How I process my whole leaf

[Hemlock]

I‘ll call this Dark Broken. View attachment 54127

It looks great like the Darkstar. What are the leaf varieties and proportions? How did it turn out?
I tried to make my own dark fired flake. So far so good but letting it rest some more.

 

[Juxtaposer-]

This is light fire cured steamed for 6 hours then pressed and stoved at 190*F for 2 hours while being held in pressed condition. It smokes cool with mild tobacco flavors and moderate smokiness which includes a sharpness in the retrohale. This is my copy of G&H 1792 flake without the tonka bean topping. I plan to use some of it in blends but I am also working on toppings for some of it for a blend I will call 1791.
This is my way of replicating the “hot press” which I notice is used for a lot of different flakes. Basically my jar lid holds the plug tight while it is being stoved.

 

[Guyrox]

It's great of you to share all this info. Thank you for doing this, it will be helpful!

 

[True_North]

This is an immensely useful thread, and what I've bookmarked as my go-to as a beginner. Thanks for sharing this. I'm just playing with shredded, unprocessed WLT to load my pipes with for the time being to learn the various notes, but I'm looking forward to having fun with upping my casing/pressing game in 2025.

 

[Juxtaposer-]

On jarring tobacco

 

[Juxtaposer-]

This vacuum sealer was received as a Christmas gift. I have considered using it for some of my jars that are not filled completely as those will take longer to use up the oxygen and may allow mold to start. Also some tobaccos such as fire cured, toasted, even stoved do not seem to use up oxygen as quickly. What I see as being more valuable in this tool is its capability to confirm a proper seal on a jar. I have had jars that I was getting in and out of often that ended up with a small piece of tobacco within the seal which allowed for moisture to escape. So this will come in handy.

 

[WillQuantrill]

View attachment 54125
After six hours of steaming

Can't believe I overlooked this thread, Genius! Think I've been overthinking the whole Cavendish process. Good work man!

 

[Hemlock]

Can't believe I overlooked this thread, Genius! Think I've been overthinking the whole Cavendish process. Good work man!

Agree! This is how knowledge is best shared amongst hobbyists. Will be trying out home made cavendish with this recipe. One question for @Juxtaposer- does the process kill the nicotine in your opinion? I find that to be a potential drawback.

 

[Juxtaposer-]

I have not noticed much loss of nicotine. I did notice the tobacco needs quite a bit of rest after being steamed.

 

[Huffen'Snuff]

How I process my whole leaf tobacco purchases.

Step 1 Storing


Things you will need;
1# tobacco bag
scissors
two 16oz wide mouth jars

Cut the bag across to open on the stem side
take out one leaf keeping the rest in the bag as to not loose case (moisture)
fold the leaf along the stem with the leaf bottom on the outside, this will expose the stem
hold the stem with one hand while pinching off the two leaf sides with the other
this is done holding the thick end of the stem while levering the pinch of leaf off
lever off only what you have pinched and do not continue to pull apart further
take another pinch further gripping veins as you go along levering the leaf off the stem
when you reach towards the tip of the leaf and the stem is the size of veins you can continue by tearing the leaf in half You now have two halves of one leaf with no stem
fold the leaf half to fit the jar so that most of the leaf will be horizontal in the jar
you may fold both halves at the same time and have the top or bottoms of the leaves facing in certain directions etc. but what is most useful is to fold all the leaves in the SAME way for convenience of use
press the folded leaves firmly in the jar and cover to preserve case
repeat until all the leaves have been de-stemmed
press the tobacco firmly into the jars using your thumbs and be sure there will be no tobacco on the rim of the jar when the lid is finally placed keep the jar full of tobacco in a dark and temperature stable place


notes;
de-stem and jar as soon as possible to prevent mold
larger veins can be removed if desired
stems can be left to dry and used for products other than pipe tobacco
any mold or mildew can be picked or wiped off
sun spots or discolorations of the leaves can be ignored
tobacco leaf is normally sold at a good case though it’s possible that it could be too wet or too dry
I would question any seller that ships tobacco that is too wet as it is very unlikely to happen
if the tobacco is to dry for folding without cracking you can spray with a little distilled water to rehydrate
a jar full of compressed tobacco leaf will use up available oxygen quickly so mold is not likely to grow
a twelve year old jar of folded Virginia leaf is an amazing thing burley however is simply preserved
four 8oz wide mouthed jars could be used instead of two 16 oz any smaller would not be practical

I want try a 12 year old jar of Virginia leaf, do you think it would age well after shredding? The strips are probably 2.2mm wide. I have selected the thick leather like leaves from the thin and shredded separately.

