Cavendish by the Hand
In January of 2017, I processed several 1 quart jars of tobacco in a pressure cooker, then allowed the canning lids to seal.
http://fairtradetobacco.com/threads...h-Pipe-Tobacco?p=131065&viewfull=1#post131065
This process sterilized the contents of the jars, and allowed me to store them with soggy leaf, and no worry about mold or rotting.
One of those jars contained 2013 Guácharo (a Venezuelan landrace primitive). "...the complete hand was squished and jammed into its respective jar, still tied and tagged." Well, this hand had not fully come into case at the time I lovingly placed it into its jar. Stems broke, leaves shattered. I didn't care. In it went. This was destined to be cooked, then sliced and rubbed.
Stuffing a tied hand into a 1 quart, wide mouth canning jar is fairly inefficient. Only one hand can fit that way. If the leaf is stemmed first, then probably 3 full hands could fit in.
Today, I decided to celebrate its coming out.
Since everything in the jar was in high case, and since I intended to shred the leaf, removal of the stems was a breeze. Also, as you can see from the Tyvek tag that has accompanied this morsel of tobacco since it was harvested in 2013, this hand consists of mud lugs. That is to say, this was flyers and trash to start with. So any change would likely be an improvement.
I piled the stemmed leaf, fragments and all, into the center of the cutting board, then compressed it into a firm, tight bundle, using my hands. This allowed me to thinly slice the leaf with my kulu blade. The sliced pile was then cross-cut twice, to limit shred length. I rubbed out the flakes by hand.
Since the interior of the house is quite dry during the present cold weather, I just spread the shred into a thin layer on the cutting board, and left it to dry on the kitchen counter.
These Guácharo mud lugs were harvested in 2013, then, after 3-1/2 years of aging, were made into Cavendish. Now, a year later, I will get a chance to smoke some. As I recall, even the "nice" Guácharo leaf, from higher on the plant, wasn't all that enjoyable.
Monument at Parque Nacional Cueva del Guácharo. The German explorer Alexander von Humboldt visited the Guacharo’s cave in 1799, and identified the bird as a new species.
But Guácharo tobacco is a primitive variety (little sign of agronomic improvement), named after the Venezuelan cave-dwelling bird. I believe the tobacco variety is closely related to Bolivia Criollo Black (and maybe to Paraguay Flojo as well). It's physical resemblance and growth habit are similar. I would not be surprised if it is no longer grown in Venezuela (its only home).
Is it worth it, to do all this work for 2 ounces of pipe tobacco? Probably not at this scale. But a full quart jar, containing, say, 8 ounces of stemmed leaf, would be roughly the same amount of processing work, but its yield would be more gratifying.
And now, the subject about which a few words are worth more than a bunch of pictures--how is that Guácharo Cavendish?
In a corncob, the Guácharo Cavendish burns reasonably well. The flavor is full and complex, with a slight spice. Puffing it straight is smooth and enjoyable, and mild when passed out my nose. The nicotine is, of course, mild, since this is mud lug. I sense no desserts, beverages, fruits or vegetables--just tobacco. I think it might blend well with bright leaf and Orientals.
Because the Cavendish process takes the temperature well over 191ºF, there are no longer any functional oxidizing enzymes in the leaf. Further aging will accomplish little.
Bob
