Distillation

June 23, 2024

I’m a student of the recently deceased monarch of aromatherapy, Jeanne Rose. Her deep knowledge of plants and their uses has been catalogued in her many books and articles. In person the lessons were vibrant and full of interesting stories. Her teaching was thorough and engaging.

I learned distillation from her over the course of three workshops. She taught absinthe distillation at the Hangar One Vodka factory in Alameda, CA. My introduction was to an alcohol for which I have a strong aversion. It served for teaching purposes, but I had no appreciation for the final product as other students did.

Next we distilled lavender in a large wood burning still. This was labor intensive and took a long time because the vessel was so large. We began on the farm for harvest and a lesson about the process. The class then proceeded to the still to observe the way it all happens. The hydrosol that day was very much to my liking. The whole day was luscious as well as educational

The photo above was taken at an orange grove near Solvang, CA, where we met to learn distillation of orange blossoms. We harvested blossoms by the bucket, as my fellow student shows above. Jeanne walked around teaching and guiding us through the process. This day was beyond delightful with heavily scented activities throughout the day, from harvest to final hydrosol.

Learning distillation has helped me to understand how the universe works. I am forever grateful for her friendship and her knowledge. She was a wonderful teacher.