POGreen
Well-Known Member
No I'm not , I just got it wrong there.
I did not read that yaconpart of the story , my mistake.
I did not read that yaconpart of the story , my mistake.
Squeezyjohn's 2014 Grow Blog
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squeezyjohn
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No - sorry - my mistake PO! I thought you were talking about the tobacco stumps from my Silver River.
Yacon is not a tobacco related thing - it's a vegetable from South America which grows huge tubers under the ground that look like a giant sweet-potato. The taste and texture of these large roots are not like any other vegetable though - when eaten raw they are crisp and sweet and taste a little bit like apple or pear ... I also put them in the juicer and then boil down the juice to get a delicious syrup which is a bit like maple syrup but without any sugar in it. Yacon syrup gets it's sweetness from a different chemical that cannot be digested by the human gut - but it tastes delicious anyway.
I haven't yet tried putting any syrup in my snus recipes! Mainly because I don't like sweet snus very much - I like it salty and strong!
Yacon is not a tobacco related thing - it's a vegetable from South America which grows huge tubers under the ground that look like a giant sweet-potato. The taste and texture of these large roots are not like any other vegetable though - when eaten raw they are crisp and sweet and taste a little bit like apple or pear ... I also put them in the juicer and then boil down the juice to get a delicious syrup which is a bit like maple syrup but without any sugar in it. Yacon syrup gets it's sweetness from a different chemical that cannot be digested by the human gut - but it tastes delicious anyway.
I haven't yet tried putting any syrup in my snus recipes! Mainly because I don't like sweet snus very much - I like it salty and strong!
squeezyjohn
Well-Known Member
The leaf is starting to come good and is getting some nice colour in to it ...
Oxford 207 ... it's air-curing nicely despite being a flue-cured variety ... lots of the middle leaves look a lot like this one - but the top leaves are curing really dark brown!
African Red ... very low yield this year due to quite a few setbacks ... but enough leaf curing from the 2 plants that made it that I can test out it's properties as an air-cured leaf and see if I can nail the grown next year if it's good in a snus.
Yellow Twist Bud ... some of the lower and middle leaves are curing very easily indeed to a light Burley colour ... although the upper leaves are also nice and brown now - I'm finding that lots of them seem to possess midribs which refuse to die and dry up ... which makes me worried about mould if we get a cold snap soon.
Oxford 207 ... it's air-curing nicely despite being a flue-cured variety ... lots of the middle leaves look a lot like this one - but the top leaves are curing really dark brown!
African Red ... very low yield this year due to quite a few setbacks ... but enough leaf curing from the 2 plants that made it that I can test out it's properties as an air-cured leaf and see if I can nail the grown next year if it's good in a snus.
Yellow Twist Bud ... some of the lower and middle leaves are curing very easily indeed to a light Burley colour ... although the upper leaves are also nice and brown now - I'm finding that lots of them seem to possess midribs which refuse to die and dry up ... which makes me worried about mould if we get a cold snap soon.
If the mid-ribs are a problem, you can stem the leaf, once it has colored.
Bob
Bob
squeezyjohn
Well-Known Member
At the allotment today I was mainly digging up old tobacco stumps and putting them all on the compost pile. Sweetcorn is finished for the year too - so lots of tidying up basically.
But I was checking the progress of the hanging leaves in the "barn" and had a quick chew of some air dried African Red that has only just colour cured to see what kind of flavour it might have. I was amazed at the amount of sweetness this leaf has - although at this stage it also has plenty of bitterness and I'm sure the aroma is yet to develop - but nonetheless this was by far the sweetest leaf I've ever grown. The nicotine levels didn't seem as high as I've read - but on the high side of medium I'd say.
I think this is going to be a fine variety to make snus from. Definitely keeping it in for next years grow! I just need to work on improving the conditions I grow it in so that I can get nice big leaves from the plants next year.
But I was checking the progress of the hanging leaves in the "barn" and had a quick chew of some air dried African Red that has only just colour cured to see what kind of flavour it might have. I was amazed at the amount of sweetness this leaf has - although at this stage it also has plenty of bitterness and I'm sure the aroma is yet to develop - but nonetheless this was by far the sweetest leaf I've ever grown. The nicotine levels didn't seem as high as I've read - but on the high side of medium I'd say.
I think this is going to be a fine variety to make snus from. Definitely keeping it in for next years grow! I just need to work on improving the conditions I grow it in so that I can get nice big leaves from the plants next year.
POGreen
Well-Known Member
Things is looking up for you John as I understand it , and thats nice to hear.
