Alcohol Distillation in Ancient Alchemy

Alcohol distillation was an integral component of ancient alchemy. This technique allowed for the creation of liquid with both an ideal balance between water (for drinking) and high concentrations of ethanol – the substance responsible for giving spirits their distinctive taste and aroma. Alcohol was also popular as medicine during medieval Europe’s dark ages; becoming known as aqua vitae or “water of life”.

Distillation is the process by which a mixture is vaporized and then condensed again, producing distillate from its residue. Distillation first appeared as written accounts in 1500 when Hieronymus Brunschwyg, a professor of medicine from Strassburg with studies in Padua, Bologna and Paris published two important books detailing various still types he encountered during his travels – two important works by him featuring sketches of their types stills available for distillation; an example can still be seen at Poli Grappa Museum Bassano del Grappa Museum that features this apparatus in non working condition!

As the search for the philosopher’s stone continued, this distillation step could prove to be pivotal in its successful acquisition. People believed that nature distilled substances naturally; humans could replicate and speed up this process in order to produce transmutation stones more rapidly.

Distillation knowledge was first spread to Western culture by Arabian/Moorish scholars Rhazes and Avicenna in the 10th century, although its name, which derives from Arabic al-kool, likely first made an appearance when Italian physician Paracelsus used it to refer to his spirits in 1526.