All right everyone, let's all post the recipes we use for our homebrew bayrum. This was mentioned in another thread here:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/showthread.php?t=16842
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All right everyone, let's all post the recipes we use for our homebrew bayrum. This was mentioned in another thread here:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/showthread.php?t=16842
Alright, here is my personal bayrum recipe. This particular brew will be very dark and spicy, pretty much the polar opposite of a bright bayrum like Master's.
Equipment:
* some sort of resealable glass bottle. I used an old DiSaronno bottle because it has a lid that screws on very tightly
* depending on your ingredients, an eyedropper might be a good idea
* something to put the stuff in when you are done. I used a couple of hip flasks. needs to block light, as light will degrade your final product
* funnels to fill your containers
* coffee filters
* patience
Ingredients:
* rum. I use Cap't Morgans dark spiced rum. do NOT use the Tattoo, it smells awful. learned this the hard way. clear rum has almost no smell at all, so it's personal preference.
* fresh bay leaves. not the dried out kind. you can find these at most health food places like Whole Foods or Sprouts. some grocer's may have it in the produce section.
* dried cinnamon, sticks not powder
* whole cloves
* pure glycyrine (sp?) you can get this at Walgreen's or CVS, depending. many pharmacies carry it. carefully explain that you want it to moisturize your face, or the pharmacist might think you are a terrorist and hassle you, especially if you haven't shaved in a week because you lost a bet with your wife. I'm just saying. it, er... happened to one of my friends.
* any other essential oil you might want to scent your aftershave with
Method:
1. put about 15 oz of rum into your brewing container. (the glass one that seals.) you may need to use the funnel
2. put in a cinnamon stick or two. I like cinnamon, I used two. my bayrum smells kind of cinnamon-y, so use 1 or one half if you are not a big fan.
3. put in a couple of whole cloves, to taste.
NOTE: the cinnamon and cloves are important... they are both natural analgesics, and will help quench the fire of razorburn.
4. rip up into little pieces about 20-25 bay leaves and put them in. make sure they get down into the fluid.
5. heat the open bottle by running the bottom part of it under hot water for a couple of minutes. if you haven't been refrigerating your rum, this is not as important. you want it room temperature or higher.
6. cap the bottle and shake it like a British nanny shakes a naughty child.
7. put the bottle in a dark closet or somewhere light won't get to it.
8. every weekend, take the bottle out and shake it for 5 minutes as hard as you can. you will notice a lot of sediment, that's fine.
9. on the fourth weekend, you are pretty much done. take the bottle out, and pour the contents through the coffee filters (mounted in a funnel) into your final containers. some grit will most likely make it through, but don't worry.
10. put some glycyrine into your final containers. the exact amount is debated, but I've found that about 3-4 drops per ounce is good. if you have very sensitive skin, reduce this.
11. put some essential oil in if you want to. a little goes a long way. 1 drop per ounce is PLENTY.
12. remember to shake it up before you use it every time. the glycyrine will settle to the bottom, you need to mix it up.
13. enjoy!
My recipe burns like hell in a heatwave if you have a cut, but cools off quickly and the glycyrine is very moisturizing, half the time I won't even bother putting a moisturizing balm on after I use it.
Any feedback is appreciated
Sounds good and I think I'm going to give it a shot.
Two questions though:
- Could you explain the bit about heating it up as I didn't really get that bit;
- Is the quality of the rum important or not?
Steven
1. it doesn't have to be hot, just not cold. if it is cold, shaking it up won't release as much of the spice. if it's room temperature or slightly above, it will be spicier.
2. sort of. you aren't drinking it, but better rum usually smells better. I used the Cap't because he is relatively cheap but smells nice. I would think that using premium aged Jamaican rum is a horrible waste, but that using the nasty discount stuff in a plastic bottle is also kind of gross. So, pick a cheap rum that is good enough to drink.
Jockeys,
My recipe that I use is exactly like yours except that I also added black peppercorns and lime peel.
I let mine stew about 2 weeks before adding the glycerin and it's ready to go.
The last batch I made I added a little witch hazel to it but it made it cloudy and took too much of the burn away when used.:nono:
I am going to have to try out a batch. I wonder what it would be like with a little orange essence. Reduce the cinnamon add an extra clove and have an orange bay rum spice. Solids will infuse faster under heat, but alcohol has a lower boiling temperature than water. If you get it to hot, you will evaporate the alcohol, and go flambé if you have a point of ignition.
If you are wondering about the glycerin/terrorist comment. Cut pure glycerin with nitric acid and you have nitro glycerin. I would not suggest trying it unless you want to blow yourself up.
On second thought, leave the clove the same, add a star anise and a tablespoon of Jamaica allspice and the orange essence/zest. I think that one would smell good, probably taste pretty good if you left out the bay leaf. Almost like mulling spiced rum.
I use 5 oz of vodka
1 oz of spiced rum
6 bay leaves
1/4 t of allspice
1 cinnamon stick
1/4 t of orange extract
20 drops of oil of bay
16 drops of oil of clove
I mix everything together except the oils, and let stand 2 weeks .
strain out the spices add the oils and your ready to go.
