Gin's culinary uses are confined mainly to offal and games dishes. Of all the major spirits, gin is by far the youngest. Its earliest ancestor was first produced in Holland in 1650. England began producing gin by 1720. Its success was so phenomenal that by 1727 Britons were consuming five million gallons a year on an island with a population of only six million.
Gin is now synonymous with British sophistication.
New berries appear on mature trees in the fall, and by spring they ripen to blue. Because the berries take between two to three years to fully ripen, the same plant can have unripe green and ripe blue berries at the same time. In the Middle Ages, juniper's scent was believed to keep the plague away. In addition to their use in herbology, the berries are used as a flavoring agent in gin and luncheon meats. The berries' nutritional profile and volatile oil make them particularly suited to the urinary system.