Taif Rose Oil Tola Production Season Begins With Time-Honoured Techniques

The production of Taif rose oil, known as Tola, has commenced, following a traditional and precise distillation process. Around 70 factories and workshops are active in the mountainous regions of Taif, extracting over 80 derivatives of the Taif rose. These products are highly sought after in both local and global markets.

Taif's farms generate more than 550 million roses annually, making the Tola of Taif rose a significant cultural and economic emblem. Farmer Khalaf Al-Tuwairqi shared that families historically began picking roses at dawn, continuing until sunrise. He learned distillation from his father, who had set up a traditional workshop on their farm.

Al-Tuwairqi explained that Tola is extracted right after harvesting. Each day, between 80,000 to 100,000 roses are placed into special copper pots. The number depends on the pot’s capacity and is measured using a scale. A fire is lit beneath the pot to create steam.

This steam travels through a pipe in the pot’s lid into a water container. Here, it cools and condenses into droplets that flow into a narrow-necked bottle called the Talqiyah, which can hold 20 to 35 litres. The pure rose oil floats atop this container.

Al-Tuwairqi noted that their ancestors perfected rose oil extraction techniques. Producing one Tola requires about 70,000 roses. Traditionally, this was done using fire pits inside mud-brick structures measuring one to three meters long and about a meter high.

The vapor from rose petals condensed into liquid form dripped into glass containers. The resulting oil was then bottled in small glass vials. This meticulous process produces fragrant rose oil and rose water used for perfuming, culinary applications, and other purposes.

With inputs from SPA