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First of all, the concum needs to be placed in a vessel of
warm water for about 30 minutes. This is to gently melt the stearoptene's, which
are a natural part of the Rose Otto. These natural waxes are produced during
distillation.
Rose oil consists of 30% stearoptene (the solid phase containing such
hydrocarbons as eycosan) and eleopten (the liquid phase). The former is odorless
but it fixes the scent well and endues it with durability. When cooler
temperatures prevail the stearoptenes present in the oil cause the entire
contents of the concum to solidify, but it only requires gentle warmth to cause
the Rose Otto to become liquid again.
The lid of the concum is soldered on. It is a precautionary measure adopted by
the Bulgarian Government to insure that no adulteration will occur by "middle"
traders. In order to penetrate the solder you will need a sharp but hard pointed
screw driver and a hammer. Tap the screwdriver with the hammer at the very edges
of the concum until it penetrates through the solder. Then you will easily be
able to pry up the metal lid.
Once you have pried up the metal lid, you will find a cork further sealing the
entrance to the bottle. The cork is surrounded by a cellophane type material
from beneath. Once again you will need your screwdriver to lift the cork out. Be
very careful not to exert to much downward pressure on the cork as it may be
forced into the bottle containing the rose otto. Gently pry the cork upward
until it comes free.
At this point I personally recommend pouring the rose otto into whatever sized
cobalt blue, violet or amber glass containers you wish to store the oil in. The
reason for this is that it is much easier to pour from glass containers than
from the concum and also you can warm the glass containers in your hands or in
warm water easier from small containers than the larger concum containers. Also
there is less danger of spillage. This is a personal preference and can be
adopted or not adopted according to the personal preferences of the user.
The description above is a contribution of Christopher McMahon of White Lotus
Aromatics.
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