Home tobacco blending

[BrewinHooligan]

As most of you know already I roll cigars. Coming up with new blends is half of the fun for me. Since I enjoy pipes as well I've started to play around with blending tobacco. I've made a pre-blended kit with whole leaf I had to process and shred by hand which was more work than I cared for even though the end result was a satisfying smoke I took pride knowing I had made that with my own two hands. Fast forward a few months and I get an email from P&C giving me $20 to spend on them. I decided to bite and start looking at the blending tobaccos they had available. Made some selections and placed the order only having to pay shipping.

The order when it arrived:

I'm a big fan of English and Virginia blends and decided to break the order into two different blends. I started with an English blend:
1oz Virginia
.5oz oriental
.5oz perique
.5oz burley
.75oz fire cured burley
.75oz Latakia

Next up is a Virginia based blend:
1oz Virginia
.5oz oriental
.5oz burley
.25oz fire cured

These both smell really dang good to me, but the proof is in the smoke. Not sure if I should dig in now or let rest. I will probably sample some now and revisit in a few months to see what rest does. I know that @Grrrrr609 had bought a ton of blending baccy a while back, curious how his blends are coming along.

 

[thedismaltrade]

are those bright VAs?

 

[BrewinHooligan]

are those bright VAs?

From P&C:

 

[MattBringsSoda]

Dig in now, dig in now!

 

[BrewinHooligan]

Ok, curiosity got the best of me. Will try in a briar and morta before passing final judgement but so far I'm digging it as a creamy and smooth English. I'm confident that it will get even better as it has time to rest.

 

[Marc L]

I'm in! Nice cob. they've been selling cobs like mad..

 

[BrewinHooligan]

I'm in! Nice cob. they've been selling cobs like mad..

I've tried processing/shredding whole leaf, but for the slightly higher cost, the bulk blending tobaccos are way easier.

 

[Iholmes]

Awesome project Jonathan! I think some age will let those blends mingle a little and will definitely prove to have an affect on the final product. Glad to hear you like the initial product though bc I know you will stick with it if you like how it smokes. If I can ever trim down my hobbies I might have to add this to the list lol

 

[thedismaltrade]

Ok, curiosity got the best of me. Will try in a briar and morta before passing final judgement but so far I'm digging it as a creamy and smooth English. I'm confident that it will get even better as it has time to rest.

[/QUOTEI'd suggest using clay pipes for your testing

I'd suggest using clay pipes for your testing

 

[BrewinHooligan]

I'd suggest using clay pipes for your testing

I was picking up some sweetness I would attribute to the new cob. I agree as well, but I don't have any clays at the moment. I do have a meer that I somehow forgot about, I suppose that would work for testing, right?

 

[thedismaltrade]

Meer would be ok. A new, clean clay is best for this. I picked a couple up for $10 each

 

[CaptainRon]

And you can clean out a clay by putting it in a fire. Take it out, blow off the ash after it cools and ready to go.

That's what i've been told anyway. I have not tried it myself.

 

[JZBdano]

I've been doing forum and youtube research on blending and pressing crumble cakes and a few guys noted that the blend takes some time to meld. Very noticeable difference in a week and continued melding of flavor after that but much more gradual. I'm very interested in this , please keep us posted.

 

[BrewinHooligan]

I will definitely be keeping notes and updating here. I am glad there is an interest here, I almost didn't start this thread. There is really such a minimal time commitment to doing this and the blending tobacco can be bought pretty cheap depending on what you are buying. The biggest thing for me is making sure that the moisture is right before jarring everything up which can take some time, but it isn't like you have to do anything besides let it sit out uncovered and mix it up with your hands and feel for the moisture content you prefer until it gets to where you want.

 

[stin187]

I have wanted to start down this path as well. My plan was to do it this winter ... then we bought a house. Perhaps once I get everything up and running on the homestead I'll get to the blending baccy I have chilling in the cellar. Very curious about your progress!

 

[CaptainRon]

... then we bought a house.

Just in case anyone missed that part.

 

[stin187]

Just in case anyone missed that part.

shoosh it

 

[BrewinHooligan]

Ok, trying the VA blend now in my meer and holy hell this stuff is extremely similar to Haddos Delight (one of my all time favorites). Excited to see what time does to the blend, but even more excited how good these seem to be turning out.

 

[Mikenice81]

Have you tried tossing in cigar leaf yet?

 

[BrewinHooligan]

Have you tried tossing in cigar leaf yet?

Not yet. I haven't tried many cigar leaf blends but the ones I have I didn't care for much. I guess I like my pipe to taste like a pipe and if I want to taste cigar I have plenty to grab from. Seeing how I can blend to my own tastes I could probably come up with something I enjoy though.