Today I made my third effort at destillation. This wonderful still was given to me by my husband last Christmas and I had spend Boxing Day collecting and then destilling Jasmin blossom. My first yield was not very big which probalbly explains why Jasmine Absolute is so expensive. I did however have a wonderful scented Jasmine Flower Water.
My second effort was with Rosemary and I did manage get a few milliliters of essential oil. Today with the help of my Whoofer Davina who collected a plant called Cistus, the common name for it is Rock Rose, from all over our mountainside. Its that plant which has slighly fury, sticky leaves and pink flowers that look like they are made from Crepe Paper. Its a scent that is reminiscent of church incense with a slighly rosy undernote.
As you can see in the pictures we made bread dough to place over all the seams to stop steam from escaping and to build up more pressure inside the still. We made a first destillate, then replaced the plant matter and used the first destillate on the second batch to push it as steam through the Cistus leafs. Second time round we could see a layer of essential oils forming on top of the Hydrolate.
All very good fun ... but the effort involved makes you realise why essential oils are so expensive.
Ask us about perfume making work shops at the Gaia Finca which do involve learing all about the destillation process.
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