Thread: Homebrew Bayrum Recipes

I have tried MANY recipes using both raw materials and essential oils. My goal was to get as close to my favorite bay rum, Dominica, as possible. After a lot of trial, and some very interesting results, I finally came up with what I feel is almost an identical formula to Dominica, and it is incredibly simple.

5 oz. Everclear grain alcohol (190 proof)
2 oz. Distilled water (to keep it from evaporating too quickly and keep my face from melting)
100 drops Bay essential oil (I use Aura Cacia)

That's it! I have used this immediately after mixing, but it is kind of cloudy at this point. It's best to let it sit for a couple weeks. After a couple weeks, it turns almost water clear just like Dominica.

Give it a try. If you like Dominica, I promise you will not be disappointed!

EDIT - I should also add my reasoning behind using Everclear instead of Rum. First of all, I find cane, or sugar based alcohol (rum) to be a bit sticky, which I absolutely hate, whereas grain based alcohol (Everclear) doesn't feel sticky to me at all. Second, although true bay rum should maybe smell like rum, Dominica doesn't smell like rum at all to me. My bet is that they use something other than cane based alcohol.

If you want to smell and feel the difference first hand, check out both bay rum offerings from calantillies. They sell Dominica, which lists bay oil and alcohol as it's only ingredients and Grand Bay which lists alcohol, water and fragrance as it's ingredients, but states on it's label that they use cane alcohol. Grand Bay smells like rum to me and is sticky, whereas Dominica smells like bay (Pimenta Racemosa) to me and is not sticky at all.