The modern gin was modified in Flanders and the Netherlands to provide aqua vita from distillates of grapes and grains, becoming an object of commerce in the spirits industry.

Although this development had been taking place since the early 17th century, gin became widespread after the 1688 Glorious Revolution led by William of Orange and subsequent import restrictions on French brandy.

Across Europe, apothecaries handed out juniper tonic wines for coughs, colds, pains, strains, ruptures and cramps.

It is further claimed that English soldiers who provided support in Antwerp against the Spanish in 1585, during the Eighty Years' War, were already drinking jenever for its calming effects before battle, from which the term Dutch courage is believed to have originated.

[7][8] By the mid-17th century, numerous small Dutch and Flemish distillers had popularized the re-distillation of malted barley spirit or malt wine with juniper, also anise, caraway, coriander, etc.,[9] which were sold in pharmacies and used to treat such medical problems as kidney ailments, lumbago, stomach ailments, gallstones, and gout.

Gin emerged in England in varying forms by the early 17th century, and at the time of the Stuart Restoration, enjoyed a brief resurgence.

Gin became vastly more popular as an alternative to brandy, when William III and Mary II became co-sovereigns of England, Scotland and Ireland after leading the Glorious Revolution.

This created a larger market for poor-quality barley that was unfit for brewing beer, and in 1695–1735 thousands of gin-shops sprang up throughout England, a period known as the Gin Craze.

Beer maintained a healthy reputation as it was often safer to drink the brewed ale than unclean plain water.

[15] Gin, though, was blamed for various social problems, and it may have been a factor in the higher death rates which stabilized London's previously growing population.

[10] The reputation of the two drinks was illustrated by William Hogarth in his engravings Beer Street and Gin Lane (1751), described by the BBC as "arguably the most potent anti-drug poster ever conceived".

[18] The invention and development of the column still (1826 and 1831)[21] made the distillation of neutral spirits practical, thus enabling the creation of the "London dry" style that evolved later in the 19th century.

In tropical British colonies gin was used to mask the bitter flavour of quinine, which was the only effective anti-malarial compound.

Secretly produced "bathtub gin" was available in the speakeasies and "blind pigs" of Prohibition-era America as a result of the relatively simple production.

), while other common descriptors refer to classic styles that are culturally recognised, but not legally defined (e.g. Old Tom gin).

[1] Juniper-flavoured spirit drinks include the earliest class of gin, which is produced by pot distilling a fermented grain mash to moderate strength, e.g., 68% ABV, and then redistilling it with botanicals to extract the aromatic compounds.

London gin is obtained exclusively from ethanol of agricultural origin with a maximum methanol content of 5 g (0.18 oz) per hectolitre of 100% ABV equivalent, whose flavour is introduced exclusively through the re-distillation in traditional stills of ethanol in the presence of all the natural plant materials used, the resultant distillate of which is at least 70% ABV.

[30] In the United States of America, "gin" is defined as an alcoholic beverage of no less than 40% ABV (80 proof) that possesses the characteristic flavour of juniper berries.

This type of gin is often aged in tanks or wooden casks, and retains a heavier, malty flavour that gives it a marked resemblance to whisky.

Popular botanicals or flavouring agents for gin, besides the required juniper, often include citrus elements, such as lemon and bitter orange peel, as well as a combination of other spices, which may include any of anise, angelica root and seed, orris root, cardamom, pine needles and cone, licorice root, cinnamon, almond, cubeb, savory, lime peel, grapefruit peel, dragon eye (longan), saffron, baobab, frankincense, coriander, grains of paradise, nutmeg, cassia bark or others.

Citric and berry flavours come from chemicals such as limonene and gamma-terpinene linalool found in limes, blueberries and hops amongst others.

[36] A similar drink, also made with juniper berries and called Borovička, is produced in the Slovak Republic.