Gin: Gin is a distilled alcoholic drink that derives its predominant flavour from juniper berries (Juniperus communis). Gin originated as a medicinal liquor made by monks and alchemists across Europe, particularly in southern France, Flanders and the Netherlands, to provide aqua vita from distillates of grapes and grains. It then became an object of commerce in the spirits industry. Gin emerged in England after the introduction of jenever, a Dutch and Belgian liquor that was originally a medicine. Although this development had been taking place since the early 17th century, gin became widespread after the William of Orange–led 1688 Glorious Revolution and subsequent import restrictions on French brandy.
Simple syrup: Simple syrup (aka sugar syrup, or bar syrup) is a basic sugar-and-water syrup used by bartenders as a sweetener to make cocktails. Simple syrup is made by stirring granulated sugar into hot water in a saucepan until the sugar is dissolved and then cooling the solution. The ratio of sugar to water is 1:1 by volume for normal simple syrup, but can get up to 2:1 for rich simple syrup. For pure sucrose the saturation limit is about 5:1 (500 grams (18 oz) sucrose to 100 millilitres (3.5 imp fl oz; 3.4 US fl oz) water).
