Step 1 : Introduction to the question "Beefeater and Bombay Sapphire are two brands of what spirit?"
...Gin is made from flavoring grain spirit with Juniper berries. You could think of it as a sort of flavored vodka. Gin became notorious in the 18th century as the scourge of the poor classes in England. This arose because poor-quality grain, which was unfit for making beer, was made into gin at a price that the poorest Briton could afford. Gin became, for a while, the "crack cocaine" of its time, blamed for awful crimes, the destruction of families, and the decline of British society in general. Although it is also popular in Holland, it remains to this day a drink indelibly linked to English culture.