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Anyway these alchemists continued their experimentation, combining and extracting materials under high heat. After all two of the metals they had discovered had allowed kings to conquer the world, becoming emperors. A few thousand years after iron had been discovered, medieval alchemists of Arabia discovered that a new substance could be extracted from wine, by cooking it at a low heat. This new substance, which was condensed into a liquid after extraction, was soon called the alcohol of wine. This extraction was possible because alcohol has a substantially lower boiling point than does water. Alcohol boils at 172F, while water doesnt boil until 212F. The process of extracting alcohol from the rest is called distillation.
While liquid distillation, i.e. the separation of different elements thru the introduction of heat, had been going on since the time of the ancient Greeks, the 15th century Arab alchemists were the first to separate alcohol from wine. Being strict prohibitionists they didnt use it for intoxication. However soon after, the European alchemists introduced it into Europe as Aqua Arden, literally burning water, presumably because of its burning taste.
The only difference between water and alcohol chemically is carbon.
The chemical compound for alcohol can be seen as the sharing of Hydrogen Atom between a Water molecule and Ethyl molecule.