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Historically, in Europe at least, it used to be very common for enterprising folk to travel around the land with their distillation equipment strapped to the sides of their donkeys providing a valuable service for owners of orchards and fruit bushes who wanted the produce turned into alcohol rather than having it wasted or eaten by birds and rats. In modern times, due to the advances of science, the equipment necessary for the process is much more sophisticated, but could, in theory, still be strapped to the back of a donkey. It’s not an old wives tale - The process of distillation used to be rather dangerous, often involving the lethal combination of naked flames, self intoxication and explosive alcohol vapours. Now, thankfully, there is much more awareness of sensible drinking and the potential dangers of industrial processes. For me, the challenges are to automate the machine and make it as safe as reasonably possible, giving us lots of scope for using all kinds of weird and wonderful gadgets and sensors to monitor the process and minimise the risk of explosion.”

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