Livewithkindness
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Does anyone know a web site or book that explains each strain of tobacco like taste sweet nonsweet full flavor nic content those kind of things . Thank you John
Information about tobacco
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I don't think there is a book per say but there are plenty of descriptions from the seed companies that sell tobacco seed. The problem is, they all say the same thing, usually word for word. Then you have the problem of everyone's personal preference. What I like, you might find quite lame or maybe even too strong.
Tobacco is distinct due to where and how it is grown. This means that even if you found a tobacco that you liked. You would then be bound to buying it from that source because trying to grow it yourself would yield different results.
Some folks have nailed down some rough suggestions depending on what you want to use the tobacco for.
In my case I want a full flavor cigarette and ma shooting for a Marlboro or Camel flavor. I say Marlboro my son says Camel. Kids!
It was usggested that I grow the following 4 varieties and see how close I get.
Monte Calm Yellow, Yellow Twist Bud, Virginia Bright Leaf, and Bursa.
Now keep in mind that was just a place to start and it is expected I will adjust from there as needed.
At this time the results are as follows.
Monte Calm Yellow. Ripens fast which is important to me. and second best producer as far as volume. so far a mild almost tasteless smoke. I either need to stalk harvest rather than prime or get a string burly to mix with it to give it some kick. I am hoping that age will give it more flavor.
Yellow twist bud. The number one producer, ripens quit a bit later and has the same flavor issues as MCY. I am really thinking prime harvesting is not the way to go with cigarette tobacco.
Bursa, very small yield, lots of tiny leaves to deal with. No report on flavor at this time. this one is on the back burner as to weather we will grow it again. I will hold off final decisions pending taste tests.
Virginia Bright leaf. the poorest producer for us and our methods. I am not trashing VBL it simply does not work for us. I will not be using it again. It simply will not grow well in a bucket and I have to grow in buckets.
I am still far from done with collecting data from year one alone and facing making choices concerning year two. As you can see the issue of what is a good tobacco is complicated and your results would be different than mine growing the exact same varieties.
Some folks have nailed down some rough suggestions depending on what you want to use the tobacco for.
In my case I want a full flavor cigarette and ma shooting for a Marlboro or Camel flavor. I say Marlboro my son says Camel. Kids!
It was usggested that I grow the following 4 varieties and see how close I get.
Monte Calm Yellow, Yellow Twist Bud, Virginia Bright Leaf, and Bursa.
Now keep in mind that was just a place to start and it is expected I will adjust from there as needed.
At this time the results are as follows.
Monte Calm Yellow. Ripens fast which is important to me. and second best producer as far as volume. so far a mild almost tasteless smoke. I either need to stalk harvest rather than prime or get a string burly to mix with it to give it some kick. I am hoping that age will give it more flavor.
Yellow twist bud. The number one producer, ripens quit a bit later and has the same flavor issues as MCY. I am really thinking prime harvesting is not the way to go with cigarette tobacco.
Bursa, very small yield, lots of tiny leaves to deal with. No report on flavor at this time. this one is on the back burner as to weather we will grow it again. I will hold off final decisions pending taste tests.
Virginia Bright leaf. the poorest producer for us and our methods. I am not trashing VBL it simply does not work for us. I will not be using it again. It simply will not grow well in a bucket and I have to grow in buckets.
I am still far from done with collecting data from year one alone and facing making choices concerning year two. As you can see the issue of what is a good tobacco is complicated and your results would be different than mine growing the exact same varieties.
^^^ good post,,, im having the same issues,,,
and am experimenting with whole stalk harvesting '' right now''
The GRIN database is pretty good for some stuff like nicotine and sucroester content, but the work on identifying the chemical and physical make-up of the different varieties stopped (in earnest) in 1976. Luckily, many heirloom varieties were tested by at least two and in some cases, three different Universities. Most data compiled after 1976 is primarily related to physical traits.
This is not only a tricky question to ask, but it's even trickier to answer, but here goes...Do you know what characteristics you're looking for in a tobacco blend? It's tricky because it's hard to know what you're looking for until you've tried some unprocessed tobacco. I can tell you...most heirloom varieties have very distinctly different flavors and body. I have limited experience with hybrids, but what I have tried have been rather neutral/bland, nondescript and similar in flavor to each other. This isn't necessarily a bad thing especially if you have a rather dominating variety your blending with.
