Re-reading Greg's piece and the mention of Bohemian Scandal made me salivate as I read the words. That was/is a very special blend and I'm blessed to occasionally get a little to enjoy now and then.
Latakia Standards or Regulations?
- Thread starter uncleblackie
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Making Latakia. Man, that would be a project and a half. The fires used for fumigating Syrian and Cyprian tobaccos were fueled with different woods. The stone pine was reputed to be the dominant fuel wood for the Syrian product. I get more of a sweet, hardwood smoke taste from Cypriot stuff, though sometimes, there's an undercurrent of pitch that finds its way in, so a pine might be part of the mix. Could it be done domestically in any quantity? That's a tough one.
Dark fired KY leaf undergoes two or three firings, a process that takes several weeks, and it has nowhere near the 'campfire' character of the latakias. I have no idea how long the process takes in Cyprus, or how long it took in Syria when they were still doing it. (No Syrian has been produced for well over a dozen years. What's in warehouses is all there is, and very likely all there will ever be.) I imagine getting permits to fumigate tobacco to that extent on a more 'industrial' scale might be challenging, to say the least. And, that assumes the right leaf could be acquired, at the right stage of cure.
It's an interesting thought, though. And, sure, it could be done on a small scale.
As for differences in the latakias we see in different blends, um, yeah. There are different grades, but additionally, some manufacturers 'do stuff' to it, whether it's casing it, or adding humectants to make it more pliable (latakia is notoriously frangible, and hard to handle in its dry state without it turning to dust), or steaming it, or anointing it with holy water drained from the cisterns of the My Lady of Sobranie cathedral...
Me? I prefer to let it do what it does naturally. I'm funny that way.
Dark fired KY leaf undergoes two or three firings, a process that takes several weeks, and it has nowhere near the 'campfire' character of the latakias. I have no idea how long the process takes in Cyprus, or how long it took in Syria when they were still doing it. (No Syrian has been produced for well over a dozen years. What's in warehouses is all there is, and very likely all there will ever be.) I imagine getting permits to fumigate tobacco to that extent on a more 'industrial' scale might be challenging, to say the least. And, that assumes the right leaf could be acquired, at the right stage of cure.
It's an interesting thought, though. And, sure, it could be done on a small scale.
As for differences in the latakias we see in different blends, um, yeah. There are different grades, but additionally, some manufacturers 'do stuff' to it, whether it's casing it, or adding humectants to make it more pliable (latakia is notoriously frangible, and hard to handle in its dry state without it turning to dust), or steaming it, or anointing it with holy water drained from the cisterns of the My Lady of Sobranie cathedral...
Me? I prefer to let it do what it does naturally. I'm funny that way.
Making Latakia. Man, that would be a project and a half. The fires used for fumigating Syrian and Cyprian tobaccos were fueled with different woods. The stone pine was reputed to be the dominant fuel wood for the Syrian product. I get more of a sweet, hardwood smoke taste from Cypriot stuff, though sometimes, there's an undercurrent of pitch that finds its way in, so a pine might be part of the mix. Could it be done domestically in any quantity? That's a tough one.
Dark fired KY leaf undergoes two or three firings, a process that takes several weeks, and it has nowhere near the 'campfire' character of the latakias. I have no idea how long the process takes in Cyprus, or how long it took in Syria when they were still doing it. (No Syrian has been produced for well over a dozen years. What's in warehouses is all there is, and very likely all there will ever be.) I imagine getting permits to fumigate tobacco to that extent on a more 'industrial' scale might be challenging, to say the least. And, that assumes the right leaf could be acquired, at the right stage of cure.
It's an interesting thought, though. And, sure, it could be done on a small scale.
As for differences in the latakias we see in different blends, um, yeah. There are different grades, but additionally, some manufacturers 'do stuff' to it, whether it's casing it, or adding humectants to make it more pliable (latakia is notoriously frangible, and hard to handle in its dry state without it turning to dust), or steaming it, or anointing it with holy water drained from the cisterns of the My Lady of Sobranie cathedral...
Me? I prefer to let it do what it does naturally. I'm funny that way.
Dark fired KY leaf undergoes two or three firings, a process that takes several weeks, and it has nowhere near the 'campfire' character of the latakias. I have no idea how long the process takes in Cyprus, or how long it took in Syria when they were still doing it. (No Syrian has been produced for well over a dozen years. What's in warehouses is all there is, and very likely all there will ever be.) I imagine getting permits to fumigate tobacco to that extent on a more 'industrial' scale might be challenging, to say the least. And, that assumes the right leaf could be acquired, at the right stage of cure.
It's an interesting thought, though. And, sure, it could be done on a small scale.
As for differences in the latakias we see in different blends, um, yeah. There are different grades, but additionally, some manufacturers 'do stuff' to it, whether it's casing it, or adding humectants to make it more pliable (latakia is notoriously frangible, and hard to handle in its dry state without it turning to dust), or steaming it, or anointing it with holy water drained from the cisterns of the My Lady of Sobranie cathedral...
Me? I prefer to let it do what it does naturally. I'm funny that way.
Thanks for the reply. It is fascinating that latkia can be so different looking from one blend to another and the flavors can be so different depending on the other leaves it has to bounce around with in the bowl. Thanks!!
About a year ago, I ordered "blending" Latakia from as many different sources as I could find. Some (very little, actually), came in just as Greg describes: small, irregular, friable bits, wrinkled and dense, with color ranging from brown to dark black. When handled, it stained my fingers with a sooty pitch that was difficult to wash off. The aroma lingered for several days. After that batch, there were variations on the theme of lower quality, culminating in a product that looked like cubed burley that had been tinted jet black and doused with liquid smoke. Then I found the whole leaf latakia from wholeleaftobacco.com and was able to see what the real deal should look, smell, feel and smoke like. It was an eye opener.
BTW, the Latakia from WholeLeaf is quite enjoyable to smoke, all by it's lonesome. I've given away a good bit of it to the folks at the Lehigh Valley and Morley's pipe clubs, so maybe one of those guys can chime in with their impressions, too.
BTW, the Latakia from WholeLeaf is quite enjoyable to smoke, all by it's lonesome. I've given away a good bit of it to the folks at the Lehigh Valley and Morley's pipe clubs, so maybe one of those guys can chime in with their impressions, too.
I love that wholeleaf site. I don't have latakia from them, but the homemade stuff that I do have was smoked in pinon and some other woods, and it is awesome to smoke by itself also. I have yet to buy any of the blender stuff. But, I did have that thought when I saw that almost all companies had a latakia blender out there. I'm jealous that you beat me to it. Ha ha. I wish that I was close enough to participate with your club. That sounds like fun.
Really cool to hear from Russ and Greg about this.
The mention of the 1997 Latakia reminded me I never got around to ordering any. Did so yesterday and it should be here Friday. How much processing does it require to get it into smokeable form?
The only bulk Latakia I've had was the Samuel Gawith that was available from SmokingPipes. It was great as far as I could tell but I had nothing to compare it to.
The mention of the 1997 Latakia reminded me I never got around to ordering any. Did so yesterday and it should be here Friday. How much processing does it require to get it into smokeable form?
The only bulk Latakia I've had was the Samuel Gawith that was available from SmokingPipes. It was great as far as I could tell but I had nothing to compare it to.
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