For 25 litre batches, the Pure Distilling reflux kit at $1,199 is the cheapest way in. Every kit on this page is in stock and ships from our warehouse this week.
We stock every kit here. That matters more than it sounds, because most buyer's guides for this search recommend products the author cannot sell you, and several list picks that are out of stock or priced differently from the retailer's own listing. Everything below has a live price, a stock count and a product page you can buy from.
Shop by type of still
- Air Still and Air Still Pro starter packs: benchtop, no water hookup
- Reflux stills: T500, VORTEX and Pure Distilling for vodka, gin and essence spirits
- Copper pot stills, including the Rum Distillery Kit
- All 50+ kits in alcohol stills and distillery kits
What is the best home distilling kit?
The Air Still Pro Super Starter Pack at $1,669, for three reasons. It does both reflux and pot distilling at the press of a button, so you are not choosing a spirit style before you have made one. It is air cooled, so it works in an apartment, a rental or a caravan with nothing more than a power point.
The runner-up for anyone who already knows they want volume is the Pure Distilling Reflux Kit at $1,199. It is the least expensive route into 25 litre batches on the site, the condenser is Australian made, and it carries a five year guarantee.
Both are in the complete distilling kits collection alongside 55 others. The five below are the ones we would actually point you at.
The best home distilling kits compared
| # | Kit | Best for | Batch and cooling | Price | In stock |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Air Still Pro Super Starter Pack | Best overall | 4L, air cooled | $1669 | Yes |
| 2 | Pure Distilling Reflux Kit | Best value in 25L | 25L, water cooled | $1199 | Yes |
| 3 | T500 Pro Copper Super Starter Pack | Neutral spirit at volume | 25L, water cooled | $1799 | Yes |
| 4 | Air Still 4L | Cheapest entry | 4L, air cooled | $579 | Yes |
| 5 | Craft Super Starter Kit | Whisky and rum | 25L, water cooled | $2639 | Yes |
Prices checked against the live catalogue on the day of publication.
1. Air Still Pro Super Starter Pack, $1,669
Who it suits: first-time distillers, anyone without a spare tap, and anyone who has not yet decided whether they want clean neutral spirit or flavourful whisky and rum. The Pro does both.
Who should not buy it: anyone who already knows they want 25 litre batches. At 4 litres of wash per run, you will do six runs to match one T500 batch, and you will outgrow it inside a year.
The Air Still Pro is a sealed benchtop unit with a reflux column that switches to pot mode at the press of a button. It air cools, so there is no plumbing, no running tap, no water bill. It has an automatic foreshots vial that makes the most error-prone cut for you, and a built-in botanical basket that makes it the better gin unit of any kit here. The Super Starter Pack adds a fermenter, three batches of consumables, six essences, ten carbon cartridges and a copper parrot head.
Up to 90% ABV in reflux mode, 80% in pot mode. About 700ml of 60% spirit per two-hour run, or 2.25 litres at 40% from an 8 litre wash. $1,669, in stock. The Starter Pack with one batch of consumables is $1,539.
2. Pure Distilling Reflux Kit, $1,199
Who it suits: anyone with a spare tap who wants 25 litre batches at the lowest possible entry price.
Who should not buy it: anyone in an apartment or on tank water. This is a water-cooled still and it draws around 200 litres per run.
The Pure Distilling reflux system is designed and made in Launceston, Tasmania, and its condenser carries a five year guarantee, the longest of anything on this page. It reaches 93% ABV and recovers about 95% of the alcohol in a wash. The kit includes the boiler, condenser, fermenter, consumables and testing gear. The Deluxe kit at $2,089 adds a pot condenser, so you get both distilling styles for less than a T500 Pro plus a separate Alembic dome.
Yields about 8 litres at 40% from a 25 litre wash. $1,199, in stock.
3. T500 Pro Copper Super Starter Pack, $1,799
Who it suits: anyone who wants the standard 25 litre reflux still, with the largest range of spare parts, upgrades and how-to content behind it, and the cleanest spirit the platform can make.
Who should not buy it: anyone without 133cm of clear height above the bench, or a tap they can tie up for four and a half hours.
The T500 is the reflux still most Australian home distillers own, which means every consumable, spare part and troubleshooting answer exists for it. The Pro version runs a copper condenser rather than stainless, and copper reacts with sulphur compounds during the run to strip them from the spirit. On the same wash it produces a noticeably cleaner result, which is why it is our best seller and the most reviewed kit on the site. The Super Starter Pack includes the 25 litre Create+ boiler, fermenter, three batches of consumables, filter and testing gear.
If the copper premium is not worth it to you, the stainless T500 Starter Pack at $1,429 is the more cost-effective option and produces the same 93% ABV. It is the same boiler and the same column packing; only the condenser material differs. Add an Alembic dome to either and the boiler becomes a pot still.
Up to 93% ABV, about 95% alcohol recovery, roughly 8 litres at 40% per 25 litre wash in four and a half hours. $1,799, in stock.
4. Air Still 4L, $579
Who it suits: anyone testing whether the hobby is for them before spending four figures, and anyone who mainly wants to distil water or essential oils.
