Tobacco in Finnmark, North Norway

[Mikko]

Last year was my first serious season growing tobacco here in northern Norway, almost 69°N. My goal was simple: to find out if it was possible to grow high-quality pipe tobacco this far north.

I mainly grew Virginia tobacco. The plants started their season on a covered veranda that acted almost like a greenhouse before being transplanted into large fabric grow bags outdoors. Despite the short growing season, the plants produced surprisingly large leaves.

After harvest, I yellowed the leaves, air-cured them, experimented with fermentation and eventually pressed my first tobacco plugs. Some of the tobacco was sliced into flakes, while some was rubbed out into loose ribbon cut. I also experimented with different natural flavourings and aging methods.

The first season gave me enough tobacco to experiment with several different batches, plugs and blends. It also gave me a much better understanding of the entire process—from seed to finished pipe tobacco.

This year I’ve taken the project a step further.

Instead of growing only Virginia, I’m comparing seven different tobacco varieties under the same conditions:

• Virginia Gold
• Burley
• Virginia Goose Creek Red
• Catterton
• Adonis
• Tofta
• SSBM

The goal this season is to compare growth, leaf quality and smoking characteristics, while continuing to improve my curing, fermentation and plug-making process.

Pictures is from last season and production

 

[JukkaPekka]

Last year was my first serious season growing tobacco here in northern Norway, almost 69°N. My goal was simple: to find out if it was possible to grow high-quality pipe tobacco this far north.

I mainly grew Virginia tobacco. The plants started their season on a covered veranda that acted almost like a greenhouse before being transplanted into large fabric grow bags outdoors. Despite the short growing season, the plants produced surprisingly large leaves.

After harvest, I yellowed the leaves, air-cured them, experimented with fermentation and eventually pressed my first tobacco plugs. Some of the tobacco was sliced into flakes, while some was rubbed out into loose ribbon cut. I also experimented with different natural flavourings and aging methods.

The first season gave me enough tobacco to experiment with several different batches, plugs and blends. It also gave me a much better understanding of the entire process—from seed to finished pipe tobacco.

This year I’ve taken the project a step further.

Instead of growing only Virginia, I’m comparing seven different tobacco varieties under the same conditions:

• Virginia Gold
• Burley
• Virginia Goose Creek Red
• Catterton
• Adonis
• Tofta
• SSBM

The goal this season is to compare growth, leaf quality and smoking characteristics, while continuing to improve my curing, fermentation and plug-making process.

Pictures is from last season and production

Superb looking plugs and tin art!
Please tell us how did you fermented the tobacco and how did you make the plugs?
I was hoping to do something similar if I managed to grow, color cure and ferment my tobacco this year.

 

[PvtPublic]

Those are some beautiful plugs! What did you use to make them?

 

[Mikko]

Superb looking plugs and tin art!
Please tell us how did you fermented the tobacco and how did you make the plugs?
I was hoping to do something similar if I managed to grow, color cure and ferment my tobacco this year.

I built a simple wooden press with a removable bottom that could easily be unscrewed. The inside was lined with baking paper, and I filled it with coarsely cut tobacco.


I also made a wooden pressing block that fit the mold perfectly. Using screw clamps, I compressed the tobacco as tightly as I could by hand.


The wooden press was then placed inside a heated plastic container and kept at around 40°C (104°F) for about 12 hours. After that, I removed the press and pushed the plug out of the mold.


The finished plug was wrapped in baking paper, vacuum sealed, and returned to the heated container for another 6 days at approximately 40–45°C (104–113°F) before I opened it.


I probably added a little too much moisture before pressing, which resulted in a very dense plug. On the other hand, it holds its shape extremely well.

Posting pictures of the frame later.

 

[Mikko]

Before fermentation, I rehydrated the tobacco to make it pliable and ensure a more even fermentation.

I then fermented the tobacco in sealed plastic containers at approximately 38°C (100°F) for about four weeks.

The containers were stacked on the upper bench in my sauna. I used a small electric heater with a temperature controller and a temperature probe placed inside one of the containers to maintain a stable fermentation temperature.