What's a hydrosol? A hydrosol is a non-alcoholic water-based herbal distillate. We create them using the still (shown left), fresh herbs from our garden, and water. The water and herbs are placed in the big round pot part of the still, and brought to a boil. The boiling water and steam ruptures the cell walls of the herbs, allowing the essential oils and water-soluble herbal extracts to be released. Steam, laden with the water-soluble herbal extracts and micro-droplets of the plant's essential oil, rises up through the gooseneck of the still, and then flows down through the condenser - that is the round copper pot part on the right.
v	Lukewarm water is in the outer part of the condenser...while a coiled copper tube (a continuation of the gooseneck) runs down through the water, and flows out through a spout at the bottom. This allows the steam to condense back into a liquid, where it flows into a pot or bowl we use to collect it. This is the hydrosol! It is usually clear, but can sometimes be colored, depending on the herb used. Some hydrosols (mints, basil) have lots of essential oil floating on top; some hydrosols (lemon balm, catnip) have very little, and some (comfrey) have none. All are aromatic (to varying degrees).
	It takes many hours and several pounds of fresh herbs to create even a half-gallon or gallon hydrosol. We are still learning and experimenting with our distillation process and herbs to distill. We do not add any preservatives to our hydrosol - it is a sterile fluid when it comes out of the still, so we package and store it carefully to minimize exposure to bacteria or other contaminants. We encourage you to do the same - don't open the bottles more than necessary, and if you aren't going to be using your hydrosol for a while (or bought alot at one time to stock up) please refrigerate the unused portion. And of course if it starts smelling funky, please ditch it! We hope you will enjoy using your hydrosols - please email us with your favorite uses!