Are you looking for specific varietals to grow, or solutions using purchased leaf?
Bob
Bob
Pure Tobacco Pipe Blends You Can Make
- Thread starter deluxestogie
- Start date
mwaller
Well-Known Member
Looking for varietals to grow. Preferably, something that can be air cured successfully. Thanks!
There are two Orientals that are regarded as "strong": Samsun (sometimes listed as "Black Sea Samsun") and Trabzon (sometimes listed as Trebisond). Both are available from Northwood Seeds: http://northwoodseeds.com/Seed List2.htm
My preference is to blend Orientals with Perique, to crank up the octane. Even a tiny amount of Perique brings about a change in the blend.
Bob
My preference is to blend Orientals with Perique, to crank up the octane. Even a tiny amount of Perique brings about a change in the blend.
Bob
mwaller
Well-Known Member
mwaller
Well-Known Member
Which do you think would make a stronger but more neutral flavored perique - Havana 142, or Florida Sumatra?
Probably Havana 142
Bob
Bob
mwaller
Well-Known Member
I took a peek at my Havana 142 and Florida Sumatra last night. Much of my Havana 142 is incredibly thin, and may not stand up to pressure curing. I have some upper stalk Florida Sumatra that looks nice a durable. Would this variety have any kick in perique form?
Thin leaf holds up just fine in making Perique. I save my FL Sumatra tips (after kilning) as small, nearly black cigar condiments. They add both flavor and nicotine.
Bob
Bob
Samsun Bright
This English Latakia blend is rich and warm, with only a modest 25% Latakia. It differs from most of my English blends by using WLT Samsun as its only Oriental.
Pictured above is my 46 year old Lloyds Oom Paul pipe, which sports a 2" bowl depth x 0.75", essentially two bowls of tobacco.
Samsun Bright
For this particular 1/2 pound batch, I used all WLT leaf, except for the home-pressed Colombian Garcia Perique (one of my richer Periques).
Bob
This English Latakia blend is rich and warm, with only a modest 25% Latakia. It differs from most of my English blends by using WLT Samsun as its only Oriental.
Pictured above is my 46 year old Lloyds Oom Paul pipe, which sports a 2" bowl depth x 0.75", essentially two bowls of tobacco.
Samsun Bright
- Lemon Virginia: 36%
- Virginia Red: 23%
- Samsun: 8%
- Latakia: 25%
- Perique: 8%
For this particular 1/2 pound batch, I used all WLT leaf, except for the home-pressed Colombian Garcia Perique (one of my richer Periques).
Bob
greenmonster714
Well-Known Member
Sounds like a nice blend Bob. I have all ingredients except the Latakia. Could fire cured be used as a substitute? That's about as close as I have right now. Thanks for sharing that recipe.
Fire-cured leaf gives a potent aroma to blends. I would suggest starting off with only a tiny bit (you'll easily taste it), to see if that's what you want.
Bob
alPol05
Well-Known Member
Today I opened two jars of tobacco. I prepared these blends about a month ago. One is a Warspur, and the other is a Rich Creek - both posted in this thread by deluxestogie.
When I mixed these two blends, I already had my blending tobaccos purchased from commercial websites. These are not "unmanufactured" tobaccos from WLT, so I am at a disadvantage a bit, but I worked with what I had on hand. When I tried these mixes, I knew it's going to be something good, so I decided to give them some time to meld.
What a delight I am experiencing today. It will be a long evening and a lot of smoke in my place. These are exactly the types of tobaccos that I learn to like in my short venture with a pipe smoking. So, thank you to deluxestogie for posting these recipes and all the info in this thread.
It is also a good time to make comments about this forum and specifically about this thread. Since November last year (this was when I started smoking pipe), I have seen many forums and read many different posts and blogs. Until I stumbled at this forum and this thread specifically, it was a rather frustrating experience. I was trying to find some interesting recipes for blending my tobaccos and learn principles of blending. The most important for me was and still is to learn how different types of tobacco interact with each other and what results can I expect from this interaction. My searches were mostly unsuccessful.
