Redistilling after steeping - Herbal Infusions

[cmack]

I'm trying to understand the philosophy behind redistilling after steeping/infusing. If I produce a strong neutral spirit and then cold steep a combination of herbs, strain out the solids, adjust ABV by diluting, then age... what are the reasons why I would need to redistill again at this point? Or, similarly, what are the reasons I would not need to redistill? Is it just matter of taste / preference? Is it refining the end product somehow? With my lack of experience, I haven't developed strong preferences yet so I'm trying to understand the rationale and possible outcomes before diving in to a bunch of A/B test cases.

Thanks for any input!

Cheers,
Chris

[skow69]

If you are talking about absinthe you absolutely need to distill with the herbs in the pot. Macerating just can't get the essences from the herbs.

[NZChris]

Distilling separates the volatile components from the non-volatile components. Filtering only separates out the solids.

If you think you can make something like absinthe using only one method, go ahead and try. I hope you make something you like.

[cmack]

Ahh cool, it's starting to make more sense. Redistilling would be purifying the mixture, for color and/or leaving behind the non-volatile compounds.. presumably the undesirable ones. Absinthe is just one style I wanted to try, but my focus is going to be on herbal/flavor extraction for health and digestion. And maybe a high quality coffee liqueur.

Now I need to figure out which herbs leave behind undesirable components and which do not...