Steam and hydro-distilled rose and jasmine

[Guest guest]

Hi again - I've heard varying things about hydrodistillation of these

flowers, so I've got two questions.

Re rose:

My understanding through what I've read, and some experimentation, is that

roses respond better to distillation than most flowers (not counting

lavender) and can withstand a lot of heat and moisture without losing the

strength and quality of their scent; So why is hydrodistilled rose oil so

hard to come by? Is it just much more economical to make the absolute on a

large scale?

Re jasmine:

I've heard from a few sources that distilled jasmine oil is never found,

and from others that it is found, but - like distilled rose oil - only

rarely. I just noticed that a very reputable supplier is selling

steam-distilled jasmine oil, and it got me thinking - surely jasmine and

other delicate flowers *can* be distilled, or how would attars be made?

From making tisanes of jasmine flowers I have seen that heat doesn't

destroy the scent - although certainly the flowers (the species I've been

using) do turn to total mush, which I understand can be a problem in

distillation?

Could anyone shed any light on distillation of these flowers - or point me

in the direction of existing information on how often it's done ; what the

issues are; what the results are, etc.

There may be some good info out there on this, but I haven't been able to

find it.

Many thanks - and sorry if this is another silly question!

Johanna

Wgtn, NZ