Amongst sandbanks at Paraparaumu Beach, north of Wellington, Maria Brocklebank will spend up to nine hours distilling 50kg of mānuka – in return for just 20mls of essential oil.
Distilling mānuka into an essential oil is much like lavender distillation, “only harder”. Steam is forced through the leaves, the heat forcing them to open and release their oil.
“The leaves are generally used for distilling, but bark and flower can be used as well,” Maria explains. The process produces a very concentrated oil,
