Making Latakia at Home

[docpierce]

It's day 22.
During the light drizzle of the morning I decide to repack the smoker barrel. Some leaves have turned black. Most range from copper colored to deep amber. Shiny, sticky resin covers about 30% of the leaves.

Also, I scraped some of the dark Bursa crumbs into a Ropp pipe that was laying on the bench and packed it. Not too bad. Not harsh. Surprisingly palatable. Herby woodsy. Not totally unlike the Cypriot Latakia from WLT. Different.

Also here is a pic of the top of the smoker burn chamber.

 

[Death76]

Greetings.
I want to warn everyone who makes latakia, do not raise the temperature in the smokehouse above 200 ° F. I slightly exceeded it and it tasted like burnt french fries

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

According to standard fire curing practice, the tobacco should never exceed 130°F. During the finishing stage, a stage which is analogous to what you guys are doing, which is smoking leaf which is already cured, it is recommended to be no more than 120°F.

Reference: University of Kentucky

If I was doing this, I would design a smoker much like @Death76 did, except I would rig it so smoke could not passively enter the smoking chamber, but had to be drawn in by a fan which is connected to a thermostat or controller. It would maintain the proper temperature and probably make the fuel last longer.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

From that reference:

The sawdust, barn floor, and walls may be
dampened to produce a moist smoke that will help keep the
tobacco in order longer to increase finish.

 

[deluxestogie]

Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kentucky any more.

Bob

 

[Death76]

My air supply is not controlled by anything other than the lid above the barrel. Before I took a few leaves for the sample, a strong wind blew and the temperature rose. I burn wet firewood and not sawdust, add tobacco stalks and some fragrant herbs for greater smoke moisture. The last time I added a lot of laurel, but I'm sure that he could not give such a taste

 

[deluxestogie]

I'm afraid that my long-anticipated trip to the Salem VA for a flu shot was a disappointment. They stabbed my arm, so I guess that's good. But it appears that I'm at least a few week too early this year to collect the sweet gum pods from the parking lot. (And hopefully, I'll be finished with the Latakia making by then.) There were bunches of old, battered ones, from last year. (While they may mow the grass, they don't seem to rake up the sweet gum pods--ever.)

I had expected to need a snow shovel to scoop up all the pods. I did collect a couple of dozen year-old pods, as well as about a dozen from this year. I found a smallish branch (~48" long), with 10 pods from this year still attached. So I know it's sweet gum wood, though it could pass for almost any variety. It had apparently broken off during a wind storm a month or so ago, and had fully dried.

A burn test of a little piece of the wood gave off "interesting" aromas, and nothing evil. I'll add it to my collections of stuff to burn.

Bob

 

[Death76]

Greetings.
Both in Syria and Cyprus, many grapes are grown. When pruning, a lot of vines come out. I think it can also be used for smoking latakia. I tried several branches today, the smell is not bad.

 

[deluxestogie]

When I was a boy of about 10, we used to snap off dried twigs of wild grape vines, which have a slightly hollow pith, and smoke them.

In burn test of my own dried grape vine wood, I sense no unpleasant aromas. What I do smell is probably okay for Latakia, though I am not enthusiastic about it. So, yes, I think some of it could be used in firing Latakia.

Bob

 

[GreenDragon]

Coming along. Will do a taste test tomorrow so check progress.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

Coming along. Will do a taste test tomorrow so check progress.

View attachment 28527

Holy moly. I won't sleep until I hear about your results, (mostly because I work night shift), but this is exciting.

 

[Death76]

Hello to everyone from Ukraine.
I have good news.
The vine works 100% !!!
She gave the soapy taste that Bob had been looking for (deluxestogie). She also gave the taste of the birch resin I was looking for. Everything ingenious is simple
Thank you all for your advice. Indeed, thanks to you, I will now always have my own, excellent Latakia. And most importantly, much better than in Cyprus
I am not going to stop there, because there is no limit to perfection. All the best is yet to come. And I'm already preparing a new batch of tobacco leaves ...

 

[tullius]

When I was a boy of about 10, we used to snap off dried twigs of wild grape vines, which have a slightly hollow pith, and smoke them.