If you give us some idea of what you're looking for, we can most likely make some recommendations...no sense in reinventing the wheel...many of us here have already done that.
I have the hardest time describing what I like about different strains. There is smell of smoke that is exhaled, smell of the cherry, taste, taste as it goes out your nose and smell as you exhale while breathing some in thru your nose. Then there is the feel from all those steps. I made some that I just love but can't express just what it is is. I'd need a cigar equivalent of a wine taster.
I agree with smokesahoy, the taste could be different to different folks. I do have some varieties that I stalked and primed, just to try to tell the difference. I also was keeping notes with weeks after topping to determine differences. Where is a taster when you need them?? lol
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BarG
Founding Member
Send me..... send me......I'm over here 
Mass taste testing could be very helpful. So not to influence another tester's review, a PM with the opinions could be sent to the grower. Once all reviews are received, the grower could post all of them at one time.
I would like to share my results from stalk curing and priming. I had only one variety Virginia Gold to test and all leaf has only been air cured for three and a half months. This week I processed four leafs of each, the primed leaf is very mild almost tasteless and still has a tea smell. The stalked leaf is very strong and has a good tobacco smell. Blending the two has made a decent cigarette. Will continue to let air dry and taste test at six months and one year. Hard to belive the difference in the in the two curing methods.
I stalk cured and primed VA Gold this year ( as well as about 14 other varieties). After being in the kiln for 4 weeks no one can tell the difference in the two curing methods.
That's really surprising, but very good to know. Stalk curing is a hell of a lot easier as long as you have the space for all the plants. I'm going to have to start working on my walk in kiln soon.
How many pounds of tobacco can be cured in a refrigerator size kiln at one time? Also will kiln cured tobacco ever reach the potential of flue cured tobacco? It seems a kiln will be my next project and there is plenty of info on this site.
Livewithkindness
Active Member
I really don't know yet what I'm looking for that's why I want to grow about 30 to 50 plants of each kind I can get the seeds for . I am trying for a very mild sweet full tobacco flavor with kind of low nic levels . If anyone has bought pipe tobacco in pound packages I guess it would be closest to OHM yellow Turkish with a little more mild tobacco flavor and just a small amount more of sweetness
I could be wrong but I thought the sweetness in pipe tobacco was from aging it with various scents
Judging be the description, I'm pretty sure the "pipe" tobacco he's referring to is the RYO cigarette tobacco disguised with a "Pipe tobacco" label.
For a sweet light cigarette tobacco, you'll have to blend several types and varieties. All cigarette tobacco is a blend of at least three types of tobacco. Flue cured is probably the largest percentage followed by Burley and finally Oriental. Along with these three types, there will be varying amounts of different stalk positions in the blend. So a single blend can contain a minimum of nine different types, varieties and grades.
Home growers who require Flue cured tobacco for their cigarettes will have to learn how to transform their aging kilns into flue cure chambers. Merely growing a Flue Cure type will not yield a Flue cured tobacco.
For a sweet light cigarette tobacco, you'll have to blend several types and varieties. All cigarette tobacco is a blend of at least three types of tobacco. Flue cured is probably the largest percentage followed by Burley and finally Oriental. Along with these three types, there will be varying amounts of different stalk positions in the blend. So a single blend can contain a minimum of nine different types, varieties and grades.
Home growers who require Flue cured tobacco for their cigarettes will have to learn how to transform their aging kilns into flue cure chambers. Merely growing a Flue Cure type will not yield a Flue cured tobacco.
I wonder if this is still true today. With 40% of cigarette tobacco being "filler" i.e. stems, stalks and paper and the addition of hundreds of chemicals it would seem to me that big tobacco has abandoned the traditional ways for obtaining "taste" with the new modern ways of chemistry.
Livewithkindness
Active Member
Yea I was talking about the ryo cigarette tobacco labeled as "pipe tobacco". I tried about 14 different kinds of budget tobacco under $16 a pound. The 2 best ones I've found so far are OHM Turkish yellow bag and UNION natural flavor which is more my wifes favorite. While not great tobaccos they are better then manufactured cigarettes. Which is why I'm here I'm gonna find a great tobacco that I can grow and mix to come up with what I want not being limited to only what is made . John
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