There's a similar thread in the cigar forum, but I thought I'd start one here so as not to hijack that one. Plus I always just look at all new posts, but someone just looking in this forum might not see it at all. I'd still love to know if @buck ever tried that cigar recipe recommendation, and if so how it tasted.
For my part, I asked ChatGPT to come up with a recipe. The prompt was this: "Assume you're a master pipe tobacco blender. How would you replicate Balkan Sobranie Original Smoking Mixture pipe tobacco from the 1970s?" It came up with a recipe that may or may not result in something similar, but it seemed plausible so I mixed up a small batch> I pressed it for a couple days, then rubbed it out and put it in a jarfor a few more. It's now been about a week total.
I tried a little sample of the ChatGPT-suggested blend last night. It was pretty good. I should have let it dry a little while longer, and of course all of the blends I've tried are much better after getting a few months of age on them, but I'd say it's got some potential. As I get closer to the bottom of my jar of Towers of Antioch, I decided to play around with some possible alternatives. I like ToA, and will probably make more of it, but some days it's a little heavy for my mood. That could possibly be because, as I discovered not long ago, my stock of home grown VA has some unknown percentage of Burley in it from a plant - or maybe two - that turned out to be not what I thought it was. The next batch will be truer to the recipe from Bob's book, and I suspect will be even better because of it.
So, I have some blending to do, and some taste testing, so it looks like I won't be giving up my pipes for a while yet. I mean, it's a tough job, this pipe smoking, but someone has to do it. For science.
For my part, I asked ChatGPT to come up with a recipe. The prompt was this: "Assume you're a master pipe tobacco blender. How would you replicate Balkan Sobranie Original Smoking Mixture pipe tobacco from the 1970s?" It came up with a recipe that may or may not result in something similar, but it seemed plausible so I mixed up a small batch> I pressed it for a couple days, then rubbed it out and put it in a jarfor a few more. It's now been about a week total.
I tried a little sample of the ChatGPT-suggested blend last night. It was pretty good. I should have let it dry a little while longer, and of course all of the blends I've tried are much better after getting a few months of age on them, but I'd say it's got some potential. As I get closer to the bottom of my jar of Towers of Antioch, I decided to play around with some possible alternatives. I like ToA, and will probably make more of it, but some days it's a little heavy for my mood. That could possibly be because, as I discovered not long ago, my stock of home grown VA has some unknown percentage of Burley in it from a plant - or maybe two - that turned out to be not what I thought it was. The next batch will be truer to the recipe from Bob's book, and I suspect will be even better because of it.
So, I have some blending to do, and some taste testing, so it looks like I won't be giving up my pipes for a while yet. I mean, it's a tough job, this pipe smoking, but someone has to do it. For science.