Who should not buy it: anyone who wants clean neutral spirit. The Air Still is pot-only, tops out at 60% ABV, and you will need carbon filtering to get a vodka-style result.
The original benchtop still. Air cooled, 4 litres, plugs into a power point, switches itself off at the end of a run. It does not have the Pro's reflux mode, foreshots vial or botanical basket, but it is the cheapest working still on the site and it holds its resale value well. The Starter Pack at $769 adds the fermenter and consumables you will need anyway.
Yields about 2 litres at 40% from an 8 litre wash over two runs. $579, in stock.
5. Craft Super Starter Kit, $2,639
Who it suits: anyone who knows they want whisky, rum or brandy, and wants one purchase that covers both reflux and pot distilling from day one.
Who should not buy it: anyone still working out what they want to make. This is a commitment, and most of its value is wasted if you only ever run the reflux column.
A copper T500 Pro condenser and an Alembic dome on the same 25 litre Create+ boiler, with the fermenter, consumables and testing gear. Reflux for clean neutral at 93%, pot for flavour at 70%. The pot run is a two-pass process: a stripping run, then a spirit run with cuts, about five hours and two water draws for a batch the reflux column finishes in four and a half. That is the price of flavour.
Yields about 8 litres at 40% in reflux, 3.5 to 7 litres in pot. $2,639, in stock.
Best home distilling kit prices
Current prices for every kit on this page, and what a complete setup actually costs beyond the still.
| Kit | Still only | Complete kit | What the kit adds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Air Still Pro | $1,099 | $1,539 to $1,669 | Fermenter, 1 to 3 batches of consumables, essences, carbon, parrot head |
| Pure Distilling Reflux | n/a | $1,199 | Boiler, condenser, fermenter, consumables, testing gear |
| T500 Pro Copper | $1,199 | $1,649 to $1,799 | Fermenter, 1 to 3 batches of consumables, filter, testing gear |
| T500 Stainless | $1,099 | $1,429 to $1,579 | Same as above with a stainless condenser |
| Air Still 4L | $579 | $769 to $899 | Fermenter, 1 to 3 batches of consumables, essences |
| Craft (T500 Pro + Alembic) | n/a | $2,299 to $2,639 | Both condensers, boiler, fermenter, consumables |
Beyond the kit, budget for sugar or grain for the wash and a flavouring essence if you want your neutral to taste like gin rather than vodka. Consumables run about $107 per 25 litre wash with a Classic 6 Batch Pack and dextrose, about $9.30 a bottle, or about $44 with supermarket sugar. The full running-cost breakdown, including what a bottle actually costs to make, is in our alcohol distiller kit guide.
What Australian distillers say
Verified purchase reviews on the five kits above, as they stand on the day of publication:
- T500 Pro Copper Super Starter Pack: 157 reviews, 5.0 stars. The most reviewed kit we sell.
- Air Still Pro Super Starter Pack: 29 reviews, 5.0 stars.
- Air Still 4L: 8 reviews, 4.6 stars.
- Craft Super Starter Kit: 5 reviews, 5.0 stars.
- Pure Distilling Reflux Kit: 2 reviews, 5.0 stars.
The T500 Pro's 157 reviews at five stars reflect both how long the T500 has been the default 25 litre still in Australia and how many owners chose the copper version. The Air Still Pro's 29 at five stars is notable for a unit that has only been in the range a couple of years. Individual reviews are on each product page.
FAQ
What is the best home distilling kit? The Air Still Pro Super Starter Pack for most first-time buyers. If you want volume and have a spare tap, the Pure Distilling Reflux Kit or the T500 Pro.
Pot still or reflux still? A pot still keeps flavour for whisky, rum and brandy. A reflux still strips it out for clean neutral spirit, which is the base for vodka, gin and essence-flavoured spirits. The Air Still Pro and the Craft kit do both.
Copper or stainless condenser? Both reach 93% ABV. Copper reacts with sulphur compounds during the run and produces a cleaner spirit on the same wash, which is why the T500 Pro is our best seller. Stainless is the more cost-effective option at $220 less for the equivalent kit, and it is the right choice if the budget is tight.
Do I need a water supply to distil at home? Not with an air cooled still. The Air Still and Air Still Pro use no water for cooling. The T500, Pure Distilling and Alembic systems are water cooled and need a running tap, using roughly 200 litres per reflux run.
How much spirit does one batch make? An Air Still yields about 2 litres at 40% from an 8 litre wash over two runs. A 25 litre system yields around 8 litres at 40% in reflux configuration.
Can I make gin with these kits? Yes. Make a clean neutral in reflux mode, then either add a gin essence or redistil through botanicals in pot mode. The Air Still Pro has a built-in botanical basket for exactly this, and the T500 takes a separate one.
Which kit to buy this month
If you do not have a tap you can run for four hours, buy the Air Still Pro Super Starter Pack and stop reading comparison tables. If you do, and you want volume, the Pure Distilling Reflux Kit is the cheapest way in and the T500 Pro is the one with the most support behind it. If you already know it is whisky or rum you are after, the Craft Super Starter Kit saves you buying a second condenser later.
All five are in stock. Browse the full complete distilling kits collection, or ask us which one fits your space.
