Stills & Equipment

Choosing Your First Copper Still: A Buyer's Guide

By Alchemist G. G. Wilkins

From pot stills to reflux columns, here's how to pick the rig that matches your craft — and your budget.

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Buying your first still is equal parts excitement and confusion. The market runs from tiny 1-gallon hobby units to commercial systems, and the copper itself varies wildly in quality.

Start with how you'll use it. A simple pot still with a thumper is forgiving and flavorful — ideal for whiskey and rum where you want character. A reflux column gives you cleaner, higher-proof neutral spirit for vodka and gin.

Then look at the metal. Heavy-gauge copper (think 20 oz, 99.9% pure) lasts decades and actively improves your spirit by stripping sulfur compounds. Thin imported copper dents, leaks, and disappoints.

Finally, size up — most people wish they'd gone bigger. A 6-gallon unit is the sweet spot for serious hobbyists: manageable, but enough to make a run worthwhile.