How many of you have actually made decent homegrown?

[Private1]

Hi All,

Cheeky question, how many of you have actually grown, cured, and finished tobacco from seed to bowl successfully, and its comparable in quality / to commercial blends?

Reason I'm asking is my first proper batch turned out a bit rubbish and even after a years age, the leaf hasn't significantly improved, feeling a bit stink hahah.

 

[deluxestogie]

My homegrown leaf nearly always produces artisanal pipe tobacco blends that are consistently better than commercial pipe tobacco from even the most highly regarded sources. I have grown over 100 different tobacco varieties over the years. It just takes a couple of years of mistakes to become competent at any of the skills required: growing, curing, finishing and blending tobacco (each a different skill). The one exception is that my own Latakia isn't quite there yet.

Bob

 

[Knucklehead]

Hi All,

Cheeky question, how many of you have actually grown, cured, and finished tobacco from seed to bowl successfully, and its comparable in quality / to commercial blends?

Reason I'm asking is my first proper batch turned out a bit rubbish and even after a years age, the leaf hasn't significantly improved, feeling a bit stink hahah.

I didn’t feel completely comfortable with my choices, decisions, processes, supplies, and methods until my third year. As long as there is an option to grow or buy whole leaf, I will not go back to commercial chemical cigarettes. Stick with it. I see growing my own as a journey and not a destination. The whole process becomes fun.

 

[Alpine]

What Bob said (with the notable exception of Latakia). My homegrown baccy was good quality since year one... well, the little I managed to cure properly was good quality... but with my second year of growing and curing, things went a lot better. I’m proud to say that when someone asks me a pinch of baccy, the comment is “wow, this is (flavorful, tasty, different, excellent or something similar) WHAT BRAND IS IT?” And i answer, to my delight, “pier’s own brand”
Be patient, read the forum and ask questions: your tobacco will be good in a couple of years.

pier

 

[LeftyRighty]

agree with Bob too (except never did Latakia), even my perique was great after couple years aging. But it took 3-4 years to get the whole process from seed to shredding done right.

 

[Private1]

Thanks all, I'm building a flue cure box as I understand that can dramatically decrease curing time while you're waiting on other non flue cured leaf to age.

I'll try to post more frequently and keep you updated!

 

[plantdude]

For cigar grade tobacco most of my leaf is still to young, especially without a proper kiln. I do have some nice looking leaf and it seems to be improving with age though so I'm willing to wait.

@Private1 maybe you should consider growing a few of the oriental varieties, yellow twist bud, and other varieties like perique (the variety not the product) that require shorter ageing times to taste good. Most of these have been quiet nice for me even without much ageing for making non traditional mini cigars/cigarillos. I've had luck making a few batches of chewing tobacco that aren't too bad with some of the cigar varieties that typically require longer aging.
I have not tried making pipe tobacco or cigarettes but I imagine a lot of the oriental varieties, YTB, and perique could be used in a blend pretty soon after sun/air curing with decent results.
It sounds like most commercial tobaco is being aged for a year or longer, even some of the cigarette tobacco that gets flu cured. It's easy to be impatient. I think flu cureing will help. I also think having a few varieties that taste good right away like the orientals (Prilep, Basma, Samsun, Sherazi, etc.) help keep the motivation level up while waiting on the slower ageing varieties.

 

[Hayden]

Its really interesting to read that the homegrown tobacco can taste better than the big companies.
I really look forward to make some flakes for my pipe and have some cigar leaf.

All (smokers) which i told about my plan to grow some stuff were quiet interested and also said that it sounds really cool.

 

[Radagast]

Even what I grew this year in my first grow was really good, for my taste anyway. It was worth doing and I look forward to it being better in the years to come. It's a long term investment-to-return tho and I didn't come up with anything spectacular until I kilned some. I expect age to make some major differences too.

