Thread: Homebrew Bayrum Recipes

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

Originally Posted by nerobot

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.

Originally Posted by jockeys

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.

Cheers. Now where's the rum section (can just hear my gf reading this and thinking "oh here we go.......")

Steven

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.

Originally Posted by Churchill

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.

pepper and lime, eh? sounds pretty good, I might have to try that!

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.