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BigBonner Bright Leaf

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davek14

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First, is there a place on the forum to trade just tobacco? Any tobacco and not just cigar tobacco.

Not being sure, I'm offering up some Bright Leaf from BigBonner in trade. Just in maybe 1/4 pound quantities or so for now. It's a Virginia, I think. So it is mild and sweet(?). It will bite me, as Virginias can, if smoked straight.

I'm looking for a mild tobacco to soften up blends but am enjoying experimenting right now and am open to anything almost.
 

BigBonner

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I can't remember if I sent you a sample of Silver River or not . But If I did use a little of that mixed in and see if that helps . Changing filter types may help .
 

davek14

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It's all good guy. I like the Bright Leaf. It's tasty and I'll be using it in blending. I like Virginia and just forgot that it can bite me if I use too much. I'm thinking maybe %25 will be good. I'll find out as I play. You did send some Silver River and I like it too. I'm having fun trying lots of different stuff.

I smoke a pipe so it'll be the blending and not the filter.
 

Smokin Harley

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For future reference...You do know there is a folder called "swaps and gifts" .
Big Bonner has some excellent Perique if thats whats coming in your mailbox.
 

davek14

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I tried a blend with about 30% Perique and it did, in fact, cut the tongue bite considerably. A blend of 70% cigar leaf cut the bite some and the Bright Leaf was very forward in the mix. A blend of 70% Bright Leaf and 30% Perique cut the bite *much* more.

What percentages do you all use in your Bright Leaf/Perique blends?

After the generous gift from BigBonner I would like to send some Bright Leaf gratis to anyone who may want to try it. Any takers?
 

deluxestogie

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For Perique blending, the proportions are entirely dependent on the source of the Perique, as well as the individual batch, for home-made Perique.

With flue-cured VA Lemon, together with St. James Parish Perique, my preferred ratio is 5 parts bright leaf to 3 parts Perique, to completely eliminate tongue bite. Some of my home-batch Perique has done well with more Perique (for Perique made from the milder source leaves, such as Harrow Velvet lower leaf) or less Perique (for Perique made from very strong leaf, for example, BigBonner's Burley Red Tips--Yowzah!).

I have the impression that Oriental (regardless of the variety) and Latakia make no difference, as far as the ideal Perique quantity in a blend is concerned. Only the sum of the flue-cured leaf (say, Lemon + VA Red) determines the quantity of Perique I add.

When blending with a new source of Perique, I always start off low--5 parts bright to 1 part Perique, then work my way up from there. It's no embarrassment to add more Perique to a batch that needs more.

Bob
 

burge

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Bigs bright leaf and lemon blend well together. You live in Ohio take a trip to see Don.
 

deluxestogie

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"Bright leaf" is a categorical term that historically includes all tobacco that has been flue-cured. [The term arose to distinguish flue-cured leaf from air-cured leaf. Air-cured Virginia tobacco doesn't turn out bright, but a dull brown.]

"Virginia Bright Leaf" is the name of a specific variety (strain) of flue-cure tobacco.

"Lemon Virginia" is a categorical name for bright leaf that has been flue-cured to a bright lemon-yellow color, and is not a reference to its taste, even though it has an acidic twang.

"Red Virginia" also refers to its color. It is primed from higher on the stalk, is thicker, and flue-cured to a light reddish-brown.

Meaningful distinctions of bright leaf would be:
  • bright leaf--generic flue-cured tobacco
  • lemon Virginia
  • red Virginia
...each with qualifiers, since there are, of course, many gradations in between. And a specific color of lemon, for example, may taste different from batch to batch, crop to crop, and with differing geographic growing locations (e.g. grown in Virginia vs. Canada).

Bob
 

davek14

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Well, I'm liking these Home made Vapers. I'll admit I thought they were good, not great, and that they would have a place in rotation and blending anyway. But last night (Friday night) I "had a few" hard ciders (homemade of course) as I do on Friday night. I was smoking a "slush fund" blend of recent experiments. It was very vaper forward and it was delicious with the cider!

Also, I had stoved some Bright Leaf and instead of mellowing it it made it bite like a snake. 40% Perique tamed it.

So now I need to dice up all the Perique I have into some Bright Leaf and jar most of it to marry.
 

DistillingJim

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It took me a little while to get used to handling home blends as well, Dave. I must confess I was becoming skeptical of the guys on here who say you can end up blending stuff better than you can buy but its true and its worth taking the time to get the knack as you really can end up with some amazing stuff. Part of the trick is relearning how to pack a bowl and what cadance to use when smoking. I've also found it helps bite if I put stuff in a press then cut it up (larger chunks burn more slowly).
 

davek14

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I've been smoking whole cigar leaf in a pipe, being an ex- cigar smoker. There are not many store bought pipe blends I like. So this is a foray into a kind of more traditional pipe tobacco for me, but homemade.

"If you didn't make it yourself, it isn't really yours"
Tim The Tool Man (?)
 

davek14

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After a week or two of having the Perique from BigBonner (which was excellent) a whole new area of tinkering has opened for me. The Perique/Bright Leaf blend is quite tasty, albeit a (little) bit much on it's own.

Are there any other tobaccos which cut the bite on the Bright so dramatically, or at all? I'm familiar with Turkish added to dilute it all a little while being fairly neutral itself. Does Latakia cut the bite? Anything else?
 

Leftynick

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After a week or two of having the Perique from BigBonner (which was excellent) a whole new area of tinkering has opened for me. The Perique/Bright Leaf blend is quite tasty, albeit a (little) bit much on it's own.

Are there any other tobaccos which cut the bite on the Bright so dramatically, or at all? I'm familiar with Turkish added to dilute it all a little while being fairly neutral itself. Does Latakia cut the bite? Anything else?

burley is the way to cut bite in virginia tobacco if perique is too much for you.
 

deluxestogie

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Latakia, burley, Orientals and dark air will all reduce the tongue bite of flue-cured leaf, but Perique is the most effective. Red Virginia bites less than lemon, so a blend of the two will broaden the flavor profile, while requiring less Perique to neutralize the bite.

For the past week, I've been smoking the following blend, which does not bite:
Samsun Bright
  • Lemon Virginia: 36%
  • Virginia Red: 23%
  • Samsun: 8%
  • Latakia: 25%
  • Perique: 8%
Bob
 

SmokesAhoy

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As someone who has never tried Latakia, could I plug in Kentucky fire cured into that equation and have something similar?
 
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