Here is one.

Here is a link that might be useful: One

thats closer but still a little high priced for a hobby. Maybe I can find a tutorial on makeing my own.

I was interested in distilling some of my herbs into essential oils too -- and also interested in NOT spending a lot of $$$. I haven't been able to find a cheap solution, but if you do...please pass it along my way. Thanks! Rich

ryates@deru.com

I have been looking into little alembics for a while, but I haven't taken the plunge yet. The little ones cost $200 and up, but if this is a serious hobby, money spent on a good alembic would make the process a lot easier. For a casual hobby, I'm not sure if it's worth it -- and there's the matter of storing the alembic and then getting it set up every time it's time to distill.

Essentialoil.com has a few, and they have some instructions in how to use them, which is interesting to read about, even if you never go that far yourself.

Here's a quickie homemade distillation process:

1. Start by puting a small clean brick into a large stock pot or canner, as a base for the pot that will catch the distillate.

2. Add water and a reasonable amount of the plant matter you are trying to distill. This will come up and over the brick a little, but not too much.

3. Set a heat-proof pan onto the brick.

4. Put a lid on the large pot and weight it down well. The lid really needs to fit tightly.

5. Bring the water to a boil and let it boil a little while. The essential oils will boil first with some water vapor, rise to the lid, condense, and drop down into the pot inside. Obviously, some will drop back into the water -- this isn't a perfect system.

6. You can put ice onto the lid if it has a rim. The encourages condensation to a certain extant, but I don't do that.

The resulting distillate is fragrant, like rose water or orange flower water. I'm not sure this is type of distillate would have the strength you are looking for, but the process is fun and it does work.