Late entry, DaleB's 2023 grow

[DaleB]

I've added a quarter turn to the vise about once a day just to maintain the pressure on my plug. It's awfully tempting to pull it out again, but I'm forcing myself to give it more time.

Right now I'm smoking a bit of my earlier small amount of VA/Turkish that I'd shredded and doused with a bit of rum and a couple drops of molasses. Too much molasses, I actually think; it took forever to dry to anything other than a tacky mess. The flavor isn't bad, it's very much a straight VA with a little Oriental making itself known. Not far off what I had hoped for. It is a touch on the harsh end of the scale and obviously would benefit greatly from some additional aging, but I knew that would be the case going in. I probably made less than half an ounce total for this little batch.

Now I've got a couple hands of flue cured VA re-hydrating so I can get it to the point where I can handle it without it crumbling. I want to remove the midribs and fill a large Ball jar with leaf so I can cook some into Cavendish. That will be my backup plan in case the flake doesn't work out, and hopefully give me something nice to smoke for a while as the flake ages. I'd also like something to use to liberally cut a couple of commercial blends I have on hand (Haunted Bookshop and Bayou Morning, for example) that I just don't like in their straight form, but might be OK with some milder Cavendish added.

Hopefully before it's time to start seeds again I'll have decided whether to devote the planter I used this year to tobacco, or plant something else instead! But you guys are a really bad influence. Now I'm thinking maybe some hand rolled cigars might be fun to try.

 

[DaleB]

I pulled the block out of the vise today. It weighs in at over 6 ounces -- around 180 grams, I think it was. It's as solid as a block of wood, and in my humble opinion too dry. I dropped it into a large Ball bail-lid jar along with a chunk of paper towel soaked with espresso; I'll watch carefully to make sure no mold forms but this thing needs a little moisture. The next question will be how to slice it, as I don't have a tobacco cutter. It seems a bit too tough to get thin slices off of the end with a regular knife. I did shave off a little and try it out in a cob; it's about the same as the other stuff -- good flavor, but a little harsh still. And it smells great. At this point my plan is to try to get the moisture raised just a little, slice it into flakes, and put it in a jar for at least six months.

The leaves I want to cook are rehydrating nicely; they're in a large plastic bin and are anywhere from high to medium-low case right now. I'm turning, lightly misting them with water, and re-covering them once a day until they all get to a consistent high case where I can remove the midribs and get them ready to steam.

 

[DaleB]

Forgot to post the pics!

 

[DaleB]

The block was pretty dry and readily separated along the lines where I'd stacked the segments I cut up earlier. I put it in a sealed jar and brought the whole thing back to high case, which also made it expand like a sponge to about 2-3 times its compressed thickness. I might have accidentally spilled a little splash of Bourbon in there with it...

I had the jar in the oven for several hours on the "proof" setting, which is warm but not hot - probably around 85-90 degrees F. Once the moisture seemed consistently distributed throughout the stack, I re-wrapped and compressed it again. We'll see if that helps. I could have gotten it a lot wetter, but I'm hoping this was enough.

 

[DaleB]

While giving my plug some time in the vise to ponder its sins, I decided to try my hand at a batch of Cavendish. Yesterday I de-ribbed a pile of leaves and packed four pint canning jars with them. Not too loose, not too tight. I mixed up a bit of filtered water with a little brandy and a splash of pure vanilla extract and put a few tablespoons into each jar. I put lids and rings on, but left the rings loose. The four jars went into the instant pot with a couple inches of water in the bottom, and I cooked the batch on high for 3 hours. It came out a nice walnut brown, and the lids had sucked down for a nice vacuum seal. I have to say the smell when I opened up the cooker was... not pleasant.

Today I popped the seals and gave the jars a sniff. Still not a pleasant aroma, but I expected that based on what I'd read here. There was really no sign of any brandy or vanilla aroma at all, at least not that I could tell... though my sniffer isn't quite up to snuff at the moment, as we're in the hopefully last stages of COVID here. Yes, the dreaded COVID... I've had worse head colds. Anyway, just for fun I ran the jars through another 3 hour cycle in the cooker and pulled them out. They're all a nice fairly uniform shade of dark brown, a bit darker and more uniform than yesterday. Later on I'll glove up (got a nasty cut on my thumb that I'd rather not soak in tobacco leaf juice) and spread them all out on cookie sheets to dry some, then I'll likely either press it or roll it into rope to sit for a couple weeks and do whatever it's going to do.

