complex home grown pipe blend

[Smokin Harley]

I've gone to the pipe more now in the winter. Not sure if any others in here do. Something about winter just makes smoking a pipe that much more relaxing .
I've been growing now for 2 seasons . Last year I kilned all of the leaf and then dried it down to low case and stored it all away in vapor proof bags to continue to age. If a month in the kiln is equivalent to a year naturally aging then I have an entire crop that is now almost 2 years old in "age" even though chronologically it is only 1 year old...the ones I've used so far for pipe are Virginia Gold, Little Dutch and Madole...There is a definite noticeable change from air curing ,through kilning and then naturally aging. these same 3 I went a step further and steamed to cavendish either : in a steam pot ,pressure cooker, or jar and kiln once again. Also pressed as bricks,blocks or plug and then dried forcibly.
I have also acquired a few other members leaf and turned those into pipe tobacco as well. One being Larry's (BigBonner) Perique and Jitterbugdudes one leaf sample he sent me last year that I had forgotten about even asking for. I can't even find the paper saying what variety it is but it came to me a dried bright leaf and once ribbon cut and aged it has the aroma of a lightly sweet vanilla cocoa so I'm guessing it is a "burley "type, unless JBD can remember what it was.
I'll get to the point here-
I have been experimenting with small batch blends .
One in particular -
20% Virginia Gold pressed flake
20% Madole Cavendish with rum and vanilla extracts to flavor it lightly. these were applied before steaming and most of the flavoring had steamed away giving minimal flavor to the resulting cut tobacco.
20% Little Dutch cavendish which again added pre-steaming was (raw) honey and rum(real beverage, not extract flavoring) .
15% BigBonner's Perique ,as sent, dried ,hand cut to thin ribbon.
15%JBD's "bright yellow leaf",unflavored
everything was hand cut ,so it has an obvious uneven texture to the blend. Amount is a soft(fluffy)1 cup measurement.
The smell after a few days blended and in a semi air tight container smells sweet and pleasant. Might press it a few days to force the marrying of flavors quicker and hopefully result in a "crumble cake" unless I'm missing a step or cut procedure.

 

[deluxestogie]

Heaven knows what you'll get with all the various ingredients, but it should be a nice smoke.

I never smoke a cigar indoors. So when the weather gets crummy, I retreat to my study, and smoke a pipe. I'll often go 5 months straight, during the summer, without smoking a pipe.

Crumble cake is a press cake made with shredded tobacco. My understanding is that it's used to prevent the separation of components that differ significantly in cut or particle size. A mixture of disparate sizes, if left loose, will separate by the "Brazil nut effect", with the smallest particles on the bottom, and the largest on the upper surface. So a 75% Latakia blend is often pressed into crumble cake, since the high Latakia content will result in a lot of tiny Latakia crumbs. C&D's Pirate Kake has the consistency of a sheet of 1" fiberboard, and is achieved with (practically) no casings.

Bob

 

[DistillingJim]

I've also heard it suggested that the flavours intermingle more strongly as in a flake or plug while the initial ribbons make break away easier making it simpler to pack your pipe.

 

[Smokin Harley]

Heaven knows what you'll get with all the various ingredients, but it should be a nice smoke.

I never smoke a cigar indoors. So when the weather gets crummy, I retreat to my study, and smoke a pipe. I'll often go 5 months straight, during the summer, without smoking a pipe.

Crumble cake is a press cake made with shredded tobacco. My understanding is that it's used to prevent the separation of components that differ significantly in cut or particle size. A mixture of disparate sizes, if left loose, will separate by the "Brazil nut effect", with the smallest particles on the bottom, and the largest on the upper surface. So a 75% Latakia blend is often pressed into crumble cake, since the high Latakia content will result in a lot of tiny Latakia crumbs. C&D's Pirate Kake has the consistency of a sheet of 1" fiberboard, and is achieved with (practically) no casings.

Bob

wouldn't you know it ...I pulled the kake out of the press yesterday and thats exactly what it looked like...a piece of 3/8 inch fiberboard.
I would rather smoke a cigar but due to temperatures not been in the "sit outside on the porch for an hour" range . I'll take to the pipe in the winter too. Helps when the pipe is my dads and its a light and comfortable Italian briar bent.
I read somewhere that to smoke a pipe properly it takes time and patience .Its a time of reflection and calmness. it was on the internet, so it must be true.