Krumovgrad B2 tobacco

[deluxestogie]

I've moved the discussion of South American Dark Twist tobacco to its own thread.

South American Dark Twist Tobacco

I've got a friend who's from Peru and when he travels to visit family he always brings me back some of the native tobacco which I think is Nicotiana Rustica. Last time he brought me back what the natives call Anaconda tobacco. It was a long inch and a half thick roll of compressed leaf that...

fairtradetobacco.com

Bob

 

[GWLee]

It'll get really crispy when it's finished. After it's done toasting I spray it down with either a fine mist of water or a casing of strong green coffee bean tea. Let the tobacco set for 15-20 minutes before handling. Making sure its cased beyond the point of crumbling. After which place into an air tight container for a few weeks. You can smoke it right away but after it cures a bit it's much better.

Def will make a difference and thanks for the guidance! Will see how I do.

Cheers

 

[GWLee]

Btw, my dad was in the Coast Guard and retired back in the late 80's after 30 years of service. I recognized the uniform in your profile picture

Fantastic!!! Yeah, I did 30 years as well 1976 - 2006. Totally loved my time in the service, would not take or trade it for anything!!! Now that I'm a Government civilian, I'm still supporting them and the Expeditionary Navy as well in my current job at the Marine Corps Base Quantico, VA. Please pass my regards to your dad.

Cheers

 

[Tobaccofieldsforever]

Going to try that this weekend! How crispy do you let it get? Some I've tried I let stay in too long and while it didn't burn, it was extremely crumbly when I took it out. Some times I tend to be too skittish and pull it out before it is truly toasted.

Did you end up trying to toast the 609 out of curiosity? I haven't tried yet and was wondering if you've had a chance to. Also, I wanted to let you know that I finally picked some Dark Air Cured up today. Excellent! For me, it's perfect. As much as I like the perique, I think the DAC is MUCH better suited to cigarette blending and adds an interesting body/flavor of its' own. I didn't really get any "raisin" like I had read about as well, but I have literally only tried it a few times now and have shredded very little that was dry enough to do so. I highly recommend it, it was what I've been looking for to balance everything else out. Good Luck and have fun!!

 

[GWLee]

Did you end up trying to toast the 609 out of curiosity? I haven't tried yet and was wondering if you've had a chance to. Also, I wanted to let you know that I finally picked some Dark Air Cured up today. Excellent! For me, it's perfect. As much as I like the perique, I think the DAC is MUCH better suited to cigarette blending and adds an interesting body/flavor of its' own. I didn't really get any "raisin" like I had read about as well, but I have literally only tried it a few times now and have shredded very little that was dry enough to do so. I highly recommend it, it was what I've been looking for to balance everything else out. Good Luck and have fun!!

Unfortunately I have not had a chance to try toasting anything these past two weeks, seems I keep getting sidetracked with my regular job, house chores, leather work and the like lol. But I did get the DAC and did try blending it into the mixes. I agree I did not notice any "raisin" flavor/taste added to the mix. But have been adding that and the perique to my base mix of VA Lemon and KY Burley/MD 609 mix and have gotten almost to the point I'm searching for. The result is a sweet mix, but it waffles and is not always 100% on target, but still very good. So my blend is now: VA Lemon, KY Burley/MD 609 (50/50 mix), Krumovgrad B2, DAC and Perique. Also got in some Krumovgrad T2, and will try swapping that out with the B2 as well as mixing 50/50 and other ratios with the B2 and see what that does to the taste.

Oh yes, in regard to your question about the color between the B2 and T2, yes, the B2 does appear to be more greenish whereas the T2 is more light brownish.

However, still have the toasting of the 609 and burley on my "To Do" list, I have a three day weekend this week, so maybe I can try to do some batches this Friday. Plus have a four day weekend the end of the month to continue my experimenting.

Cheers

 

[Tobaccofieldsforever]

Unfortunately I have not had a chance to try toasting anything these past two weeks, seems I keep getting sidetracked with my regular job, house chores, leather work and the like lol. But I did get the DAC and did try blending it into the mixes. I agree I did not notice any "raisin" flavor/taste added to the mix. But have been adding that and the perique to my base mix of VA Lemon and KY Burley/MD 609 mix and have gotten almost to the point I'm searching for. The result is a sweet mix, but it waffles and is not always 100% on target, but still very good. So my blend is now: VA Lemon, KY Burley/MD 609 (50/50 mix), Krumovgrad B2, DAC and Perique. Also got in some Krumovgrad T2, and will try swapping that out with the B2 as well as mixing 50/50 and other ratios with the B2 and see what that does to the taste.

Oh yes, in regard to your question about the color between the B2 and T2, yes, the B2 does appear to be more greenish whereas the T2 is more light brownish.

However, still have the toasting of the 609 and burley on my "To Do" list, I have a three day weekend this week, so maybe I can try to do some batches this Friday. Plus have a four day weekend the end of the month to continue my experimenting.

Cheers

sounds good. You should try blending with just the DAC and your virginias (leave the 609, perique and burley out) you may be pleasantly surprised...I was. That of course is all up to you, just letting you know something I enjoyed. Well good luck and enjoy your time off.

 

[GWLee]

sounds good. You should try blending with just the DAC and your virginias (leave the 609, perique and burley out) you may be pleasantly surprised...I was. That of course is all up to you, just letting you know something I enjoyed. Well good luck and enjoy your time off.

Can definitely give that a shot, always up for new tastes. That I can probably do in the evening in the next day or so. Have any recommended ratios?