 

[DaleB]

As it's been a few weeks, I decided to try a bit of the Cavendish again. It smells much better now - though still not as wonderful as I'd hoped. It has not darkened significantly since it came out of the jars. It is a bit harsh as well, with a little "bite" at the back of the palate. Nowhere near what I had hoped for, to be honest. I haven't tried the VA flake again yet, I'll let that go for at least another month.

 

[deluxestogie]

For how long was the Cavendish cooked?

Bob

 

[DaleB]

Two rounds of 3 hours each, on the canning cycle in an instant pot type pressure cooker.

 

[DaleB]

As I write this, I'm sitting here smoking some of my VA flake. A month in the jar has done this stuff a world of good. I look forward to trying it mid-year after it's got some more age on it. but even now it's quite acceptable. There is a slight hint of a little "green" or grassy flavor that I hadn't detected before; I'm not a fan, but it's not strong enough to be objectionable. I haven't tried the Cavendish again yet, but it smells better in the jar than it did. Still quite a molasses aroma - which seems a bit odd, since I didn't use any molasses when preparing it, only vanilla and brandy. We'll see how that shakes out over time. It does seem to have darkened up a bit, too.

I've still got a big tote full of dried and kilned leaves out in the garage. If the VA flake continues to improve like this, I'll make more of it -- though I'll do that in summer, when I can press it while it's damp and hot. Right now I'm just pondering whether to start some seeds for another season of growing or not.

 

[johnny108]

There are over 3,000 varieties of tobacco plant.
There has got to be a few that you are curious about- historically, culturally, aesthetically, or simply to taste something new, that you can’t buy.
If you’re stocked up for your personal supply, then starts seeds of unusual, exotic, or just interesting strains.

 

[DaleB]

It's not necessarily that I'm all stocked up, though I've got enough to last me a year or so if I can make something smokable. I'm waiting to see if I'm going to end up with something that I truly enjoy smoking or not.

Last year I tapped a couple of maple trees in the back yard. The resulting work to collect the sap, boil it down, and bottle it resulted in some really, really delicious pure maple syrup - as good as or better than anything we've ever bought anywhere. So, lots of effort, very enjoyable, and the end result was well worth it.

I also grew a number of tobacco plants, then harvested, dried, and processed the leaves to make some pipe tobacco. Again, lots of effort, pretty enjoyable, but so far the end result has not exactly been inspiring. Maybe I'll get better at the processing part, but if not I'd rather devote the space and effort to growing something else.

The bowl of VA flake didn't finish nearly as well as it started. Back on the shelf for another month or two to let it age some more.

 

[Alpine]

Growing and curing tobacco is not so difficult BUT requires experience: each year we’re all increasing our knowledge and sharing it here on the forum, which is a great and helpful resource… but nothing can substitute doing things in the real world. I can guarantee that your next crop will be far better than the last. I’ve grown tobacco for years now, and I’m still learning something new every year.

pier

 

[johnny108]

It takes practice to apply the science of growing and curing to your local environment.
Alpine is right- it will get better every year.

 

[DaleB]

I think I'll just take a different approach this year. I did enjoy the growing, but the kilning was such a tremendous pain in the ass that I really don't want to repeat that at least until such time as I can build a proper kiln. The thing I built last year just ended up causing way, way too much work and frustration. Not well enough insulated, not sealed well enough, just a real downer.

This year I'll plant some varieties known to air cure well. I'm ordering some Perique, Yellow Twist Bud, and Chilean. I'm also adjusting my expectations to allow for a couple years of age on the stuff I have (Seedman's Tennessee Red Leaf, Samsun, and Ontario Bold) before even trying to smoke anything. I've got a bag of seed from either an Ontario Bold or a TN Red Leaf plant. I may plant that again some day, but I've probably got enough to plant a few acres, more than I'd use in a lifetime. I'll save a little of it, and use the rest as an experiment to see if directly sowing into some park space results in more interesting diversity of plant life where I take my walks. I've got a bag of Samsun seed too - that I'm hanging onto.

