Leaf Soaking

[jwit76]

This will probably be a short thread, but I had read that RJ Reynolds back in the day advertised that they soaked their leaves in a licorice solution and actually patented the process. As an alternative to casing, toasting, etc., I'm wondering if anyone has experimented with this idea. if so, how long did you soak?

 

[leverhead]

I've soaked Tombak overnight then wrung it out before smoking it in the Hookah. I tried "teas" for soak water, made with different spices and bag teas like Earl Grey and licorice. It wasn't a big surprise that a water pipe can strip water based flavors from the smoke pretty well, so I didn't go very far with it. I had thought about using a "tea" as a base liquid for casings, but I never did anything with it.

My guess for how long to soak something to end up as cigarette tobacco would be not much more than a dip, maybe a minute at the longest.

 

[deluxestogie]

Just mist the flavorant onto the shredded leaf (dissolved in water or vodka, depending on whether the flavorant is oil-based or water [PG] based), and you avoid the problem of getting it dried before it molds.

Bob

 

[jwit76]

Thanks for the feedback, I figured it wouldn't be a long soak, I might experiment with a few leaves.

 

[Gdaddy]

I opted to not use Licorice root because tests have shown it's a carcinogen when burned and really didn't want to add that in my cigars.

From the FOPH...

"When licorice extracts are burnt they produce several toxic compounds including some that are well known to cause cancer in humans (e.g. benzene), or those that could possibly cause cancer (e.g. acetaldehyde). Other toxic substances produced include the chemicals toluene and phenol that could cause other damaging health effects."