4 Year Bright Leaf...What to do?

[eekay]

Not sure if anyone would remember but I made a half arsed attempt at a grow blog back in 2020. I was able to successfully color cure a batch of Virginia bright leaf before I got overwhelmed with the process and scurried away in shame.

I'm back, and I've kept my dry Virginia in a plastic tote for the last 4 years.

So what do I do now? Despite having the world's knowledge at my fingertips I'm at a bit of a loss to the next steps.

My ultimate goal is to press if into virginia flake, am I still fermenting them or at 4 years are they essentially air cured now?

At this point I've brought the leaves back into case with a misting of water, they are pliable and smell absolutely heavenly. I've yet to build a kiln but I will likely be stealing ChinaVoodoos design as it's the most straightforward, only I'm a bit squeamish about fermenting in plastic. I may opt to ferment in glass (I have about 200 1L mason jars on hand so not a big deal. ) I could probably throw that together fairly quickly.

I've ordered a new batch of seeds from Northwood and will be trying this again this summer.

 

[eekay]

Replying to myself for clarification.

The leaf that I color cured 4 years ago has been completely dehydrated and sealed since day one. I understand that it's likely very little to no aging has occured in this state?

 

[deluxestogie]

Photos?

 

[eekay]

Photos?

Certainly. Right now I only have one of them prior to rehydration. I'll grab more once I'm finished my work set.

 

[deluxestogie]

ultimate goal is to press if into virginia flake

Try stuffing a bit in a pipe now, and see what you think.

Pressing into a plug will alter the taste and aroma significantly. Cooking some into Cavendish will alter it in a different way.

I would suggest building the kiln, since it will last for years. Kiln some for 8 weeks. [In jars means stemming it first. Your choice.] While awaiting the result of the kiln, cook some into Cavendish, then blend with uncooked, to try your hand at pressing a plug with un-kilned leaf. Then you can compare it with the same blend made from kilned leaf.

It's all an experiment every crop, every season, every batch.

Bob

 

[eekay]

...Try stuffing a bit in a pipe now, and see what you think...

...Cook some into Cavendish....

Thanks for the suggestions. I will try both of those options. I just zipped over to your Cavendish tutorial as well and it seems straight forward. Granted we are still in the midst of winter and I don't think my spouse would be too pleased if the smell isn't too nice on the outset. We might have a warmer day this week and I'll pop it into the shed. I have a couple seal pelts drying in there so I might need to air it out first.

 

[Old Gasman]

Thanks for the suggestions. I will try both of those options. I just zipped over to your Cavendish tutorial as well and it seems straight forward. Granted we are still in the midst of winter and I don't think my spouse would be too pleased if the smell isn't too nice on the outset. We might have a warmer day this week and I'll pop it into the shed. I have a couple seal pelts drying in there so I might need to air it out first.

I have made Cavendish by stuffing the leaves into screwtop jars then cooking them in my slow cooker (crockpot for you) for a day and a half, turned out remarkably well and zero wife baiting smells.

 

[eekay]

I have made Cavendish by stuffing the leaves into screwtop jars then cooking them in my slow cooker (crockpot for you) for a day and a half, turned out remarkably well and zero wife baiting smells.

Ive got a handful of Presto Pressure Canners and saw ChinaVoodoos post on that technique so I'm going to change gears and do that instead.

Since I gave up on my tobacco project in 2020ni actually switched over briefly to growing Oyster Mushrooms which oddly has a huge amount of carryover in terms of equipment that I can employ for curing tobacco. I'm hoping to do some of my own experimenting with this year's harvest.

 

[eekay]

Loading up a jar for a first run on Cavendish. Will pressure can it 1:1 leaf to water by weight for 4 hours at 15PSI. In my brilliance I forgot to take before photos. If this works I will be processing a much larger batch so hopefully I can document it then.

Below is a stack im air drying to get to the "noisey but not crumbley" phase so that I can safely store it until the kiln is built.

 

[eekay]

Poor lighting but this is the end result. Not quite uniform, smells very "archival" like plums and very very old Christmas cake. Going to fiddle with the hydration level , pick up a fresh cob pipe and give it a whirl.

 

[eekay]

More of a daytime shot. Would like for more uniform color, but this is pile box yellowed , air cured , un-kilned leaf so I wonder if that will affect the product. Once I have some kilned I will repeat.

 

[EndlessHobbies]

Just found this thread. Also saw you had a grow blog for this year! Any news on the cavendish?

 

[eekay]

Just found this thread. Also saw you had a grow blog for this year! Any news on the cavendish?

It's been resting since that photo was posted. Stored in a jar in low case. It smells very sweet, strongly of dried stone fruits and vanilla. I haven't smoked any yet, but I think I will be doing so very soon before winter hits. I would today but I've got this plague that's going around so it'll have to wait.