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Twist or Rope recipes

greenmonster714

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I've been knocking around the idea of making a few twist or rope tobaccos to set aside and age a while. I would like to flavor a few with something but I dunno what.

Having never done this before I'm thinking that the tobacco is soaked in a recipe for forever how long and then twisted up. I've heard of folks using molasses, liquors, juices, sugars, and more but would like to start out with maybe a tried and true recipe from members.

If you have any ideas or would like to share your process or recipe it would be appreciated. Thanks
 

DistillingJim

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My concern with recipe experiments with rope is the amount of tobacco you'd need. Personally I'd make a few small batches, get the flavour profile right, then commit to a rope.
 

BigBonner

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I'm interested in this as well.

I saw this video recently and want to try it, but also not sure what I'm doing yet in the blending department.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JqD9EokH-0

Here is a better twist that FmGrowit posted a while back , it is made purely with dark fire tobacco.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfCgZC4eSJw

Here is one that I just made last night .
pFP9nZ3.jpg

VzLLKHB.jpg
 

greenmonster714

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My concern with recipe experiments with rope is the amount of tobacco you'd need. Personally I'd make a few small batches, get the flavour profile right, then commit to a rope.

I agree with you Jim. My goal is to start small. Once I find a recipe that works I'll make a nice sized rope but until then it will be small scale experimenting. I know folks use homemade casings for block pressing and I'm sure that would work just as well with a twist or rope. Just need some ideas on the recipe ingredients and content.

I'm interested in this as well.

I saw this video recently and want to try it, but also not sure what I'm doing yet in the blending department.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JqD9EokH-0

Thanks for the clip Gar. I'd seen that one a while back. I don't think twisting up a rope wouldnt be all that difficult. I'm more interested in using some flavorings to case the tobacco prior to aging the rope. It's not necessary to treat the tobacco but I am interested in liquor based casings. Just about every tobacco that I've tried and had a liquor based casings I liked. So why not give it a go with some rope..lol? Save all your scraps Gar. They'll probably go well in a nice hefty twisted rope.
 

greenmonster714

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Here is a better twist that FmGrowit posted a while back , it is made purely with dark fire tobacco.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfCgZC4eSJw

Here is one that I just made last night .
pFP9nZ3.jpg

VzLLKHB.jpg

Those are some nice looking ropes. What do you have blended in them?

I've seen this video and it is a nice guide on how to make a twist. Thanks for sharing that Bob. I think rolling up a rope wouldn't be too hard but like I mentioned above. I'd like to find a few recipes guys use to flavor the tobacco. A nice liquor based casing and adding some perique to the twist would probably be a nice mixture. I dunno..just searching around. I'm starting small like Jim said above. Work it all out and then make a good long rope for storage.
 

ChinaVoodoo

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Dark fire can get monotonous after a while. I've used WLT PA Oscuro Binder to wrap ropes before. It's a good thick, strong binder with a neutral flavor, and strength. It looks like it's gone, but the PA Binder which Don still sells is probably nearly the same. I don't know if anyone has tried it.
 

BigBonner

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Those are some nice looking ropes. What do you have blended in them?

I've seen this video and it is a nice guide on how to make a twist. Thanks for sharing that Bob. I think rolling up a rope wouldn't be too hard but like I mentioned above. I'd like to find a few recipes guys use to flavor the tobacco. A nice liquor based casing and adding some perique to the twist would probably be a nice mixture. I dunno..just searching around. I'm starting small like Jim said above. Work it all out and then make a good long rope for storage.

I just used plain Dark fire tobacco for practice . Casing and adding stuff will come latter . I have heard of people laying dried apples and dried peaches on top and letting them age .Some just sprinkled brown sugar and maybe a little honey or molasses .
 

greenmonster714

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Here's what I've worked out in my mind. Im thinking of a mixture of honey, brown sugar, molasses, and rasins with a base of rum. Throw all that in a blender to mix it well and let it rest for a few days in the fridge. Then soak the leaf I intend on using for a few days. Remove it from the fridge and dry it out to a medium case and twist it up. I would use uncased leaf for the wrapping. I'll probably want to add a few fresh Perique leaves in there too. My thought is by having the core well cased the pressure caused by the twist will make the core juices seep through the wrapper with time. Does that sound like to much? I dunno...just ideas.
 