You just have to shake the bottle right before you use it, the oil seperates like italian dressing. I get alot of good comments on the
stuff.
Now I'm a big fan of doing stuff yourself....and this is probably a really really really dumb question...
But the thought of putting Rum on your face...won't you smell a bit like an Alcoholic? :thinking: If I came into work smelling of Rum I'd probably get sent home thinking I started the morning with a breakfast of Rum and Coke?
I guess it depends on your circumstances. I AM an alcoholic, so no one notices.
But seriously, most of the alcohol evaporates very quickly.
That's what I was thinking...the ethanol itself would fade away pretty quickly... You've got me convinced to try it.
Any recommendation on an essential oil to add? I love Tea Tree in my shampoo...
I use pretty much the same recipes as above except i put the bay leaves into my mortar and pestle and give them a quick grind around. I also add 2oz of everclear to the mixture to help get the oils and flavors out of the bay leaves. It also helps to get more of the cinnamon scent.
If you want to do it right, you need to use the right ingredients and you need to do it by distillation. The key ingredient to "Bay Rum" is leaves from the West Indian Bay Tree. This is not the same as the bay leaves you find at your local purveyor of herbs and spices. The correct leaves are from Pimenta Racemosa, your common bay spice rack bay leaf is from Laurus Nobilis. Those familiar with scientific names will recognize that these two trees are not only different species, but from totally different genis as well. You will also need a source of ethanol, traditionally, this is rum, but in truth any source will work. You can also add other herbs and spices to the mix as well, what ever floats your boat.
Production is by distillation and extraction using alcohol vapors. Do not confuse this with mix and macerate blending which yields an inferior product. Ideally, this would be done in a proper alembic or basket still, but if you don't have one, you can do a pretty good job with some common kitchen utensils. What you will need are:
A vegetable steamer-preferably stainless steel, but aluminum will work
Something to collect your product in, a wide mouth bell jar works well
Something to raise your collection vessel above the basket - an inverted saucer works pretty well.
Ice (optional)
Now for the process
CAUTION - YOU ARE GOING TO BE HEATING AN ALCOHOL MIXTURE AND PRODUCING ALCOHOL VAPORS. ONE OR POSSIBLY BOTH OF THESE ARE FLAMABLE. USE APPROPRIATE CAUTION. I ASSUME NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY ACCIDENTS, INJURIES OR PROPERTY DAMAGE THAT MAY OCCUR. THE FOLLOWING IS A GUIDELINE ONLY, AND NOT A DETAILED PROCEDURE. IF YOU DO NOT KNOW HOW TO SAFELY DEAL WITH FLAMABLE LIQUIDS OR VAPORS DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS. WEAR APPROPRIATE PROTECTIVE CLOTHING AND EQUIPMENT AND HAVE A FIRE EXTINGUISHER READY AND AVAILABLE. BE SURE YOU HAVE ADEQUATE VENTILATION. DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS AFTER DRINKING ANYTHING STRONGER THAN A GLASS OF MILK. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED-PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!!!!!!
Put the alcohol in the bottom pan of the steamer (where the water normally goes).
Place the basket on top of the steamer and set the your collection container on top of the spacer in the middle of the basket.
Put the bay leaves and any other spices in the basket surrounding the container.
Put the lid on the steamer upside down (yes, I said upside down, that means the concave side is pointing up, and the handle is pointing down. The handle should be either inside the collection jar or just above the top of the jar. You may have to play around with various jars and spacers until you find a combination that fits together. The inverted lid should be resting on the walls of the steamer basket, not on the collection jar.
If you are using ice, put a few cubes on top of the inverted lid.
Start heating the steamer, the idea is to boil the alcohol mixture. The alcohol vapors will rise up through the herbs on the basket and volatize the essential oils. Both alcohol and the EOs will condense on lid (this is where the ice helps), run down the lid and handle and drip into the collection jar.
You will need to experiment with the herb/alcohol proportions and the length of time to get the mix you want. The first few drops condensed will have a very high concentration of EOs, the longer you let it run, the more dilute the mixture will get.
Be careful when handling the lid, collection container etc because it is going to be hot. remember, you are doing this at your own risk, and there are hazards involved.
That does sound good.
Can you use the regular Captain Morgan's? I made some up last night, but couldn't find a "dark" like you put in the recipie, so I bought the Private. I also upped the clove count a lot (probably 8-10 of the little spikes). I don't drink, so I don't know how it's supposed to smell, but so far it smells nice. I opened the jar this morning, and liked it. I may up the bay leaf, though. I'd like more of that.
Oh, I also doubled the recipie, but took out 25% of the cinnamon after smelling it this morning. It was overpowering everything else but the rum.
yeah, regular Capt. Morgan is fine, but add afew drops of vanilla extract to compensate. (that is the main spice in Capt Morgan spiced rum)
OH, MAN! The private was 15 dollars more than the regular and I'd planned on adding vanilla to the mix anyway, until I opened the bottle and smelled vanilla and said to my wife, "Oh, cool. This smells like it has vanilla in it already." :roflmao:roflmao:roflmao
It appears that many or most of you use the grocery store variety of bay leaf in making your bay rum as opposed to pimenta racemosa. Can anyone comment on having compared home brews made with the two types and the differences noticed?
