Here is my latest handmade soap: Peppermint Poppy. Because I wanted to use it within a couple of days, I went with hot process soap making. With traditional cold process, the cure time would have been at least three weeks or longer.

When I was pouring hemp milk into my cereal, I immediately thought about making hemp milk soap. Hemp oil seem to be more common for soap making then with hemp milk. To make sure I didn’t mess up, I also added equal amounts of goat milk.

The hemp milk I got was from a natural health food store. Hemp milk taste a little like soy milk, but creamier and nuttier. It is naturally rich in omega 3, 6 and 9. It also contains minerals, vitamins and antioxidants, high in vitamins A and E.

Besides the hemp milk, I also added other stuff to this batch. There is fine Brazilian sea salt, peppermint essential oil, and poppy seeds. It’s going to be one difficult to name soap. So I just decided on “Peppermint Poppy Soap”.

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I don’t mind a little bit of milk in my coffee, especially in my cafe au lait. I also don’t mind goat milk in my cereal or handmade soap.

I actually really prefer goat milk anytime. As it’s easy to digest and is much more nutritious then cow milk. Just when I was happy with goat milk, I came across this article about camel milk.

It’s the king of milk in north African and Middle Eastern countries. Doctors in Russia and India often prescribe it to convalescing patients. It’s perfect for ailing patients as the milk is rich in vitamins C (three times that of milk). Loaded with vitamin B, unsaturated fatty acids, and also has 10 times the iron that’s found in cow’s milk.

Smiling mother and baby camels.  Notice there is no sand here, just green pasture.  Photo from Oasis Dairy Farm.  It’s America’s first camel dairy farm!

I’ve never tasted camel milk. But it’s been described as being much more salty then regular milk. A reporter for the BBC news wrote, “The taste is akin to walking through a burnt-out building, eating a smoked ham and smoked cheese sandwich.” That is a funny way to describe it.

But the owners of Oasis Dairy in southern California describe the taste as more like low fat cow milk, but very fresh and mildly sweet. But it’s also noted that with any milk, taste can change depending on what the animal is eating.

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Since I use olive oil both for cooking and soap making, I thought it was interesting that the U.S. Department of Agriculture will be enforcing how the oils are labeled.

I have heard other soap makers mention how some olive oil are not always 100% pure. They are usually mixed with other oils but are not labeled so on the bottle. This would definitely ruin any soap recipe.

Starting in October of this year, the federal government will differentiate the cheap oils from the gourmet oils.

With the cold-pressed, pure, golden hued oils as being top of the line. Real olive oil lovers describe the taste much like those used in wine tasting. With terms like nut or apple flavor and a peppery finishes.

The new regulations will include indicators for fatty acid composition, which helps separate olive oils from seed oils. There is also the ultraviolet light absorption, which indicates the oil’s state of preservation, as well as a taste test by experts. What they are aiming for is to establish a common language for the oil trade. And providing consumers more assurance about the quality of olive oil that they purchase.

Photo by Gaia Herbs.

Since almost all U.S. grown olive oil comes from California, the California Olive Oil Council had adopted their own mandatory quality test for it’s member in 2003. To get the seal of approval for “extra virgin” oil, it had to meet an acidity test and a taste test.

This new regulation would definitely help out the small olive oil farmers that press and bottle their oils in small batches.

In Europe, where a majority of the world’s olive oil comes from - they too have also clamped down on purity of olive oil since the 1990s.

Olive oil can demand higher prices then nut or seeds, but cost much more to harvest as they are very labor intensive. It’s also important to note that not all olive oils coming from Italy is from that country. As many oils can come from other countries and may even be mixed with other oils too. I sometimes find olive oils from Turkey that is packed in Italy.

These handmade soaps were made using extra virgin olive oils.  Many expert soap makers actually prefer using pomace olive oil. Which also happens to the the lowest grade olive oil and a bit cheaper. It’s suppose to make for a really good bar of soap. I have tried making it with both pomace and extra virgin olive oil and really didn’t notice any major differences.  Pomace olive oil can be found at large warehouse type stores sold in huge tin containers.

Other interesting notes on olive oil: it’s best to buy those packed in darker glass bottles. Some say it’s best to refrigerate them after opening, to keep it from going rancid. I don’t usually refrigerate mine since I go through them so fast, they never go bad in my kitchen!