History
Believed to have been invented by a Dutch chemist and alchemist named Sylvius de Bouve, it was first sold as a medicine in the late 16th century. In the 17th century, it became more popular for its flavor.
Jenever was originally produced by distilling malt wine (moutwijn in Dutch) to 50% ABV. Because the resulting spirit was not palatable due to the lack of refined distilling techniques (only the pot still was available), herbs were added to mask the flavour. The juniper berry (jeneverbes in Dutch, which in turn comes from the Latin Juniperus) was chosen for its alleged medicinal effects, hence the name jenever (and the English name gin).
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