This thread is different. I read it, I think, 5 or 6 times and I still didn't internalize all treasures that are scattered here. The knowledge and experience offered here by so many are boggling my mind. Most of you who are pipe tobacco smokers, growers and processors most likely do not remember your early days. I can testify that it is difficult to deal with this subject for a novice. The terminology is difficult to grasp, and it appears that not much material is available in a written form. When it comes to principles of blending tobacco, it is a desert out there, at least in my experience so far.
Last night I read this thread for one more time, and I reach the point where Bob - deluxestogie explained how to mediate the acidity of Virginia with Perique. The bulb burst with a bright light in my head! This was exactly one of the principles that I was looking for. And there are many more treasures like that hidden here.
So, thank you all for your posts and information you share. I will enjoy the rest of the evening smoking my two new blends and reading some more of this thread!
When I mixed these two blends, I already had my blending tobaccos purchased from commercial websites. These are not "unmanufactured" tobaccos from WLT, so I am at a disadvantage a bit, but I worked with what I had on hand. When I tried these mixes, I knew it's going to be something good, so I decided to give them some time to meld.
What a delight I am experiencing today. It will be a long evening and a lot of smoke in my place. These are exactly the types of tobaccos that I learn to like in my short venture with a pipe smoking. So, thank you to deluxestogie for posting these recipes and all the info in this thread.
It is also a good time to make comments about this forum and specifically about this thread. Since November last year (this was when I started smoking pipe), I have seen many forums and read many different posts and blogs. Until I stumbled at this forum and this thread specifically, it was a rather frustrating experience. I was trying to find some interesting recipes for blending my tobaccos and learn principles of blending. The most important for me was and still is to learn how different types of tobacco interact with each other and what results can I expect from this interaction. My searches were mostly unsuccessful.
This thread is different. I read it, I think, 5 or 6 times and I still didn't internalize all treasures that are scattered here. The knowledge and experience offered here by so many are boggling my mind. Most of you who are pipe tobacco smokers, growers and processors most likely do not remember your early days. I can testify that it is difficult to deal with this subject for a novice. The terminology is difficult to grasp, and it appears that not much material is available in a written form. When it comes to principles of blending tobacco, it is a desert out there, at least in my experience so far.
Last night I read this thread for one more time, and I reach the point where Bob - deluxestogie explained how to mediate the acidity of Virginia with Perique. The bulb burst with a bright light in my head! This was exactly one of the principles that I was looking for. And there are many more treasures like that hidden here.
So, thank you all for your posts and information you share. I will enjoy the rest of the evening smoking my two new blends and reading some more of this thread!
I appreciate the kind comments.
Bob
Bob
Chris A
Well-Known Member
Excellent. Bob's Jewel of Macedonia has been my go to blend, though I've added a little more Latakia to taste. Try mixing the aromatics you've grown tired of with shredded cigar leaf scraps. For me at least, makes them much more interesting. Just a thought.
alPol05
Well-Known Member
At the beginning of the week, I mixed Jewel of Macedonia, Pearl of Shibam, and Smyrna Bright. I tried them all 2 days later and now I will wait for 2-3 weeks for them to meld a bit. Unfortunately, I will be in a bit of disadvantage for a while since I have a full bank of blending tobaccos already purchased from commercial sources. However, I am also waiting for delivery from WLT and will be mixing that tobacco with what I have in producing some new mixes.
As to aromatics, I am in a good (relatively) position here. Sometime in December, I realized that for me the taste and aroma of natural tobacco are much more exciting than tobacco with the added aroma of something else than tobacco. Really, why would I want to smoke tobacco that tests like chocolate? If I want chocolate, I can eat it and taste it that way. I want to taste and enjoy tobacco as a tobacco, not a chocolate tobacco! Although I do have some Lane's 1Q and RCA, but I think I can deal with that and incorporate most of it into some "temporary" blends so I can save that expense and use it. But that's about it for aromatics.
My most enlightening discovery about pipe smoking was (after smoking cigarettes for 50 years) the fact that there are different tobaccos that smell, teste, and can produce a large amount of pleasant aroma - all different. What a DISCOVERY! My next discovery was this forum and Bob's writings! He is a treasure for me and all of us!
