"B & J" wrote in message
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"Nicholas" wrote in message
om...
Does anyone know of an easy way to distill the oil from spearmint and
peppermint? Commercially, this is done with steam. But is it
possible to distill the oil with grain alcohol?

We attended a session on distilling oils from herbs, and the speaker said
she used 3/4 part green or wet herb to 1/4 part alcohol. The alcohol was
80
proof vodka (40% alcohol). The vodka was poured over the herbs in a glass
jar and shaken vigorously every day for six weeks. The jar was stored in a
dark place. When the six week period was complete, the liquid was strained
through cheese cloth and then through a coffee filter. It was then stored
in
a dark brown bottle.

Technically, what you are describing is the extraction of the essential oil.
Distillation involves vaporizing liquids and then condensing the vapor in a
STILL. By taking advantage of the fact that various substances have
different boiling points you can separate the components that are part of a
solution.

The OP might want to do a search on "distilling." Because the process
involves heating flammable liquids it can be quite dangerous.