Krausen89

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Here's what I've worked out in my mind. Im thinking of a mixture of honey, brown sugar, molasses, and rasins with a base of rum. Throw all that in a blender to mix it well and let it rest for a few days in the fridge. Then soak the leaf I intend on using for a few days. Remove it from the fridge and dry it out to a medium case and twist it up. I would use uncased leaf for the wrapping. I'll probably want to add a few fresh Perique leaves in there too. My thought is by having the core well cased the pressure caused by the twist will make the core juices seep through the wrapper with time. Does that sound like to much? I dunno...just ideas.

Were you able to experiment with this? I wrapped my first twist with all burley and just read there is an all burley twist out there. I am thinking about simmering down apple juice and adding molasses like all the videos show and then adding that to some everclear or bourbon just so its not so sticky and use a pastry brush and dab it on as i stack leaves. As far as tobacco i want to use fire cured, burley, va and a nice dark wrapper. Maybe fronto....i want something i can chew on occasion but put in my pipe to enjoy with coffee.
 

Davo

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Were you able to experiment with this? I wrapped my first twist with all burley and just read there is an all burley twist out there. I am thinking about simmering down apple juice and adding molasses like all the videos show and then adding that to some everclear or bourbon just so its not so sticky and use a pastry brush and dab it on as i stack leaves. As far as tobacco i want to use fire cured, burley, va and a nice dark wrapper. Maybe fronto....i want something i can chew on occasion but put in my pipe to enjoy with coffee.
Home grown uncased straight burley stogies are the best cigar smoking experience I’ve ever had. I’m sure a twist with them would work well. I intend on processing the last of the leaf I have hanging like this, maybe with a dark fired wrapper or centre, just cos. We Also did something similar with all of the leaf that went mouldy too. Vinegar washed, twist, then stoved at 60c for a bit before slicing into coins.
 

Krausen89

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Home grown uncased straight burley stogies are the best cigar smoking experience I’ve ever had. I’m sure a twist with them would work well. I intend on processing the last of the leaf I have hanging like this, maybe with a dark fired wrapper or centre, just cos. We Also did something similar with all of the leaf that went mouldy too. Vinegar washed, twist, then stoved at 60c for a bit before slicing into coins.

I have rolled a few out of the thinner leaves i have primed as they cured on the plant or broke off. They were very good! I had the same thought earlier today about fire cured in the center. I have some latakia that might be nice with burley. I just used 2cups fruit punch juicy juice and simmered it down 1 cup at a time until when you stir it take a sec to re-cover the bottom of the pan. Then added 2 tablespoons molasses. That gave me 1/3 cup so i topped it up to 1cup with everclear and mixed real good. Then just used a spoon and dripped that onto the twist and now its sitting in foil to dry and set a bit.
 

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plantdude

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Home grown uncased straight burley stogies are the best cigar smoking experience I’ve ever had. I’m sure a twist with them would work well. I intend on processing the last of the leaf I have hanging like this, maybe with a dark fired wrapper or centre, just cos. We Also did something similar with all of the leaf that went mouldy too. Vinegar washed, twist, then stoved at 60c for a bit before slicing into coins.
Might be a little cautious with moldy leaves. If the mold produces mycotoxins that is going to be left behind in the leaf and they can be a pretty potent carcinogen. I don't know what happens when mycotoxins are smoked, but I know it would not be a good thing to have them in chewing tobacco.
 

karam

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Here is a better twist that FmGrowit posted a while back , it is made purely with dark fire tobacco.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfCgZC4eSJw

I have seen this video and will be my basis for twisting my burley. Also want to do some flavouring with honey, rum and tonka beans.

I just noticed a detail in the video: he leaves a bit of wrapping leaf out and then tucks the next wrapping leaf under it, I figure that's probably a key to a good rope. The Gawith Hoggarth rope making video from the 1970s is grainy, but you can see that these women are doing exactly the same (it's in the first 2 minutes of the video. but it is overall a nice video to watch):
View: https://youtu.be/AL2wZfFe4Rg
 
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deluxestogie

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Stunning documentary. The product and the specific methods are not nearly as fascinating as the truly wild, hazardous, ingenious machinery, much of which dates back hundreds of years, yet was still in operation in the mid 20th century. There are many cringe-worthy moments when operators carefully insert their hands or arms deep into massive moving parts that likely have removed an arm or two from time to time. No guards or shields or safety cut-off switches. Just relentless motion and momentum.

Removable steel drum doors that are attached with one-off, hand made bolts and matching nuts--that can't be exchanged with each other. This machinery is from the birth of the industrial revolution, and shows various designs of a single source of powered motion being mechanically distributed throughout an entire factory building.

Thank you for posting it.

Bob
 
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