generallynonsensical
New Member
Hey everyone. I feel like I'm doing the A/S/L stuff like on IRC back in the day. 
The information here is incredible and I'm very appreciative of the effort put in by the community to make this place what it is. There's even free books!
I'm trying to figure out processing the whole leaf I buy from WLT. I'm primarily looking to make personal batches of dip/snuff/snus and pipe blends. I'm pretty basic so I'm not looking for nuanced this and hints of that. I just want tobacco that isn't sour/bitter. I'm not currently a smoker. I smoked a pack and a half a day for about 25 years but have been off the darts for 10 years now. I occasionally dip. Now with a BIG birthday coming up, I'm going to start using the pipe I've had for 3 decades. Because f*** it, right?
I have to work with what I have on hand as I don't think I can place another order for a bit. Currently I have:
I feel like crumble cake is where I have to go with the pipe tobacco. But I have to research if shag is going to work or if I need to cut a wider ribbon. Or, if I can press the shag with the wider-cut ribbon. Or just shred it all to shag and press. I feel the last option would just end up with a cake of dust. With the 'light' tobaccos all shredded into shag, I have to try something!
I've found that just taking a bit of burley and tucking it in my gums is actually delicious. The perique nearly knocked my head off when I chewed a stem. The dark air cured is sour as heck but damn, the flavour is through the roof.
I made some sodium carbonate and plan on adding that to the cook when it's time, along with some glycol. Gotta have that salt hit! I'm trying to figure out if I should ferment the tobacco flour before I cook the dip/snus. I'm sure the recipe books and all the other texts will answer that once I get time to read them.
I'm experimenting with blends and trying to figure out how I can make a fermentation box of some sort for mason jars full of blends. It's cold here and out in the sun just isn't an option most of the time. I have a pressure cooker and a fairly large crock pot but I'd be hung by the wife if I tried to leave either one of those on overnight, let alone long term. I have to also learn about the alkaloids and how to properly manage them. I have a heat sealer, a vacuum sealer, and lots of patience. I'm sure I'll find answers wandering around the forums and reading the sacred texts.
Thanks for having me. Cheers!
The information here is incredible and I'm very appreciative of the effort put in by the community to make this place what it is. There's even free books!
I'm trying to figure out processing the whole leaf I buy from WLT. I'm primarily looking to make personal batches of dip/snuff/snus and pipe blends. I'm pretty basic so I'm not looking for nuanced this and hints of that. I just want tobacco that isn't sour/bitter. I'm not currently a smoker. I smoked a pack and a half a day for about 25 years but have been off the darts for 10 years now. I occasionally dip. Now with a BIG birthday coming up, I'm going to start using the pipe I've had for 3 decades. Because f*** it, right?
I have to work with what I have on hand as I don't think I can place another order for a bit. Currently I have:
- Flue Cured Virginia Bright Leaf,
- Virginia Lemon,
- Kentucky Burley Red Tips,
- Flue Cured Virginia Red Leaf,
- Dark Air Cured,
- Kentucky Burley, and
- St. James Perique
- Shredded some tobacco with a hand-cranked shredder at 1mm (probably a mistake),
- Cut some leafs into 1 cm ribbons,
- Made a casing and applied to the shag and ribbons (Pinapple juice, honey, citric acid, water),
- Made a press box using a cigar box, plexiglass and a 6" C-Clamp,
- Made tobacco flour for the snus/snuff, and
- De-ribbed the rest of the tobacco I have and stored it.
I feel like crumble cake is where I have to go with the pipe tobacco. But I have to research if shag is going to work or if I need to cut a wider ribbon. Or, if I can press the shag with the wider-cut ribbon. Or just shred it all to shag and press. I feel the last option would just end up with a cake of dust. With the 'light' tobaccos all shredded into shag, I have to try something!
I've found that just taking a bit of burley and tucking it in my gums is actually delicious. The perique nearly knocked my head off when I chewed a stem. The dark air cured is sour as heck but damn, the flavour is through the roof.
I made some sodium carbonate and plan on adding that to the cook when it's time, along with some glycol. Gotta have that salt hit! I'm trying to figure out if I should ferment the tobacco flour before I cook the dip/snus. I'm sure the recipe books and all the other texts will answer that once I get time to read them.
I'm experimenting with blends and trying to figure out how I can make a fermentation box of some sort for mason jars full of blends. It's cold here and out in the sun just isn't an option most of the time. I have a pressure cooker and a fairly large crock pot but I'd be hung by the wife if I tried to leave either one of those on overnight, let alone long term. I have to also learn about the alkaloids and how to properly manage them. I have a heat sealer, a vacuum sealer, and lots of patience. I'm sure I'll find answers wandering around the forums and reading the sacred texts.
Thanks for having me. Cheers!
