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An alembic (from Arabic Al-inbiq ???????) is an alchemical
Alchemy

Alchemy , a part of the Occult Tradition, is both a philosophy and a practice with an aim of achieving ultimate wisdom as well as immortality, involving the improvement of the alchemist as well as the making of several substances described as possessing unusual properties....
 still
Still

A still is an apparatus used to distillation miscible or immiscible liquid mixtures by heating to selectively Boiling and then cooling to Condensation the vapor....
 consisting of two retort
Retort

In a chemistry laboratory, a retort is a glassware device used for distillation or dry distillation of substances. It consists of a sphere vessel with a long downward-pointing neck....
s connected by a tube.






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Alembic for Distillation
Distillation By Alembic
Alembic


An alembic (from Arabic Al-inbiq ???????) is an alchemical
Alchemy

Alchemy , a part of the Occult Tradition, is both a philosophy and a practice with an aim of achieving ultimate wisdom as well as immortality, involving the improvement of the alchemist as well as the making of several substances described as possessing unusual properties....
 still
Still

A still is an apparatus used to distillation miscible or immiscible liquid mixtures by heating to selectively Boiling and then cooling to Condensation the vapor....
 consisting of two retort
Retort

In a chemistry laboratory, a retort is a glassware device used for distillation or dry distillation of substances. It consists of a sphere vessel with a long downward-pointing neck....
s connected by a tube. Technically, the alembic is only the upper part (the capital or still-head), while the lower part is the cucurbit, but the word was often used to refer to the entire distillation
Distillation

Distillation is a method of separation process mixtures based on differences in their Volatility in a boiling liquid mixture. Distillation is a unit operation, or a physical separation process, and not a chemical reaction....
 apparatus. The alembic was developed circa 800 AD by the Arabic alchemist, Jabir ibn Hayyan
Geber

Geber is the Latinized form of "Jabir", with the full name of Abu Musa Jabir ibn Hayyan , a prominent Muslim polymath: a Alchemy and chemistry in medieval Islam, Astronomy in medieval Islam and Islamic astrology, Inventions of the Islamic Golden Age, Geography in medieval Islam#Geology, mineralogy, and paleontology, Early Islamic philo...
 (known as Geber in the West); its modern descendant (used to produce alcohol
Alcohol

In chemistry, an alcohol is any organic compound in which a hydroxyl Functional group is bound to a carbon atom of an alkyl or substituted alkyl group....
) is the pot still
Pot still

A pot still is a type of still used in distillation spirits such as whisky or brandy. Heat is applied directly to the pot containing the mashing or wine ....
.

The word "alembic" has taken on a metaphorical meaning - anything that refines or transmutes, as if by distillation - as in "the alembic of creative thought."

The word, as most alchemical terminology, comes from the Arabic
Arabic language

Arabic is a Central Semitic language, thus related to and classified alongside other Semitic languages languages such as Hebrew language and Aramaic language....
: al-inbiq, "still;" ultimately from the Greek
Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
 ambix, "cup."

The French
French language

French is a Romance language spoken around the world by around 80 million people as first language, by 190 million as second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired tongue, with significant speakers in 54 countries....
 spelling alambic is also commonly used, especially as the apparatus is often associated with Cognac
Cognac (drink)

Cognac , named after the town of Cognac in France, is the most famous variety of brandy, produced in the wine-growing region surrounding the town from which it takes its name, in the French Departements of France of Charente and Charente-Maritime....
 where it is known as alambic charentais. Charente
Charente

Charente is a departments of France in western France named after the Charente River....
 is the area where the grapes must be grown and the brandy
Brandy

Brandy is a distilled_beverage produced by Distillation wine, the wine having first been produced by Fermentation grapes. Brandy contains 36%?60% alcohol by volume and is typically taken as an after-dinner drink....
 itself produced in order to be rightfully called Cognac.

The alembic symbol is Unicode
Unicode

Unicode is a computing industry standard allowing computers to consistently represent and manipulate Character expressed in most of the world's writing systems....
 U+2697 ALEMBIC .

See also

  • Pot still
    Pot still

    A pot still is a type of still used in distillation spirits such as whisky or brandy. Heat is applied directly to the pot containing the mashing or wine ....
  • Retort
    Retort

    In a chemistry laboratory, a retort is a glassware device used for distillation or dry distillation of substances. It consists of a sphere vessel with a long downward-pointing neck....
  • Distilled beverage
    Distilled beverage

    A distilled beverage, liquor, or spirit is a drinkable liquid containing ethanol that is produced by means of distillation Fermentation grain, fruit, or vegetables....


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