Are Margate (Shag Ribbon) and Penzance (Cake) The Same?

[baccyfart]

Additional Activity:
This morning, I pulled the 8 oz plug of Margate out of the press to prepare it for 4 hrs of heat at 210˚F. I'm doing it in the oven and attempting to duplicate the temp of steam press similar to Gawith's press manufactured by Meadows in the 19th century. I wrapped the plug in parchment paper and then very tightly aluminum foil. I also put a pan of water in the oven to keep the heating humidity as high as possible, to avoid drying the plug out. Even with maybe a teaspoon of water total, the plug was juicy coming out of the press. After cooking, the plug will go back in the press for several days. Here are some pics showing the progress so far:

 

[pipesmokingtom]

I'm not ashamed to say that I have such a man-crush on you right now.

 

[baccyfart]

that's funny, tom! let me just say that the aroma in my house right now is intoxicating. it's kinda like when there are spare ribs in the oven at a slow roast. so as not to tick my wife off when she gets home, i did crack a window. dang it smells good in here!

 

[baccyfart]

Cooked (steamed) Margate, 4 3/4 hours at 210. Falls apart under the knife. Re-pressing the plug now for a few days, and then it's drying time!

 

[pipesmokingtom]

Geeze.. This is quite a process. No wonder Penzance is so expensive!

 

[baccyfart]

these few slivers are drying right now. i will check the tin note in a couple of hours and report back. initial indications are... very close, if not a full-on match (margate vs. penzance). the note of the shag margate vs the plug, after cooking, is worlds apart. that's all for now.

 

[baccyfart]

update: i got the cooked trimming dry enough to put in the pipe and light. and..... at least with what i have done i can say with high confidence that margate and penzance are not the same. while both look the same sliced up, they are different animals altogether. margate is much more latakia-forward than penzance. penzance also has a sweeter tin note than margate. in the bowl, when margate is sipped, it just doesn't have the sweet note of the virginias that penzance has. while the steaming did settle the latakia down a bit in the margate, it still dominates the flavor. as a test, my wife (who is a non-smoker, and is a hard-body health nut type) did the sniff test to confirm what i was noticing. first in the tin, her first word on the margate was, "smokey." with the penzance, her first word was, "sweet." so, there you have it.
as one of the posters above said, penzance is probably brought to case and then infused with sugar. i'm guessing it is either with a honey solution or a maple sugar solution. it's either this or some really sweet bright VA or Basma. i'm going with sugar casing because honestly, even as good as Germain is, i can't really see them changing base tobaccos widely for a single product that they produce in such limited quantity. true, the penzance i am comparing to is an 8 year old tin that was gifted to me by a friend, but i can't see that Germain would be doing something widely different blends between margate and penzance. at least it seems this way to my sniffer and palette.
with the plug, i may bring it back to case and hit it with a very diluted honey water and then re-plug and dry it for a second round. oh, before i forget.... the light camphor or mint note is present in the cooked margate plug. the only difference between penzance and the margate plug is the sweetness.

 

[danielplainview]

:idea:
When you have your home made batch finished, I think a blind taste test would be interesting.
Who on the forum is a self proclaimed connoisseur of Penzance?
Send them two small samples of each in bags only marked 1 & 2.
See if they can guess which sample is the real deal.
Thanks a fantastic process you have going. Even if it's not an exact match I bet it's still damn good!

 

[baccyfart]

hi dave, good idea, however even my inexperienced palette can tell the difference. yes, the margate plug is VERY good, and is an improvement over the shag cut from the bag. the flavors are now well-blended and tasty! the balance and sweetness of the penzance in comparison, however, is obvious. margate is an awesome baccy, but there are many very fine latakia-forward tobaccos out there which compete well, and many, no doubt, that are even better. i find Germain's shag cut with margate to be annoying anyway. give me a good ribbon or flake any day! the two are strikingly similar, yet quite different tasting animals under the fire.