Tobacco Preferences

[Tdre977]

I'm not a pipe pro, but I have been enjoying Hal o' the wynd, which the tobacco reviews site says is a red Virginia Perique flake. But I also loves me the aromatics too.

[ashauler]

I'm not a pipe pro, but I have been enjoying Hal o' the wynd, which the tobacco reviews site says is a red Virginia Perique flake. But I also loves me the aromatics too.

Perique is difficult to make. It takes a minimum of 1 year fermentation under high pressure and high moisture content. I don't think that will be an option for me at this point.

[Tdre977]

Perique is difficult to make. It takes a minimum of 1 year fermentation under high pressure and high moisture content. I don't think that will be an option for me at this point.

Damn, didn't realize that, Im pretty much in the dark on how most tobacco products are made, but I have been enjoying watching the progress with you guys projects.

[Devil Doc]

Perique is difficult to make. It takes a minimum of 1 year fermentation under high pressure and high moisture content. I don't think that will be an option for me at this point.

Helps if you live in St. James Parish, Louisiana, too.

Doc.

[ashauler]

Helps if you live in St. James Parish, Louisiana, too.

Doc.

Indeed.

[ashauler]

this pipe tobacco thing is pretty interesting stuff. It seems that producing pipe tobacco requires some pretty particular processes. From stoving to smoking to kilning to toasting to casing to fermenting to pressure, etc...etc....etc.

I gave it a shot over the weekend, with one of the easier forms of preparation....toasting and casing. I took some pic's, but haven't downloaded them yet, I'll do that soon.

Basically, I made a very, very tiny example of a "brick" a week or so ago by stacking 6 de-veined leaves of Black Mammoth. This was actually a pile of 12 half leaves that I then cut in half again and stacked. It was about 2" or so high uncompressed. I saved out one entire half leaf and placed the other smaller cut leaves on top then folder it over like a cover.

I smashed this pile between two planks of pine board covered in plastic and squeezed the living shit out of it in a vise for 24 hours. Then I trimmed off the ragged edges and ended up with a "brick" about 1/16" thick, 3" wide and 5" long. I then put the brick in a baggie to retain it's own moisture (it was just in case when I applied the pressure, so it wasn't excessively moist) and put it in my car to absorb the heat during the day and cook.

I took some of this tobacco cut it with a pair of scissors into a shag style cut and fanned them out in a pie tin and toasted them in a toaster oven at 250 F for about 10 minutes until crispy dry.

I pulled it out of the oven and misted with distilled water.....tossed it about and misted again, until it was just moist and back into medium-case or so. Put it on the table and let it cool for about 15 minutes. Loaded the bowl and lit it up. Well. Still harsh and with a significant amount of bite on the nasal exhale....and some sting on the tongue. But. Better and smoother than before I made the brick and did the toasting and casing thing.

Next, I replaced the distilled water with sugar water made from 1/3 cup sugar mixed with 1 cup distilled water. I misted the roasted tobacco, tossed, misted, and then re-toasted the tobacco and misted again. Well. Much less harsh and with less bite on the exhale and the tongue. But. It was a bitch to keep lit. Progress, but still much to learn and experiment with.

I'm anxious to try blending, once the rest of the crop is done fermenting. I completely loaded the crop into the kiln on Saturday. I expect that process to take about a month...3 weeks before I even start sampling anything for sure.

I made a "brick" of Long Red Leaf this weekend, and hopefully by next weekend I can toast and case some of it and start mixing with the mammoth. Whippppeeeeeeeeeee.

[cigarsarge]

You might try misting it with some rum...

[ashauler]

Here are some photo's of the "bricks" mentioned in the last post. Since that date, I've had the bricks in the fermentation chamber at 110 F and 70's RH. I have not tried to prepare and smoke any more of it, but I have been smoking off the first batch I made....it really isn't all that bad. Seems as if letting it sit after preparation helps.

The first brick I made, Small Stalk Black Mammoth (my apologies for the photo quality):




Some trimmed pieces before rubbing and toasting:


Rubbed, toasted and cased:


Here is the Long Red Leaf brick that I made:


Trimmed LRL brick:


Since I made this LRL brick, both bricks have been in the fermenting chamber at around 110 F. I kept them in sealed baggies so that the only moisture involved in the fermentation was already contained in the leaf.....and also to prevent the introduction of oxygen into the process. Anaerobic fermentation is the method used to produce perique, for example, and I'll be interested to see how/if it changes the flavor and smoking quality of this tobacco.

We'll see what happens. Thanks for looking.