Ancient History
Distallate waters have been with man for over 5000 years, possibly longer. The first distilled waters were believed to be the famed rose waters. Rose Petals were boiled in a pot with lambs wool stretched over the top to catch the rising vapors. These pieces of wool were then periodically wrung out into vessels, thus a crude rose water resulted.
Early still From the Art of Distillation by John French 1651
In 1975, a terra cotta still was discovered in what is now Pakistan, that dates back to 3000 BCE. There are numerous accounts describing both stills and distillations throughout ancient and modern history. Hippocrates, the “Father of Medicine” himself is believed to have used floral waters.There are many celebrated waters throughout history. Queen of Hungary water, said to date back to the 14th century contains rosemary, grape spirits (wine) and up to 5 other ingredients-among them lemon balm, orange flower, rose and mint. Carmelite Water has been traced to the Carmelite abbey in Paris and dates back to the late 1300’s. The nuns of the abbey made this famous floral water for centuries. It includes lemon balm as the main ingredient, angelica root, lemon peel, coriander seed, nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon. Aqua Mirabilis shows up in text around the late 17th century and has several claimed origins. Its fame is mostly attributed to either Wilhem Mülhens, who is said to have received it as a wedding gift, or to Paul Feminis a Franciscan monk. It is the basis for Eau de Cologne.
AQUA MIRABILIS IS MADE THUS
Take a dram each of cloves, galangal, cububs, mace, cardamum, nutmeg, and ginger; half a pint of the juice of sallendine; a pint of the spirit of wine; three pints of white wine. Infuse all these 24 hours, and then distill off two pints by alembic. This water is very good against wind in the stomach and head.
From the Art of Distillation by John French 1651
Before the invention of the condensing coil, which has been credited to an Arab philosopher named Avicenna around 1100AD, aromatic plants were distilled for the floral waters they produced. Until this invention, condensing was rudimentary. Very little essential oil was produced and the miniscule amount of essential oils found floating on the top of these waters were thought to be impurities and thrown out. With this invention and later the water bath, called the Balneum Mariae, invented by Paracelsus in the 1500’s, the essential oil industry was born. Now aromatic plants were distilled for both the floral waters and the “quintessence” or plant essences they produced.
Stillrooms were a common fixture in large households from the late 1500’s until the 1800’s when “modern medicine” replaced the herbal cabinet. Considered the realm of women, they produced their medicines for both household and farm and to flavor cooking. Recipes were kept in their cookbooks and many can still be found today. Some of these recipes included distillates of up to twenty herbs. Some were used immediately and some stored until the next growing season. Others were distilled with “grape spirits” and made into flavorful, medicinal cordials.
©Ann Harman 2007
