An interesting discovery: my first wood vinegar

One day, after doing the usual dry quenching of the super hot biomass that I had pulled out of my biochar making stove, I noticed some sort of a stain on the floor, like a print of the container used for the quenching... but like if there was something wet. Indeed, under the metal plate that I used as a lid of the container there was some condensation. Very interesting: what could have that been??? 

It was the first time that I realized that I had made wood vinegar... possibly it happened many other times doing the same ritual of the quenching but definitely this was the 

first time that I found it: thick, dense and pungently aromatic... waw! this is really potent stuff!!!

Yeah the biomass I was using... was really not ready, I mean not perfectly dried so I had to put again in the stove those that hadn't already turned into biochar and repeat the whole process. Maybe then if we need the vinegar, this is the kind of biomass to use then! 

 Here there is that one drop that slowly dripped and condensed all together: it would be good getting organized for a proper collection of this extract. I have been told that, highly diluted it can be used as an effective insect repellent in the garden. Looking forward to try... next time!