Alcohol Distillation and the Art of Flavor Extraction

Distillation of ethyl alcohol is the cornerstone of spirit production, so understanding this process is crucial to creating high-quality flavor extracts and extracts.

Distillation begins with fermented beverages like beer, wine or hard cider as its foundation. From there, spirits like whiskey, gin, vodka or any number of other types can be further refined with further distillation processes to produce whiskey, gin and vodka or any number of styles of alcohol beverages that differ significantly from nondistilled alternatives such as beer, sourdough bread and mead.

To extract flavor, a solvent must be used – typically alcohol but other nonalcoholic options can also be employed if desired. Temperature of the still and length of time allowed for infusing are key components in producing quality extracts.

Most extracts require some movement or heat in order to be properly infused, whether that be breaking open botanical cells for easier extraction, or increasing flavor absorption rates through heat infusing. Commercial applications often use rotating tanks or hot water or steam as means to force vapors through botanicals for faster and more effective extractions.

Hieronymus Braunschweig published Liber de arte distillandi de simplicibus (The Book on the Art of Distillation from Simple Ingredients). Later, German chemist Christian Ehrenfried Weigel created an apparatus known as Liebig condensers which were precursors to today’s distillation columns with their trays and plates.