Overview
Geneva is an older British English term for gin from the Netherlands and Belgium called jenever. You’ve likely noticed that Geneva is also the name of a city in Switzerland, but there’s actually no connection between the city and the drink. English speakers who brought the drink home after fighting alongside the Dutch in the Eighty Years’ War (1568-1648) mistakenly called it Geneva instead of jenever. It was eventually shortened into Gin from Geneva, especially during the Gin Craze when it became widely used among everyday drinkers.