Gin was the liquor of choice during the Prohibition Era—you’ll find that most of the well known cocktails from that time have gin as their base. From the simple Gin Rickey (gin, soda water, and lime form the main ingredients) to the more complicated Bijou (vermouth and green chartreuse add a real kick to the gin), gin is the number one thing to have in your liquor cabinet if you want to recreate the drinks of the Jazz Age.

The thing about gin during the Prohibition, however, was that some of it was really, really awful. Given the laws surrounding alcohol production and consumption, a lot of gin was made at home in pretty amateur-ish conditions—known as bathtub gin. The process of making bathtub gin is not quite as literal as it sounds—the name comes from the fact that bottles would be topped up with water from the bathtub taps rather than the sink taps, as the bottles would be too big for the sink!

Unsurprisingly, alcohol poisoning during the Prohibition Era by homemade liquors, including bathtub gin, was relatively common. But, it’s not all bad. Without bathtub gin, some cocktails never would have come into existence, created purely in the process of trying to mask the taste of the awful gin with other flavours!

Want to try out some gin-based, Prohibition Era cocktails for yourself? Try out these recipes from Speakeasy