 

[Juxtaposer-]

Shredded tobacco will age just the same.

 

[Juxtaposer-]

I have used this quite a bit through the years.

http://www.leffingwell.com/download/TobaccoFlavorBook.pdf

 

[edroll]

Thank you so much! I'm new to this and was wondering why my blends tasted like shredded cardboard. The only one that was palatable was a blend made with cavendish, perique, and latakia. I didn't know about casing the leaves, so I ran my de-veined leaves through an antique tobacco shredder and jarred them. They're packed in there pretty tight and I haven't seen any indication of mold. In the future, should I case the leaves before shredding and jarring? I'm assuming I can case afterward, but I'm looking for advise. I read on another blog that the only tobaccos that don't need to be cased are perique, latakia, cavendish, and possibly fire cured. Your thoughts? Now that the door to this hobby (or method to part with my money and time) has been opened I'm doing a lot of reading and research. Thanks again, and I appreciate any advice!!!

 

[deluxestogie]

Welcome to the forum, @edroll. Feel free to introduce yourself in the Introduce Yourself forum. You may wish to scan through the topics in our Index of Key Forum Threads, linked in the menu bar.

Bob

 

[Juxtaposer-]

Thank you so much! I'm new to this and was wondering why my blends tasted like shredded cardboard. The only one that was palatable was a blend made with cavendish, perique, and latakia. I didn't know about casing the leaves, so I ran my de-veined leaves through an antique tobacco shredder and jarred them. They're packed in there pretty tight and I haven't seen any indication of mold. In the future, should I case the leaves before shredding and jarring? I'm assuming I can case afterward, but I'm looking for advise. I read on another blog that the only tobaccos that don't need to be cased are perique, latakia, cavendish, and possibly fire cured. Your thoughts? Now that the door to this hobby (or method to part with my money and time) has been opened I'm doing a lot of reading and research. Thanks again, and I appreciate any advice!!!

Honestly no tobacco “needs” to be cased and any tobacco can be cased even those you mentioned. Casing can be done at any time you could even dry out a commercial mixture and re-case it with whatever you would like. There are certainly tobaccos that unless expertly blended you will want apply a casing other than just water. This does make them easier to work with. Have fun learning! I still am, in fact I just cased a bowls worth of tobacco with apple cider vinegar. Not enough sour to put up with the acrid taste it brings. It also neutralizes some flavors so I will not be moving forward with it.

Thoughts on casing the no needs;
cavendish - case with sugars and/or flavors
perique - case with rum, sugars, spices, rum is most common
latakia, fire cured - some flavors may be easier to add to these as a casing rather than a topping. Here is where the line gets blurred between what a casing is compared to a topping. Chocolate for Latakia, vanilla for fire cured are some examples.

 

[Juxtaposer-]

