essential oils (EOs) are the concentrated essences of botanicals that are soluble in alcohol. Essential oils represent the highly volatile liquids within the plant that carry their scent and contribute a large part of their flavor as well. EOs provide us with the medicinal benefits of botanicals as well as playing a major role in what we taste and smell.
EOs can be extracted from a variety of natural materials: fruit rind, roots (as in the case of orris root from the iris or the root of angelica), grass, woody stems, bark, leaves, seeds, and flower petals. The EOs are extracted from these botanicals through the process of distillation. Different distillation methods can be employed to extract essential oils. The best known in the world of spirits is alcoholic distillation, as for example in the manufacture of gin, where various botanicals such as juniper, angelica, orris, and lemon peel (along with many others) are macerated in neutral grain spirits and then distilled. The botanicals release their essential oils into the alcohol vapor, which then condenses as gin, with the flavors carried by the EOs transferred into the final product.
Post-production, essential oils are used in a variety of ways. They can be employed singularly as flavoring components and added to spirits and liqueurs to produce a desired flavor; one example is crème de menthe. See crème de menthe. Blending juniper along with other essential oils into a neutral spirit without distillation will produce a “compound gin.” Behind the bar, food-grade essential oils can be tinctured and then utilized in a mixed drink, or blended together to produce compound bitters.
Aftel, Mandy. Essence and Alchemy: A Book of Perfume. New York: North Point Press, 2001.
Arctander, Steffen. Perfume and Flavor Materials of Natural Origin. Carol Stream, IL: Allured, 2008.
By: Audrey Saunders