Perique
- Thread starter BigBonner
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Hi Larry,
Welcome aboard ! I tried three different methods and the best was using a lard press. I made a false bottom then stuffed it with color cured Brown Leaf Burley. Stuff as much as you can, then crank it down. I probably did this about 15 times and ended up with about 10 lbs. in a one gallon press. let it ferment for a year and it came out smelling like dried peaches. If you want to do a large scale production, I'll come down and help you. I like the barrel and levered press design I posted on HTGT, but my barrel wasn't tight enough and I couldn't get enough leverage for the size of the barrel.
I think using some old bourbon barrels with some 10" x 10" oak timbers for making the levered press would work fine for making perique. The trick to making perique is to start the process before the mid rib has dried. Color cure the leaf to the green stem stage and then press.
Welcome aboard ! I tried three different methods and the best was using a lard press. I made a false bottom then stuffed it with color cured Brown Leaf Burley. Stuff as much as you can, then crank it down. I probably did this about 15 times and ended up with about 10 lbs. in a one gallon press. let it ferment for a year and it came out smelling like dried peaches. If you want to do a large scale production, I'll come down and help you. I like the barrel and levered press design I posted on HTGT, but my barrel wasn't tight enough and I couldn't get enough leverage for the size of the barrel.
I think using some old bourbon barrels with some 10" x 10" oak timbers for making the levered press would work fine for making perique. The trick to making perique is to start the process before the mid rib has dried. Color cure the leaf to the green stem stage and then press.
Hey guys, I used a 20 ton shop press and pressed the leaf into a stainless steel box that I had on hand. I used a piece of sassafras for the lid. I started using mine after 3 months.. It smelled good and fruity.
Randy B
Larry.. I have about a dozen really small Perique plants I can send you if you want. They are very small, but you should still be able to get a crop out of them.. especially down south
Randy B
Larry.. I have about a dozen really small Perique plants I can send you if you want. They are very small, but you should still be able to get a crop out of them.. especially down south
I bought two whisky barrels a month ago with plans to fill them with my burley . I can buy more if I need them they are suposedly fresh dumped .
Did you destem them or whole leaf ?
A month ago I pressed a little between two 2x6 's and laid them on the side of one barrels laying down and boy does that stuff smell good just laying on the side of the barrel .
I can put them under pressure under a barn cross tie .
See if you can remake the post from That other site .
Larry
Larry, Check your email. Randy B
I used all leaf positions and I did destem it, but you actually shouldn't do that. You need the sap in the green stem to make the juice the leaf ferments in. I wet my leaf before I pressed it, but that just adds a step and increases the risk of losing some leaf to mold while it's hanging waiting for the midrib to dry.
One quick comment on the variety used for making true Perique. Back in the early 1800's, the farmers brought Red Burley with them to Louisianan and that is what they've been using ever since. Perique is a process, not a variety. Perique could be made with many different varieties and it will all be different, but probably only to a slight degree with Burley's and moreso with Orientals.
One quick comment on the variety used for making true Perique. Back in the early 1800's, the farmers brought Red Burley with them to Louisianan and that is what they've been using ever since. Perique is a process, not a variety. Perique could be made with many different varieties and it will all be different, but probably only to a slight degree with Burley's and moreso with Orientals.
You might be on to something there. As long as the moisture can get in between each leave before pressing, I believe you can make a perique type tobacco from your Burley. Any leaf that is compressed dry will stay dry and won't ferment. When they make true Perique, the leaf is put into the barrels in hands and every week or two, the barrels are opened and the leaf is aerated, rotated and put back into the barrels and pressed again.
For a true "barrel" (58 gallons), 7 tons of live weight is applied to the leaf. Live weight is important because the barrel breathes (expands and contracts) with the changes in barometric pressure and temperature. A huge lever with a dead weight on the end would act as a live weight, but I've seen house jacks used under timbers too. The house jack method wouldn't be quite as accurate, but it seems to work.
For a true "barrel" (58 gallons), 7 tons of live weight is applied to the leaf. Live weight is important because the barrel breathes (expands and contracts) with the changes in barometric pressure and temperature. A huge lever with a dead weight on the end would act as a live weight, but I've seen house jacks used under timbers too. The house jack method wouldn't be quite as accurate, but it seems to work.
