Coffee Vanilla Shea Butter Soap

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INGREDIENTS

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2 pounds shea butter base

1 tablespoon isopropyl alcohol

¾ teaspoon coffee essential oil

½ teaspoon vanilla essential oil

½ cup used coffee grounds

isopropyl alcohol or butter to coat molding

and to spray away bubbles forming on soap

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SPECIAL UTENSILS

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soap mold

spray bottle

microwave

soap slicer (optional)

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Makes 10½ bars. 1″ wide. Takes 3 hours 30 minutes..

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PREPARATION

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Cut shea butter base into 1″ cubes. Add shea butter base to large glass measuring cups. Melt base in microwave with timer set at 30 seconds. Stir after every time. Add 1 tablespoon isopropyl alcohol, coffee essential oil and vanilla essential oil. Stir with knife until well blended. Let sit for 6 minutes or until well blended.. (This inhibits coffee grounds from settling to the bottom of the soap mold.) Add coffee grounds. Mix with knife until well blended.

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Rub silicon mold with isopropyl alcohol or butter. Pour into soap mold. If desired, lightly spray bubbles with isopropyl alcohol to make them disappear. Let soap sit for 3 hours. Use soap slicer to cut soap into slices 1″ wide.

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TIDBITS

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1) Estimates of how many cups of coffee are safe each day for an adult human vary with weight. For our purposes we assume 3 cups of coffee per day is the upper limit of safety for the average Botswanan adult, who weighs in at 140 pounds. Using average weights for various animals we can determine their limits for their daily safe coffee consumption. And here they are:

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Botswanan 3 cups

Butterfly 1/700 teaspoon

Cats 3.4 tablespoons

Corgi 7 tablespoons

Goat 1.9 cups

Grizzly bear 10.7 cups*

Orca 236 cups*

Rhinoceros 51.5 cups*

Tiger 5 cups*

Wren 1/50 teaspoon

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People are especially cautioned not to give wild man-eating animals more than their safe limit.

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– Paul De Lancey, The Comic Chef, Ph.D.