OK folks, correct me if I am off:
by definition an absolute is a two stage extraction. First hexane to make concrete, then ethanol to isolate oils from waxes. To look at another way, an absolute is an alcoholic extraction of a concrete, which is a hexane extraction of flowers and leaves, etc..
When you do a straight alcohol extraction and evaporate to thicken it is called a “folded tincture) and if all alcohol is removed, it could be called an ”oleoresin” or “resinoid”
According to one site, the name of the initial material you get from a hexing extract, can either be called a concrete, a resinoid, or an oleoresin.
My understanding is a resinoid is an extract of resin - myrrh, frank, pine…
Oleoresin is a term I see applied to spice extracts - I think it’s produced by the same method as a resinoid, just with a different starting material
The process you are describing for absolute that is the process for some specific plant matter, generally spent matter but also can be non spent matter. For example, in the process of rose they can use spent and none spent petals. The flower is agitated in a non - polar solvent such as n-hexane this dissolves the oils, waxes etc, the solvent is then removed by a vacuum process. This leaves behind a waxy substance known as concrete. The concrete is generally stored as is, until they need to get the aromatic valuables out, at which point the concrete is processed with ethyl alcohol at below zero temperatures. This draws out the aromatics and leaves the waxes, praffins etc behind. The alcohol is then evaporated, to have the absolute.
Whilst this is A process of obtaining absolute, it isnt the only or the defining way for getting absolutes. The reason n-hexanes are used it that it increases the yield from an otherwise low yield flower by dissolving, waxes, paraffins, pigment etc which contribute aromatic value to the final liquid. It is important to note that final liquid isnt just oil. Whilst n- hexanes are preferred for roses, other solvents such as ether petroleum, alcohol etc can be used for other materials depending on what one wants to achieve.
Absolutes dont always come as a liquid at room temperature, civet is a good example.
Using alcohol can produces absolutes the material has to be dry though, so for woods it can work, but for flowers it creates a headache. For woods that dont have resin a nice liquid is produced at the end, for agarwood there is a resin as well, and the term resinoid makes good sense as all the other components of an absolute are present together with resin.
The use of absolute is generally for delicate flowers and aromatics, and most of what you will find in literature will be aligned to that, however that is only an application of the principle rather than defining the principle. The principle as explained above can be implemented with just alcohol as well. Not all materials will have a concrete phase, as not all materials will have the content of waxes paraffins etc that flowers have. That is why the correct solvent has to be used for the material at hand, and calculating what it being targeted for the final product.
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