Ethyl alcohol, or ethanol, is the primary ingredient in alcoholic beverages. A clear, colorless liquid, it has a chemical formula of...

Tartrate crystals appear on the bottom of a wine glass or in a bottle of grape juice, created by a reaction of tartaric acid. Reference...

Red and white tartar are ingredients used by ancients and yet today. Alchemists have great interest in salts, waters, spirits and...

Preparation of a Golden Spirit of Wine, a medicinal potion, is a recipe from the writings of Dutch-German alchemist Johann Glauber . He's...

The mortar and pestle as a unit is about 35,000 years old. With many varieties available today it's important to choose the best mortar...

Ardent Spirits in alchemy are liquors obtained after repeated distillations from fermented fruit and vegetables. They are thus called...

Acetic acid is a compound with many uses. With chemical formula CH₃COOH, this colorless liquid has a sharp pungent smell and sour taste....

Artists and craftspeople have used plant pigments as a source of color for millennia. Works of art and textile dyes using vegetable...

Steam distillation develops from simple and fractional distillation techniques, and is first known to be documented among the Islamic...

Fractional distillation is a technique to separate components of a mixture based on their various boiling points. In this process, a...

Distillation transforms substances through heating, cooling, and separating liquids from solids. It's for brewing spirits, and is an...

Aqua Vitae literally means Water of Life in Latin. It's also called Elixir Vitae or Elixir of Life. Alchemists from ancient Alexandria...

Salts are ubiquitous in nature and play critical roles in sciences from biology to medicine. In alchemy, salts are standard ingredients....

The alchemy of elixirs goes back to early mankind, when plants with known healing properties are combined, boiled or mashed. The mortar...

Lady Isabella Cortese is born in the 16th century into a wealthy family in Italy. In Venice, she transcends conventional norms to shine...

Renaissance herbal recipes focus on health and medicine, but can also include dyeing, coloring and pigment making. Botanical knowledge...

A vibrant golden spice, turmeric captivates kingdoms, heals the sick and rules the routes of the spice trade. The humble root has a long...

Why do onions make people cry? The answer involves a combination of chemistry and enzymes. The trigger behind the tears is an organic...

Salt is important from ancient to Renaissance alchemy, and still used today in alchemical projects, dyeing, cuisine and medicine. In...

Among the showy flowering plants, perennial Asphodelus is an elegant and adaptable beauty. A genus of the Asphodelaceae or aloe family,...