All these blends sound amazing, especially if you enjoy orientals (I do in moderation) and latakia (I certainly don't). I am wholeheartedly a burleyphile who loves Virginia and perique condimentally (or as a duet). My favorite blend is Old Joe Krantz from C&D. I have gone through pounds of it and have several more pounds in the shoot. It'll only get me so far before I have to reorder another $100 (3 lb) package sometime this summer. My backup is Pegasus (contains no perique).
My question is, do any of you have a Burley/Virginia blend you'd be willing to share?
My question is, do any of you have a Burley/Virginia blend you'd be willing to share?
There is the old "drug store blend", Half&Half, which is half burley and half flue-cured--plus aromatic casing.
With just burley, any burley, you have multiple ingredients at your disposal:
I stuffed a hand (literally, a tied hand) of burley into a 1 quart Mason jar, sealed it, then processed it in a pressure cooker a year ago, which made Cavendish AND sterilized it. So it has been left soggy, in the sealed jar since then. Later today, I'll open it, shred some, and take some photos.
I also have a bag of shredded Perique made from burley.
Bob
With just burley, any burley, you have multiple ingredients at your disposal:
- straight burley
- toasted burley (in an oven)
- Maillard reaction at ~300°F
- caramelization at ~320°F
- Perique made from burley (pressure cure under liquid seal x 3 months)
- Cavendish made from burley (steamed or pressure cooked x 5-8 hours)
- burley press cake or press block (moisten and press x 2-4 weeks)
I stuffed a hand (literally, a tied hand) of burley into a 1 quart Mason jar, sealed it, then processed it in a pressure cooker a year ago, which made Cavendish AND sterilized it. So it has been left soggy, in the sealed jar since then. Later today, I'll open it, shred some, and take some photos.
I also have a bag of shredded Perique made from burley.
Bob
As promised, Harrow Velvet burley Cavendish: http://fairtradetobacco.com/threads...h-Pipe-Tobacco?p=144982&viewfull=1#post144982
Bob
Bob
This soft, smooth, bite-free English Blend is heavy on Red Virginia and relatively light on Latakia. The key to its smoothness is the addition of Perique, which in this case is my own Perique that is made from a mix of varieties. Using any other Perique (sorry, you'll have to do that) will require a little experimentation to get the Perique quantity just right. You just make up small batches of the blend lacking Perique, then try 4, 6, 10, 16% Perique, selecting the one you like best.
By going heavy on the Red, and light on the Lemon, there is less acidity overall, requiring less Perique to balance it.
The pouch aroma is about as close as I've come to duplicating Dunhill's famous Baby's Bottom blend.
Rosy Cheeks
- WLT Lemon Virginia: 15%
- WLT Red Virginia: 26%
- WLT Dark Air: 6%
- WLT Basma: 18%
- WLT Cyprian Latakia: 29%
- Perique: 6%
Bob
alPol05
Well-Known Member
Fist Package from WLT
Today I received my first package from WLT. There is Lemon Virginia - 1 lb and Samsun - 1 lb. I also asked for a sample of Virginia Red Tips and received that. However, there are more surprises: sample bag of Basma, a sample of Izmir, and a sample of Latakia.
I am thrilled to bits! Don C. did much more than I could expect. Thank you so much, Don!!!
Also, just above this post, Bob posted a recipe that I am thrilled about and now will be able to try with ingredients from WLT except Perique.
It will be an interesting evening.
Thanks,
Today I received my first package from WLT. There is Lemon Virginia - 1 lb and Samsun - 1 lb. I also asked for a sample of Virginia Red Tips and received that. However, there are more surprises: sample bag of Basma, a sample of Izmir, and a sample of Latakia.
I am thrilled to bits! Don C. did much more than I could expect. Thank you so much, Don!!!
Also, just above this post, Bob posted a recipe that I am thrilled about and now will be able to try with ingredients from WLT except Perique.
It will be an interesting evening.
Thanks,
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