Make your own bay rhum

[Major Overkill]

So, I knew that the basic recipe for bay rhum* had to be pretty simple: some kind of alcohol carrier + Jamaican bay leaves. Turns out it's really not much more than that:

• 4 Ounces Vodka
• 2 Tablespoons Jamaican Rum
• 2 Dried West Indian Bay Leaves**
• 1/4 Teaspoon Allspice
• 1 Stick of Cinnamon, broken in pieces
• Fresh Zest from a Small Orange

Put the above in a tightly-sealed Mason jar + let it soak in the ever popular dark, cool dry place for 2 weeks to steep. Then, strain the mixture through several layers of coffee filters, and repeat until no residue remains. Bottle it and use.

+++

* Rum is an English spelling. French is "rhum" and Spanish is "ron." Given my use of the French spelling, I guess I need to use a rhum agricole like Barbancourt, Clairin, or Clemont.
** These need to be the species Pimenta racemosa, which is decidedly not the same as the brand of bay leaves you perhaps add to a batch of soup or stew. The West Indian bay leaves have a more intense taste than their other brethren, and that comes through if you want the aroma, astringent, deodorant, and skin conditioning effects of bay rhum after shave.

 

[Robert6891]

Have you tried this recipe yourself? Thoughts?

 

[Jan Sobieski]

Given my use of the French spelling, I guess I need to

...but why are you using that spelling?

 

[Major Overkill]

...but why are you using that spelling?

Parce que j'ai estudier Francais en lycee, ils y'a longtemps!

I did, however, just notice that I typo'ed "bay" as "ray." I'm not entirely sure what "ray rum" or "ray rhum" would be.

-Z

 

[slimshavy]

I'm curious if this worked for you. My understanding was that you need to have a strong overproof alcohol (at least 70 percent/140 proof) to properly extract the oils from the spices. That put me off, as they don't sell everclear or the like in my state.

 

[DesertIguana]

So, I knew that the basic recipe for bay rhum* had to be pretty simple: some kind of alcohol carrier + Jamaican bay leaves. Turns out it's really not much more than that:

• 4 Ounces Vodka
• 2 Tablespoons Jamaican Rum
• 2 Dried West Indian Bay Leaves**
• 1/4 Teaspoon Allspice
• 1 Stick of Cinnamon, broken in pieces
• Fresh Zest from a Small Orange

Put the above in a tightly-sealed Mason jar + let it soak in the ever popular dark, cool dry place for 2 weeks to steep. Then, strain the mixture through several layers of coffee filters, and repeat until no residue remains. Bottle it and use.

+++

* Rum is an English spelling. French is "rhum" and Spanish is "ron." Given my use of the French spelling, I guess I need to use a rhum agricole like Barbancourt, Clairin, or Clemont.
** These need to be the species Pimenta racemosa, which is decidedly not the same as the brand of bay leaves you perhaps add to a batch of soup or stew. The West Indian bay leaves have a more intense taste than their other brethren, and that comes through if you want the aroma, astringent, deodorant, and skin conditioning effects of bay rhum after shave.

Well if it don't smell right you can drink it, as it all food grade stuff.

 

[808BRG]

I'm curious if this worked for you. My understanding was that you need to have a strong overproof alcohol (at least 70 percent/140 proof) to properly extract the oils from the spices. That put me off, as they don't sell everclear or the like in my state.

Slimshavy, I did a batch with a similar recipe with 80 proof Myers rum and witch hazel, and it did okay extracting the oils. The second batch I did I used 94 proof Sailor Jerry rum and 100 proof Stohlichaya vodka, no witch hazel during the extraction phase, and did a better job extracting the oils.

I think higher proof is better but if you keep the total extraction mixture at 80 proof or higher, you should be fine. You can subsequently dilute the mixture with witch hazel or whatever you chose once you have finished the extraction process.

Hope this helps.