What type of juniper berries is considered the best to make gin?

[niccolo]

I would like to know how important the quality of the juniper berries must be in order to make a good gin.

[Panoscape]

The type of juniper berries that I think work best are the ones that can be picked fresh. Being in Central Oregon, Junipers are a weed tree that span thousands of acres in every direction. As Bend Distillery and Oregon Spirit Distillers can attest, you only need to stretch out your hand and you can pick them fresh off the tree. I can even pick them off my second story balcony at home. BD and OSD make some of the best Gin and Genever that I have tasted.

If you get them fresh off the tree then they're good and flavorful, makes for a very strong and tasty gin/genever.

If anyone wants fresh Juniper berries let me know... we can work something out, seeing I need a job for my son to do this summer. Shoot me a private message. Here is a link to the type of Juniper that grows in Oregon http://www.na.fs.fed.us/pubs/silvics_manual/Volume_1/juniperus/occidentalis.htm.

rw

[Edwin]

Juniperus Communis is the best, but I guess it is mainly European. Juniperus Virginiana is good and native to Northern America. A slightly stronger pine like smell and taste, where the Juniper C. is lighter, more subtle. Juniper Ashei is to be avoided at all times, since it can cause strong allergic reactions.

Edwin.

[bluestar]

Juniperus Communis is the best, but I guess it is mainly European. Juniperus Virginiana is good and native to Northern America.

J. communis is native to North America, too. In fact, it spans the northern half of the globe, although there are variations from region to region. The real problem is that J. communis is not as common in N.A. as the name would imply, and is not much cultivated either. Cost of labor for harvesting is a major issue, hence the predominance of Albanian and Bulgarian product.

[jwymore]

Cost of labor for harvesting is a major issue, hence the predominance of Albanian and Bulgarian product.

I was over in Bend a couple months ago and spent about 1/2 hour picking fresh Juniper. I netted about a pint of berries for my effort ..... not highly productive!!! :-)

[Artisan Still Design]

I prefer a blend of different junipers, some dried some fresh.

for fresh you can get green earlier in the year and purple into the winter. Pick fresh and freeze for use later.

I've found you get a much wider palate from using multiple sources and types.

[DTS]

For gin sold in the EU the juniper can, theoretically, only be Juniperus Communis for Gin, Dstillied Gin and London (Dry) gin:

"Gin is a juniper-flavoured spirit drink produced by flavouring organoleptically suitable ethyl alcohol of

agricultural origin with juniper berries (Juniperus communis L.)."

For some reason "Juniper flavoured spirit drinks" can have (Juniperus communis L. and/or Juniperus oxicedrus L.)

Would they be able to enforce such a rule? Doubtful - could you also get round it by adding a handful of communis and classifying the other juniper as another botanical, maybe?

source: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2008:039:0016:0054:EN:PDF

I think this a pretty stupid rule.

Other than communis I like occidentalis