I'll have a different soil mix this year also. We started composting least summer, and I've got the first load from the little tumbler about ready to mix into the planters along with some ash from the fire pit. Should cut down a bit on the number of times I need to fertilize the beds.

 

[deluxestogie]

Consider just starting a few Samsun, to place in the garden as flowers. They are beautiful. Around here, the open flowers are a delight to watch from my front porch when the bumble bees and hummingbirds visit. Once the flowers have finished, cut off and discard the seed heads, and simply hang the entire stalks in the sun for a few weeks, to sun-cure (only if you want to save the leaf).

Bob

 

[DaleB]

Consider just starting a few Samsun, to place in the garden as flowers. They are beautiful. Around here, the open flowers are a delight to watch from my front porch when the bumble bees and hummingbirds visit. Once the flowers have finished, cut off and discard the seed heads, and simply hang the entire stalks in the sun for a few weeks, to sun-cure (only if you want to save the leaf).

Bob

Yeah, I grew half a planter (12 stalks or so) of Samsun last summer. I let a couple of them bloom, and they are pretty nice. Of course all of them produce nice blossoms, in my humble opinion. I got the seeds out of several Samsun pods, probably a few thousand of them. The Samsun blossomed well after the others had either been topped or had finished blooming, so no cross pollination.

 

[DaleB]

Today I tried a bit more of my VA flake. It been sitting in the jar now since December, so five months. It’s gone from, “Wow, this kind of sucks” to, “This doesn’t suck, but it’s kind of bland”. Back on the shelf it goes. It still smells distinctly of molasses.

My plastic tote full of kilned leaves out in the garage is smelling wonderful. When it warms up I’ll bring them back into case and press some. Then there’s a bag of Samsun I’m not quite sure what to do with, I’ll probably just mix that in.

 

[manfisher]

What the heck is wrong with this plant?? It's one of my Samsun stalks. The others look OK for the most part (aside from the insect damage), but this one has always displayed this leaf curling to some degree. Over the past two days it's gotten dramatically worse, to the point where it looks obvious the plant is about to die. Now one of the others is starting to show the same sort of darkening and curling. This is one plant the worms have left alone -- obviously they can tell there's something wrong, too. Is this tobacco leaf curl virus?

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Hi Dale,

I know this is almost a year late response but this could also be a calcium deficiency (if you get this issue again next year). I could be wrong and Bob is much more knowledgeable than I am but TCV usually results in leaves that are extremely, and I mean extremely, lumpy. Almost looks like dried Kale or maybe even similar in lumpiness to a head of broccoli. I definitely see some lumps there which is indicative of this virus but it also looks really similar to a calcium deficiency which can be remedies with some epsom salt. I had a plant on the brink of death that looked similar to this, it was curling so hard it was breaking some of the veins. Added about 2 cups of lukewarm water with about 1/4 tsp of Epsom salt and it saved it. You'd never know it had issues.

 

[DaleB]

Hi Dale,

I know this is almost a year late response but this could also be a calcium deficiency (if you get this issue again next year). I could be wrong and Bob is much more knowledgeable than I am but TCV usually results in leaves that are extremely, and I mean extremely, lumpy. Almost looks like dried Kale or maybe even similar in lumpiness to a head of broccoli. I definitely see some lumps there which is indicative of this virus but it also looks really similar to a calcium deficiency which can be remedies with some epsom salt. I had a plant on the brink of death that looked similar to this, it was curling so hard it was breaking some of the veins. Added about 2 cups of lukewarm water with about 1/4 tsp of Epsom salt and it saved it. You'd never know it had issues.

I’ll keep that in mind.

I’m embarrassed to say that it’s the second week of May and, despite having seeds I ordered a few months ago, I still haven’t planted any. I should do that…