How do I Make Pipe Tobacco from Whole Leaf?

[leo]

Today I smoked my first bowl of tobacco...
And...
I don't know what I can say...
The tobacco was really hard to smoke, really strong in nicotine and the flavor was, I don't know... Probably raw is the closest word in my mind to explain.
The flavor was weak... Smoking very slowly and cold, I could taste a very good flavor, but it was really weak.

I don't know what I can think...

Tomorrow I'll try to make a really small batch of VaPe...

 

[deluxestogie]

What blend did you smoke?

Bob

 

[leo]

Red Virginia

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

Red Virginia is a relatively strong tobacco. As a pipe smoker, if I wanted to really make it sing, I would add 10 to 20% perique, and 15 to 30% black cavendish. That's my preference, and I'm sorry if you don't have either of those tobaccos, but I do understand that you would find smoking it straight to be monochromatic and harsh.

Everybody has their preferences. Some might suggest Orientals and Latakia as blending components. Just looking at Bob's blending matrix makes me dizzy, but lots of guys swear by it.

I recommend going by intuition to a certain extent. I think you will find what's right for you. Just keep in mind that tobacco becomes harsh (in different ways) when either highly acidic or highly alkaline. Some like to play with chemistry directly with substances like sugar and citric acid, but it's unnecessary. Tobacco will be the smoothest at a neutral pH. Flue cured (Virginia) and sun cured (oriental) tobacco will be acidic and air cured (Maryland, burley, cigar, dark air, perique, dark Virginia) will be alkaline. So try mixing tobaccos from either category.

 

[deluxestogie]

I love the "pouch" aroma of pure flue-cured Virginia. But I won't light it and smoke it straight. It rips off my tongue, and then I have to go and meditate at the Latakia Blending Matrix.

ChinaVoodoo's words are worth pasting above your blending bowl. Another (far less logical) method of pipe blending is to eyeball the color: some yellow; some tan; some reddish; some brown; some black--like a stir-fry.

Honestly, once you find a rough blend that is kind of what you think you like, it becomes a joy to fiddle with the exact proportions. The Latakia Blending Matrix is an attempt to construct a slide-whistle for English/Balkan pipe tobacco. It all sort of tastes the same, but with wildly differing Latakia presence. I sometimes think of it like a recipe matrix on the back of a box of instant mashed potato flakes:

Servings of Latakia per bowl:

1. 
   
2. 
   
3. 
   
4. 
   

Bob

 

[leo]

Mhhh...
I'm not a big fan of Latakia...
I love Virginia!
My tongue was ok, I didn't have that problem.
It's like there are two differents flavors in the tobacco:
The rude one
The good one
But the rude one is stronger than the good one.
The rude one is like smoking dry grass...
It's not bad, but really really too strong.

I don't know what to do now...
I'm hoping it's not an aging problem, I don't want to wait a couple of years!!!

 

[deluxestogie]

Have you read this extensive thread on pipe blending? It contains dozens of recipes: http://fairtradetobacco.com/threads/pure-tobacco-pipe-blends-you-can-make.3926/

Bob

 

[leo]

I'm reading right now...
Is there a post that speak about how to treat Virginia?