 

[deluxestogie]

...read that the homegrown tobacco can taste better than the big companies

The big companies have to sell a reproducible product at a competitive price, and sell it to customers who expect their tobacco to remain "fresh" feeling. Home-grown tobacco can be quite ordinary, or it can be truly artisanal. We don't wonder why a meal at a fine restaurant always tastes better than similar food at a chain restaurant. The former is artisanal cooking, while the latter is reproducible product that must be prepared within an unrealistically short amount of time, and be sold at a price competitive with similar chain restaurants. One might say the same about home-grilled hamburgers vs. McDonald's.

The tobacco big boys do have some dandy equipment (rollers, steamers, presses, ovens, etc.), but that simply makes their product easily reproducible.

So, your burgers are better, and your tobacco can be better as well.

Bob

 

[Hayden]

The big companies have to sell a reproducible product at a competitive price, and sell it to customers who expect their tobacco to remain "fresh" feeling. Home-grown tobacco can be quite ordinary, or it can be truly artisanal. We don't wonder why a meal at a fine restaurant always tastes better than similar food at a chain restaurant. The former is artisanal cooking, while the latter is reproducible product that must be prepared within an unrealistically short amount of time, and be sold at a price competitive with similar chain restaurants. One might say the same about home-grilled hamburgers vs. McDonald's.

The tobacco big boys do have some dandy equipment (rollers, steamers, presses, ovens, etc.), but that simply makes their product easily reproducible.

So, your burgers are better, and your tobacco can be better as well.

Bob

I think the comparison between home cooking and fast food is quiet good. It is sadly much harder to get an idea about the taste of homegrown tobacco if you dont live in big traditional tobacco farming areas. Additional the informations about kilning/flue curing etc are quiet rare outside of this forum. The one german guy i talked about growing dident know about kilning the tobacco for example.
I also would like to know how much really good tobacco you get out of a grow year ? Is it like a certain percentage each year ?

 

[deluxestogie]

...live in big traditional tobacco farming area...

The part of Virginia where I live (southwest Virginia, above the Blue Ridge Mountains) is not a big traditional tobacco farming area. Two of the primary factors in where tobacco was traditionally grown--prior to the mid-twentieth century--are 1) climate with a long enough growing season to allow direct seeding of tobacco beds outdoors--how it had always been done, and 2) climate with suitable conditions for shed curing in huge, open tobacco barns. Neither of those constraints is applicable today.

I am hesitant to quantify something that varies so much from one growing season to the next. In all but the most unfavorable of growing seasons, I would guess that significantly less than 10% of my leaf is unsuitable. "Really good" is more a factor of how the suitable leaf is subsequently handled.

If companies can successfully grow tobacco in Nepal, surely growing tobacco in Germany (where it has been grown for centuries) should be promising.

Bob

 

[Hayden]

The part of Virginia where I live (southwest Virginia, above the Blue Ridge Mountains) is not a big traditional tobacco farming area. Two of the primary factors in where tobacco was traditionally grown--prior to the mid-twentieth century--are 1) climate with a long enough growing season to allow direct seeding of tobacco beds outdoors--how it had always been done, and 2) climate with suitable conditions for shed curing in huge, open tobacco barns. Neither of those constraints is applicable today.

I am hesitant to quantify something that varies so much from one growing season to the next. In all but the most unfavorable of growing seasons, I would guess that significantly less than 10% of my leaf is unsuitable. "Really good" is more a factor of how the suitable leaf is subsequently handled.

If companies can successfully grow tobacco in Nepal, surely growing tobacco in Germany (where it has been grown for centuries) should be promising.

Bob

An lost of under 10% seems like a really good number. To be honest i thought that it would be a lot warmer in your part than what this diagramm tells me (https://en.climate-data.org/north-america/united-states-of-america/minnesota/virginia-16670/
That tobacco was grown here i discovered slowly from this forum. I have never heard about this before nor did i see a field in my area. But yeah we even have our own seed strains and in the past it was a big buisness. I only found some farmers in the south in germany which still grow some plants. But with the knowledge in this forum and your great book i´m also positiv that i can make some good stuff, if the result is good i play also with the idea to upload a video to youtube for the german viewers and link this forum.

