Greetings from Colorado

[jcou]

Hello all! My name is Jake and I just got into RYO made from whole leaf after about 5 years of smoking mostly cheap RYO "pipe tobacco". I got into the "pipe tobacco" due to the massive savings, after figuring out that I could make a carton for about the price of a pack of store-bought. Heard about Whole Leaf on some other forums and checked the prices, and it has a similar price-per-pound as cheapo "pipe tobacco" I was buying, so I took the plunge and did some reading here and was very happy with the first batch. I'll make a post on the cig subforum in a day or so, with details of the recipe and some other thoughts!

Everybody I've shared the new smoke with thought it was amazing, and it looks great even just sitting there in the jar! And the smell... it's like nothing else
I'm going to whip up a different larger batch tomorrow

I look forward to sharing experiences with you all. I like smoking but I'd say the process and experimentation is now half of the fun! I also want to try growing

Anyways, thanks for the forum it was a great help in trying to figure out what to do with the beautiful leaf. I'll be sending a friend a sampler soon and will also send him this way

Thanks,
Jake (Nederland, CO)

 

[deluxestogie]

Welcome to the forum, Jake. Be sure to read the FAQ (link at the top of every page) on growing. Now's a good time to start planning.

Bob

 

[MarcL]

Welcome to Fair Trade Tobacco. Your in the right place.

 

[DGBAMA]

Welcome.

Whole leaf is definitely a better smoke.

How are you processing your leaf? This shredder takes almost all the work out of the process, and will quickly pay for itself.
http://wholeleaftobacco.com/Powermatic-S-Whole-Leaf-Tobacco-Shredder-PwrmtcS.htm

 

[Boboro]

Welcome, Go spray Round up on garden spot.

 

[leverhead]

Welcome Jake!

 

[indianjoe]

Welcome Jake.

 

[Ben Brand]

Welcome and enjoy.

 

[jcou]

Wow, thank for all of the replies!

@DGBAMA: First batch I used regular shears, my cut was probably 2-3mm for most part. It still smoked well. Today I'm working on the second batch and I'm using a very sharp knife. Time consuming, but getting better results. I have the leaf pretty moist with distilled water and that seems to help although I'll have to unroll all of the chunks... A shredder would be nice but I'm not sure when I'll get one

 

[DGBAMA]

for hand shredding, my best results were with a sharp knife. Baccy should be just damp enough to squeeze tightly in your hand without crumbling, but dry enough that the leaves are a bit "rustly", basically dry but pliable. I would take a couple dozen leaves and roll them as tightly as I could into basically a solid cigar, wrapping with a single leaf to hold them together; about 1" in diameter. Then slice "coins" starting at one end; as thinly as possible (even what you think is too thin ends up being wider when unravelled). With the "coins" cut, I made one cut lengthwise across all the coins, then put all the now "half coins" in a ziplock and shake until they unravel into a nice shred.

This is the best way I found to do a quantity in minimal time before getting the Shredder.

 

[holyRYO]

Welcome jcou, fellow ryo enthusiast. Enjoy!