Thread: West indian bay leaf

Hey guys,

I have a little question that you chaps might be able to assist me with.

I was just wondering if anyone knows where I can find a ready supply of west indian bay leaves....

I have historically always made my own bay rum but since moving here to Ireland I can't find anywhere that sells west indian bay leaves, as I used to grow my own this was never a problem before.

I have planted a couple of plants that will eventually supply what I need but in the meanwhile I need to find somewhere that will send the leaves to me.

Any ideas?

I believe you can purchase small bags of the leaves on eBay, but I haven't looked in over a year.

Thanks for that.

I had looked on ebay previously but the only bay leaves they had listed were all laurus nobilis as opposed to Pimenta racemosa and despite both being called bay they are completely different plants...

However your post prompted me to look again and although there weren't any leaves for sale there was a seller with Pimenta racemosa oil listed so I am going to give that a go and see how it turns out.

I've bought Pimenta racemosa essentail oil from eBay for about $16.00.
(AURA CACIA Essential Oil Bay (pimenta racemosa) .5 oz on eBay.ca (item 330414997980 end time 13-Sep-10 12:26:24 EDT))

i have also purchased essensial clove oil from soaptopia.com.. i've used it as an additive to many of my unscented products and it works great... give them a call if you want to try oil..

also.. i'm in los angeles and bay leaves can be bought cheap in mexican grocery stores. look for one in your location

Originally Posted by vthomlinson

also.. i'm in los angeles and bay leaves can be bought cheap in mexican grocery stores. look for one in your location

Yeah I never used to have a problem getting hold of W/I bay leaves back home in London but now I'm in Ireland not a chance, hence my foray onto the internet

I also had trouble locating bay leaf (Pimenta Racemosa),so I purchased (Pimenta Racemosa) essential oil off eBay to make my Bay Rum aftershave with.

So how well does that essential Oil For Pimenta Racemosa work ? Very curious as I have been wanting to make my own bay rum as well . Is it up to snuff ??

The essential oil is very concentrate and works great. if you get it on your fingers it will take a while for it to wear off. You have to use a lot of bay leaves in comparisons to the oil.

update.. i recently had a wisdom tooth pulled that resulted in dry socket.. turns out you can get a small first aid kit in drug stores for toothache.. contains a small bottle of clove oil.. medical name is eugenal.. i had started by using my oil from soaptopia then i found out that this kit only cost $6.. quite the money saver.