Description

Cade oil, also called juniper oil, juniper tar or prickly juniper pitch, is obtained as a result of pyrogenizing the wood of the prickly juniper (Juniperus oxycedrus L.).

This tar was obtained on a small scale by shepherds and livestock farmers by distilling juniper stump chips inside a pitcher. A hole is dug in an embankment and the pitcher filled with juniper chips is placed, with a tube fitted to the mouth for the liquids to exit. Once the tube is fitted, the pitcher is covered with clay and a fire is made over it, so that the heat causes the dry distillation process of the tar which will come out through the tube and fall into a container where it is collected.

In addition to this small-scale process, the tar was distilled in large facilities called mereras, miereras or tar ovens. These consisted of an oven that is filled with juniper wood, covered by another vault where the combustion of the firewood takes place.