Processing whole leaf orientals?

[Sapper]

I love the taste of orientals in my pipe tobacco blends, so I decided to get more acquainted with them. I purchased some whole leaf basma.

My problem is: What to do next? Much of what I have found online is geared toward burley and virginia leaves, which are much larger and more substantial. The basma I purchased are small leaves, very dry, and pressed together.

What is the best way to get this bag of dry leaves into a smokable form? Is casing necessary? I don't need huge quantities, so hand-based methods that do not requite specialized tools are preferred.

 

[deluxestogie]

Welcome to the forum. Feel free to introduce yourself in the Introduce Yourself forum. Scan through the topics in our Index of Key Forum Threads, linked in the menu bar. Near the top of that, you will find two pipe blending books that you can download for free.

For your dry Basma, just take out a fistful, mist it lightly with non-chlorinated water, then allow it to come into low case in a plastic bag overnight. I seldom bother to remove the central vein from small Orientals. I usually process them by using a mezzaluna blade (or a chaveta) to slice a small pile (perpendicular to the vein) into shred, then cross slice the pile of shred several times, to shorten the shred length. Rub out.

For storage, pure leaf should not feel soggy, like cased (i.e. all) commercial pipe tobacco, but just barely in case, so that it doesn't fracture to dust when handled.

Bob

EDIT: slicing Basma, prior to cross-cutting:

 

[Sapper]

Welcome to the forum. Feel free to introduce yourself in the Introduce Yourself forum. Scan through the topics in our Index of Key Forum Threads, linked in the menu bar. Near the top of that, you will find two pipe blending books that you can download for free.

Thanks Bob. I actually decided to take the plunge on this first batch of whole leaf after going through both the books.

Your advice is very helpful. I have one question about the picture of the stacked basma. It looks, well, stacked. Mine is not nearly as neat. Did you go through the moistened leaves one-by-one, unfurling them, yourself? Or what advice would you have for me, with my messy basma? And what about the partial leaf bits -- are those worth saving?

Thank you again, very helpful!

 

[deluxestogie]

Once in a blend, "bits" are all that's there. (I discard "dust".) If your Oriental leaf is in at least low case (somewhat flexible), then just scrunch a handful of it into a sort of cylindrical pile for slicing. (My WLT stacked Basma comes "stacked" like that, in clusters of leaf.) Some other Orientals are loose leaf. What I do with those is crudely bunch a handful of leaves, gather them into a rough, cylindrical wad, then slice them. There is no need for precision. What you want for blending is components that are more or less the same size as your other blend components. Although it's possible to hand shred like this to a thin shred, I never aim for that. I do not use a shredder for any of my tobacco.

With larger leaves, like VA Bright or burley, I stem them, pick out a couple of sections of leaf for a "wrapper" and "binder", then roll them into a crude cigar, which I then slice into coins, followed by 3 or more cross-cuts of the coins. This pile is then rubbed-out.

If you look at WLT's currently available "Traditional Pipe Tobaccos", their Krumovgrad is stacked, while the Izmir is loose leaf.

Bob

 

[GreenDragon]

I always go through my whole leaf, separate each leaf, straighten/flatten, and stack prior to processing. It ensures uniformity of size of the cut. Also, as long as the “bits” are not oddly colored or dirty just throw them in with your shredded blend. And above all just have fun!

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

I only do a few leaves at a time. Whatever I'm going to smoke that day. The waste of time is a part of the ritual.

 

[Sapper]

Bob, your advice worked splendidly.

After a night in the Ziploc bag, the leaves were restored to a malleable state. I was then able to mush them into a cylinder and make appropriate sized cuts. The result looks great!

Thanks again