After finding a recipe for homemade Bay rum on the web I've decided to give it a try... 2 oz bay leaves(crushed) 16 oz white rum 1/2 oz ground cinammon 1/2 tspn ground cloves 1/4 oz ground cardomom combine all ingrediants together, pour though a funnel into a screw top bottle, and place in a cool, dark, place for seven days. Strain though several layers of coffee filter papers and your bay rum cologne is ready to use!!!!. I have just made a batch, will let you know how it turns out in seven days!!!!!
What they don't tell you, is the bay leaves used for cooking and the bay leaves used for bay rum are from entirely different species. Nevertheless, people have had excellent results with the recipe you posted, using ordinary bay leaves. for a slightly different twist you can add a half of a split open vanilla pod for vanilla bay rum. I'm looking forward to your results.
That's right, the type used for Bay Rum is west indian Bay, I have a work colleague who is going on holiday to the carribean shortly, I have asked her if she would bring me some back ready for the second batch
I have made Bay Rum with both types of leaves and both are very nice. I also add the peel of 1 orange, or Orange Essential Oil and Essential Lime oil to your taste.
This sounds interesting to me and i think im going to give it a try. I just have a questions does the quality of rum made a difference or should i just buy the cheap stuff?
The recipe I found just said white rum, I suppose it's just a steeping medium to extract the oils from the bay and the other ingrediants at the end of the day, I don't think it matters what brand it is, I think the cheap stuff would be fine( that's what I'm using) I have seen other recipes that use a base of pure alcohol, essential oil of bay, oil of clove Etc, and this is ready to use straight away after a quick shake of the bottle to mix everything together, hope yours turns out ok as I'm hoping mine will!!!
Yep, I've made a couple batches of homemade bay rum. What I did was get the ingredients that you did plus a few more and mixed everything together and put everything in a jug to let it steep. Then I would pour the mixture into an empty lotion bottle trying not to let the ingredients slip out with it. If a few cloves slipped out I figured no big deal. Believe it or not Listerine (original) helps the mixture have a more pungent smell, but the bay leaves and cloves will cover up the Listerine scent, and give you a little more "zing" when you apply it to your face. Also, if you add a little baby oil to the mixture and shake it up vigorously before facial application, the oil will help keep the scent on you longer while moisturizing your face.
Awesome! That sounds great and I'm going to try it. Is it OK to halve the recipe? (already drank most of the rum . . . )
I'm sure it is, when I was measuring out the rum for this recipe I did have a couple of shots of what was left in the bottle ( purely for medicinal purposes you understand)!!!!!
Oooo interesting! I love the idea of these home-made things. I must see about giving it a go sometime!
I have just decanted my Homemade Bay Rum that has been steeping for a week in the cupboard under the stairs, filtered it through three seperate coffee filter papers until no sediment remained, it has turned a light brown colour, smells great in the bottle, but I'm a little disappointed with the scent once on, seems a little wishy washy, and it doesn't linger very long, don't know what I have done wrong, but it sure ain't ogallalla, or clubman. never mind, live and learn.
You probably need to let it steep much longer, before filtering it out, to extract more of the oils that actually give it the scent.
