01
Bay Leaves
10.01 tsp : 1/4 tsp
Adds similar herbal depth to soups and stews
10.0
thyme substitute
for drink.
Drink thyme works in cocktails — muddled into gin tonics, steeped into syrups (1 cup hot 180°F water plus 1 cup sugar plus 6 sprigs, steep 20 minutes), or floated as a garnish. The lens here is solubility and how the herb's volatile oils transfer to liquid: thymol is 2-3% water-soluble, mostly carried by alcohol and sugar. Mouthfeel-wise, fresh sprigs add green-bitter bite over 30 minutes of contact; pull before then for clean herbal lift without grass.
top substitutes
adjustment for drink
Use 1 whole bay leaf per 1 tsp thyme; bay-leaf syrup steeps at 1 cup hot 180°F water plus 1 cup sugar plus 2 leaves for 25 minutes. The 1,8-cineole and eugenol read camphor-clove in cocktails — best in dark-spirit drinks (rum, bourbon, mezcal) rather than gin where thyme's lighter herbal lift fits better.
02
Mint
10.01/2 tsp : 1 tsp
Cool and fresh; works in lamb or vegetable dishes but changes profile significantly
10.0
adjustment for drink
Use 1/2 tsp mint per 1 tsp thyme — muddle 6 fresh leaves into a cocktail base or steep into syrup at 1:1 sugar-water for 15 minutes at 180°F. Mint's menthol is the iconic mojito-julep profile, very different from thyme's herbal-bitter. Best in rum, bourbon, and gin cocktails. Pull leaves at minute 18; past then the steep turns tannic-grassy.