This is what the tail end of Noble Fir needle (Abies procera) oil looks like.  The blue color indicates the presence of azulene.  This finished product is lighter in color, because the earlier oils are lighter in color.

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Hands on Distillation Workshop.

Come joins us for a fun day distilling essential oils and hydrosols!

Hands on...

Noble Fir Distillation

Just received a load of Noble Fir (Abies procera) boughs.  These boughs were sustainably harvested in the pristine mountains of the Cascade Range in Oregon.

Just prior to distillation, the branches will be run through our chipper to maximize the amount of  plant material in our retort.

We will be distilling for both essential oils and hydrosols.  Past distillations resulted in an essential oil with a slight blue tinge.  This indicates the presence of azulene, which is a powerful anti-inflammatory.

Distilling Lemongrass for Oil and Hydrosol

Just finished distilling a batch of fresh Lemongrass from Jamaica.  The resulting oil is wonderful however the yield was low at 0.2%.  For curiosity's sake, I'll have the oil tested for Citral content.  It is apparently not worth importing the raw material for distillation here in Oregon.  It will make for a very expensive oil.

Photos can be found on The Essential Oil Company's Facebook Page

Hands on Distillation Workshop 9/29/12

We were pleased to have 16 participants at our Hands on Distillation Workshop today, at the Boutique Distillery.
We discussed distillation and extraction.  Utilizing four different types of essential oil stills.
100 gallon stainless steel steam distiller, 35 gallon stainless steel water/steam distiller Rotating column 40 liter copper Alembic and a 15 gallon copper water/steam distiller.
We had an eclectic and interesting group of participants.  Some folks already had apparatus, some were thinking about getting into essential oil distillation, while others also had an interest in distilling spirits.
Photos can be found on The Essential Oil Company's Facebook Page

Bitter Orange Essential Oil Extraction

Bitter Orange Oil is extracted from the peel of Citrus aurantium amara.  It's a "cold" process.  A thin layer is scraped from the peel in the extractor.  The extractor is like a rotating cheese grater.  The oil is separated from the peel,waxes and water in a centrifuge.
View the photos

Harvesting and Distilling Pettigrain Essential Oil

Harvesting and Distilling Oil of Petitgrain in a Wooden Still

Harvesting and Distilling Guaiac Wood Essential Oil

Harvesting and distilling Guaiac Wood in Paraguay

Cananga flower distillation

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Cananga flowers are hydrodistilled for 60 hours.  Clove Wood is used to heat the direct fire still.  The aroma is similar to that of Ylang, but is always distilled as a whole oil unlike Ylang which is fractioned during distillation.

Western Juniper

Our most recent distillation was quite successful. Our wild crafters brought a ton of Western Juniper (Juniperus occidentalis) leaf for us to distill. We managed to obtain a final yield of 0.62%, that's not bad for Western Juniper. Previous distillations yielded less than 0.5%. Previous to distilling Western Juniper, we distilled Bay Laurel Leaf (Laurus nobilis). The oil is exquisite. The best Bay Laurel oil I've experienced (if I do say so myself!). The branches were brought to the distillery by someone here in Portland, who was pruning her fast growing tree. This is not something we will distill on a regular basis unfortunately. However, it is something I love to distill. The last time I distilled Bay Laurel was on the Island of Syros, in Greece. We did manage to produce 2 ounces of gorgeous essential oil and ten gallons of fragrant hydrosol.

Distilling Lavandin Part 1

Distilling Lavandin Part 2