Air Still Essentials Kit: Setup, First Batch and What to Reorder

The kit arrives as a box of parts and four sachets, with a leaflet. This is what all of it is for, in the order you will need it.

If you want the full process in depth, the wash recipe, the reflux modes and the troubleshooting, that lives in our complete guide to using the Air Still. This page is about the kit itself: what came in your box, how to set it up the first time, and what to buy when it runs out.

The printed instructions are also available as a downloadable PDF.

Which kit did you buy?

They share the same equipment. What differs is how many batches of consumables come with it, and whether the still itself is included.

The one worth flagging is the first. The Air Still Essentials Kit does not include an Air Still. It is the consumables and equipment bundle for people who already own the machine. If you want the still as well, one of the four packs below it is the one you want.

What is in the box

Equipment, the same across all the kits:

• Fermenter with a stick-on thermometer
• Carbon filter and collection system
• Mixing spoon
• Ceramic boil enhancers
• Hydrometer, for the wash
• Alcometer and measuring cylinder, for the spirit

The hydrometer and the alcometer are not interchangeable, and this is the single most common mix-up. The hydrometer tells you when fermentation has finished. The alcometer tells you how strong your spirit is. Using the wrong one gives you a reading that means nothing.

Consumables, one batch worth:

• Pure Turbo Yeast, 10 g
• Pure Turbo Yeast Nutrient, 78 g
• Turbo Carbon, 54 g
• Turbo Clear, 65 g
• Two 1.2 kg bags of dextrose
• Distilling conditioner, 50 ml
• Three 50 ml Top Shelf Flavourings

If you bought the Companion Pack separately, that is the fermenter with a tap and a carbon cartridge lid, the graduated collector, the filter system and the boil enhancers, without the yeast and sugar.

Before your first run

Four things, and the third one accounts for most of the support emails we get.

1. Clean and sanitise everything that will touch the wash or the spirit. Shake off the excess and do not rinse.
2. Set the still on a level bench where it can stay for a few hours, near a power point.
3. Find the reset button on the base of the still. The Air Still switches itself off at the end of a run using a power supply reset, and it will not start again until you press that button. A still that seems dead on its second use is almost always this and nothing else.
   
   
   
   
4. Add the ceramic boil enhancers to the boiler before you fill it. They stop the wash surging.

The four videos

The original video series, kept because they are genuinely useful and a lot of people would rather watch than read.

• Step 1: making a sugar wash
  
• Step 2: distilling the wash
  
  
• Step 3: filtering your neutral spirit
  
  
• Step 4: using flavourings and essences
  
  

What to expect from your first batch

• One batch makes about 2 L of spirit at 40%, from two 4 L runs of the still.
• Fermentation takes about a week, and it is finished when a hydrometer reads at or below 990 for two days running, not when the bubbling stops.
• Clearing takes another day. Turbo Clear part A, wait an hour, part B stirred gently, then leave it 24 hours.
• Each distillation run takes a couple of hours, and the still shuts itself off.
• One 50 ml essence flavours a 2 L batch, so the three in your kit cover your first three bottles of finished spirit.

Working backwards from that: a kit with one batch of consumables gets you roughly 2 L of finished spirit. The SUPER STARTER gets you six batches, so around 12 L.

Using the infusion basket, and one safety point

The infusion basket clips under the lid and lets you flavour with real botanicals, citrus peel, cinnamon or chilli rather than an essence.

There is a genuine hazard worth knowing about. Vapour enters the still through a hole under the lid before it reaches the cooling coil. If plant material gets into that coil it can block it, and a blockage can build pressure inside the unit. So:

• Use a muslin cloth, hop bag or tea bag for anything small, like dried herbs and spices.
• Otherwise use pieces larger than the hole, over about 1 cm.
• Do not turn the lid upside down while loading the basket, or material falls straight into the hole.

Distilling water

The Air Still does this well, and it needs no licence or permission of any kind.

1. Clean the inside and fill to the 4 L line marked inside the body.
2. Keep the outside dry and make sure both electrical sockets are clean and dry.
3. Fit the top cover and plug the fan lead into the socket in the body.
4. Put a 4 L jug under the outlet.
5. Press the reset button on the base, connect the power and switch on. You should hear the fan.
6. It takes about an hour and a half to heat up, then roughly 10 hours to distil the full 4 L. It switches off on its own.
7. Polish the result by running it through the carbon filter.

Essential oils and hydrosols

The Air Still will produce hydrosol with a little oil on top, and it needs no licence. It is a small unit though, so if essential oils are your main interest an Alembic pot still on a 25 litre boiler gives you far more material per run, and the essential oil distillation range covers purpose-built units.

If you want to try it in the Air Still, using rosemary as the example:

• Use 300 g of leaves and 3.65 L of water, staying under the maximum line.
• Collect no more than about 3 L, or it boils dry and cooks the leaves.
• What you get is mostly hydrosol with a little oil floating on top. Lift the oil off with a pipette.
• If you plan to make alcohol in the same unit afterwards, boil two or three lots of water through it first, or your spirit will taste of rosemary.

Our full guide to making essential oils covers hydrodistillation, steam distillation and realistic yields by botanical.

What to reorder

Your equipment lasts. The consumables do not, and this is what running out looks like.

The washers are the part people forget. Once they flatten out and stop springing back, they leak and let spirit channel past the carbon, so filtering does very little.

Getting your first batch right

The kit gives you everything for one batch. What it cannot give you is the habits, and there are only four that matter.

• Let the ferment finish, and prove it with the hydrometer rather than by eye.
• Stir Turbo Clear part B gently, then leave it a full 24 hours.
• Press the reset button before every run after the first.
• Fresh carbon cartridge for each spirit you filter.

When you are ready for the detail, the complete Air Still guide covers the wash and the distillation properly. The Air Still is 4 litres, under the 5 litre threshold, so it needs no ATO permission to own or use, and our guide to the ATO rules for home distilling sets out the rest. Stuck on something, ask us.

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FAQ

Q: Does the Air Still Essentials Kit include the Air Still?

The kit sold as the Air Still Essentials Kit does not. It is the equipment and consumables bundle for people who already own the machine. The STARTER, STARTER PLUS, SUPER STARTER and OFFICIAL Complete kits all include the Air Still with its three year warranty.

Q: My Air Still will not turn on for a second batch. What is wrong?

Almost certainly the reset button on the base of the still. The unit shuts itself off using a power supply reset at the end of a run, and it stays off until that button is pressed. Check that before assuming a fault.

Q: How much spirit does one kit make?

One batch of consumables makes about 2 litres of spirit at 40%, from two 4 litre runs of the still. So a STARTER PACK gets you roughly 2 litres, a STARTER PLUS about 6, and a SUPER STARTER about 12.

Q: What is the difference between the hydrometer and the alcometer?

The hydrometer measures the density of your wash and tells you when fermentation has finished, at a reading of 990 or below. The alcometer measures the strength of your finished spirit as a percentage. They look similar and they are not interchangeable.

Q: Can I distil essential oils with the Air Still?

Yes, and it needs no licence. It is a 4 litre unit though, so the return per run is small. An Alembic pot still on a 25 litre boiler handles far more material. If you do use the Air Still, boil two or three lots of water through afterwards before making alcohol, or the flavour carries over.

Q: Do I need permission to own an Air Still?

No. The Air Still is 4 litres, which sits under the 5 litre threshold, so no ATO permission is needed to buy, own or use it.