Making Latakia at Home

[tullius]

Does the real Syrian Latakia smell of birch tar and conifer?

That's too simple of a description for the smell/taste of good syrian. It is noticeably different, and in my opinion better, than the cyprian.

It has been years since I smelled verifiable, Syrian Latakia, and I wasn't considering how it was made back then. Another issue is that Syrian Latakia used different firing woods in different years, as various sources were exhausted. So their Latakia changed over time. Both Syrian and Cyprian Latakia have a conifer aroma. I'm afraid I'm not familiar with the smell of birch tar.

I went and dug out the very old 100g tin of Wellauer's Latakia that's been sitting in my humidor. I thought I opened it but it's still sealed and clearly marked syrian in german and french. It's straight, not their Mixture: I bought it over 20 years ago on the recommendation of a trusted shop proprietor because I asked for more Balkan Sobranie 759 (now gone excellent blend that contained a hefty dose of syrian lat.) and he was out of stock at that time. He suggested blending it into a couple types of Dunhill as a substitute. The tin looked like it had already been sitting on the shop shelf for a very long time.

Would pop it now, but I know I only have one tin. I'll see if I can find another somewhere.

 

[deluxestogie]

I think I would save that unopened tin of Latakia, to be placed upon my breast in my coffin.

Bob

 

[ciennepi]

I will open and use immediatly because, if I would die tomorrow, at least I'll die with an exceptional smoke in mind.
CARPE DIEM

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

I will open and use immediatly because, if I would die tomorrow, at least I'll die with an exceptional smoke in mind.
CARPE DIEM

Save the ashes and mix them with your own.

 

[deluxestogie]

I've been going out every 3 or 4 days, and bringing in small (1 to 1-/12" thick) dead pine branches that I tossed into the brush pile a year ago. Very nice stuff for firing. Not too turpentine-like, but still pine-like in their smoke. I lop the main stem into 6" segments, and just leave the brittle side branches as is, until I need tinder.

This morning, I wandered down the fence row of the adjacent pasture, and lopped down three Eastern Red Cedars (juniper) that were about 3' tall. I'll allow them to dry for a week or two, then start adding sections and sprigs, still green, into the smoker. The ones I cut down in January, and which totally dried, offer great sections of stem to burn, but the needles become, well, actual needles that can penetrate anything. I can't recall how many tiny red cedar needles I've had to tweeze out of my fingertips and hands.

Once each day, I add a punctured foil packet of one of my saved, aromatic items. At the next firing, later in the day, I open the foil, and dump the now charcoal bits into the new fire.

Before you know it, I'll start missing having to regularly fire-up the smoker.

Bob

 

[docpierce]

I also found some interesting burnables. California Bay Laurel branches.
Wiki says:
Umbellularia californica is a large hardwood tree native to coastal forests of California, as well as to coastal forests extending into Oregon. It is an evergreen tree growing to 30 m tall with a trunk up to 80 cm thick.





The pit itself was traditionally roasted to a dark chocolate-brown color, removing much of the pungency and leaving a spicy flavor. Roasted, shelled "bay nuts" were eaten whole, or ground into powder and prepared as a drink which resembles unsweetened chocolate. The flavor, depending on roast level, has been described variously as "roast coffee," "dark chocolate" or "burnt popcorn" It is high in caffeine. Early settlers use roasted ground bay nuts as a coffee substitute.

 

[deluxestogie]

I burn-tested culinary bay leaf (Mediterranean), and found it to be compatible with Latakia firing. It's been decades since I cooked with California bay laurel, which I think is better in cooking than the Mediterranian one.

Generalized constituents of bay leaf:
The leaves contain about 1.3% essential oils (ol. lauri folii), consisting of 45% eucalyptol, 12% other terpenes, 8-12% terpinyl acetate, 3–4% sesquiterpenes, 3% methyleugenol, and other α- and β-pinenes, phellandrene, linalool, geraniol, terpineol, and contain lauric acid also.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bay_leaf

A lot of those chemicals read as a familiar song for Latakia firing materials.

Bob

 

[Death76]

Greetings!
This is what my Xanthy leaves look like after 15 days of smoking.

on top is an inverted Virginia Brightleaf sheet in the middle tier; below is a small Xanthy sheet (for color comparison).

 

[deluxestogie]

Do you know the temperature at which you are smoking the leaf?

Bob

 

[Death76]

I think the temperature is about 160 -212 ° F. More precisely, I can say when I find my thermometer.
I have a homemade smokehouse made according to the scheme:

1. Firebox.
2. The pipe is about 4 meters.
3. Barrel (200 liters)
The smoke comes out cold and humid. I think smoke humidity is good in our business.

 

[deluxestogie]

That's a classic smoker from the days before commercial contraptions. Very nice.

Bob

 

[Death76]

That's how it all started (about 20 days ago).

My smokehouse.

Xanthi stalks smoked 3 to 4 times.



Firewood.

 

[Charly]

That's some big clouds of smoke !
Very nice color on your leaves in only 15 days !

 

[deluxestogie]

I have an appointment 1 October at the Salem, Virginia VA Hospital to get my flu shot AND to gather a bushel basket full of sweet gum pods from their parking lot.

Bob

 

[HostilePride]

I have an appointment 1 October at the Salem, Virginia VA Hospital to get my flu shot AND to gather a bushel basket full of sweet gum pods from their parking lot.

Bob

I wonder if there are many groundskeepers everywhere, who are dazzled at how clean it is under certain trees and not others, all while not having done the work themselves.
"Have the work fairies come again?!".. No, it is just Bob and the Latakia experimenters collecting.

 

[Death76]

Greetings.
I still can’t find any fuel other than birch so that it gives the smell of birch tar. Can birch be used as fuel in Cyprus?

 

[deluxestogie]

So far as I can determine, birch trees are not listed among the trees of Cyprus.

Bob

 

[deluxestogie]

Yesterday evening, I included a punctured foil pack containing all of the dried lavender sprigs from 2019. This morning, the aroma of the smoker was nothing special. (Eastern red cedar gets closer to the Latakia mark.) I opened the foil pack and smelled the lavender charcoal. No particular aroma.

My rosemary stems were unmistakably on target. I have a small collection of them remaining. Dried rosemary leaf is fairly unremarkable when burned. Juniper berries produced interesting aromas, but again, not very much of a contribution. Burned mint sprigs were a little more in the vein of Latakia.

The lid on the smoker remains unopened (though it's slightly ajar). I'll peek in a couple of weeks, but the interior of the Brinkmann can is mighty black and smoky.

Bob

 

[docpierce]

After a cursory search for Syrian plants my incomplete list is as follows (in no particular order):
Scrub Oak - Cedar- Mulberry-
Olive - Fir - Wild Thyme-
Bloom - Grape - Wild Oregano-
Poplar - Myrtle - Blue Gum Eucalyptus-
Boxwood - Pistachio-
Mastic - Pine

 

[docpierce]

Now my list (so far):
Pine- Oak- Eucalyptus- CA Bay Laurel- Lavender- Rosemary- Lemon Balm- Olive- Honey suckle- Sage- Blackberry branches