I did a batch last year. I used the previous year's cured Havana leaf and it came out nice and fruity smelling. So yeah, I'd say your 2010 Burley crop would work fine.
I would like to add some confusion to the question of what variety of tobacco is Perique, as grown in St. James Parrish?
My comments are based on the Perique that I have grown with seed purchased from New Hope Seed. My assumption is that NHS obtained their original seed from GRIN, though they may have traveled to New Orleans (from south-western TN) to obtain it.
There has been some discussion about the lineage of the so called Perique variety of tobacco. GRIN classes Perique as an Oriental, which it surely is not. Others have suggested that it is derived from a variety of Burley.
It is my suspicion that it is derived from a Virginia flue-cured variety. ER Billings, in his history of tobacco, written in 1875, supports this,
There is no question that air-cured Perique is a very different product, when compared to any air-cured Virginia. Perique is stronger, darker, gummier, and requires more aggressive fermentation in a kiln, or the ultimate fermentation under high pressure. Below, are photos of the same plants, taken at the same time, but from different angles. The two bagged plants in the foreground are Perique to the left, and Hickory Pryor (a flue-cured variety) to the right. I have stood (and squatted and sat) beside them for a total of about an hour, over several occasions, searching for a clear cut distinction. There is none. The Perique is perhaps a shade darker, and its leaves may be a shaver narrower, but I can say the same in comparing two different plants of Hickory Pryor. In the back-lit image, you can see that the bud head of the Hickory Pryor is a bit more open than that of the Perique.
In germination, the Perique was much stronger than the Hickory Pryor. Perique seedlings--this year at least--have been among my best survivors and best growers. With the Hickory Pryor, I barely managed 9 healthy seedlings, which shrank to a meager 4 viable transplants.
So, at the beginning, they are easily distinguished from one another, as they are after harvest. But the growing plants are difficult to tell apart.
If anyone has photos of their own Perique that appear different, please post them.
NOTE for Bigbonner: In the photos of the Perique presses in St. James Parrish, every 10 or so feet of barn beam length (against which the jacks are used) there is a pair of inch-thick steel rods attached to a similarly heavy beam beneath the floor, to prevent the jacks from simply lifting the barn. That's a pair of rods on either side of every pair of whiskey barrels. With only two barrels, you would still have as much as 14,000 pounds of lift against your barn beam.
Here's a good shot of that from the Louisiana Digital Library:
http://louisdl.louislibraries.org/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/LHP&CISOPTR=6561&CISOBOX=1&REC=13
Bob
My comments are based on the Perique that I have grown with seed purchased from New Hope Seed. My assumption is that NHS obtained their original seed from GRIN, though they may have traveled to New Orleans (from south-western TN) to obtain it.
There has been some discussion about the lineage of the so called Perique variety of tobacco. GRIN classes Perique as an Oriental, which it surely is not. Others have suggested that it is derived from a variety of Burley.
It is my suspicion that it is derived from a Virginia flue-cured variety. ER Billings, in his history of tobacco, written in 1875, supports this,
...but his scholarship is not always of the highest standards, and so remains suspect.
There is no question that air-cured Perique is a very different product, when compared to any air-cured Virginia. Perique is stronger, darker, gummier, and requires more aggressive fermentation in a kiln, or the ultimate fermentation under high pressure. Below, are photos of the same plants, taken at the same time, but from different angles. The two bagged plants in the foreground are Perique to the left, and Hickory Pryor (a flue-cured variety) to the right. I have stood (and squatted and sat) beside them for a total of about an hour, over several occasions, searching for a clear cut distinction. There is none. The Perique is perhaps a shade darker, and its leaves may be a shaver narrower, but I can say the same in comparing two different plants of Hickory Pryor. In the back-lit image, you can see that the bud head of the Hickory Pryor is a bit more open than that of the Perique.
In germination, the Perique was much stronger than the Hickory Pryor. Perique seedlings--this year at least--have been among my best survivors and best growers. With the Hickory Pryor, I barely managed 9 healthy seedlings, which shrank to a meager 4 viable transplants.
So, at the beginning, they are easily distinguished from one another, as they are after harvest. But the growing plants are difficult to tell apart.
If anyone has photos of their own Perique that appear different, please post them.