Read that DGBAMA seems to be very content /satisfied with his Small Stalk Black Mammoth and I think he is absolutely right.
Think I had 10 % SSBM in my grow last year , all mixed up with 23 other varieties and I reckon its this one which makes me like that snus so much.
I am definately growing some next year cause I think its a winner.
Read that DGBAMA seems to be very content /satisfied with his Small Stalk Black Mammoth and I think he is absolutely right.
Think I had 10 % SSBM in my grow last year , all mixed up with 23 other varieties and I reckon its this one which makes me like that snus so much.
I am definately growing some next year cause I think its a winner.
squeezyjohn
Well-Known Member
I grew some small stalk black mammoth last year and it was quite a nice plant ... but because I found it difficult to cure it ended up being made in to a carrotte which when turned in to flour was lovely in snus ... but difficult to know if the flavour was the variety or the method I used to cure it!
I'm starting to make quite a careful list for next year ...
I definitely want to do African Red again from my saved seeds. Also Silver River as long as it tastes good in snus because it's such a magnificent plant ... I also want to try some of your massive leaf rusticas and Bolivian Criollo Black from the recommendations I've had. Once I find a perfect blend of tobaccos for snus grown here (and that cure easily in my climate) then I will probably stop so much experimenting and trying things out! Maybe
I'm starting to make quite a careful list for next year ...
I definitely want to do African Red again from my saved seeds. Also Silver River as long as it tastes good in snus because it's such a magnificent plant ... I also want to try some of your massive leaf rusticas and Bolivian Criollo Black from the recommendations I've had. Once I find a perfect blend of tobaccos for snus grown here (and that cure easily in my climate) then I will probably stop so much experimenting and trying things out! Maybe
POGreen
Well-Known Member
Figure I will start the process of making a batch with my new flour ( rustica ) next week and it'll be most exciting to see what it can provide.
Think nicotiana rustica has a somewhat inferior label on itself of being a more poor quality tobacco versus nicotiana tabacum.
Have read this in several places , it'll be the first time I make snus of it and giving it the full treatment , last year I just did the way I used to make snus ( only 36 h on perhaps 90 C.
I messed up completely , using glycerol just to mention one foul additive , had to throw it all away........
But this time it's gonna be different , color will be pitchblack when ready , thats for sure.
Want to make the swap later on , 1 K tobacco for Sliver River ?
They had the biggest leaves of all my different varieties , you saw the pics I reckon , 8 1/2 pucks of snus long x wide = 50 cm's +
Think nicotiana rustica has a somewhat inferior label on itself of being a more poor quality tobacco versus nicotiana tabacum.
Have read this in several places , it'll be the first time I make snus of it and giving it the full treatment , last year I just did the way I used to make snus ( only 36 h on perhaps 90 C.
I messed up completely , using glycerol just to mention one foul additive , had to throw it all away........
But this time it's gonna be different , color will be pitchblack when ready , thats for sure.
Want to make the swap later on , 1 K tobacco for Sliver River ?
They had the biggest leaves of all my different varieties , you saw the pics I reckon , 8 1/2 pucks of snus long x wide = 50 cm's +
POGreen
Well-Known Member
The pic is not makin it self justice as it is , looks sort of Greenish but it ain't.
John , I think we should just stalkhang them and see what happens , after we have the sandlugs shifting color.
John , I think we should just stalkhang them and see what happens , after we have the sandlugs shifting color.
squeezyjohn
Well-Known Member
I find my Rustica never really loses that slightly green tinge even if hung for 6 months and it looks brown in some lights ... I am trying pile curing the big leaves of the late grow to get a little more colour in to them ... Rustica is a funny one to cure the way it doesn't yellow first.
All leaves (tobacco or maple) that turn yellow already contain the yellow pigments (carotenoids), even while they are still green. When the chlorophyll is broken down by metabolic senescence, it reveals the yellow. If there are no carotenoids, then there is never a yellow stage.
Bob
DGBAMA
Well-Known Member
Mr. Encyclopedia. Makes perfect sense
Interestingly, living N. rustica leaves often appear to be a gray-green or blue-green, when compared to the yellow-green of most N. tabacum varieties. So my guess is that N. rustica (at least the varieties I've seen) contains little if any carotenoid pigment. Something that I have not really thought about is whether N. tabacum varieties that produce very dark green leaves tend to cure directly to brown, or if they have a yellow stage during curing.
My Chichicaste 712 and Brasil Dunkel both have very dark green leaves. I'll pay attention to whether or not they have a yellow stage.
