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Fig 11

Fig 13

Fig 12

he first stage of absinthe manufacture is to steep dried herbs in alcohol and
to then distil the steep liquor. This distillation is important because the un-

wanted bitter absinthins, which are alcohol-insoluble, are left behind, whereas
the desirable volatile oils from the plant material are retained in the distillate.
The second stage of manufacture is to colour the distillate with an extract of
macerated herbs. As with hops in the brew-house, herb selection is crucial,
because batches from a single supplier may vary. The major herbs in a typical
Pontarlier absinthe, the wormwoods, hyssop, and lemon balm, are all grown
locally, some others come from further afield (fennel from Italy; anise from Spain).

The ‘herb room’ in the distillery bears much resemblance to the traditional brewery
hop room – except for an aroma difference. A. absinthium stalks, essential for the
‘herbal’ distillation, are stripped by hand before use. Anise is the major component
(by weight) in most absinthe recipes. Stills (alembics) designed for absinthe
distillations are almost always based on a bain-marie (water bath) system, so that
the herbs can be indirectly heated by steam, without the risk of being scorched.
Many of the early distilleries employed Egrot alembics, the dual one pictured here
below is still being used by Emile Pernot’s distillery near Pontarlier (Fig.8). The
larger alembic on the left has a capacity of 900 L, while the one to the right holds
200 L. Both lower sections (cucurbits) are wooden-clad and fitted with a removable
hood (chapiteau), which leads, via a copper pipe, up to a rectifying ball. The latter
returns some of the heavier vapours to the pot, while the main body of distillate
condenses in the cooling coils submerged in water in the greyish tank, before being
collected in the horizontally-mounted copper distillate tanks below (end view
visible). The apparatus is capable of carrying out two simultaneous distillations.

The absinthe distillation uses 97.3%
pure base alcohol, which is held in
tanks in a separate room in the
distillery. Most French manufacturers
use a beet-based alcohol, although
some prefer grape alcohol as a starter.
Base spirit is introduced into an
alembic, diluted down to around 85%,
and the crushed herbs are stirred in
and left to macerate overnight.

The following morning, more water is added to the mixture, together with any
tails that have been collected – then distillation commences; it taking 2-3 hours
to get the alembic up to the required temperature. The rectifying balls are con-
stantly cooled with water, allowing the heavier vapours to condense inside.
The distillate collected in the copper tanks below the condenser is carefully
monitored by sight, taste, and smell to ascertain the tail fraction, which may be
lightly coloured at first depending on the herbs used in the macerate. The
characteristic, light volatile, fine aromatic components from the herbs come over
in the first fraction between 80 and 60% vol., while the middle fraction will have
a cinnamon or clove-like aroma. Tails usually end up milky-white, and are, of
course, returned to the alembic for subsequent rectification.

The clear distillate is now ready for colouring, which is critical, in terms of colour
and taste – hence the importance of using top-quality plants. Around half of the
distillate from a run is placed into a clean alembic and the colouring herbs are
added. Addition can either be ‘loose’ or ‘bagged’, depending on whether the
comminuted herbs are held in a sack. All important plants are Roman wormwood,
hyssop, and lemon balm, and once the herbs are in the cucurbit the alembic is
sealed, and the distillate heated until the chapiteau surface reaches around 55°C
(just too hot to touch). After being cooled, the liquid is filtered. Traditionally, this
was carried out by pouring it into a conical copper vessel lined with horsehair. This
clear coloured spirit is then tested and then mixed with the rest of that batch of
clear spirit. Water is then added to a sample to evaluate the quality of the louche
and, if necessary, to adjust the colour, and, if all is well, the batch is approved by
the master distiller.

Fig 9

Fig 10

Focus Spring 2016

Egrot Still at Pernot