Tried a first bowl of homegrown - sour taste

[Rectifier]

I thought I would give some of the leaf hanging in the closet a try. It's air cured Canadian brightleaf that I pulled a bit early due to frost and pile cured, then hung. It is light yellow in colour.
I destemmed a leaf, rolled it up and cut some slices off. Rubbed them out into a passable imitation of ribbons, stuffed in half a bowl and went to give it a try.

Well, I wasn't very impressed. It had a sour taste plus some flavour and aroma reminiscent of smoking weed (probably chlorophyll?). All I can really say for it was that it burned well, right to the bottom with no relights, probably because it's pretty dry and had no casing. No tongue bite, either.

Does it just need to be aged more, kilned or something? Or is it still too green, and I should turn it all into Cavendish?

 

[Jitterbugdude]

Since you air cured it instead of flue curing it you've lost all the sugar in the leaf. How long has it been hanging? It sounds like it needs to either (a) be placed in a kiln for about 3 weeks or (b) aged for 6 more months (or longer). You can try to turn it into Cavendish but it will not be sweet since it has been air cured.

 

[Rectifier]

It's been hanging for about 3 months now. However the room it is hanging in is not actively heated, so it's barely above freezing this time of year. It's the only place with space to hang anything that my toddler can't get to

Maybe it's time to build a kiln.

I didn't realize air curing destroyed the sugars. Couldn't some be added back in the Cavendish process, though? I'm thinking to do the jars in the pressure canner, so anything in the jars will end up in the tobacco.

 

[deluxestogie]

The leaf needs to be exposed to adequate humidity (at least intermittently) while it ages. Dry days don't count. I would try a Cavendish method on it, which will substantially change it. If it needs additives, then you can play with it after sampling the Cavendish.

Bob

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

I flue cured this year, but I'm really satisfied with how previous air cured bright varieties turned out after aging. Blending with both air and flue gives me more satisfaction than either on it's own.