Cheers

 

[Tobaccofieldsforever]

Can definitely give that a shot, always up for new tastes. That I can probably do in the evening in the next day or so. Have any recommended ratios?

Cheers

Nothing real specific. Start low, try a little and add more if you want. You can always add more, but it's a hell of a pain in the neck to take it away...haha! DAC is strong stuff but it balances the virginias very well I think. People on here say 5 to 10 percent, but lately I've just been eyeballing stuff rather than throwing everything on a scale and getting it extremely precise because I personally believe there is too much variation with water weight in differently cased shredded tobaccos for blending by weight to be a good option for me. If I can get a good idea of what a decent blend looks like (the pre-blended ingredients in seperate piles), then it is easier for me, personally, to reproduce it. Plus, it's MUCH faster for me to blend by eye. I can just throw a very small amount of each tobacco together, see if I like it, then reproduce it on a larger scale. This technique has worked very well for me so far. If I recall correctly, you liked using lemon leaf, which is one of the most acidic virginias WLT sells, so you may need a little more than you would with a red or bright leaf blend. Again, this is all ENTIRELY SUBJECTIVE. What tastes good to you, could make another person gag..ha! Sorry, that was a long winded answer, but yea, just start kind of small and get a taste for what DAC has to offer to your blend, and adjust things from there. Good luck and have fun!!

 

[GWLee]

Nothing real specific. Start low, try a little and add more if you want. You can always add more, but it's a hell of a pain in the neck to take it away...haha! DAC is strong stuff but it balances the virginias very well I think. People on here say 5 to 10 percent, but lately I've just been eyeballing stuff rather than throwing everything on a scale and getting it extremely precise because I personally believe there is too much variation with water weight in differently cased shredded tobaccos for blending by weight to be a good option for me. If I can get a good idea of what a decent blend looks like (the pre-blended ingredients in seperate piles), then it is easier for me, personally, to reproduce it. Plus, it's MUCH faster for me to blend by eye. I can just throw a very small amount of each tobacco together, see if I like it, then reproduce it on a larger scale. This technique has worked very well for me so far. If I recall correctly, you liked using lemon leaf, which is one of the most acidic virginias WLT sells, so you may need a little more than you would with a red or bright leaf blend. Again, this is all ENTIRELY SUBJECTIVE. What tastes good to you, could make another person gag..ha! Sorry, that was a long winded answer, but yea, just start kind of small and get a taste for what DAC has to offer to your blend, and adjust things from there. Good luck and have fun!!

Good to go, yep def start small and expand. Will try and see and let ya know how it turns out.

Cheers

 

[Tobaccofieldsforever]

Good to go, yep def start small and expand. Will try and see and let ya know how it turns out.

Cheers

Good luck, I almost hate recommending blends because it really is subjective, but at the very least you will get an idea of what DAC has to offer to a blend by tasting it nearly by itself. Personally, I have smoked every tobacco I own completely by itself at least once just to get an idea of its taste, mouth feel etc... Keep in mind that DAC is alkaline in nature, whereas burley is neutral and I believe maryland is as well but not sure, so those two "balance" a blend by dilution similar to watering something down to reduce its' potency. DAC and perique however, are alkaline and contribute a PH balancing effect to an acidic blend. I've read various things on cigarette smoke PH and it is mildly acidic (5.6 to 6.5). So, I guess the end goal is to get something around the mildly acidic range to provide enough nicotine for enjoyment while not being too "harsh". I know that's not very helpful since you are not blending in a laboratory so just make something that tastes good and doesn't suck..haha, good luck!

 

[GWLee]

Good luck, I almost hate recommending blends because it really is subjective, but at the very least you will get an idea of what DAC has to offer to a blend by tasting it nearly by itself. Personally, I have smoked every tobacco I own completely by itself at least once just to get an idea of its taste, mouth feel etc... Keep in mind that DAC is alkaline in nature, whereas burley is neutral and I believe maryland is as well but not sure, so those two "balance" a blend by dilution similar to watering something down to reduce its' potency. DAC and perique however, are alkaline and contribute a PH balancing effect to an acidic blend. I've read various things on cigarette smoke PH and it is mildly acidic (5.6 to 6.5). So, I guess the end goal is to get something around the mildly acidic range to provide enough nicotine for enjoyment while not being too "harsh". I know that's not very helpful since you are not blending in a laboratory so just make something that tastes good and doesn't suck..haha, good luck!

Naw, sounds good and worth a try.

Cheers

 

[GWLee]

Good luck, I almost hate recommending blends because it really is subjective, but at the very least you will get an idea of what DAC has to offer to a blend by tasting it nearly by itself. Personally, I have smoked every tobacco I own completely by itself at least once just to get an idea of its taste, mouth feel etc... Keep in mind that DAC is alkaline in nature, whereas burley is neutral and I believe maryland is as well but not sure, so those two "balance" a blend by dilution similar to watering something down to reduce its' potency. DAC and perique however, are alkaline and contribute a PH balancing effect to an acidic blend. I've read various things on cigarette smoke PH and it is mildly acidic (5.6 to 6.5). So, I guess the end goal is to get something around the mildly acidic range to provide enough nicotine for enjoyment while not being too "harsh". I know that's not very helpful since you are not blending in a laboratory so just make something that tastes good and doesn't suck..haha, good luck!

Tried my first attempt at the blend: 80% VA Lemon and 20% DAC and also tried 80% VA Lemon & Bright (50/50) with 20% DAC. Filled six tubes each and will see how it goes.

Cheers