This does and does not answer many questions about Bob..

She gave the soapy taste that Bob had been looking for (deluxestogie). She also gave the taste of the birch resin I was looking for. Everything ingenious is simple

I don't get any soapy flavors at all from latakia, or cilantro, but some do it seems. Maybe genetic like the asparagus pee thing? I sure do get birch tar though

 

[Death76]

And so, I will try to describe what and how I did.
The top of the stalks of Xanthy I sagged, and a little yellowed. But most of the leaf was still green. I put “S” -shaped wire hooks on the stems, hung stems on the reinforcement of 5-10 pieces, and evenly distributed in the barrel of my smokehouse.
He started a fire using wheat straw, oak and some beech. Then, when the tobacco leaves warmed up a bit, I added larch branches and stems, stepsons, tobacco flowers (for wet smoke). Smoked 4 - 5 days for 5 -7 hours, then 1 - 2 days rest, and again 4 - 5
I’ve been smoking days ... On the last day of the smoking cycle, I added something for the smell (laurel leaves, oregano, lilac branches).
So I smoked Latakia for about 20 days. After each break, I took 2 sheets per sample, and made conclusions on the supplement that I used.
All this time, I searched for any information on Latakia, re-read this topic several times. And somewhere I saw a story, how by chance, Latakia tobacco was invented in Syria. (I will definitely give a link to this article)
Then I spent half a day looking around the Latakia city on Google maps, and I saw a lot of vineyards !!! This prompted me to think about using the vine as fuel for heating homes in difficult war times ...
In the last 2 days, before the end of smoking my latakia, I laid a lot of fresh grapes vines on the firewood. the smell of smoke was not very promising, although not bad.
But! After 2 days of rest, I took 2 sheets per sample (the leaves in the barrel managed to gain a little moisture), it turned out great!
I had already planned to remove the entire leaf, but decided to make another smoking cycle of 4 to 5 days, each time with a vine. I am sure this will enhance the taste several times.
In 7 - 10 days I will share my impressions (if I do not completely destroy my vineyard )

 

[Death76]

Here is the article I wrote about above:

Latakia Production - a Quest for Details

Wow Bland Is a new way of describing latakia. I have never tried priate cake, But do enjoy their black frigate.

fairtradetobacco.com

 

[GreenDragon]

@ChinaVoodoo you can sleep well tonight, the taste test results are in!

So I’d estimate I’m at the midpoint of the smoking for this trial. I took a leaf out of the smoker for a test. As Latakia is always a condiment Tobacco, I decided to make a blend and only vary the Latakia sample for the tasting. (I suggest that for the official trial we do something similar as, IMHO, it is more important how it tastes mixed with other tobaccos than how it is straight.). Anyway the mix is Latakia, Bright Leaf Virginia, BL Va. Cavendish, and Samsun oriental. Mine on the left, Cyrian on the right.




Tasting notes: Smoking these side by side I can honestly say that I think mine is close to a baby version of the real thing. I’d give it 2 of 5 bars of Ivory soap in flavor. The more subtle flavor nuances are slightly different as well. Mine seemed “warmer” than the original and slightly more peppery. It does not yet have the great depth of smokiness to it as the real stuff does, but I think that will come with more sessions. I actually enjoyed the blend with my version a lot! I’m just relieved it’s not a complete failure. Will continue on...

 

[Charly]

These are great news ! Thank you guys for your experimentations !

 

[deluxestogie]

We'll know the outcome in June, when everyone's samples go out to each of the trial participants.

Bob

 

[docpierce]

Day 31 of smoking the Bursa leaves. Everything is looking good. But I'm dubious about the leaf all turning black in the next two weeks. I started with suncure Bursa and it's possible that it may have something to do with the color. I may attempt a 2cd batch starting with green leaf and using mostly grape vine trimmings after this batch is bagged for aging.

 

[CobGuy]

Great experiment so far!
If I had more time (and didn't already have pounds of Latakia) I'd join you in this adventure.
Keep up the good work and I can't wait to see the end results!

~Darin