Distillation of essential oil and hydrolate | A magical process

May 30, 2025

Here I show pictures from the course in distillation of essential oils and hydrolates. I have been living in Croatia for some time. Imagine my surprise when I realized that the workshop I had scouted out many years ago was now only a couple of hours away.

The Malle-Schmikl couple have created a beautiful idyll in Klagenfurt, Austria and built their own copper distillers. Long-term solid experience and a lot of commitment.

I took myself there with me. a slow vintage train that trudged through the incredibly beautiful landscape of Slovenia and pushed its way through the Alpine strip into Austria. I had time to mentally prepare myself and think about what I wanted to take away from this course.

I have long had a fascination with the distillation process. Imagine you have a plant. The plant contains essential oils. Using the element of heat/steam, you can extract these essential oils. The steam encapsulates and transports the delicate oils into the atmosphere. If you are quick and skilled, you can use the element of cooling to cool the vapors down so that they turn back into solid matter. What materializes is essential oil and hydrolate.

Absolutely fantastic and absolutely wonderfully magical! Don't you think so too?

Sara Bonade George will soon be writing more about hydrolates, so stay tuned here at Örtfabriken. And let me know if you are interested in buying your own distillation apparatus!