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jvnshr

Moderator
Staff member
Sep 4, 2015
4,616
3,868
Baku, Azerbaijan
I check the "New Member Introduction" thread occasionally and recently one of the posts caught my eye:
Hi everyone.

I'm a pipe smoker. I grow and process my own tobacco. I'm a big gardener. I've got a smoking lounge in my basement. Life is good.
Hmmm, I said, we love pipe tobacco growers, right? Then I read that he managed to visit Eskisehir - the Meerschaum mining heaven of Earth. That was it, this guy had a lot to share with us. Right, rajangan?

 

rajangan

Part of the Furniture Now
Feb 14, 2018
974
2,809
Edmonton, AB
Hi, thank you for the warm welcome. I live in Alberta. Not exactly tobacco growing country. After floundering for several years, I have since managed 4 successful crops. The most I've grown was 200 plants. My stock of tobacco is such now that I'm only planning 75 this coming year to maintain stock, and try new varieties. I built a flue curing shed two years ago. This year however, I will be focusing on sun cured and air cured varieties. These include a couple burleys, Indonesian sun cured tobaccos, a rustica, and an uncommon category called dark Virginia, and an Italian cigar type called Nostrano.
Last year I did an experiment, curing a bright tobacco in the Indonesian method for making what's called rajangan. It's a sun curing method where the uncured leaves are shredded and then cured in the sun. It was successful producing a smoke that was unlike flue cured, regular sun cured, or air cured tobacco of the same variety (which I also did), so this year, along with my planned air cured tobaccos, I plan to make rajangan with three different Indonesian tobaccos--ones that are traditionally done that way.

 

jvnshr

Moderator
Staff member
Sep 4, 2015
4,616
3,868
Baku, Azerbaijan
Thanks for your response. I've never heard of Nostrano. I know that they grow Kentucky tobacco in Italy and process it to manufacture unique Toscano cigars. Is Nostrano similar to that one?
I forgot to say, along with the pipe tobacco growers, processors and blenders, we love photo posters :nana:
Please check the link below to see how to post pictures using forum album:
https://youtu.be/huhYScw71Y4

 
Funny, yesterday in the mail I received a package of Virginia seeds in the mail from the Ukraine. I couldn't read any of the writing, but it was all hand addressed. It didn't look like it was from a company at all. But, I make so many exchanges, trades, requests, and surprises from fellow forum members, that I may have just forgotten that someone was sending them to me. I hope I wasn't supposed to send something in return.
Anyways, welcome Rajagan. We have a lot in common. I am a grower as well. I have started digging out the foundation for a small smokehouse for fire cure, and I have gathered the materials for a new flue/fermenting chamber. I have grown the dark Virginia, and it is delicious with a lot of strength to it. I'm not a fan of sun or air cured. It just tastes bland to me, after playing with flues, sweats, and fermentation. But, maybe someone else can do it better than me. I look forward to hearing tips and seeing your crops progress.

Welcome!!

 

rajangan

Part of the Furniture Now
Feb 14, 2018
974
2,809
Edmonton, AB
Brenta, Italy is the first region in Europe where tobacco was ever grown. Monks or friars did so, I'm not sure. Nostrano is a descendent of those original tobaccos. While Nostrano del Brenta cigars look like Toscanos, I'm told they taste entirely different. Those I know who have smoked it don't regret growing it, and all say it's very unique. In photos I've seen, it cures very dark, and makes a gorgeous wrapper.

 

deathmetal

Lifer
Jul 21, 2015
7,714
32
Growing your own is the future. This curing method is new to me and sounds interesting. What does shredding the tobacco do, besides tempt you to stuff it in a pipe too early?

 

rajangan

Part of the Furniture Now
Feb 14, 2018
974
2,809
Edmonton, AB
Deathmetal, the rajangan had a much richer flavor than the flue cured. I don't know if you've smoked Gitanes cigarettes. Something like that, or maybe like drum, but still earthier. One great benefit of it is that since it's already shredded, you can kiln it in a jar and not have to worry about regulating the humidity. It's ready to smoke in no more than a month after picking. Mind you, Delhi 34 was the fastest maturing tobacco I've ever grown. The Indonesian types might not go so quickly.

 

deathmetal

Lifer
Jul 21, 2015
7,714
32
Very interesting. I used to smoke Gitanes and noticed that Chinese cigarettes tasted more like them than American or British cigarettes. I can also see the advantages to the fast maturation time.

 

rajangan

Part of the Furniture Now
Feb 14, 2018
974
2,809
Edmonton, AB
I'm attempting to post my first photo. If this works, this is the rajangan immediately after curing.

img_20170904_0626229082-600x276.jpg


 

rajangan

Part of the Furniture Now
Feb 14, 2018
974
2,809
Edmonton, AB
Cosmic, nope. Just a hobby grower. I think I would like to do this full time, but there's more realistic stuff going on in my life that will do me just fine.

 

sumusfumus

Part of the Furniture Now
Jul 20, 2017
596
545
New York City
Fascinating.....
I hope it's worth all the efforts in the end. It is certainly a unique process, and very interesting to read through all the postings.
Frank

NYC

 
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