Greetings from the Philippine Islands! I’ve been lurkung for a few months now and have found the forum to be very educational and helpful in my own blending efforts.
I’ve been an on-and-off pipe smoker for almost a decade, having started when I found my late grandfather’s smoking pipes and decided to clean them up and giving them a go. Bought a bag of Borkum Riff Cherry, didn’t like it at first and would attempt to have a better smoke months in between. I only got the hang of it when I chanced upon a local internet seller of good tobaccos (it’s already quite difficult to find good tobaccos here, and the shops that do carry them only have the drugstore type brands), and that opened a whole new world for me.
What brought me to this forum was the desire to create decent blends from locally grown tobaccos. Philippine tobaccos were once known all over the world, but for one reason or another the industry has declined and has focused on cigarette tobacco. We have a couple of local cigar companies that produce decent cigars. But none produce pipe tobacco to my knowledge. And because it’s getting more expensive to import good pipe tobacco, the call to make our own pipe tobacco is becoming stronger.
One can find tobacco leaf in the wet markets in the tobacco-producing provinces. As to what variety they are, the sellers usually have no idea. They are usually sun or air cured. So it’s a challenge for me to know what I have on hand, so I’ve begun experimenting with the leaves I’ve acquired - so far I’ve cased, toasted, made stovendish, and pressed these tobaccos, in an attempt to create good pipe tobacco from local sources. And I’m still learning!
Thanks to everyone in this community for all their contributions. It’s been a good adventure so far!
I’ve been an on-and-off pipe smoker for almost a decade, having started when I found my late grandfather’s smoking pipes and decided to clean them up and giving them a go. Bought a bag of Borkum Riff Cherry, didn’t like it at first and would attempt to have a better smoke months in between. I only got the hang of it when I chanced upon a local internet seller of good tobaccos (it’s already quite difficult to find good tobaccos here, and the shops that do carry them only have the drugstore type brands), and that opened a whole new world for me.
What brought me to this forum was the desire to create decent blends from locally grown tobaccos. Philippine tobaccos were once known all over the world, but for one reason or another the industry has declined and has focused on cigarette tobacco. We have a couple of local cigar companies that produce decent cigars. But none produce pipe tobacco to my knowledge. And because it’s getting more expensive to import good pipe tobacco, the call to make our own pipe tobacco is becoming stronger.
One can find tobacco leaf in the wet markets in the tobacco-producing provinces. As to what variety they are, the sellers usually have no idea. They are usually sun or air cured. So it’s a challenge for me to know what I have on hand, so I’ve begun experimenting with the leaves I’ve acquired - so far I’ve cased, toasted, made stovendish, and pressed these tobaccos, in an attempt to create good pipe tobacco from local sources. And I’m still learning!
Thanks to everyone in this community for all their contributions. It’s been a good adventure so far!
