What makes gin special is its predominant flavor of juniper berries. Although the predominant flavor for the infusion needs to be juniper, you are free to make a very wide variety of combinations from ingredients such as: coriander seeds, orange peel, lemon, lime, cloves, cinnamon sticks, rosemary, and many others. You can even add the chosen mix of botanicals to spirits you’ve made in your own copper pot still, such as vodka or moonshine. There are two main types of gin: compound and distilled gin.
Compound gin is made through infusing neutral spirits with essences or natural flavorings, without re-distillation. Distilled gin involves the distillation of a grain mash and then redistilling it with the same type of botanicals, juniper in particular, to obtain the aroma and necessary flavor. It is believed that you get the strongest juniper flavor through soaking the botanicals in the mash first, as well as afterwards inside your pot still, during the distillation process.