The lavender distillation process
Behind a small bottle of essential oil is a day's work that starts in the field and ends in the Florentine vase, often within a few hours. This haste is not a whim: it is a technique, because aroma is volatile and every hour that passes after cutting means lost aroma. Here's how our lavender is born, step by step.
1. Harvesting the lavender
Timing is everything. The harvest takes place in the last two weeks of July, when the concentration of essential oil in the flowers is at its peak and the bees have finished foraging. The flowering tops are cut, which is where the fragrance is concentrated. Cutting too early or too late means distilling less rich flowers, and it shows in the final result.
2. Transport to the distiller
As soon as it's cut, the lavender must be taken for distillation as quickly as possible. This is why the field and the distillery must be close: the more time passes, the more aromatic molecules are lost. We distill in our distillery in Casine, a hamlet of Sestola, 10 minutes from the fields, precisely to avoid losing this race against time.
3. Steam distillation
The flowering tops are placed inside the distiller. Once closed and sealed, water enters the distiller where the high temperature reached turns it into water vapor. The water vapor rises, passing through the mass of flowers and, as it passes through, it carries the aromatic molecules with it. It is a delicate and ancient method: no chemical solvents, no aggressive extractions, just water and heat. The lavender "gives up" its fragrance to the steam.
4. Cooling and separation
The aroma-laden steam rises, then passes into a cooled coil and returns to liquid form. At this point, two substances that do not mix, because they have different densities, are found in the collection vessel (the so-called Florentine vase): they separate on their own, one above and one below.
5. The essential oil
On top floats the essential oil, the most concentrated and precious part. It takes a lot of plant to obtain a small amount, which explains its value. In lavender, the main components are linalool and linalyl acetate, the same ones that give it its characteristic scent.
6. The aromatic water
Below remains the distillation water, i.e., the hydrolat: our lavender water. It retains the same aroma as the oil but in a much lighter and more diluted form, and it is pleasant on the skin as a toner and as a refreshing spray. It is not a waste product of the process, as some believe: it is a legitimate second product, with its own uses.
One process, two products
This is what we like most about distillation: from the same batch of flowers, two different and complementary products emerge, the concentrated oil and the light water.
The distillation process is the same whether it's lavender, helichrysum, lemon balm, or the rest of the plants we distill. Do you want to see the plants we start with? Here are our plants.