Gin is made by taking a neutral spirit and flavoring it with juniper berries and other botanicals, either by redistilling the spirit with the botanicals or by infusing them directly. Juniper must be the dominant flavor for the spirit to legally qualify as gin.
Quick Facts: The Gin Making Process
- Base: neutral spirit, usually grain-based
- Required botanical: juniper, which must predominate
- Typical botanical count: 6 to 12, though recipes range from 4 to 20+
- Methods: steeping (maceration) or vapor infusion, then redistillation; compound gins skip redistillation
- Bottling proof: minimum 80 proof (40% ABV) in the US
- Aging: none required
The Neutral Spirit Base
Every gin starts as a finished neutral spirit, which means gin production really begins where vodka production ends. The base is distilled to 190+ proof so it arrives clean, letting the botanicals do the talking. Most producers buy neutral grain spirit; grain-to-glass distilleries make their own. The base still matters: a soft wheat spirit gives the botanicals a different stage than a hard, industrial neutral.
Juniper and Botanicals
Juniper is non-negotiable: piney, resinous, slightly citric, it is the flavor that defines the category. For the definition, history, and major styles, see our post on what gin is. Around the juniper, distillers build a recipe called a botanical bill. Common players include coriander seed (citrus and spice), angelica root (earthy, binds the blend), citrus peels, orris root, cardamom, and cassia. Each botanical is chosen for what it adds and for how it interacts with the others during distillation.
Distillation Methods: Steeped vs Vapor Infusion
There are two main ways to get botanical flavor into the spirit. Steeping (maceration) soaks the botanicals directly in the diluted neutral spirit, sometimes for hours, sometimes for a day or more, before the whole mixture is redistilled. This produces bolder, more saturated flavors. Vapor infusion suspends the botanicals in a basket above the liquid, so alcohol vapor passes through them on its way to the condenser, picking up lighter, brighter aromatics. Many distillers combine both, steeping the sturdy roots and seeds while vapor-infusing delicate flowers and peels. A third approach, compounding, simply mixes essences or steeped botanicals into neutral spirit without redistillation; it is the quickest method and generally the least regarded.
London Dry vs Other Styles
London Dry is a production standard, not a place: all flavor must come from distillation with the botanicals, with nothing but water and a trace of sweetener added afterward. Distilled gin follows the same redistillation route but allows post-distillation flavoring. Old Tom is sweeter, Navy Strength is bottled at 114 proof or higher, and contemporary or New Western styles dial juniper back to showcase other botanicals while keeping it legally dominant.
How Gin Differs From Vodka
Gin is essentially vodka that went back into the still with a recipe. Both start as neutral spirit; vodka’s goal is refined neutrality, while gin’s goal is expressive botanical flavor built on that neutral base. That is why many craft distilleries, Timber Creek included, make their gin on top of their own vodka.
How Timber Creek Makes Florida Gin
Our Florida Gin starts with our own 100 percent Florida wheat vodka as the base, the same grain-to-glass spirit we distill from North Florida winter wheat on our 240-acre farm in Crestview. The botanical bill runs eight botanicals:
- Florida juniper
- honeysuckle
- rose
- lavender
- fennel
- cracked pepper
- cucumber
- lemon peelSofter Florida juniper leaves room for the florals to come forward, which is what makes the gin read as distinctly Southern. It reflects the same philosophy as our PureBlend® whiskey process: know every component individually, then build the blend on purpose rather than by habit.
Smell the Botanicals in Person
Gin makes the most sense when you can nose the raw botanicals next to the finished spirit. Book a tour and tasting at Timber Creek Distillery and taste Florida Gin where the juniper grows.
Do you offer spirits infused with local fruit or botanicals?
Florida Apple Pie Rum
Florida Apple Pie Rum starts with a clear rum base, then gets infused using a Blue Ribbon–winning apple pie recipe made with real apples, Saigon cinnamon, Madagascar vanilla, raisins, and a touch of lemon extract—basically everything but the crust. There’s no added sugar, so the warmth and sweetness come from the ingredients themselves.
Florida Spiced Rum
Timber Creek’s spiced rum is built on a rum base and infused with the kind of baking spices most people recognize right away—clove, nutmeg, cinnamon, and ginger—so it lands closer to “gingerbread” than candy-sweet. The spices are soaked directly in the rum, which is what gives it that deeper natural color and aroma.
Florida Honeysuckle Gin
Florida Gin (including the honeysuckle-driven profile) begins with vodka distilled from 100% North Florida Red Winter Wheat. Instead of throwing everything into one pot at once, each botanical—honeysuckle, rose, lavender, fennel, epazote, juniper, cucumber, and lemon peel—is soaked separately and then redistilled in a 26-gallon pot still. Those individual distillates are blended together by taste, which is how the final gin stays floral and smooth without getting muddy. If you want a deeper technical rundown of common gin methods and why separate botanical runs matter.
All of these spirits reflect the same small-batch mindset: real inputs, hands-on infusion, and a process that’s designed to keep flavors clean instead of “manufactured.”
What botanicals are in Florida Gin?
What is the base spirit for Florida Gin?
What makes Florida Gin different from London Dry gin?