Distillation of Hydrosols

’hydrosols’ are essentially aromatic, floral waters created by using a traditional alembic still. During the process, the volatile oils and vital properties of a plant are vapourised, and imparted into the resulting compound.

A year or so ago I made a distillate of the stunningly aromatic herb, Wild Clary Sage, which grows locally in Suffolk. It smelt like boiled cabbage and I put it straight into the compost bin in disappointment. It turns out I shouldn’t have been hasty; after checking in with RBGE Herbology Guru, mentor and teacher Catherine Conway Payne, I discovered that keeping the compound for a while to mature would have allowed it to develop into a beautifully aromatic floral liquid as intended in the plant I had lovingly gathered.

Subsequent experimentations with a traditional copper alembic still have been very rewarding with both dried and fresh herbs, and I am now much more confident with the resulting compounds and how to care for them. Just a small amount of aromatic greenery can yield a surprising amount of intensely imbued floral water, from thyme to eucalyptus to wormwood, bay, lemon peel, mint, rosemary and many others.

And the uses are many:

Hydrosols can be used in spritzers for skin toners, cleansers and body mists. They can be used as natural air fresheners and the antibacterial herbs can be combined to produce natural cleaning sprays and liquids. One very traditional use for floral waters is to freshen linen and for use in steam ironing. Another is to apply a hydrosol to hair after washing. Used as a rinse, hydrosols of rosemary and lavender can make your hair silky and glossy.  Unlike pure essential oils, hydrosols can also be safely added to bath water, and the floral hydrosol can also be combined with Epsom salts or bentonite clay for a detoxifying soak to unwind and distress. Some great herbs to try for this are Melissa, Lavender and Chamomile.

Chamomile wateR:

At this time of year a chamomile water is useful to have for use as a calming, soothing anti-inflammatory skin application for bites and stings or sunburn.  Last year I came in contact with Vipers bugloss and the skin on my hands blistered badly. When consulting a Medical Herbalist he suggested bathing the skin in a cooled strong chamomile infusion. I left the infusion to dry on my hands and they quickly recovered after repeated treatments. For home use we keep the floral waters in the fridge for similar use.

Workshops

There are a myriad of other applications for floral waters, including many culinary uses and the beauty is that once you’ve made a floral water it will keep for a good amount of time, especially in the fridge.  Next on the workshop agenda at Alde valley spring festival we will be experimenting with creating the traditional Queen of Hungary floral water. Keep an eye on our events page for booking, and for all enquiries and bespoke bookings please don’t hesitate to get in touch via our ‘contact’ heading.

 NB. Please be aware that if you have a medical condition our advice is to seek professional medical advice before any beginning any herbal remedy, contact or practice.