DIY black or dark twist pipe tobacco

[Krausen89]

I want to make some dark twist tobacco and it is to my understanding that it is just like the regular twist (maybe tighter), but they add olive oil, and then press and steam it similar to a Cavendish. has anyone tried this?

I want to use some KY light fire (one whole leaf) , top that with VA and some basma, and then top that with a touch of burley (and maybe a tiny touch of latakia) and wrap with a KY dark fire. Sounds pretty decent alone, but would i twist it up tight, put it in some kind of steamer with pressure on it? i do worry about using olive oil, what is the purpose of this? isnt there a thing about heating it past the burning point? can i just steam and press....somehow... haven't figured that part out yet, but its been in the back of my head.

Any input would be appreciated. as i am not sure how to go about this. or if i should just twist it up without steam and pressure. I would be using it mostly for Pipe, but would like to try some as chew as well just to see how it is. Thanks in advance!

 

[deluxestogie]

my understanding...they add olive oil,

Who is "they"?

If you really are tempted to smoke burning olive oil in a pipe, I would suggest first dipping a bit of nice leaf into some olive oil, then igniting it (carefully) to get a whiff of it. I may be entirely clueless with regard to using olive oil for making twist. It might be great.

Bob

 

[Krausen89]

Who is "they"?

If you really are tempted to smoke burning olive oil in a pipe, I would suggest first dipping a bit of nice leaf into some olive oil, then igniting it (carefully) to get a whiff of it. I may be entirely clueless with regard to using olive oil for making twist. It might be great.

Bob

View: https://youtu.be/AL2wZfFe4Rg


at 3:57

 

[Krausen89]

Not sure why they use it, they don't on the brown twist, but they also don't steam or press also a few video reviews on youtube mentioned how they use olive oil.

 

[deluxestogie]

Then I guess it's a thing. I seem to recall at least one FTT member who made a pipe from olive wood commenting on the odd, olive oil taste it imparts to whatever tobacco is smoked in it. My suggestion, if you plan to try it, would be to purchase the very cheapest, "light" olive oil to try. The best quality "extra virgin" olive oils have the greatest olive oil aroma.

You might try the steaming and pressing with and without olive oil, to compare the results. Sounds like a project. I would be thrilled to hear that it comes out well. (In Buffalo Bird Woman's Diary, she comments on the elder men lightly frying their tobacco [Nicotiana quadrivalvis] in buffalo fat, prior to smoking it.)

Bob

 

[Krausen89]

i would think that with the steam and the pressure most of it (being on the surface of the tight twisted rope) would be pressed out of it. it might just make it so to keep the tobacco at a certain case? also might be to keep whatever they were using to wrap it prior to winding the rope around it easily removable. so the rope under pressure releasing oils and such from stick and tearing the outside of the rope? this is all just a guess though.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

this is all just a guess though.

Brainstorming multiple theories is a great way to start. I'm curious what the effect is.

I know ghee cigars are a bad idea.

Prehistoric Tobacco

I came across this yesterday and thought some of you might find it ... well interesting. 12,000-Year-Old Hearth, Artifacts Unearthed in Utah SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH—A prehistoric campsite in Utah’s West Desert has yielded a 12,300-year-old hearth surrounded by more than 60 artifacts, including a...

fairtradetobacco.com

 

[karam]

You're referring to Samuel Gawith's/Gawith Hoggarth's Black twists, they start their life as dark air cured and fire cured Virginias (mostly from African countries and India) twisted in a rope, with or without flavouring added, (that's the brown twists) and then as the video above shows they are "drenched in olive oil" and pressed and steamed for hours to get the black twist.

I doubt any of us has the gear to replicate this at home, I think if you can't replicate the process you're likely to end up with something which will either never light, or something tasting absolutely horrible. I guess you could follow the video: wrap with greaseproof paper, tie it with rope, set in a small portable vice, press it between two metal plates and then, provided you have a big enough pressure cooker, suspend the whole thing over the water so it gets pressure steamed. You'd get a sort of cavendish though, right? And the nuance of all the leaf you mentioned will largely get lost.

Moreover, have you smoked the Gawith Black twists? The taste is quite unique, on a good day you get strong spicy tobacco, on a bad day you get the taste of lamb fat hitting a hot, dirty grill at the end of a day of grilling. I imagine that the extended heat and steam will likely polymerize some of the oil, these twists were originally made for chewing by English and Welsh miners, as smoking is strictly forbidden in a mine, and extremely long life. I have a section of Samuel Gawith Black XX, smoke a bowl perhaps once a month. Oh yeah it'll also ghost your pipe, your room, and your person with the smell of the grill

 

[deluxestogie]

you get the taste of lamb fat hitting a hot, dirty grill at the end of a day of grilling.

