Quick Setup & Cooling Guide

Your CopperHolic alembic still arrives ready to assemble — every piece that connects together is in the box. The only thing you’ll add is a few feet of food-grade tubing for the cooling water.

Know your condenser (the copper cooling bucket)

The condenser is the copper bucket with the spiral coil inside. It has three openings:

  • Two holes at the TOP — these are for the cooling water. Cold water flows in one and out the other, keeping the coil surrounded by cold water.
  • One hole at the BOTTOM — this is your distillate outlet: your finished essential oil or hydrosol flows out here into your collection jar.

Important: the bottom hole is not a water inlet — it is where your product comes out. All cooling water connects to the two top holes.

How it works, step by step

  1. Fill the pot with water and your botanicals and place it on your heat source (gas, electric, or induction with an adapter).
  2. Vapor rises through the onion head (watch the built-in thermometer) and travels down the swan neck into the coil inside the condenser.
  3. Keep the coil cold: run a gentle, steady flow of cold water into one top port and let it drain from the other. No tap nearby? Sit the line in a bucket of iced water and circulate it with a small aquarium or fountain pump.
  4. As the vapor cools inside the coil it condenses and drips out the bottom hole into your jar.

A few tips

  • Tubing: a few feet of food-grade silicone or clear vinyl, about 3/8" inner diameter, connects a garden hose or pump to the top ports. Use a gentle flow — too much pressure pops the tubing off.
  • Sealing: if any vapor escapes at a joint, seal it with a simple paste of flour and water; it peels off easily after your run.
  • Keep it cold: the colder the water around the coil, the better your yield — refresh or recirculate it as it warms.

If anything in the downloadable guide below differs from this page, follow this page — it reflects your current still.