Pure Tobacco Pipe Blends You Can Make

[Charly]

There are two kinds of "tong bite" :
- when pH is too low (bites on the tip of the tongue) : caused by too acidic tobacco (mainly flue cured tobacco (virginia))
- when pH is too high (bites on the back of the tongue) : caused by too alkaline tobacco (like perique, burley, dark air...)

So the key is to blend acidic and alkaline tobaccos to find the right pH range (to avoid both kinds of bite).

Bob (deluxestogie) explains this very clearly in his books :
- in "Grow your own cigars"
- in his free book "Blend Your Own Pipe Tobacco" (page 14).

 

[deluxestogie]

Acidic smoke can produce tongue bite toward the tip of the tongue. Pure flue-cured tobacco (e.g. Virginia) causes this. If the smoke is too alkaline, then it actually causes tongue bite at the back and sides of the tongue. Pure perique can cause this. When you reach the correct balance for your preference, there is no tongue bite.

The simplest model is a pipe blend consisting of only Virginia and Perique. The balance depends on the character of the Virginia. With Lemon Virginia, I tend to aim for 5 parts Virginia to 3 parts Perique (3/8 Perique). For Virginia red leaf (which comes from the upper stalk), the balance seems to be around 3 parts Virginia to 1 part Perique (2/8 Perique). You just have to play with it, when blending any particular batch of flue-cured. Burley, Maryland, dark-air-cured and cigar varieties can often replace the Perique in such a blend, though the ratio changes.

I should add that what you smoke just prior to testing this, or even what you eat or drink prior to testing this, can alter how you perceive any bite.

Bob

 

[vilbertob]

very fascinating discussion..... I love Also to smoke virginia, Burley and Dark Fire without Perique so I could find the right blend of these 3 tobaccos. I read in this thread a blend with 40%virginia 30%burley and 30%dark Fire. I would Like to try this. I'm kilning my tobaccos while I'm making Perique with some pressed Burley leaves but It Will ready in 3/4 months....

 

[burge]

I like the tang in virginia but don't like the bite.

 

[vilbertob]

Yesterday I read Bob beautiful book about pipe blending and I've writen down some blend I could Like. I could like all those without Latakia which I do not like at all. I tried to make me liking It but.....nothing to do!!!
So @deluxestogie I read about your blend Tercios (1/3 Bright Virginia, 1/3 Cavendish and 1/3 Perique). Do you think this blend could be similar to Rattrays Marlin Flake? Do you know It? I smoke it for a Long time adding a Little bit of Kentucky Fire cured from Toscano cigar we have here in Italy....
Now I have some Virginia, Burley, Kentucky Fire cured and Perique (in 4 months from now)....so I could reproduce this blend.

 

[deluxestogie]

Most of my familiarity with many Rattray's blends dates to the 1970s, when they were manufactured in Perth, using the original recipes. The blends that I've sampled over the past decade, made by the lowest bidder in the EU (in Denmark, I believe) bear little resemblance to the blends of old. So it is difficult for me to answer comparison questions.

But the enjoyment of experimental blending is the goal of this thread.

Bob

 

[Charly]

It will be hard to create a clone of a commercial blend (like Marlin Flake), but you might create something new that you might like even more.

 

[vilbertob]

I do not actually make a clone but I Always read Marlin Flake has Cavendish, Virginia and Perique so I thought Bob had been inspired by this tobacco!!

 

[deluxestogie]

Sorry about the Edgar Hunt painting. I couldn't resist the pun. This all Cavendish blend is similar in strength to Greenbriar Two Tone (half Lemon Cav, half Burley Red Cav), but offers less of the distinctive burley taste and aroma. Nicotine is medium. A bowl of Three Cavs seems to mingle well with a bowl of any Virginia / Perique blend smoked before or after it. Three Cavs is not as "heavy" or rich as a Perique-containing blend.

Of course, the possibilities for blending Cavendish made from different varieties of tobacco are endless. In addition, Cavendish can be lightly cooked or heavily cooked--each extreme differing in aroma and blend possibilities. If a variety is flue-cured or sun-cured already, then I will make Cavendish from it as is. On the other hand, if it is an air-cured variety (e.g. burley, MD, dark-air, etc.), I always kiln it first, to finish the fermentation process.

When I cook Cavendish to as dark a color as possible, it loses much of its distinctive aroma, and simply becomes a reflection of the source tobacco's nicotine content. So don't think "Black Cavendish". That is an artifact of commercially cooked, cheap tobacco that has been rendered perpetually dark by being kept perpetually moist--the result of propylene glycol. There is no need to cook away the subtleties of a variety. The minimum cooking for any of the three varieties of Cavendish I used in this particular batch was 6 hours (inside a Mason jar) in a boiling water bath. They each retain their distinctive varietal character, though that is quite softer than the uncooked versions.

Again, the flash picks up bright colors that I don't see in real life, with my aging eyes. But they are obviously not "Black Cavendish". Notice my intentional, wide shred. I can manually shred (with my Kuhn-Rikon 6" kulu blade) to about half that thickness, but prefer the friendlier packing and slow burn of this wider shred.

My approach has been to find a general pH balance among the ingredients. Straight Virginia Cavendish though tasty, has a definite tongue bite. The same is true of Cavendish made from an Oriental. Most of the other varieties of Cavendish that I've made are too strong in their nicotine for me to enjoy them straight. Blending them works magic.

Three Cavs

• Lemon Virginia Cavendish 50%
• Burley Red Tip Cavendish 25%
• Maryland 609 Cavendish 25%

Download 3½" Three Cavs label as hi-res pdf.

