• Description of a Pot Still

  General  · 29 Aug 2016

  A pot still is a type of still used in distilling spirits such as whisky or brandy. Heat is applied directly to the pot containing the wash (for whisky) or wine (for brandy).

• History of the Alembic

  History, External sources  · 28 Aug 2016

  Dioscorides’ ambix (described in his De materia medica) is a helmet-shaped lid for gathering condensed mercury. For Athenaeus (~ 225 C.E.) it is a bottle or flask. For later chemists it denotes various parts of crude distillation devices.

• Description of an Alembic

  General, External sources  · 27 Aug 2016

  The complete distilling apparatus consists of three parts: the “cucurbit” (Arabic ḳarʿa, Greek βίκος), the still pot containing the liquid to be distilled, which is heated by a flame; the “head” or “cap” (Arabic anbiḳ, Greek ἄμβιξ) which fits over the mouth of the cucurbit to receive the vapors, with an attached downward-sloping “tube” (Greek σωλήν), leading to the “receiver”...