I´m really looking forward to how for example a virginia flake will taste with homegrown stuff.

 

[Charly]

I grow tobacco for already 5 years now, and to be honest, I have very mixed results.
Each year I make a lot of mistakes and it results in a lot of wasted/molded/dried green/unmature leaves.
BUT each year I have some very nice leaves too, which are better than a lot of commercial manufactured stuff :
- virginias (bright leaves) : even with air (and a bit of sun)-curing, I get some leaves that become great after kilning and/or pressing (in cigarettes and pipes).
- perique : once the process understood, it works like a charm.
- cigars : once my leaves are kilned AND rested for some months/years, I roll some cigars that are clearly better than most of low/mid grade commercial cigars (and sometimes even high grade ones).

I still have to make more tests to make some good cavendish and latakia, but with the help of all the good members here, I am sure I will succed !
I also would like to build a flue curing chamber (and a smoke chamber), but have not found time/budget/material yet.

I love tobacco when it is well aged, and that's probably a reason why I learn so slowly (hard to judge a young leave).
Each year I discover something new and understand better what I missed (or pretend to understand).
I am eager to begin a new crop to try to do better again !

 

[red]

When farming in Pennsylvania, Dad took an old corncrib and covered the slats, nailing planks over them--loosely! It was big enough to cure a quarter acre of Burley. The crib stood about 18 inches above the ground, which helps keep soil moisture and molds from getting to the leaf. The rag was good, no mold even in damp years. Plenty of fresh air is a must. Indians used to harvest and half from the top pole of the longhouse. There, it dried and absorbed smoke from hardwood fires and cedar. When cured, a lot would be packed in maple blocks that had holes reamed in them. Cigar and cigarette tobacco was packed in layers between slabs of cedar, wrapped, and put away for a while.

 

[Private1]

Just wanted to post and say I just tried some homegrown, not mine, but holy moley, its exceptional, and its not even kilned, just a good bit of age I imagine!

For anyone wondering if you can make exceptional homegrown, even single leaf, the answer is 200% you can!

 

[Hayden]

Its quiet hard to wait till the growing season starts and to hear all the good things ^^
What tobacco have you recieved Private1 ?

23:55

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m--RvRT6zuE&t=811s

 

[Private1]

Under no circumstances am I suggesting that I was given this tobacco, I'd have to say that it would have come from an exceptionally unfortunate looking gentleman, who said it is most likely burley. (Jokes mate, if you exist, I know you're reading this )

We're not allowed to share tobacco at all in NZ

 

[dvrmte]

Hi All,

Cheeky question, how many of you have actually grown, cured, and finished tobacco from seed to bowl successfully, and its comparable in quality / to commercial blends?

Reason I'm asking is my first proper batch turned out a bit rubbish and even after a years age, the leaf hasn't significantly improved, feeling a bit stink hahah.

About four years ago, I grew about 24 burley plants my first year. I hung the plants in a shed to air cure. I then kilned it a few weeks. It turned out very good and I still have a pound or so left of it. Since then I've grown several varieties of flue-cured, several types of burley, One Sucker, dark air, and Samsun.
I don't process my smoking tobacco other than curing, kilning, aging, and shredding it. I don't add any toppings or casings. I primarily smoke it in a pipe but sometimes I chew it.
I have to say that all of my tobacco is at least as good as any I've bought from whole leaf sources, except for the Samsun. I purposely attempted to underfeed the Samsun when it was growing but the plants evidently got hold of residual nitrogen in the subsoil and took off. The stalks and leaves were huge compared to the photos of Samsun growing in the Black Sea region. I strung the leaves and sun cured them. The tobacco isn't bad quality. It has good aromatics but only the top leaves are comparable to Samsun as it's grown around the Black Sea.

 

[new boy]

Its quiet hard to wait till the growing season starts and to hear all the good things ^^
What tobacco have you recieved Private1 ?

23:55

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m--RvRT6zuE&t=811s

Is the vid one of the people on here ? I watched it 3-4 months ago and made a plug tried it. Needs improvement!! Maybe age so we will see !