GreenDragon
Well-Known Member
Took these out yesterday after 4 days in the box press. Smaller plug is Four Points, the larger is Nestled Pebble. I may need to get on eBay and bid on a plug cutter!
Pure Tobacco Pipe Blends You Can Make
- Thread starter deluxestogie
- Start date
Envision yourself on a beautiful, sunny day, during a much needed pause in the tedium of everyday life, being playfully lifted into the air on the curvy, smooth tusk of a playful mammoth. The Savannah has deep grass, so you probably won't actually break a bone. It's just a game. You hold up a weapon, and throw it. Then the playful mammoth happily runs to fetch you.
Although this blend has a substantial proportion of WLT Latakia, which makes it rich and smoky, the 25% Black Mammoth Cavendish is really in the driver's seat. It is that Black Mammoth CAV giving the blend its full nicotine, and without Perique. There is not much here that requires pH balancing. The WLT Basma is mostly cosmetic--part of its visual presentation.
Dark, rich, smoky and full. A satisfying blend for late in the day. (Room note is way better than that of a mammoth.) Even though Black Mammoth is a Dark Air-cured variety, it has its own distinctive taste. Lacking flue-cured leaf in the blend, it goes fairly well after smoking a cigar.
Playful Mammoth
- Black Mammoth Cavendish 25% (4 parts per 16)
- Latakia 62.5 % (10 parts per 16)
- Basma 12.5% (2 parts per 16)
Bob
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1918 - A Blend for the Times
This tastes exactly like 102 year old pipe tobacco. Maybe. No need to wear a high, starched collar or a bow-tie in order to smoke it. A face mask may be required.
Seriously, I expected the nicotine to be quite high, but it comes out in the medium-to-full range, with a wonderful Burley aroma. It's a robust, enjoyable smoke. Both my straight burley and my burley Cavendish are burley red tip (probably TN 89, and from the upper stalk positions). You can, of course use a milder burley or leaf from lower on the stalk.
As with Playful Mammoth, if you smoke a bowl of 1918 after smoking a cigar, the pH jolt (that accompanies flue-cured or Oriental containing blends, following a cigar) is not there. Just a smooth pipe smoking experience--smoother than Playful Mammoth.
1918
Bob
This tastes exactly like 102 year old pipe tobacco. Maybe. No need to wear a high, starched collar or a bow-tie in order to smoke it. A face mask may be required.
Seriously, I expected the nicotine to be quite high, but it comes out in the medium-to-full range, with a wonderful Burley aroma. It's a robust, enjoyable smoke. Both my straight burley and my burley Cavendish are burley red tip (probably TN 89, and from the upper stalk positions). You can, of course use a milder burley or leaf from lower on the stalk.
As with Playful Mammoth, if you smoke a bowl of 1918 after smoking a cigar, the pH jolt (that accompanies flue-cured or Oriental containing blends, following a cigar) is not there. Just a smooth pipe smoking experience--smoother than Playful Mammoth.
1918
- Burley Cavendish 2/3
- Burley Red Tip 1/3
Bob
In early January of 2020, a rare, natural arch window along Puerto Rico's southern coast was destroyed by a 5.8 magnitude earthquake. Punta Ventana has been a well known tourist attraction for over a century. The natural wonder is now gone. Arch windows within a jutting finger of sedimentary layers are relatively rare at any given point in time. But the windows are a common part of the progression of erosion to a sedimentary rock peninsula. So on a geologic time scale, their occurrence is common, and their existence always transient. On a human time scale, their destruction seems more surprising. Another earthquake (5.5 magnitude) struck near the same area May 2, 2020.
This blend is my gesture of acknowledgement to Puerto Rico for their lost treasure. It is a mid-day blend, with medium nicotine, a full aroma, and no tongue bite. My testing blends used WLT Basma Cavendish and burley red tip Cavendish. The Perique is from WLT. With the high proportion of Oriental Cavendish, a bowl of Punta Ventana doesn't last very long, so a pipe with a large bowl is in order.