Still experimenting here and coming up with some conclusions on things that work well. While going licorice root crazy I discovered that its use benefits air cured tobaccos much more than flue cured. It seems to modify the dryness aspect that air cured tobaccos have and improves any bitterness too. Aniseed does the same but lends more of a distinct flavor as well as a noticeable mouth coating effect. I like it and also like star anise which has an amazing unique taste. I’m finding casing with fresh fruit juice with its acidity and live microorganisms has been working wonders on the flue cured I have tried it on. Pineapple and passion fruit have been a few favorites. I do tend to add citric acid in these. Be sure to filter so that there is no fiber in the casing from these. I have been having fun with a variety of sugars making an inverted turbinado syrup that I dig into often. Molasses with its slight bitterness goes well with air cured. Sugar seems to act hydroscopic but not just holding water but holding flavors. It has really helped keep alcohol flavors from flashing off.
I have been working a lot with burley coming up with some low temperature stoving methods that don’t have me going out of my way to build a kiln (I just don’t process enough tobacco for one). Stoving at 175f for 12hr has yielded great results, so much so that I did this with a red VA as well. A couple of other Burley plugs are set to be placed in an outdoor cupboard to enjoy the Las Vegas summer heat. I hope to be able to name at least one of them “Three Summered Plug”. We shall see. It may just get smoked up after one or two bouts.
Several fermented dark air cured cultivars have made it into my hands. These are normally called cigar tobacco but I hesitate in this case. These pair well with flue cured and also are awesome steamed. Toasted and stoved are OK too. Casing with licorice root has become a standard but there have been a few exceptions. Besuki, Arapiraca, Cameroon, and Picaroon have been a few that have impressed me.
My French Pressed Perique experiment is being perpetuated with this years batch being made with Basma. Last years brew was with a Pennsylvania binder. It only has a month of rest but testing reveal the best of a PA character with extra spiciness and headiness with some familiar Perique flavors. I’m fairly certain my method slows down the process and that I could have achieved more fruitiness with more time. We shall see how it develops as it rests. The original test batch with rustica sits neglected in the drawer. Being rustica with its harmala alkaloids keeps it far down on the to do list. These other tobaccos I have are strong enough as it is.
Just a quick follow up now, perhaps more procedures with pics soon.
I have been thinking a bit about making a coin cut just for fun.

 

[yesrepeatno]

I somehow missed this fantastic thread, thanks for sharing all this information. Keep us posted on the perique and coin cut. Fruit juice for casing Vas is interesting, it would increase the acidity of the leaf, add sweetness and pineapple juice in particular has a lot of enzymes that break down proteins, not to mention the microbes that are already present. Have you tried fermenting the pineapple juice for a couple of days and then casing with that? That would have a stronger culture of yeasts and lactic acid bacteria to go to work on the tobacco.

 

[Juxtaposer-]

I somehow missed this fantastic thread, thanks for sharing all this information. Keep us posted on the perique and coin cut. Fruit juice for casing Vas is interesting, it would increase the acidity of the leaf, add sweetness and pineapple juice in particular has a lot of enzymes that break down proteins, not to mention the microbes that are already present. Have you tried fermenting the pineapple juice for a couple of days and then casing with that? That would have a stronger culture of yeasts and lactic acid bacteria to go to work on the tobacco.

There are a few I know who are experimenting with fermented products such as kombucha to case tobaccos. The results could be interesting but “fermentation“ in tobacco is not of the same type. Most fermentation requires salt to control unwanted growth and salt would not be wise to smoke in such amounts. Wine, beer, and other fermented alcohols would suit tobacco better. I certainly have given some thought to this type of fermentation in tobacco. I have concluded that it surely has been tried and that if it actually did yield any beneficial results it would already be seen in some tobacco products. I would like to keep it simple. For the moment I will be concentrating on fruit for the added enzymes and microbes. Raisins seem promising having a high amylase content.

 

[yesrepeatno]

There are a few I know who are experimenting with fermented products such as kombucha to case tobaccos. The results could be interesting but “fermentation“ in tobacco is not of the same type. Most fermentation requires salt to control unwanted growth and salt would not be wise to smoke in such amounts. Wine, beer, and other fermented alcohols would suit tobacco better. I certainly have given some thought to this type of fermentation in tobacco. I have concluded that it surely has been tried and that if it actually did yield any beneficial results it would already be seen in some tobacco products. For the moment I will be concentrating on fruit for the added enzymes and microbes. Raisins seem promising having a high amylase content.

I've been homebrewing and making kombucha for years, so this is something I'm excited to try out. Casing with pickle juice would probably be a bad idea though, as you say. Pineapple juice is so acidic that only yeasts and lactic acid bacteria will really grow in it anaerobically. It would be like casing with tepache, but when you use it at two days that should be the peak of microbial concentration in the juice so any post-casing fermentation in the leaf would be getting a kickstart.

 

[johnny108]

This may be of interest:

Mad Science experiment #1 Beerique

I’ve recently become a little enamored with Burley from playing around with new blends. I like the strength and depth of flavor it brings, but am still learning how to balence it’s alkaline / dry / back of the throat bitting nature. As I was mulling this over the other weekend sipping on a home...

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