Im becoming discouraged

[A.T.W]

Im becoming very discouraged in continuing to try processing whole leaf tobacco that i can enjoy. I have tried and tried and tried to no end and can't make a product that I am happy with. I have used many forms of casings, stoving methods, pressing methods, etc. I can not produce a virginia tobacco that I am happy with without having that raw and green funky flavor. Everytime I have tried to change something, I get no difference in results. The only method I have found that works any at all is stoving the crap out of lemon leaf in a instant pot to make black stoved virginia with no casings and that is it. Everything else is sub par. I have not built a kiln yet, but I don't want to waste any more money or time if I'm unsure that I can make something I can thoroughly enjoy.

Has anyone been stuck with this? Everything I have bought and processed has seemed to turn into a wasted experiment. I'm not looking to make anything that is like commercial tobacco at all. I just want something i can enjoy and call my own. I am tired of wasting my money.

 

[deluxestogie]

I would suggest starting with simple, natural tobacco blending, and skip the casings for now. For example, start with flue-cured Virginia. Then add gradually increasing proportions of either dark air-cured or perique. [My typical ratio using perique is 3 parts perique to 5 parts flue-cured Virginia.]

If it's home-grown Virginia, then you won't get what you expect from it, until you can flue-cure it.

Bob

EDIT: download one or both of the pipe blending books available in our Index of Key Forum Threads.

 

[GreenDragon]

Welcome to the Forum!

A few clarifying questions to help guide us to success:
1) Are you using commercially bought tobacco, home grown, or a mix of both?
2) Are you trying to blend for cigarettes or pipes?
3) Are you using straight Virginia or are you blending with other leaf?
4) If purchased, what and from where?
5) What are your goals? Are you trying to recreate a product that you like, or are you trying to create your own custom blend?

 

[A.T.W]

Welcome to the Forum!

A few clarifying questions to help guide us to success:
1) Are you using commercially bought tobacco, home grown, or a mix of both?
2) Are you trying to blend for cigarettes or pipes?
3) Are you using straight Virginia or are you blending with other leaf?
4) If purchased, what and from where?
5) What are your goals? Are you trying to recreate a product that you like, or are you trying to create your own custom blend?

I'm using whole leaf virginias from WLT. I do have perique whole leaf too and have used it to some degree. I'm blending for pipes. All I'm trying to do is make my own pipe blends. My main goal is to process virginia whole leaf into something that is not raw and funky whether it is lemons, brights, or reds so i can create blends for myself to enjoy. I'm aware I'm not McClelland or Gawith, or C&D, and I'll never make anything close to what they have done and I'm perfectly fine with that. I'm trying to get away from commercially available pipe blends due to costs and the wishy washyness of the current market. I realize one of my biggest problems is I'm rushing things and expect a noticeable change in a short period of time.

 

[A.T.W]

I would suggest starting with simple, natural tobacco blending, and skip the casings for now. For example, start with flue-cured Virginia. Then add gradually increasing proportions of either dark air-cured or perique. [My typical ratio using perique is 3 parts perique to 5 parts flue-cured Virginia.]

If it's home-grown Virginia, then you won't get what you expect from it, until you can flue-cure it.

Bob

EDIT: download one or both of the pipe blending books available in our Index of Key Forum Threads.

Thanks Bob. I do use perique with some of my blending with some success in a blend profile just to find a sweet spot of how much peruque I like in a blend. I'm using lemon, bright, and red VA from WLT.

 

[Knucklehead]

I'm using whole leaf virginias from WLT. I do have perique whole leaf too and have used it to some degree. I'm blending for pipes. All I'm trying to do is make my own pipe blends. My main goal is to process virginia whole leaf into something that is not raw and funky whether it is lemons, brights, or reds so i can create blends for myself to enjoy. I'm aware I'm not McClelland or Gawith, or C&D, and I'll never make anything close to what they have done and I'm perfectly fine with that. I'm trying to get away from commercially available pipe blends due to costs and the wishy washyness of the current market. I realize one of my biggest problems is I'm rushing things and expect a noticeable change in a short period of time.

Did you notice this casing spray from WLT for flue cured virginias? The listing states that the citrus based casing is to correct the raw aspects of their flue cured virginias . (As with any casing I recommend shred first, then add casing to avoid gumming up your cutters)

Cigarette Tobacco Casing for Flue Cured Virginia Types

This particular casing is a citrus based casing and is best suited for correcting the raw aspects of our Flue Cured Virginia type tobaccos. Bottle color may vary.

wholeleaftobacco.com

It states for cigarettes but works for pipe also.

 

[A.T.W]

Did you notice this casing spray from WLT for flue cured virginias? The listing states that the citrus based casing is to correct the raw aspects of their flue cured virginias . (As with any casing I recommend shred first, then add casing to avoid gumming up your cutters)

Cigarette Tobacco Casing for Flue Cured Virginia Types

This particular casing is a citrus based casing and is best suited for correcting the raw aspects of our Flue Cured Virginia type tobaccos. Bottle color may vary.

wholeleaftobacco.com

It states for cigarettes but works for pipe also.

Yes I actually still have some left in a bottle but I couldn't tell any difference after using it.

 

[GreenDragon]

I think if you are trying to make blends using primarily only Virginias, but don’t like the green/grassy notes (which take a lot of processing to mitigate), you might benefit from trying my “beerique” method of fermenting tobacco. In my opinion it’s like speed aging Virginias, making them less grassy and more complex. There is a chapter on it in the book “90 More Pipe Blends” that you can download for free on the Key Forum Threads page. I really like using red wine yeast for this.

 

[A.T.W]

Thank you sir. I will try that out.

 

[KroBar]

Try drying it way drier than store bought tobacco, like real dry. Almost out of case. Then smoke it COOL, nice and slow.
I'm getting candy sweet from most of the tobaccos I smoke this way.
You've probably been smoking a pipe WAY longer than I have though, these are just my recent findings, So take my advice with a fistful of salt