Sounds like when I used overfed American ground lamb to make a batch of overcooked dolmades. I do find it interesting that you notice the aroma of charring of oil, when you smoke the twist.

Bob

 

[Davo]

Yeah the black twist smells and tastes like asado - coal fired bbq.

my first thought was whether the olive oil acted as a barrier to prevent moisture from steam passing through? if so, I wonder if you could imitate it by putting your twist in a jar (With or without moisture?) and process in a similar method to cavendish, but not for as long?

also are you thinking of making your twistand leaving it ‘brown’? As is so, once it has dried you could then split into quarters and try 3 different methods for comparison.

looking forward to hearing how it goes

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

Yeah the black twist smells and tastes like asado - coal fired bbq.

my first thought was whether the olive oil acted as a barrier to prevent moisture from steam passing through? if so, I wonder if you could imitate it by putting your twist in a jar (With or without moisture?) and process in a similar method to cavendish, but not for as long?

also are you thinking of making your twistand leaving it ‘brown’? As is so, once it has dried you could then split into quarters and try 3 different methods for comparison.

looking forward to hearing how it goes

Burley, and dark tobacco processed in a pressure cooker may technically be cavendish, but the result is nothing like what happens to flue cured. I don't think you need to worry about making something recognizable as cavendish.

 

[Krausen89]

I have never had their twist. I would like to try the black (irish) twist and the brown twist, i believe there is fire cured in the black but i could be wrong. With that said, I am not trying to recreate their twist. I decided against the olive oil as i feel like that was more for the chew aspect.

I used
1 leaf of light fire cured
2 leaves of VA
Covered with small basma leaves
1 (small) leaf burley
Crumbled bits of latakia maybe around 1.5 small leaves
Wrapped with dark fire cured

I twisted it up, pressed down with my hand and tied up once with some butchers string.
Then i tied more sting on and wrapped as tight as i could both ways leaving space for steam to penetrate (not sure if this matters)
Stuck a rack in a crock pot with water up to the rack and placed the wrapped twist on the rack. Set on high and i will steam for 8hrs.
It is currently in the crock and will pull it out in the AM. And then i will let sit in the wrap for a day, or maybe a few before i unravel and dry.
Will post pics of finished product.

 

[karam]

I have never had their twist. I would like to try the black (irish) twist and the brown twist, i believe there is fire cured in the black but i could be wrong. With that said, I am not trying to recreate their twist. I decided against the olive oil as i feel like that was more for the chew aspect.

I twisted it up, pressed down with my hand and tied up once with some butchers string.
Then i tied more sting on and wrapped as tight as i could both ways leaving space for steam to penetrate (not sure if this matters)
Stuck a rack in a crock pot with water up to the rack and placed the wrapped twist on the rack. Set on high and i will steam for 8hrs.
It is currently in the crock and will pull it out in the AM. And then i will let sit in the wrap for a day, or maybe a few before i unravel and dry.
Will post pics of finished product.

Really looking forward to pictures and tasting notes! There are three sizes, Irish are just the thicker ones, with pigtail being the thinner, and a medium unnamed twist in between. Gawith descriptions of the components are a bit obscure sometimes, I don't detect any Dark Fired Kentucky from Black XX for example, but it could be there.

I do find it interesting that you notice the aroma of charring of oil, when you smoke the twist.
Bob

Yep, I do, as I said in some bowls it is subdued, in others it is overwhelming but it's always there.

 

[Charly]

I do find it interesting that you notice the aroma of charring of oil, when you smoke the twist.

Bob

Now that you say that the pressure/steam method of cooking the black twists is made with oil, it explains clearly the strange taste/smell I get when I smoke them ! It gives indeed a funky oily burning thing (not bad, but different).

 

[Krausen89]

Havnt unraveled it yet but its def dark! Looks small but it was about a 2 foot long rope about the size of my ring finger. I cant wait to try it!

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

Havnt unraveled it yet but its def dark! Looks small but it was about a 2 foot long rope about the size of my ring finger. I cant wait to try it!

I can't wait for you to try it.

 

[karam]

Looking forward to seeing more photos and tasting notes!

 

[Krausen89]

Unraveled it and it smelled like ky fire but sweet from the VA. Once i started to unravel it smells like a rich dark coffee with notes of dark chocolate. I think the only thing its missing is some kind of notes of licorice (atleast for the scent) its rubbed out now drying. Will post how it smokes.

 

[karam]

Looks great! I think I'll try to do this myself when I get to make some twists.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

So I went and got myself a single bowl of the Gawith XXX. I'm smoking it now. I wouldn't have identified it on my own in a million years, and this could be placebo, but yeah. I see the oiliness.



Edit: it might be placebo. That video is Gawith and Hogarth, not Samuel Gawith.