Genever - A European liquor

So there's a moment when you get asked to join up on a virtual tasting on something you have never heard of what do you do? You say YES and jump in! Let me tell you this was a journey that surprised and excited me. I had no idea what Genever was and was only told that if whiskey and gin had a baby this would be it (but that baby has its own flair). Well, that was good enough for me. Our virtual event was hosted by a friend, Jas (@tonightspoison), and led by Charles Hardwick (@drinkmarkt), if you are on Instagram (IG) look these guys up. Apparently, it was used in lots of cocktails in the pre-prohibition era and has a wide variety of tasting notes depending on which brand you buy and what you are looking to create. According to the bartender's guide back in 1880, this was one of the most in-demand liquors around. It fell out of favor with the rise of prohibition and is now making a comeback. This virtual tasting is about jump-starting the Genever (also spelled Jenever) journey once again. This campaign was launched through a partnership between the European Union (EU) and six different producers of Genever. Turns out it is the national spirit of the Netherlands and Belgium, even branching into some parts of France and Germany. It is believed that it started somewhere in the 11th century remaining popular up through the early 1900s when prohibition in America derailed everything (because yeah prohibition sucked). So what is Genever? It falls in between gin and whiskey in the category of flavors and spirits and has a very broad age. It can be made up of multiple percentages so long as the only ingredients are malt spirit, juniper berries, and some form of botanicals (botanicals are optional but I would say they really do enhance it). There is now an AOC (Appellation d’origine contrôlée) from the EU that defines the geographical identity as it has to be made within the boundaries of the Holland, Belgium, or certain parts of Germany and France; any areas outside of this are not legally Genever. This ruling was made in January 2008 to provide similar protections like Scotland has for Scotch or France has for Cognac. Others can produce a similar product but they cannot call it Genever. Now there are two defined styles, young (jonge) or old (oude) but this does not actually prefer to the age of the spirits but rather the distillation. Each has their own percentages for the amount of malt spirits with young having a max of 15% malt spirits and old requiring a minimum of 15% malt spirits up to 100% malt spirits (this is where it is closer to whiskey than gin in flavor). It is interesting when you think about how the distillation process is referenced as opposed to the actual age of the spirits themselves. I have listed a few links below with more information in case you want to read up on it. Now trotting back to the event for a minute, there were around thirty of us with six different Genevers and it was really interesting to see who got what and how they did things. I noticed a repetition of lemonade and some ginger mixers. These seemed to go well with the Rutte Old Simon Genever or the Bobbi's Genever and next time I step out I will be seeking out which of these beauties they have behind the bar to sample. Before the event, we were given a questionnaire that determined which Genever we would get. Given that I was answering for two of us I split it down the middle and we received Notaris Genever (link below). This one turned out to be more in my husband's flavor range than mine as it leaned more towards the malted side with very little botanical notes. My husband laughed because I tried it straight before creating cocktails and I thought I had just swallowed playdoh (so NOT a thing)! But once you mix this particular Genever into a cocktail it is actually pretty nice. It does not lean to the sweet side and if you understand this at the beginning then you can adjust your mixers and make some very balanced tart ones that are very pleasing (I'm not into the sugary drinks). I found that blue curacao should be swapped out for the orange curacao and make sure that your vermouth is sweet if you are going for a Martinez (now Charles dropped some knowledge with certain Genevers that go nutty when mixed with a bit of coffee liquor) or if you go for the Collins with the Notaris add a bit of extra lemon to get the right amount of tang. If you want a different profile (I will be finding the Bobbi's and the Rutte Old Simon soon) than what the Notaris gives, go check out the World of Genever website. They have profiles for each listed and from there you can look up each brand to gain a more in-depth understanding. And I will tell you this if you ever receive an invite from Jas on IG take it. Don't think just accept it and be prepared for a knowledge explosion in the middle of a good time, especially if Charles Hardwick is involved. Rutte Old Simon World of Genever By The Dutch The Manual: Food and Drink Guide

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