Juniper berry

Juniperus communis is a conifer in the Cupressaceae, and what we call a juniper berry is not a berry at all but a female cone whose fleshy scales have fused around three seeds. The cone takes two to three years to ripen, which is why a single bush carries green first-year, bluish-green second-year, and black-purple mature cones simultaneously — pickers work the ripe ones only. The aromatic backbone is alpha-pinene, myrcene, sabinene, limonene and terpinen-4-ol; the proportions shift with latitude, and Macedonian or Albanian wild-harvested berries run heavier on pinene while Italian Apennine lots tilt toward myrcene. It is the single defining botanical of gin, a drink legally required to taste predominantly of juniper in the European Union. Beyond the still it anchors Alsatian choucroute, German sauerkraut, Scandinavian game marinades, and the smoked meats of the Tyrol and Poland.