Punta Ventana 2020
- Oriental Cavendish 75.0%
- Burley Cavendish 12.5%
- Perique 12.5%
Bob
Olpipeman
Member
Ok...I think this post should go under this thread. I have received my second small order from the Whole Leaf Tobacco and I am impressed! So, with trembling excitement, I quickly and impulsively began to shred the beautiful leaf and proceed to throw something together. I guessed on 50% Red , 25% Canadian flue cured lemon, and the last 25% a mix of Air cured and oriental. Wow!!!! This is some delicious stuff! I shredded the entire pound of the red up but have to work on the others in turn. I also have the Maryland and some of the thin leaf. I didn't expect it to be so good so I am happy 'as is', but any suggestions on proportion changes or process are welcome. I'd like to try some other blends with it. I'd of bought some Perique but it was out of stock. My plan is to stuff it in a mason jar and let this age. I am supposing it will get even better. Also, the pressing sounds interesting. The only suggestions I probably won't entertain are to add Latakia as I don't like it thus far in my Piping journey.
Thanks!
Thanks!
Those are indeed delicious ingredients. If you are comfortable with the acidity (tip of tongue bite), then no need to make changes. Maryland produces a somewhat more alkaline smoke, and 10% in your above blend should noticeably alter the tongue sensation.
This is a long thread, but you can find a lot of divergent (and sometimes coherent) ideas in its numerous posts. Just take your time, and gradually read through it--likely over a period of weeks. Enjoy the journey.
Bob
This is a long thread, but you can find a lot of divergent (and sometimes coherent) ideas in its numerous posts. Just take your time, and gradually read through it--likely over a period of weeks. Enjoy the journey.
Bob
This is a mild, floral blend, with a mild nicotine level. How floral it turns out to be will depend on which Oriental variety you've made into Cavendish. The same is also true of how smooth your blend turns out to be--depending on the initial acidity of the batch. I used my Trabzon Cavendish for my first blend. As with Orientals in the Samsun family (Bafra, Samsun, Trabzon), the Trabzon Cavendish blend still had a soft edge. When I use WLT Basma (made into Cavendish) it required no more Perique to balance the tongue bite, and seems a little smoother than with the Trabzon. Most of the nicotine comes from the Perique.
This Cavendish was made by moistening and sealing WLT Basma into a quart Mason jar, then simmering it for two days in a water bath. It's aroma is substantially altered.
Early Morning Smoke
- Oriental Cavendish 87.5% (14 parts of 16)
- Perique 12.5% (2 parts of 16)
Bob
Along the westernmost border between Scotland and England there is a stretch of territory that was so lawless and considered so worthless that neither country would claim it, and be responsible for it. Clan fought clan, stealing back and forth from one another. Finally, when the two countries were joined under a single crown, authorities went in, hanged a bunch of clan leaders, and put an end to the debatable lands. The area is just north of Cumbria.
I would not consider this to be a "Latakia blend". It is an English-style blend. Or is it a Scottish-style blend? That's debatable. We'll call it a UK-style blend.
The tiny portion of Latakia subtly influences the pouch aroma, broadening it a bit. Instead, this is a feud between the Perique Clan and every other ingredient, since there is relatively little of bright (double-bright, at that) and Basma combined. The 50% lemon Cavendish surprisingly hovers in the background.
Nicotine is medium. Excellent burn. It does not leave a Latakia note in the air. The smoke tilts toward alkaline. I have smoked many bowls of this blend.
Debatable Lands
- Lemon Cavendish 50%
- Perique 20%
- Basma 14%
- Double-Bright 11%
- Latakia 5%
Bob
stdly
Well-Known Member
Thanks for the post.
Along the westernmost border between Scotland and England there is a stretch of territory that was so lawless and considered so worthless that neither country would claim it, and be responsible for it. Clan fought clan, stealing back and forth from one another. Finally, when the two countries were joined under a single crown, authorities went in, hanged a bunch of clan leaders, and put an end to the debatable lands. The area is just north of Cumbria.
I would not consider this to be a "Latakia blend". It is an English-style blend. Or is it a Scottish-style blend? That's debatable. We'll call it a UK-style blend.
The tiny portion of Latakia subtly influences the pouch aroma, broadening it a bit. Instead, this is a feud between the Perique Clan and every other ingredient, since there is relatively little of bright (double-bright, at that) and Basma combined. The 50% lemon Cavendish surprisingly hovers in the background.
Nicotine is medium. Excellent burn. It does not leave a Latakia note in the air. The smoke tilts toward alkaline. I have smoked many bowls of this blend.
