There is an eighty or ninety year old history of Bay tree use in Dominica. At first, bay leaves would be bagged and shipped to England. A major innovation was when someone (thought to be crazy at the time) started to chop the leaves instead. Then wooden vats and condensers were used in the stills. Nowadays, many stills are co-operative ventures.

There are three varieties of Bay plant leaves that can be used: common, anise scented and citronella scented. One can tell them apart by smelling the crushed or broken leaves. The common Bay is favoured, but all can be used to produce oil, though each is quite distinct and should be stored separately. The fragrance which accompanies Bay oil production is a memorable sensory pleasure.