Bastille Cedarwood & Eucalyptus

Brambleberry 10" Loaf — Cold Process Method

Batch #1 — March 13, 2026 (first-ever batch)

Mold: Brambleberry 10" Silicone Loaf (10" L x 3.375" W x 2.5" H cavity) Yield: 8–10 bars at ~3cm cuts | Cure: 4–6 weeks | Active: ~1 hour Basis: the original Bastille formula — 72% olive / 18% coconut / 10% castor at 5% SF

Safety First

• Safety glasses and nitrile gloves on before touching lye
• Lye (NaOH) is caustic — burns skin and eyes on contact
• Always add lye to water, never water to lye
• Well-ventilated area — fumes are brief but harsh
• Soap-only equipment — never returns to kitchen use

Recipe

5% superfat. Oil blend 72% olive / 18% coconut / 10% castor — the Bastille backbone: gentle, high-olive, coconut for lather, castor for creamy bubbles. Fragrance is at a moderate ~3% rate (27g total). Both EOs are lye-stable — no acceleration, no discoloration.

Instructions

Step 1 — Gear Up

Glasses and gloves on. Ventilation on. Pre-weigh everything into separate containers.

Step 2 — Prep the Mold

Set the silicone loaf on a flat cutting board to prevent sagging when full. No lining needed.

Step 3 — Lye Solution (allow ~30 min to cool)

1. Weigh 342g distilled water into the All-Clad 1.5qt bowl
2. Weigh 123g lye separately
3. Pour lye into water — never reverse. Stir until clear (heats to ~185°F, brief fumes — don't lean over it)
4. Stir in 10ml sodium lactate
5. Cool to ~105–120°F

Step 4 — Prepare the Oils

1. Melt 162g coconut oil, then combine with 648g olive and 90g castor in the All-Clad 3qt bowl — reserve a ~15ml splash of the olive oil in a cup for the clay slurry
2. Pre-combine 22g cedarwood + 5g eucalyptus in a small cup and set aside
3. Bring oils to ~105–120°F, within ~10°F of the lye

Step 5 — Combine and Trace

1. Pour the cooled lye solution into the oil bowl
2. Stick-blend in 5–10s bursts, alternating with hand stirring
3. Blend to light trace — 3–8 min with this forgiving high-olive blend

Step 6 — Clay, Fragrance, (Exfoliant)

1. Mix 18g kaolin clay into the reserved olive oil until smooth, then stir the slurry into the batter
2. Add the EO blend and hand-stir 1–2 min — do not stick-blend after fragrance
3. (Optional) fold in ~35g dried coffee grounds — skipped this batch

Step 7 — Pour and Insulate (rest 24h)

1. Pour into the mold on its board; tap to release bubbles; smooth the top
2. Cover with cardboard, then wrap in a towel — insulation helps the gel phase complete
3. Leave undisturbed 24h

Step 8 — Unmold and Cut

1. Firm and not sticky before unmolding — give it more time if soft
2. Unmold onto parchment
3. Slice at ~3cm with the Mac chef knife → 8–10 bars

Step 9 — Cure (4–6 weeks)

1. Rack with airflow on all sides; cool, dry, out of direct sun
2. 4 weeks minimum; 6–8 is better for high-olive bars
3. Label with the batch date

Batch Notes

• Method era: slurry clay (into reserved oil, after trace) · All-Clad 3qt/1.5qt bowls · Mac knife @ 3cm · towel insulation. This is the baseline process before any refinements
• First batch ever — followed the formula exactly
• Coffee grounds prepped as an option but not used
• EOs behave perfectly in CP: what you pour is what you get, no browning

Outcome

• Poured 2026-03-13, cut 2026-03-14 at ~3cm → ~9 bars. Filled the mold to ~100% and domed slightly (fine on an open loaf).
• Cure verdict: not recorded. This batch has long since cured but no assessment of the finished bar was ever written down. A retro in cured mode would capture how it actually turned out — hardness, lather, scent retention, how the cedarwood/eucalyptus held up.

Resources

• Lye calculator: SoapCalc.net
• Supplies: Brambleberry | Nurture Handmade | Jedwards International (Braintree, MA — local)