Distillation is a complex process of something that essentially is very simple. Distillation is the process of separating components in a liquid by heating it up and using different boiling points of the components. We distil fermented liquid that has alcohol to create higher concentrations of alcohol in the finished product. It’s important to note that we are not creating more alcohol, distillation is a concentrating and purifying process. All the alcohol present in the finished product has already been created during the fermentation stage. With distillation we are merely concentrating this. 

The art of distillation started with early Arabic chemists, who created a simple structure of heating up a liquid, catching the vapours and cooling them to turn them back into liquid. And honestly, that’s all there is to it. Nowadays we can make this as complicated as we want, but the core of the process is relatively simple. Historically this was done to create essences for perfumes and not yet for alcohol, but it didn’t take us humans long to use the same technique to concentrate the amount of alcohol in our liquids. 

In modern day practice, we have to start with a fermented liquid that has alcohol already present. The art of distilling works because alcohol has a lower boiling point than water, meaning that when we heat up the liquid, alcohol will turn into a vapour before the water will. This allows us to catch the alcoholic vapours, separating it from the water and allowing it to cool down to create a stronger concentration. We all know that water boils at 100 degrees celsius, but methanol already boils at 64 degrees and ethanol boils at 78 degrees. By boiling the liquid at a controlled temperature we can separate the alcohol and create what is known as a distilled spirit. This is essentially all there is to it and can be done with the most crudest of equipment, some people even manage to do this out in nature in clay pots. However, keep in mind that distilling also means you are concentrating types of alcohol that are dangerous and more toxic to us than you might think and should not be done without a licence! Alcoholic vapours are also highly flammable so the risk of explosions are also not to be neglected. 

During distillation, colour and other heavy proteins are stripped from the solution. Meaning that the resulting liquid is always colourless. Allergens, such as gluten, are too heavy to distil. Meaning that even with gluten allergy you can still drink spirits made from wheat for example! 

During a distillation run different types of alcohol come off the still at different temperatures, because of their respective boiling points. Typically though, a master distiller will only want the pure ethanol that comes off the still at 78 degrees, but as the still warms up, alcohol with a lower boiling point will come first. This is why a distiller will have to make ‘cuts’, which is described as cutting the Head, the Heart and the Tails. The head of the distillation consists of the types of alcohol with a lower boiling point, such as methanol. 

The Heart is the most desirable part of the distillation, the ethanol. This part is the purest yield and will have the best flavours. 

 The Tails are the ends of the distillation when fusel alcohols come out and the alcohol yield is low. The cutting is typically done by simply turning a valve and switching to a different collection vat. However, knowing exactly when to turn the valve and make the cut is the work of a true master distiller. There are some distilleries that monitor this process with computers and sensors, but there are some who still do this based on human knowledge and experience. 

Different style stills will produce different styles of liquid and flavours.