Making Latakia at Home

[docpierce]

Today I collected a sack full of Eucalyptus shag bark in the parking lot at work. I'll report back.
Also the green Bay Laurel boughs are smelling really nice. Lots of white billowing smoke. Not like food but like sweet cinnamon( sort of). I have been bunching a ball of dead pine needles anset it on fire. Then smother the flames with a bunch of green bay leaves or rosemary.

 

[docpierce]

I'm including some thick Valley Oak bark in each batch. I'm not getting fatigued from the smoking process yet. I'm having fun with the collecting and such. Maybe because I'm not having to disassemble my whole smoker every time I add wood. My setup is very simple and seems to work pretty well. Also I put on a sweatshirt when I go out to load it. That helps keep the campfire smell on my clothes to a minimum.

 

[GreenDragon]

Well, I broke down and walked into the woods and grabbed some “Texas Cedar” aka Juniper. Which, coincidentally, smells/tastes like this!



It’s made with the local Juniper. I could probably just spritz this on the finished leaf and reduce my poison ivy exposure.

The rest of the evening’s wood bill is as follows: cypress, piñon, alder, and a sprinkle of oak (felt it needed a little umph).



Here’s how it looks after 3 sessions. Pic taken just before firing up for tonight’s run. I spray the leaf down first to help form a pellicle to facilitate smoke stickage.



And, of course, you should smoke tobacco without smoking tobacco. So I’m burning a home roll. Not sure the blend as I forgot to label a batch of stix, but it’s a mild and creamy and yummy. Also, I can tell from the size it was the last roll of the session just from the size (the biggest scraps go in)!

 

[GreenDragon]

Quick update: definitely like the Juniper. Has more of that pine+soapy essence that I associate with Latakia.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

Bob,
Why are you doing so many firings? I know that the real deal involves a very long smoke, but you ought to know what it tastes like by now.

 

[GreenDragon]

Bob,
Why are you doing so many firings? I know that the real deal involves a very long smoke, but you ought to know what it tastes like by now.

I gave a leaf a sniff tonight while loading the smoker up. Surprisingly very little odor on the leaf compared to the general odor of the smoker. I plan on doing a session every night this week and then load a pipe this weekend to taste test.

 

[deluxestogie]

I have not yet queued in the best firing materials. Besides, it needs to come out black, black, black. Actually black. During my previous attempt, it took 2-3 firings a day for 5 or 6 weeks to become black.

Keep in mind that I don't know yet quite what I'm doing here. It's just carefully scheduled flailing.

With different participants using different mixtures of firing materials, we can perhaps answer the question of how much any specific ones matter.

Bob

EDIT: I sure wish I had about 10 pounds of dried rosemary stems.

 

[GreenDragon]

Oops just noticed this was addressed to Bob. Apologies!

Steve

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

Oops just noticed this was addressed to Bob. Apologies!

Steve

You actually partially answered the question.

 

[docpierce]

Well, I broke down and walked into the woods and grabbed some “Texas Cedar” aka Juniper. Which, coincidentally, smells/tastes like this!

View attachment 28367

It’s made with the local Juniper. I could probably just spritz this on the finished leaf and reduce my poison ivy exposure.

The rest of the evening’s wood bill is as follows: cypress, piñon, alder, and a sprinkle of oak (felt it needed a little umph).

View attachment 28364

Here’s how it looks after 3 sessions. Pic taken just before firing up for tonight’s run. I spray the leaf down first to help form a pellicle to facilitate smoke stickage.

View attachment 28365

And, of course, you should smoke tobacco without smoking tobacco. So I’m burning a home roll. Not sure the blend as I forgot to label a batch of stix, but it’s a mild and creamy and yummy. Also, I can tell from the size it was the last roll of the session just from the size (the biggest scraps go in)!

View attachment 28366

When I look at the picture of your smoked leaves- that's pretty much what mine look like. On a side note, we are having our 1st cool rain of the season, so I was scrambling to bring my air curing leaves inside the shop. I did manage to light the smoker tonight.