Where can you buy pimenta racemosa?
I also saw references to oil of bay. Which of the two aforementioned types of bay is oil of bay made from and where can you buy it?
Lots of questions. Sorry. :o
Thanks for the Bay Rum recipes. I currently live in Antigua, part of the British West Indies, and can find all of these ingredients fresh. Antiguan rum, fresh bay leaves, cinnamon, cloves, you name it. Not sure if I can get the glycerine since this island has very little when it comes to slightly obscure items. I'll be back to the US in December, so Im planning on picking up a good amount of glycerine to try out a few recipes.
What essential / fragrant oils would be suggested for a good bay rum. The bay leaves here are so fresh I can almost squeeze the oil out myself, so maybe a cinnamon or anise? Thanks for any help!
I assume the bay leaves you can get are true West Indian bay (pimenta racimosa), and since you can get other spices fresh as well, you really do not need any essential oils for these. The alcohol will remove the EOs from the spices. If you want something else, then you probably will need to see if you can get the appropriate EO.
cpt morgan private stock is one of my first choices for drinking so it MUST be good for an after shave. i really wanna try and make my own bay rum so this will be my next project
-dan-
Jockeys, I used my first splash of the recipe today, but it was the lime/peppercorn instead of your clove. The clove is still steeping for another two weeks. I made the lime/peppercorn to have something faster. Burned like hell when I put it on. I'm guessing that's the glycerin. It smells really nice, but it fades fast.
Doesnt the sugar from the rum make your face sticky?
QUESTION........What is the usual shelf life of a good homemade bayrum? Shelf life meaning,does this stuff go rancid over time or does it keep indefinantly ?:confused:
I have an old bottle of Dominica that I use for special occasions which is about 6 years old. It actually gets a little mellower with age.
The alcohol acts as a preservative (well, it actually IS a preservative, and a natural one as well) so the shelf life will be be fairly long. The enemies are sunlight and heat, which affect the oils, not the alcohol. The general advice is to use the stuff by 18 months, but if it is well sealed and kept out of sunlight it will last for years. I've never sent a whisky (or rum, for that matter) back because it was "too old" :D
I love bay rum and I'm working on my own recipe. To counter the short life on the skin I am adding a sturdier basenote, so far vetiver has been the most promising. It adds an earthy warm note to it that seems to go well with the rest of the mix.
I'm currently working along this recipe:
30 Drop recipe, bay rum
4ml rum, 7 drops vetiver oil, 7 drops bay oil, 4 drops cinnamon oil, 3 drops clove oil, 6 drops black pepper oil, 3 drops sweet orange oil.
This is an undiluted mix and can't be used like this. I like to mix the scent and let it stand to develop before adding the alcohol (expencive in my country). I usually make several drafts and test them against each other before deciding which to actually use.
To prepare it for use, simply add 3 oz of alcohol (ideally around 70% strength) for a splash, or 2 oz for a more traditional AS.
Think I might try this
I'm experimenting with a recipe right now. So far, it's grain alcohol, vodka, Pimenta racemosa essential oil, lime essential oil, and witch hazel. It's a bit "harsh" so maybe I will dilute with some water. Also, the fragrance needs something additional, thinking maybe allspice, clove and/or cinnamon. Just put it in an old bay rum bottle I picked up off of eBay.
thanks for all the recipes. Can't wait to try!
Boy this stuff tastes horrible.
Bay Rum Drink
Here ya go! Still perfecting the recipe, but you get the idea ;)
A couple of weeks ago I made my own Bay Rum(with the 'wrong' bay leafs). It smells really nice(like the bayleafs with spices) and on the skin it smells like cinnamon(I did a quick test). But I'm a little at a loss about the amount of glycerine.
that comes to 3-4 drops per 30 mililiters. But what is a drop? Drop (unit) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaQuote:
3-4 drops per ounce is enough
I would think
so about 0.4(=0.099*4) ml per 30 ml.Quote:
the Imperial drop, 1/36 of a fluidram (1/288 of an Imperial fluid ounce, or 1/1440 of a gill) (approximately 99 μL).
BUT
that equates to 0.2 ml per 30ml(half the amount).Quote:
Pharmacists have since moved to metric measurements, with a drop being rounded to exactly 0.05 mL
Which is the right amount :thinking:?
And what is the problem with more/less?
cheers!
I had not measured with a syringe or anything, so precision is not known, I would say I put about two teaspoons into the 8oz flask.
More or less will not ruin it, some people change the ratio to suit their needs. Less glycerine will reduce the moisturizing properties, better for summer time. More will thicken the bayrum and make it more moisturizing, better for winter time. Ostensibly if you put enough in, it could cause your skin to blister, but as long as you stay under 1teaspoon/ounce I think you'd be safe.