The Soxhlet extractor has long been used in home distilling for flavouring alcoholic beverages such as gin, Becherovka, Jägermeister and others.
Any flavouring process, or extraction, works by transferring molecules of aromatic oils into a solvent — in this case, alcohol. It is important to note that in home distilling, extraction is carried out only using a clean water-and-alcohol mixture. The separation of the so-called “heads” and “tails” is performed by the distiller based on the organoleptic evaluation of the finished drink.
Several types of extraction are used in home distilling to obtain aromatic compounds from herbs and other ingredients.
The first type is maceration, or infusion. In this case, only about 50% of all aromatic substances contained in the ingredient load can be extracted. For example, if one portion of the ingredient load contains 10 molecules of an aromatic compound, approximately 5 molecules will move into the solvent, meaning the alcohol, while the remaining 5 will stay in the ingredient load as the concentration becomes balanced.
The second type is a gin basket for a distillation apparatus. In this case, extraction occurs as hot alcohol vapours pass through the ingredient load. The alcohol vapours carry part of the aromatic molecules into the product stream, but they also partially condense inside the gin basket itself. As a result, some condensate is formed, which then has to be distilled again.
In a Soxhlet extractor, the aromatic substances are fully extracted from the ingredient load thanks to the operating principle of the device.
Alcohol vapours evaporate from the boiler, pass through the bypass vapour tube into the condenser, condense and fill the chamber containing the ingredient load. Once the chamber is filled, the aromatised alcohol flows back into the boiler through the siphon drain tube, after which the process repeats several times.
Due to the repeated contact between the alcohol and the ingredient load, essential oils are thoroughly washed out of the solid components. Each cycle exposes the ingredients to a fresh portion of the alcohol mixture. This allows complete extraction of poorly soluble components using a small amount of solvent.
When used in distilling, the Soxhlet extractor can also be used to colour the drink, since all poorly soluble components pass into the liquid during extraction. This effect can be used, for example, to significantly reduce the infusion time when ageing a drink on oak chips.
Specifications:
- Connection: 2-inch clamp
- Vapour tube diameter: 12 mm
- Overflow tube diameter: 8 mm
- Material: AISI 304 stainless steel
