Scientists will assist with research on use of Alembics. (Information only)
After much research we concluded that there are in fact nine different chemical components that make up Spirits. Each has a different boiling point, and due to the valve mechanism on an alembic, it is possible to boil off just those spirits with a boiling point equal to the solution temperature (rather than those equal or above.)
The nine types of spirits from lowest boiling point to highest are: Rock, Wood, Worm, Grain, Grass, Fruit, Vegetable, Mineral, Fish. Spirits are then further categorized by purity level, with the most pure referred to as Spirits of Ra, followed by Spirits of Life, Air, Fire, Water, Earth. The term Grey Spirits indicates that either the spirit is even less pure than Earth spirits, *or* contains compounds with an average boiling point above Fish Spirits.
Not all distillable materials contain all spirit types. Beer, for example contains Wood, Worm, Grain, and Grass spirits. Beers with the 'Dry' flavor also contain small amounts of Fruit and Vegetable Spirits. Potent beers contain 25% more spirits total than normal beers. Very Potent Beers contain 50% more.
The pressure and heat of an albemic cause a chemical reaction in wine whereby tanis are converted into Wood, Worm, Grain, and Grass spirits. Residual sugar further increases the spirits' weight, providing vegetable, mineral, and fish spirits. Since the condensing stage of an Alembic tends to average the weights of the circulating components, it is theoretically possible to distall intermediate types of spirits by distalling a high boiling point spirit such as Vegetable, and then a bit of a low boiling point spirit like Grass. When this is done, the result would be Fruit Spirits. It is unknown whether these can be made with enough purity to prevent classification as Grey Spirits.