Newbie from the Adirondacks

[Polarxena]

Hi Guys,
yup, brand spanking new to dealing with whole leaf, got fed up with paying the prices of store bought, I am not a grower though. Curious about the casing spray, what IS it and any tips on using it? Thanks in advance, I look forward to browsing through here and enjoying your world.
Deborah

 

[MarcL]

Welcome to FTT Deborah. It's always nice to see someone new. "Store bought" will soon become a distant past once you get stated. Well, it did for me.
about the casing spray, I would say #1, try it. #2, let the shredded tobacco be dry before adding it. I found the Casing #3 description to be good. looking forward to some #1 I just ordered myself.

 

[winston-smoker]

Welcome, Deborah! I've been making my own since Oct. 2012, but am also new to whole leaf. The whole leaves are some of the best tobacco you'll ever taste. It's a lot of work, though ... so while I'm removing all those mid-rib stems, I just remind myself that it's worth it.

 

[Rickey60]

Welcome Deborah!

 

[Knucklehead]

Welcome to the forum. Don has a description of the casings and instructions on his site, here's the link: http://www.wholeleaftobacco.com/Cigarette-Tobacco-Casings_c25.htm

The casings are discussed in this thread. There is further advice and some reviews: http://fairtradetobacco.com/showthread.php?3484-Cigarette-Tobacco-Casings-Now-available

 

[leverhead]

Welcome! Starting from whole leaf will seem like allot of work at first, it'll get easier and you'll get faster. The end result will be worth the effort, you won't go back to store bought, for long. You're almost absolutely right about not growing tobacco, it's more addictive than smoking. If you don't get started, you won't get hooked.

 

[Brown Thumb]

Welcome Aboard Deborah, You will be growing Baccy in pots if you hang around here too much.
Enjoy you're new adventure.
BT

 

[Boboro]

Aw come on a little patch wont hurt ya. We have seeds. The 1st. ones are free.

 

[indianjoe]

Welcome Deborah, just try some whole leaf from http://wholeleaftobacco.com and you will be so suprised how good it is and how bad commercial tobacco was.

 

[istanbulin]

Welcome to the forum. I'm sure you'll find good answers here.

 

[Polarxena]

Thanks MarcL! Its the casings that are the big mystery so far, from what you write I gather there are different ones, flavors maybe...still not clear on what's in them or their purpose but a member provided a link so will go there next. Otherwise all good, and worth the work

 

[Polarxena]

Lol. Just maybe I will, love to garden after all....

 

[Polarxena]

Wow. What a great welcome! Thanks so much all of you, nice to know that its not overkill to remove the little veins too. Yes, taste is way better, smoke seems to lasts longer, its all good so far.
)

 

[leverhead]

....nice to know that its not overkill to remove the little veins too...

LOL!!! OCD is more common than you might think! I pretty much got over it, I fall off the wagon from time to time. If you just take out the center rib and cut across the side veins when shredding, it stuffs and burns just fine. Nothing like what you find in commercial tobaccos.

 

[jekylnz]

Welcome Deborah..I shred half of my mid ribs as well..I find it easier to pick them out after.long as they aren't too big. . .I wouldn't advise it if your shredder won't take it..but just saying it will still end up smokable. ..also it pays to let the different leaf varieties to meld any marry together for a bit after shredding and blending. .often the flavours change from when initially shredded. .they seem to become more combined
In their taste

 

[MarcL]

Thanks MarcL! Its the casings that are the big mystery so far, from what you write I gather there are different ones, flavors maybe...still not clear on what's in them or their purpose but a member provided a link so will go there next. Otherwise all good, and worth the work

Anytime. ... mysteriously mysterious. I can't say for sure but, I'm willing to guess. .... Glycerin, tincture based extracts,
um, I was afraid that the vanilla would be like one of those weird vanilla smokes but it wasn't.
I think of casings differently from flavored smokes.
Flavored smokes I think they apply to the wrapper or filter. and casing is infused or hydrated into the tobacco.
when I've smoked a flavored smokes and lick my lips, bam! vanilla.
The casing is more of a mellowing of the sharpness of raw tobacco. the vanilla is there but more of a mouth feel I think. Not so pronounced.

If you like the work, it's all down hill into a glide. ....