Jpcouling
Well-Known Member
So after the sun stopped coming out but I still had leaves to dry and cure, I was experimenting with ways to prepare the leaf. The hands down best method I found for my tastes was to essentially do the cavendish process on the dried greenish-yellow leaf. All I do is let the leaf hang for a couple weeks and let them turn yellowish brown but green color is fine too. I place the leaves in a mesh colander inside of a pot with steaming water, and let the leaf steam for somewhere around six hours, give or take. The leaf turns this very dark brown or black, and has a noticeably sweet smell. I then take these wet leaves and hang them for 12 to 24 hours. Typically, I have pressed them and then cut them in to fine ribbons. Really nice throat hit with not a ton of flavor but a noticeable sweet aroma. It is probably on par with the effect flue curing has on tobacco, but introduce a load of steam and it seems to make it a little more funky! Has anyone else done similar methods of processing? Am I oxidizing the tobacco?