Slow Distillation - Patience as the Key Word
The art of distillation is a matter of patience. Distillation must be slow and thorough, with low-pressure steam and low temperature to obtain "the totum", the richness and all the complexity of the plant without damaging the most fragile components, without 'burning' the light ones. We distill respecting a rule of 1 liter of hydrosol for 1 kilogram of fresh plant. Each distillation is fraught with uncertainties and holds surprises. It is about remaining humble in front of the plant: the same humility as that of the mountaineer in front of a peak.
A Circular Supply Network
We only distill fresh plants from organic farming. Organic certification guarantees the absence of pesticides in our essential oils and hydrolats. Essenciagua has set up a supply circuit with farmers and certified organic gatherers near the distillery.
Everything is designed with a circular economy in mind to enhance local resources and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Essenciagua controls the entire production chain to guarantee exceptional quality. The plant residues from the distillations are composted and used by the distillery's partner farmers.
Our Process: Innovation & Tradition
At Essenciagua, you enter a land of passion: we have an obsession for perfect distillation.
We distill with spring water from Lozère, in unique stills, powered by a food-grade stainless steel steam boiler, freeing us from any chemical treatment. This is the essential path to offer you exceptional quality. That of great terroir vintages...
We receive our fresh plants, many of which are harvested within a 150 km radius of the distillery by farmers and gatherers from the Occitanie Region.
All are certified organic farming. We load the plants manually into the preheated stills: the packing operation, carried out "by foot", allows a slow passage of steam through the entire plant load. Only the loading of a reasonable quantity of plants and therefore the choice of a craft-sized still allows good mechanical contact between the plant and the steam. This very simple process in principle is very poorly suited to industrialization.
In a concern for authenticity and quality, our stills have a swan neck closure also called alembic and used for wines and spirits. This specific shape is the signature of Essenciagua. It is thanks to it that our oils and hydrosols are unique.
Birth of a Fine Vintage
The essential oils and hydrosols obtained simultaneously are separated after decanting. They are left to rest for several weeks in a cold room in barrels or containers that have been previously steamed at high pressure for perfect hygiene. The storage temperature is constant for slow maturation, just like a good wine. Only then are the oils and hydrosols filtered and packaged in small bottles or flasks.
Still hot when they come out, the plant residues from the distillation are sent to be composted at one of our colleague's farms. The compost is used in our organic farming processes. In this way, a full cycle is completed.
The Purity of Essenciagua
Our essential oils and hydrosols are 100% pure and natural, directly derived from extraction. At Essenciagua, we have always said NO to pasteurization, NO to plant extracts "cut" with water or alcohol, and NO to preservatives. At Essenciagua, quality comes from organic, the demand for craftsmanship, and the preference for local. We control the entire production chain, which guarantees us optimal and unique quality.
Slowly uncork an Essenciagua bottle and close your eyes; you are standing on the earth, in the middle of a large lavender field! Let the violet notes spread their aromatic richness and touch your child's heart!
The Essenciagua Bottles
Did you know that the Egyptians placed great importance on the preservation of their essential oils? They stored them in gold containers or in violet glass vials. Essenciagua was inspired by this practice to choose these containers... in violet glass! High-tech, thick, mass-tinted glasses.
This choice is also based on scientific foundations: To better understand them, it should be noted that light decomposes into visible (from blue to red) and invisible (infrared (IR), ultraviolet (UV),...) radiations. Visible light is the one that plays a role not only in the process of life development but also in the processes of degradation of living beings. Violet glass has the ability to constitute an absolute barrier to visible radiations; UV and IR radiations, on the other hand, are not stopped by this type of glass. On the contrary, these frequencies, captured by living beings, prove to be very important in the processes of cellular communication and propagation of light energy within biological systems.
Comparative tests on brown glass and violet glass bottles containing rose water have convincingly demonstrated the interest of using violet glass for the preservation of aromatic molecules. The glasses we have chosen have this dual ability, not only to optimally protect our essential oils and hydrosols against visible light, but also their bioenergy by letting UV and IR pass through.