I went to University of the Arts London, I designed my collection and got it into production. The next week I got run over by a lorry. The side of my body and my hand was crushed. Gin is a neutral spirit that is then redistilled with botanicals. It’s a neutral spirit that’s been rectified.

During their travels, the authors uncovered the unusual botanicals, base spirits and different techniques that are employed in various parts of the world, with gins from over 50 countries featured. He goes through a lot of different brands all across the world. He gives a really good snapshot of why gin is so popular, without necessarily stating it. A huge part of the resurgence in recent years has been, to be honest with you, about connecting with people, products, and provenance. It’s not just the taste alone. Gin history has always fascinated me and this book brings the whole story of gin and its connection to London to life. It was an amazing time of discovery, not just of alcohol but the effects of alcohol in a pre-police society. There were no police and the only way that society was kept together was by everyone trying to force people into thinking that they had a very set class and were not allowed to move out of that. That was what got the gentry so upset—because if people don’t know their place, then we might get challenged.Stealth tax to ensnare millions: Full state pension to rise above income tax threshold in coming years due to freeze on allowances Yes. The Hogarth print is from 1751. Jessica presents the lead up to it. The gin craze is essentially over by the time that this famous depiction comes along. What people don’t really talk about with ‘Gin Lane’—this illustration of a debauched, broken society—is the fact that it was commissioned by the beer industry. So, I don’t have a favourite gin per se. It’s more of a specific gin for a specific occasion. I think that conscious consumption is where I place the value in what I buy. I don’t feel I ever buy a gin for the sake of a flavour. I buy a gin as an endorsement of who, how, and where it’s made.

Top 50 whisky values are up 152% in the past five years... here's how to invest in the tipple with a few hundred pounds What Jessica’s book does really well is show that the gin craze wasn’t just about this sudden attraction to cheap spirit. It was about policing what the poor drank so that the gentry weren’t affected by it and keeping that debauchery away from the upper class. It wasn’t that they actually cared, they just didn’t want to see it on their doorstep. Yes, on every level. What could you use as the base? What could you use as botanicals? What hasn’t been done? And also, when you’ve made your gin, could you then infuse something into it—rhubarb or something else? There are experiments on all of those fronts. Juniper was this magic botanical. The medicinal properties of it were so potent that when people were creating alcohol and creating what started off as medicinal tinctures, juniper was always going to be a huge part of it. The inherent thought was that it could do no wrong—it could only fix and cure. Has your small business been rejected for big bank funding? The new Bank Referral Scheme might be able to helpThat was just in December. There was an 18% increase for everything spirits-related in December 2016, compared to December 2015. There was an enormous surge for spirits and alcohol, in terms of purchasing across the UK. That was very much driven by gin. It's a bold move for a company in a crowded market, but O'Neal, despite her modesty, is an experienced and confident entrepreneur. Today, jenever is geographically protected. The way that they distil it is using a high percentage of barley. A lot of that base spirit comes through into the end product. If you distilled any alcohol all the way through to 96/97% ABV, you’d have vodka. If you did it to 60% or 70%, you’d have what is called, in the industry, ‘new make spirit.’ That’s the kind of stuff you’d put in barrels for whisky or Armagnac or Cognac or brandy. Jenever is that. You can tell that food and drink, in all of their respects, are absolutely his passion—and have been, from a young age. That comes through in the book. Five Books interviews are expensive to produce. If you're enjoying this interview, please support us by donating a small amount.

O'Neal has a clear entrepreneurial flair but it was her mum's death that really pushed her to start her own business.Juniper had this ridiculous, medicinal, all-curing, all-conquering folklore about it. It didn’t matter what you had as an ailment, juniper was the answer.”