I humbly offer the results of another cavendish experiment here. This is an exploration of a plan outlined by ChinaVoodoo about making cavendish in jars.
I packed 3 small jam jars with some Catterton that's been hanging in my shed since last summer when it was cut. There are a variety of leaf sizes and stem positions, but it's all the same variety of plant. I put 2oz of water in one, an ounce each of water and bourbon in the second, and in the last, 2 oz of water and 1/4tsp of vanilla extract.
I ran a crock pot on high until the water simmered/bubbled. I added the jars (on a clean rag to keep them from rattling in the slow cooker). I let them simmer on high for 4 hours, opening the lid once to check on progress. One jar (the plain water one) burst instantly. I pressed its contents into another jar and continued. The jars got 4 hours in the crock. When I was done, I spread the tobacco on aluminum foil and observed the following results:
- the plain leaf smelled like spinach after it was done. It smelled like it needed some butter and it'd be ready to eat.
-the bourbon mixture was by far the most interesting. It had some complexity to the nose - a little sweet and a little spice.
-the vanilla in the third jar was pretty much overshadowed by the smell of spinachy leaf, but it was better than the control.
The leaf did not oxidize black as I'd hoped. I'm not ruling out re-packing and boiling for more time, but I'd like to sample first to see what I'm working with.
So, the results aren't final yet. This could be a great way to make brown cavendish, or it could be a way to ruin good leaf.
The following photos are all three (under a florescent light, which lies about the color) and a closeup of the bourbon batch, which is no darker or lighter than the others.