Bob
My Chichicaste 712 and Brasil Dunkel both have very dark green leaves. I'll pay attention to whether or not they have a yellow stage.
Bob
squeezyjohn
Well-Known Member
Thanks Bob - that makes a lot of sense.
I've just had a look at the weather forecast for the next week for my curing ... seems like despite remaining warm and not raining we're in for 99% humidity every night with it only dropping to about 60% in the middle of the days ... every day!
Sounds like my leaf will be dripping, not drying in the shed!
I've just had a look at the weather forecast for the next week for my curing ... seems like despite remaining warm and not raining we're in for 99% humidity every night with it only dropping to about 60% in the middle of the days ... every day!
Sounds like my leaf will be dripping, not drying in the shed!
squeezyjohn
Well-Known Member
Today was a grinding snus flour day ... I've got all my lugs and first primings of Yellow Twist Bud and Silver River fully cured and the YTB was nice and crispy (still waiting for the Silver River to dry itself out fully!)
Did it with a cheap electric burr coffee grinder ... I'm not doing that again! Far too fiddly and a faff to get it ground up finely enough - because the leaf is flat it really lets through too much large pieces even on the finest grind setting. My old food blender with the sharpened blades has bitten the dust - so I need to find myself a new one of those to pulverise the leaf in quantity like I used to do.
However ... the resulting YTB flour is nice and aromatic - not very strong in nicotine (but I have yet to add in the upper leaves which are still curing in the shed) - smells like it will make a good tasty snus!
Did it with a cheap electric burr coffee grinder ... I'm not doing that again! Far too fiddly and a faff to get it ground up finely enough - because the leaf is flat it really lets through too much large pieces even on the finest grind setting. My old food blender with the sharpened blades has bitten the dust - so I need to find myself a new one of those to pulverise the leaf in quantity like I used to do.
However ... the resulting YTB flour is nice and aromatic - not very strong in nicotine (but I have yet to add in the upper leaves which are still curing in the shed) - smells like it will make a good tasty snus!
squeezyjohn
Well-Known Member
Now I'm getting to this stage with the year's harvest ... my mind is wandering on to a wish-list of varieties for next year. I will have to see how my current leaf shapes up when made in to snus of course to see which are keepers from this year's grow.
Currently the only two varieties for 2015 definitely on the list are Bolivian Criollo Black and some of PO's million year old rustica with the massive leaves ... and I suspect Silver River and YTB will stay on the grow list.
Not sure about African Red and Oxford 207 (despite the perfect name for my area!) ... the plants were slow to get going, and did not produce nice heavy yields when compared to my other varieties. If the snus flour they make is worth it - maybe I'll give them another shot. The Oxford 207 which is being air-cured rather than flue cured is turning out to be a very dark leaf!
Any other suggestions on what I should grow in 2015? Hit me up!
Currently the only two varieties for 2015 definitely on the list are Bolivian Criollo Black and some of PO's million year old rustica with the massive leaves ... and I suspect Silver River and YTB will stay on the grow list.
Not sure about African Red and Oxford 207 (despite the perfect name for my area!) ... the plants were slow to get going, and did not produce nice heavy yields when compared to my other varieties. If the snus flour they make is worth it - maybe I'll give them another shot. The Oxford 207 which is being air-cured rather than flue cured is turning out to be a very dark leaf!
Any other suggestions on what I should grow in 2015? Hit me up!
POGreen
Well-Known Member
You can have that 1 k old tobaccoseed from me ( 8 1/2 pucks wide x long ) .
Hope I can have some SR from you in return , I'll throw in a nice surprise if you're game ( ancient tobaccospice , used in the 18 -1900's ) new mowed grass type of scent + vanilla
Hope I can have some SR from you in return , I'll throw in a nice surprise if you're game ( ancient tobaccospice , used in the 18 -1900's ) new mowed grass type of scent + vanilla
Markw
Well-Known Member
Bob I noticed your comment on the Chichicaste 712, for me when I grew it last year there was no yellow stage. Just went to a nice chocolate brown
squeezyjohn
Well-Known Member
That's a deal PO ... My SR seed pods have very nearly finished setting on the flower plant and then I will dry those out in the shed.
If your other surprise is a tonka bean? I already have some here so don't worry sending to me ... but it's a fantastic flavour isn't it? You don't need much for it to flavour everything!
I just went out to the shed to have a look. Both the Brasil Dunkel and the Chichicaste 712 seem to go from green to a brief stage of sickly gray-green, then on to brown. No yellow to be seen.
Bob
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