Bob

 

[deluxestogie]

Exercise: Observe that each white arc is followed by flying fish of a single color. Each nexus is intersected by flying fish of three colors, yet there are four colors of flying fish.

This is a kinder, gentler approach to the recipe I used for Circle Limit IV. Circle Limit III offers a medium dose of Latakia, that stands out more than the percentage would suggest, in the absence of Perique aromas. Despite being half Lemon and Basma, I really don't sense a sweetness. The Dark-air Cavendish still ramps up the nicotine. I would consider it an "upper-medium" English blend.

[I find M.C. Escher's Circle Limit I and Circle Limit II topologically curious, but graphically uninteresting, so this will be my final Circle Limit blend.]

Circle Limit III

• Latakia 37.5% (6 parts per 16)
• Dark-air Cavendish 12.5% (2 parts per 16)
• Lemon Virginia 31.25% (5 parts per 16)
• Basma 18.75% (3 parts per 16)

Download 3½" high res label as pdf.

Bob

 

[GreenDragon]

All I see are planaria. I have to force my mind to see the fins. Guess we're all wired differently

 

[Radagast]

Exercise: Observe that each white arc is followed by flying fish of a single color. Each nexus is intersected by flying fish of three colors, yet there are four colors of flying fish.

This is a kinder, gentler approach to the recipe I used for Circle Limit IV. Circle Limit III offers a medium dose of Latakia, that stands out more than the percentage would suggest, in the absence of Perique aromas. Despite being half Lemon and Basma, I really don't sense a sweetness. The Dark-air Cavendish still ramps up the nicotine. I would consider it an "upper-medium" English blend.

[I find M.C. Escher's Circle Limit I and Circle Limit II topologically curious, but graphically uninteresting, so this will be my final Circle Limit blend.]

Circle Limit III

• Latakia 37.5% (6 parts per 16)
• Dark-air Cavendish 12.5% (2 parts per 16)
• Lemon Virginia 31.25% (5 parts per 16)
• Basma 18.75% (3 parts per 16)

Download 3½" high res label as pdf.

Bob

Bravo!

 

[deluxestogie]

All I see are planaria.

This is not a planaria either.

Bob

 

[GreenDragon]

Started a batch of FFT Christmas Blend 2019 tonight. Roughly ripped pieces small enough to stack in my new little plug press. I’ll let that sit under pressure for a few days,

Also finally got around to drying down my latest batch of Cavendish, which I made about a month ago. A jar each of Va. Bright leaf, Red Va., Maryland, Dark Air, and Little Dutch. Wet leaves placed in canning jars, loose lids, and processed in an instant pot for 12 hours. (Instant pots don’t get as hot as a real pressure cooker, so it takes longer). The nice thing about this is they come out sealed and sterile, so they don’t go bad while they sit waiting on me to get around to them!

I love smelling the differences between them. The bright leaf smells like good aged tobacco and caramel. The Red Va. smells spicy with sweet undertones. The Maryland smells dank, earthy, and a little floral. The Dark Air is funky, like feet and mushrooms - slightly Perique like.

 

[deluxestogie]

Great to see. It's always a lot of fun to open multiple Cavendish jars of different varieties. My experience is that they all need at least a week to settle down, after you dry them down. Dark Air Cavendish begins to shine after about a month post dry-down. After many months, Black Mammoth Cavendish and even Silver River Cavendish become interesting and smokable--when blended.

Bob

 

[PressuredLeaf]

Great to see. It's always a lot of fun to open multiple Cavendish jars of different varieties. My experience is that they all need at least a week to settle down, after you dry them down. Dark Air Cavendish begins to shine after about a month post dry-down. After many months, Black Mammoth Cavendish and even Silver River Cavendish become interesting and smokable--when blended.

Bob

“Aging” cavendish seems to be very important in my experience as well. My very first cavendish was pressured cooked bright VA. It came out jet black even when dry. Fresh it had a sugary, slightly burnt smell. I put it in a jar and forgot about it for a while. While sitting it lost the acrid notes, and smelled wonderful, almost like dried fruit. The resulting cav added a very pronounced dark fruit fragrance to my blends and their respective room note. I gotta make some more, but I hate listening to the pressure cooker all day.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

I'm smoking year old stuff and it's become so much more caramel-like, and has none of that citrus it originally had.

 

[deluxestogie]

Gentle on my Mine

• PA Maduro Cavendish 18.75% (3 parts per 16)
• Maryland Cavendish 18.75% (3 parts per 16)
• VA Red Flue-cured 62.50% (10 parts per 16)

Warm, soft and slightly sweet. No tongue bite. Medium-to-full nicotine. This is the blend I entered for the Imagination Challenge. Hope you don't mine my posting it again. I've simply given it a label of mine.
[WARNING: The State of California has determined that this blend has not been adequately tested for safety in the presence of a canary.]

Download 3½" 300 dpi pdf of label

Bob

 

[GreenDragon]

Hope you don't mine my posting it again. I've simply given it a label of mine.

HA! I see what you did there

I don't have any PA Maduro Cav, but I think I'll sub my Little Dutch and see how it does.

 

[deluxestogie]

I don't have any PA Maduro Cav, but I think I'll sub my Little Dutch and see how it does.

Do post your results. The possible permutations of varieties, priming levels and degree of steaming, when making Cavendish is a lot of fun to explore.

I've found myself repeatedly making up yet another batch of Three Cavs. (Maybe it's because the math is so easy.)
Three Cavs

• Lemon Virginia Cavendish 50%
• Burley Red Tip Cavendish 25%
• Maryland 609 Cavendish 25%

Bob