Name: Bay Rum
Ingredients: 1 gallon proof spirit; 6 ounces bay extract; caramel for coloring

Bay Rum

Ingredients

1 gallon proof spirit
6 ounces bay extract
caramel for coloring

Directions

Mix the proof spirit and bay extract together.
Add caramel to achieve the desired color.
No filtering is needed.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Proof spirit: Forms the alcohol base that carries the bay oils and dissolves the other ingredients.
Bay extract: Supplies the characteristic bay aroma that defines the finished spirit.
Caramel: Adds color only, deepening the spirit's amber tone without changing its flavor.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.