Table Talk

The history of gin has seen the drink rise and fall in popularity, and rise and fall in social status. Initially developed in the Netherlands as a medicine, it was drunk by soldiers there, giving birth to the phrase "Dutch courage". It quickly became popular in the UK, and a quirk of the tax system meant it was soon a hugely popular, very alcoholic, extremely cheap drink. At one point it would cost more to buy a pint of beer than it would to buy a pint of gin. But that all soon changed and, having once been so abundant that some people received their wages in gin rations, it was eventually taxed so heavily that it was forced underground and a black market for the drink emerged. In this episode of the Table Talk podcast, we look at the turbulent history of gin and gaze into the future to see what might be in store for the, once again, en vogue tipple. Find out what defines a gin, how tonic water ended up being so closely associated with it, and why, to this day, you still see images of cats o