Tobacco Preferences

[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.

[Smoked!]

This is a good experiment. If you decide to grow varieties specifically for pipe tobacco next year, you should have the process down to a science. Thanks for documenting this and sharing the photos.

[ashauler]

snip...If you decide to grow varieties specifically for pipe tobacco next year, you should have the process down to a science. snip

Have made the decision to expand next year. Here is the plan so far:

Cigar tobaccos:
Small Stalk Black Mammoth
Florida Sumatra
Havana 142
CT Broadleaf
PA Broadleaf

Pipe tobaccos:

Burleys:
Tenn. Red
Ergo
Yellow Twist Bud

Orientals:
Ottoman
Samsun
Turkish Gold
Beinhart

Flue cured:
Orinoco Blanco
Rebo de Gallo Negro

Lots of room for experimentation there.

[Smoked!]

So... You're quitting your job to farm full time? On second thought, growing and harvesting are the easy steps in the production. It looks like you'll have quite a bit of processing to do after the harvest. Any plans for the flue cure process?

[ashauler]

So... You're quitting your job to farm full time? On second thought, growing and harvesting are the easy steps in the production. It looks like you'll have quite a bit of processing to do after the harvest. Any plans for the flue cure process?

You are exactly right.....growing and harvesting are the easy parts, but I needed something to do over the winter, thus the expansion into different strains and different end uses for the tobacco. Lots more room to play around with pipe tobacco then there is with cigar leaf.

I plan on modifying my kiln just a bit to function for flue curing as well as fermentation. Since flue curing begins while the leaf is still green, I should be able to use the kiln for both purposes during the same season. I'll flue cure the appropriate strains while the primings from the cigar tobacco are color curing and drying. That's the plan anyway.