Tutu
Well-Known Member
So I've been in the Netherlands for a few weeks now and I have for the first time made my own cigarette blend. It consisted of leaf that was grown in both Indonesia and the Netherlands. The goal was to create a no-residue, organic sort of blend. It consisted of only a handful of varieties.
Kasturi grown in Indonesia, sun cured, and fermented for 4 months.
Ainaro grown in Indonesia, dark air cured and fermented for 2 months.
Amersfoort grown in Indonesia, sun cured and fermented for 4 months.
Amersfoort grown in the Netherlands, air cured and aged for 6 months.
Of the Amersfoort, one set was grown in Gelderland and cured in the same location. Another set of leafs was grown in Utrecht and cured in Gelderland. The ones grown in Gelderland turned out a bright yellow cure, the stuff grown in Utrecht was more of a light brown.
We choose a nice bright day to make the blend so that we could dry some leaf a little extra in the sun and take them through our Polish tobacco cutrag mill. I think I took most of the stuff through the male a good two or three times before you could actually use it to properly shoot cigarettes from and roll other things with.
I think I was rather skeptic from the start that this blend would turn out proper. I had smoked some of the Indonesian stuff together in a blend and it wasn't the greatest taste. But to our surprise, this blend turned out awesome. It was a real mild smoke with a bit of taste to it, but nothing dramatic. I was slightly surprised that the Kasturi didn't give a larger nicotine boost than it did. The other stuff must have been even lower in nicotine. Personally I think the nice thing about this blend is that the tobacco was grown in two completely different climates, but with the same principals in mind.
Here are a few shots from the process and the end result:
Kasturi grown in Indonesia, sun cured, and fermented for 4 months.
Ainaro grown in Indonesia, dark air cured and fermented for 2 months.
Amersfoort grown in Indonesia, sun cured and fermented for 4 months.
Amersfoort grown in the Netherlands, air cured and aged for 6 months.
Of the Amersfoort, one set was grown in Gelderland and cured in the same location. Another set of leafs was grown in Utrecht and cured in Gelderland. The ones grown in Gelderland turned out a bright yellow cure, the stuff grown in Utrecht was more of a light brown.
We choose a nice bright day to make the blend so that we could dry some leaf a little extra in the sun and take them through our Polish tobacco cutrag mill. I think I took most of the stuff through the male a good two or three times before you could actually use it to properly shoot cigarettes from and roll other things with.
I think I was rather skeptic from the start that this blend would turn out proper. I had smoked some of the Indonesian stuff together in a blend and it wasn't the greatest taste. But to our surprise, this blend turned out awesome. It was a real mild smoke with a bit of taste to it, but nothing dramatic. I was slightly surprised that the Kasturi didn't give a larger nicotine boost than it did. The other stuff must have been even lower in nicotine. Personally I think the nice thing about this blend is that the tobacco was grown in two completely different climates, but with the same principals in mind.
Here are a few shots from the process and the end result: