, no shortcuts.
It sits at the strict end of a spectrum. Distilled gin also requires redistillation with botanicals, but allows some additions afterwards. Compound gin skips the still altogether. Three rungs on one ladder, all legally gin, provided juniper leads the flavour. Knowing which rung you're holding is most of what there is to know about gin labels.
How gin is made FAQs
Is gin just flavoured vodka?
Legally, no. Both start as neutral spirit, but gin must be predominantly juniper-flavoured to carry the name, while a flavoured vodka can taste of anything it likes. Think of gin as the juniper-obsessed member of the family.
What gives gin its flavour?
Juniper first and always, backed by supporting botanicals. Our own blend is built around bright citrus, lemongrass, lemon and orange peel, with fragrant coriander and allspice, designed to echo a premium London-style gin.
Is it legal to make gin at home?
Yes, completely, as long as you make it by infusion rather than distillation. Distilling spirits without a licence is illegal in the UK; steeping botanicals in shop-bought vodka is not, which is precisely how our Gin Making Kit works. No still, no licence, no drama.
Why is homemade gin amber instead of clear?
Dried orange and lemon peel release a little natural colour along with their flavour. Commercial gins are clear because they're redistilled after infusion, which leaves the colour behind, a step that can't legally be done at home.
How long does it take to make gin at home?
Days, not weeks. The standard kit infuses in under a week, the Ultimate kit in a couple of days, and the colour-changing gin in about 12 hours. Tasting as you go with the pipette tells you exactly when it's ready.
How strong is homemade gin?
The same strength as the vodka you started with, since infusing doesn't dilute the spirit. Start with a 37.5 percent vodka and you'll bottle a 37.5 percent gin, the same minimum strength the law asks of any gin.
Ready to turn a bottle of vodka into something far more interesting? Browse our gin making kits, hand-packed in Britain.
