Creating Cavendish from Chopchop

[Goshawk]

Hi all,

I have been a long time pipe smoker (50+ years) and was always able to get some decent tobacco, first locally, and later imported from the USA, as the government here in Australia decided to increase their taxes on tobacco (50mg cost about AUD 140,00) So this became impossible. For a while I was able to import some from the USA and sometimes the tobacco arrived without customs taxes added. But a recent import was confiscated by customs and burned as it is now illegal to import tobacco into Australia (LOL I would have been happy to burn it for them).

I was able to get my hands on some chopchop and smoked it as cigarettes, but I was missing my pipe.

So I had the idea to turn it into a cavendish similar to the mixture I had been importing (Lane 50% 1Q and 50% BCA).

Original Chopchop

Final result

Smoking a bowl now and it is good. Burns clean has an ok room note and I have not experienced any tongue bite.

Here is how I went about it:
1000 gram (35 oz) tobacco.

Steam the tobacco for 8 hrs in a pressure cooker to make a cavendish. And dry to case.

Make inverted sugar (casing step 1):
2 cups of sugar and 1 cup of water add 1/4 teaspoon of citric acid. Put on low heat while stirring until all sugar has been dissolved. Once dissolved, bring to boil, and lower heat to simmer and do not stir any more. Put a food thermometer in the mixture. Don't touch the mixture until the temperature reaches 114 degrees C (237 F). (All water will slowly evaporate and take about 20 min.) Remove from heat and let cool.

Add inverted sugar: 100 mg (0.0035 oz) add water so you can spray and warm in microwave. Also warm the tobacco. Spray the tobacco and mix well.

Again dry the tobacco to case and warm in microwave.

(Casing step 2):
Add warm propylene glycol: 30mg (0.0010 oz)
Add warm licorice powder: 25mg (0.0009 oz) disolve in water.
Add about 30mg (1 oz) of food grade Gum Arabic to the warm casing. Mix it up well. That is the glue to make flake so the leaves stick together

Again dry tobacco to case and warm in microwave.

Topping:
Warm vanilla 15mg (0.0005 oz) (The vanilla I use has 15% alcohol). Again Spray the warm vanilla over the tobacco and mix well.

Dry the tobacco to case.

Put tobacco in a press, check the pressure
as the tobacco will settle in the mold and will need more.

Take the tobacco from the mold and rubb lightly.

Voila, finally have a smoke.

Hope this helps some of you in Australia who are in the same position as me.

Greetings,
Goshawk

 

[Juxtaposer-]

Most would have a preference not to smoke PG, Gum Arabic, or licorice fibers. I see Gum Arabic as completely unnecessary unless you are insisting on having a perfectly formed flake for vanities sake otherwise you will just be smoking extra cellulose for no good reason. Licorice I would filter to avoid burning fibers. As for PG I won’t use it but it can have some value and some might want to use it. I would recommend discovering if it is really needed. Steaming is great and can be done even more simply if one has limited equipment. It’s good to hear you are liking it and these ingredients are working for you. To post a solid recipe that is easy to follow is quite valuable and much appreciated.

 

[Goshawk]

Most would have a preference not to smoke PG, Gum Arabic, or licorice fibers. I see Gum Arabic as completely unnecessary unless you are insisting on having a perfectly formed flake for vanities sake otherwise you will just be smoking extra cellulose for no good reason. Licorice I would filter to avoid burning fibers. As for PG I won’t use it but it can have some value and some might want to use it. I would recommend discovering if it is really needed. Steaming is great and can be done even more simply if one has limited equipment. It’s good to hear you are liking it and these ingredients are working for you. To post a solid recipe that is easy to follow is quite valuable and much appreciated.

Thank you for your response.

Here is my rationale for my recipe:
The original tobacco I believe is a virginia, as it has this grassy/nutty smell typical of virginia when smoking as cigarettes and has been ribbon cut (about 0.8mm). Smoking it in a pipe as is, is difficult, as is burns too quick and too hot and has a bad sour taste in a pipe.
The inverted sugar has 2 benefits it both preserves the tobacco as sugar is a natural anti-fungal/anti-bacterial and improves the taste.
The propylene glycol keeps the tobacco at the correct case once dried.
I added the licorice for 2 reasons (it came in a powder not fibers), licorice is a natural couch suppressant and I used it to bulk up the tobacco to make it better for smoking in a pipe.
As for the final gum arabic, that was added again to bulk the tobacco as it allowed the thin ribbon cut to stick together. Once I took my tobacco from the press, I could just slightly rub it and the final result looks and feels just like store bought tobacco.

One thing I would change is the type of vanilla I used, as it did not give me the correct vanilla aroma (it smells fruity). I have bought a different brand an see how it goes.
If you look at the recipe you will notice that the quantity of additives used is very small. Also I will try to make the cavendish in a slow cooker, as the pressure cooker I used only could be set for 12min. So that was a nuisance having to reset it 5 times an hour.

Once I am completely happy with everything, I will post links to the products I used.

Just on your comments re PG, every commercial available pipe tobacco (even roll-your-own and cigarette) has been treated with both sugar and PG, as without it the tobacco will quickly go bad.

Hey I am not a professional in this, and I will probably experiment a little in the future, I am hoping I could get my hands on some whole leaf.

Regards,

Goshawk