Distillate is a liquid condensed from vapour in distillation.
The distillate obtained with the T500 Distillation System is usually composed of 93% alcohol and 6.9% water. The 0.1% left is a mixture of different compounds, called congeners, responsible for good and bad flavours.
Most of this 0.1% comes out in the first 300 ml (10 US fl oz) of the distillate; this is called the ‘heads’ and contains acetaldehydes and ethyl acetate. It has a distinctive smell: ‘fruity’, ‘nail polish’. Up to 500 ml (17 US fl oz) can be taken out if you are looking to make an outstanding clean, pure spirit, like vodka. However, taking the first 50 -100 ml (1.7-3.4 US fl oz) out is sufficient for most applications. The core of the distillate (500 ml (17 US fl oz) to the end) is very pure.