Abstract
Distillation is one of the earliest examples of chemical technology. The process was known in China many hundreds of years before the birth of Christ and the first distilled beverage is believed to have been made from rice wine about 800 BC. The secret of distillation remained in China until the first few years AD, when the process was studied in Egypt. The art was learnt by Arabic chemists, who developed the first truly efficient still, the alembic. A direct descendent of the alembic,the pot still is in use today in the distillation of several spirits, including Scotch whisky.
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References
Piggott, J.R. (ed.) 1983- Flavour of Distilled Beverages. Ellis Horwood, Chichester.
Rose, A.H. (ed.) 1977. Economic Microbiology ,vol. 1. Alcoholic Beverages. Academic Press, London.
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© 1994 Alan H. Varnam and Jane P. Sutherland
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Varnam, A.H., Sutherland, J.P. (1994). Alcoholic Beverages: III. Distilled Spirits. In: Beverages. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-2508-0_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-2508-0_9
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-0-412-45720-3
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