NOTE for Bigbonner: In the photos of the Perique presses in St. James Parrish, every 10 or so feet of barn beam length (against which the jacks are used) there is a pair of inch-thick steel rods attached to a similarly heavy beam beneath the floor, to prevent the jacks from simply lifting the barn. That's a pair of rods on either side of every pair of whiskey barrels. With only two barrels, you would still have as much as 14,000 pounds of lift against your barn beam.
Here's a good shot of that from the Louisiana Digital Library:
http://louisdl.louislibraries.org/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/LHP&CISOPTR=6561&CISOBOX=1&REC=13
Bob
None of your plants look like the Perique I've ever grown (2 varieties). We're going to have to get some plants from St. James Parish. Probably the only way of knowing the actual variety grown is to contact the Louisiana State University parish extension service.
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="1" width="600"><tbody><tr><td class="normal">ST. JAMES PARISH, Convent</td><td class="phone">562-2320</td></tr> <tr><td class="normal">Kenneth J. Guidry, County Agent</td><td class="phone">FAX 562-2430</td></tr></tbody></table>
I'll call him Monday.
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="1" width="600"><tbody><tr><td class="normal">ST. JAMES PARISH, Convent</td><td class="phone">562-2320</td></tr> <tr><td class="normal">Kenneth J. Guidry, County Agent</td><td class="phone">FAX 562-2430</td></tr></tbody></table>
I'll call him Monday.
I just had an Epiphany, One of the seeds I got from the farm was labeled "Martin Burley". I grew it 3 years ago and I described it as an uncooperative Burley (because of all of the suckers) but with great flavor.
I wonder if there is a remote possibility this is the Perique variety. I'll have to grow it again next year and compare it to the seeds/plants I get from St. James.
I wonder if there is a remote possibility this is the Perique variety. I'll have to grow it again next year and compare it to the seeds/plants I get from St. James.
I have had so many little things to do here I haven't had time to build a press for my whiskey barrels . Here is my picture of the perique being pressed .
I noticed there is a whole lot more bands around the perique barrels than on the whiskey barrels . This is probably for the excess pressure .
I noticed there is a whole lot more bands around the perique barrels than on the whiskey barrels . This is probably for the excess pressure .
And to add to the confusion, my Perique looks just like Bob's. Then again, I also bought my seeds from New Hope ( about 3 years ago).
I discovered this on Lehmans.com, which is a site filled with non-electric gadgets, stocked for the Amish community.
http://www.lehmans.com/store/Kitche...t_Chop__x2D_Rite__x3A__Our_Best_Stuffer___35#
It looks like the current version of FmGrowit's antique used to make Perique. With FmGrowit's mods to the bottom of the press, it seems to be the ideal device for the job. Trouble is, it goes for $589, plus shipping (cast iron!).
Bob
http://www.lehmans.com/store/Kitche...t_Chop__x2D_Rite__x3A__Our_Best_Stuffer___35#
It looks like the current version of FmGrowit's antique used to make Perique. With FmGrowit's mods to the bottom of the press, it seems to be the ideal device for the job. Trouble is, it goes for $589, plus shipping (cast iron!).
Bob
Here's a one gallon
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vtg-2-CLASS...981?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27bdd459c5
Here's a 2 gal....looks pretty nice for $50
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-lar.../140530788247?pt=Folk_Art&hash=item20b849a797
Real nice one with nice graphics
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1897-CAST-I...885?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item45fcadb4dd
...and they go over $100 pretty fast from there.
The nice thing about these is, when you're done making your lifetime supply (one batch), you can always put it in the new Classified forum here...(Well, it's not here yet, but by the time you're ready to resell, it will be.)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vtg-2-CLASS...981?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27bdd459c5
Here's a 2 gal....looks pretty nice for $50
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-lar.../140530788247?pt=Folk_Art&hash=item20b849a797
Real nice one with nice graphics
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1897-CAST-I...885?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item45fcadb4dd
...and they go over $100 pretty fast from there.
The nice thing about these is, when you're done making your lifetime supply (one batch), you can always put it in the new Classified forum here...(Well, it's not here yet, but by the time you're ready to resell, it will be.)
Here is a picture of my set up . It may need a little tweeking here and there . I can apply alot of pressure with the jack . The jack is listed to lift 7000 LBS . I have two I can put one on each side .
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