 

[GreenDragon]

It’s been over 70 days since I’ve had rain and 50 days of 100F+ weather. I’m so ready for fall. The only time I cry is when I open the electric bill.

 

[deluxestogie]

Maybe you'll get lucky, and Houston will share some of the rainfall from Imelda.

Bob

 

[docpierce]

Day 14 of the firing. Burning pine needles, oak bark, euk. bark and apple wood.
Also green: olive branches, rosemary, lemon balm, lavender, quince, Calif bay laurel. honey suckle, etc.

 

[Death76]

Приветствую!
Латакию, которую я курил, я купил как «Сирийская Латакия из C & D», по крайней мере, продавец так сказал!
Эта «сирийская латакия» имела чистый запах березовой смолы и немного хвойного запаха.
Продавец сказал, что так должно быть в оригинальной латакии.
Мне не с чем сравнивать (только один продавец в Украине имеет чистую Латакию), но я не уверен, как должна пахнуть настоящая Латакия!
Так она должна пахнуть ???
Буду очень признателен за ответ!
С уважением, Николай.

 

[deluxestogie]

Greetings!
I bought the Latakia that I smoked as Syrian Latakia from C&D, at least the seller said so!
This "Syrian Latakia" had a clean smell of birch resin and a little pine smell.
The seller said that it should be so in the original latakia.
I have nothing to compare with (only one seller in Ukraine has pure Latakia), but I'm not sure how the real Latakia should smell!
So should she smell ???
I would really appreciate an answer!
With respect, Nicholai.

This is once again in Cyrilic, and required me to translate it. Please solve this issue.

Bob

 

[Death76]

Thanks Bob!
I beg your pardon!
This happens automatically when I send my message.
I probably know how to do it.
I need to turn off the website translator every time I want to write something.

 

[Death76]

I repeat my question.
Does the real Syrian Latakia smell of birch tar and conifer?
Or did I buy a fake, not tobacco from Cornell & Diehl?
Thank you

 

[deluxestogie]

It has been years since I smelled verifiable, Syrian Latakia, and I wasn't considering how it was made back then. Another issue is that Syrian Latakia used different firing woods in different years, as various sources were exhausted. So their Latakia changed over time. Both Syrian and Cyprian Latakia have a conifer aroma. I'm afraid I'm not familiar with the smell of birch tar.

I have never seen "fake" Latakia being sold. All commercial pipe tobacco, even the individual blending varieties, contain added humectant/anti-fungal, like propyleneglycol (PG). But the aroma should remain unaffected by that.

Bob

 

[CobGuy]

I repeat my question.
Does the real Syrian Latakia smell of birch tar and conifer?
Or did I buy a fake, not tobacco from Cornell & Diehl?
Thank you

If it was a sealed container from C&D then it's the real thing ... they don't sell any counterfeits.
Birch and Conifer are fairly apt descriptions along with an incense quality.

 

[Death76]

[QUOTE = "docpierce, post: 163217, member: 210703672"]
привіт ніколай. Ласкаво просимо на FTT. Латакія повинна дуже пахнути. Як сосновий ліс після пожежі. Є й інші менші аромати. Церковний пахощ Палена деревної смоли. Для нашего эксперимента, в котором есть все, что нужно, - греческого и молодого человека. Золотая листва, темнее, навсегда.
[/ QUOTE]
Дякую!(Thank!)


Thank you all for the answers.
I also make Latakia, and it is not at all like the one I bought. I checked my order and realized that I was wrong. It was Cypriot Latakia ...
For about 14 days I have been smoking several stems of Xanthy and Virginia Brightleaf (there are no other varieties yet). I use larch wood, a bit of oak and beech, I also add a stem of tobacco, stepsons and a dry central vein from the leaves.
It doesn't look very much like Latakia, no worse! and maybe better! Very sweet and aromatic. And this is after only 14 days of smoking.
For the experiment, I hung a green bush Virginia Brightleaf, I want to see what comes of it ...