Pipe Blend from Cigar Scraps

[dondford]

I have a nephew who just took up a pipe; any good recipes for a pipe blend using cigar tobacco scraps?

Thanks,
D

 

[deluxestogie]

Commercial cigar tobaccos tend to make a pipe stink. If you have some light-colored, lug (volado) scraps, they may work well.

My Atacama blend is fairly mild, but even with subdued, home-grown Havana lug, it has something of a cigar pungency:

deluxestogie's simplified Atacama (Havana & Latakia)

-Mild Havana lug: 33%
-Oriental: 33%
-Latakia: 33%

http://fairtradetobacco.com/threads/3926-Pure-Tobacco-Pipe-Blends-You-Can-Make#6

On the other hand, some pipe smokers like scraps of rich PA maduro.

Bob

 

[Knucklehead]

I'd recommend a cob pipe dedicated to the cigar variety blend. Otherwise you may get the smell and taste carried over to other blends. Flavor "ghosting".

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

I've mixed Dominican Seco into a Virginia, Burley, Yenidge, Perique blend at a 25% proportion, and it was quite nice.

If I had way more scraps, I might experiment with steaming some for 4 to 6 hours, and seeing how it tastes afterwards. I did 6 hours of that with some Dark Air, and it's smokable straight, and still has a unique character.

 

[Knucklehead]

I've mixed Dominican Seco into a Virginia, Burley, Yenidge, Perique blend at a 25% proportion, and it was quite nice.

If I had way more scraps, I might experiment with steaming some for 4 to 6 hours, and seeing how it tastes afterwards. I did 6 hours of that with some Dark Air, and it's smokable straight, and still has a unique character.

That's a good idea. Cigar scrap Cavendish.

 

[dondford]

China
Sounds promising; please advise the method of steaming the tobacco.

D

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

I recommend you peruse this thread. http://fairtradetobacco.com/threads...Pipe-Tobacco/page17?highlight=black+Cavendish

In short though, keep the tobacco above moderately boiling water, preferably with lid on or mostly on for 8 hours to reach maximum darkness. Some tobaccos get black, some get dark brown. The longer you steam, the less of the original flavour remains. The surface area matters, so rotate every now and then. The leaves exposed to the steam change faster than those that are not. Don't let the pot run dry, dear lord. And dry well, because mold.

 

[Matty]

I blend mixed cigar scraps with "cheap" commercial pipe tobacco (captain black, borkum riff) at anywhere between 10% and 50% cigar scrap. It's good and dosen't seem to leave a stink.

 

[ArizonaDave]

I have a nephew who just took up a pipe; any good recipes for a pipe blend using cigar tobacco scraps?

Thanks,
D

I have one that I haven't tried in my new corn cob pipe yet (thanks DeluxeStogie for the Missouri link), but should try it this week. I took scraps, rolled it into a small cigar shape, then cut ½ " rings and soaked them in ⅔ rum, ⅓ vanilla extract, and a little nutmeg, and let them dry. I tasted a few to see how they're coming along, and found if I tweak the formula a bit, it makes a great tasting dip.

I'll let 'ya know how it goes this week.

 

[ArizonaDave]

Update: I tried that blend yesterday, and the only thing I'd change is the amount of vanilla to as little as possible, the concentrate is super strong. I bought it at Costco. Maybe down to "just a touch" of vanilla

 

[jolly]

I'll second CV's steaming/heating idea. I have some FL sumatra that got a bit hot toward the end of the fermentation. This leaf is sweet, almost caramelized while still having a mild cigar note. I've smoked it straight, though it's bitey that way. It's best below 50%, though. If he's smoking flavored blends, you may not want to bother since they're so cheap and heavily flavored that doing anything special with them seems a bit futile. But if he's experimenting with unflavored tobaccos of different types then steaming or heating may yield some interesting results.