Distilling spirits is a way of adding a lot of flavour to something without adding anything else – they have very clean flavours – and are also a way of adding a taste you don’t usually associate with drinks. That said, distillation is definitely something that requires trial and error. Once you’ve distilled something and have taken out the bitterness, salt, sugar etc., the flavour changes dramatically so I’m very regularly surprised by the results. Often you’re just left with something that’s got a lot of aroma without much flavour at all.