Gin

Gin is a distilled spirit, so it doesn't carry fermentation-derived histamine the way wine or beer does — but the alcohol still temporarily slows DAO, your body's histamine-clearing enzyme.

• DAO blocking — This is the core issue with all alcohol: histamine from food and drink accumulates rather than clearing, even if the spirit itself is relatively clean

• Botanicals — Gin is defined by its plant-derived flavoring, and some people report it feels harder to tolerate than plainer spirits, which may relate to its botanical content — though the specific contribution of individual botanicals at the concentrations found in gin isn't well established

Plain spirits like vodka tend to have fewer additional botanical variables, which some people find easier to compare against.