Debatable Lands
Download Debatable Lands 3½" hi-res blend label as pdf.
- Lemon Cavendish 50%
- Perique 20%
- Basma 14%
- Double-Bright 11%
- Latakia 5%
Bob
What Program are you using to make the high res images is there a template or something.
Steve
I use Photoshop 6.0 (vintage ~2000). It's all manual labor. No templates. Is there some particular aspect that you are interested in?
Bob
EDIT: The final, 300 dpi circular image is then imported into Libre Office Writer, then printed to pdf.
stdly
Well-Known Member
Thanks for your reply,
It's only 300 dpi wow what format are you importing to Libre Office.
Steve
.jpg
Many images are 72 dpi, but truly huge. By converting them to 300 dpi, and reducing the size, I get the results on all my blend labels.
Bob
stdly
Well-Known Member
Thanks again!
I was working with 650 x 650 your image above is 1050 x 1050 my label for my upcoming 1st blend is looking way better now I used your above image for the outer rings still not quite as good as yours,
Very nice. My crystal ball predicts some flue cure in your future.
It's a day-long, muscle-liquefying hike from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, down to the Colorado River. And the "corridor" is the easiest choice of route (complete with pavement and potties part of the way). It's also considered a "tourist" trail. Few real tourists (not backpackers) make it very far down, before proclaiming it to be a beautiful place, and promptly turning around to hightail it back to the rim. The corridor is both stunningly beautiful, and at the same time intimidating in its profligate geological revelations, as it snakes a hiker through two billion years of this planet's history.
This is a medium-body, all day smoke. It has no bite, but is a mouthful. I would have thought that, with all the burley, this blend does not need perique, but the little bit of perique rounds out the aroma profile, and smooths the blend. Surprisingly, I can't identify the Basma Cavendish or the Basma, or any of the other components in the taste and aroma. (Burley is present in the pouch aroma.) That distinctive burley aroma is somehow melded into the smoke. They all just cooperate. I would expect using an edgier Oriental (e.g. Bafra, Samsun, Trabzon, Shirazi) would lead to a different aroma mix--maybe better; maybe not, but definitely a bit more intense than the Basma blend.
If I were forced to guess the recipe from smoking a bowl of this, without seeing the actual tobacco or smelling the pouch, I could say for sure that there is no Virginia here, but the rest would be a puzzle. I don't even sense the perique as a recognizable aroma. Sensory conflation! If I were selling this blend commercially, I am certain that no competitor could come up with an approximation of the recipe.
The tiny proportion of Basma also offers a visual clue to the thoroughness of your mixing. If the scant Basma looks well distributed, then the similarly scant perique (which is not distinguishable by its color from all the other dark colors in the blend) is well distributed.
Corridor
- Basma Cavendish 31.25% (5 parts per 16)
- Burley Cavendish 37.50% (6 parts per 16)
- Burley Red Tip 18.75% (3 parts per 16)
- Basma 6.25% (1 part per 16)
- Perique 6.25% (1 part per 16)
Bob
@deluxestogie what do you use to cut the leaves? I had made a batch of your Davy Jones blend and my rough scissor cut doesn’t seem to want to burn uniform at all. It sure does taste good though.
JB
JB
That is a Kuhn-Rikon 6" kulu blade, used as a chaveta. After slicing a row of "coins", I then cut the row down the middle, as well as along each edge. The shred is then rubbed between my palms. A smaller diameter "cigar" allows a finer shred, but this requires more time to shred.
Blends with a very high percentage of Latakia (as in Davy Jones) may need a smaller shred (increased surface area), in order to burn well.
Bob
EDIT: Latakia crumbles, if you try to roll it. With Latakia, I just press a bunch of it onto the cutting board, and rock the kulu blade down the pile. Sometimes this also needs cross cutting. Shredding Latakia always generates a lot of Latakia dust, which I discard.
I’ve been smoking through a VA blend that I made last October.
65% Red Virginia
15% Bright leaf
20% Canadian flue cured
The burn is fantastic and I haven’t noticed any tongue bite. I think it tastes a lot like Orlik Golden Sliced.
65% Red Virginia
15% Bright leaf
20% Canadian flue cured
The burn is fantastic and I haven’t noticed any tongue bite. I think it tastes a lot like Orlik Golden Sliced.
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