Tobacco Secret Sauce?

Log in

SmokingPipes.com Updates

New Cigars




PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

Drucquers Banner

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

Drucquers Banner

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

Status
Not open for further replies.

brightleaf

Part of the Furniture Now
Sep 4, 2017
555
4
I am a new pipe smoker and am excited to learn about this new world I discovered. In researching what makes blends unique I am finding that there is much more to it than I initially thought. At first when I saw the blending kits by John Middleton, and Cornell & Diehl, as well as the Pipe Tobacco For Blending by McClelland, and A Blender's Bench by Daughter's & Ryan I assumed it was simply mixing different tobacco strains together. I learned that strains, soil, climate and curing processes are customized to create unique flavors in tobacco. Which are blended together in various quantities and combinations.
Then I learned about saucing and casing. Adding different sugars such as glucose, invert sugar, honey, St. John's bread, and molasses or flavoring like licorice seem to be common in sauces. Casing can also include sugar and licorice but also commonly includes tonka bean Dipteryx odorata and deer's tongue Trilisa odoratissima and there are many more flavorings that are trade secrets. But this information seems much harder to reveal. Does anyone know where I can find more information on these secret sauces and casings?

 

woodsroad

Lifer
Oct 10, 2013
11,591
15,313
SE PA USA
There are two good public sources for some info on tobacco flavorings. The first is the Legacy Tobacco Industry Documents website. This si the repository of documents that were uncovered during the tobacco settlement boondogle. Over time, a lot of the really good stuff, like formulas, have been redacted at the demand request of industry attorneys, but there are still some gems of info in there if you are persistent and patient.
The next would be Denmark's health ministry website. Denmark at one time required the public publication of tobacco products ingredients. It's a bit difficult now to ferret this stuff out if you don't speak Danish. Again, I suspect that industry pressure has forced the removal of much of what was once easily found, but again, persistence and patience may pay off. Here's a link that will get you started.
Of course, the best way to find out how sausage is made is to go find work in the sausage factory.

 

deathmetal

Lifer
Jul 21, 2015
7,714
32
They all use Horse Semen, and mix in alcohols and other flavors. You need a horse, first and foremost.

 

cosmicbobo

Part of the Furniture Now
May 11, 2017
657
2
Deer Tongue, the easiest I found, is in powdered form at Penn Herb. Someone here posted that when I mentioned eBay. Some places have the root. Not sure if that gives the same as the leaves. The stuff I first got was leaves, but had stems. Not a major deal. If you're a purist, Penn Herb has that. I got the leaf (not root) powder there. You can't see it after it sort of melts into the tobacco, but the results are more flavorful.

 

cortezattic

Lifer
Nov 19, 2009
15,147
7,637
Chicago, IL
It may be difficult to find tobacco flavoring recipes, but you can experiment on your own.

Here's a source for flavoring ideas: https://www.alibaba.com/showroom/tobacco-flavor.html

Here's a source for methods: http://m.wikihow.com/Flavor-Cigars-or-Pipe-Tobacco

 

woodsroad

Lifer
Oct 10, 2013
11,591
15,313
SE PA USA
Cortez, it's good to know that the 2-Acetyl Pyrazine is food grade!
I have a decoder list of industry flavorings, and it's similar. Reads more like the Merck Manual than Joy of Cooking.

 

brightleaf

Part of the Furniture Now
Sep 4, 2017
555
4
I was reading an old tobacco book The Production of Tobacco by Wightman Wells that mentioned humectants like glycerin and diethylene glycol, but also says that apple juice concentrate is being used. I don't know if different fruit juice concentrates would contribute to smell or flavor if used in the role of humectants but I would think so.
I don't expect to get exact recipes for specific blends but when I read "A very large number of flavorings are used", I get the feeling that there are lists available that are longer than what I found.
The youtube video was really cool. Thanks for that.
Horse semen? What source did you learn that from? I assume your joking but given the demand for Stag Semen Stout your joke isn't unrealistic. Although I think their beer sells because people know it has semen as an ingredient, not due to the flavor. I can't speak from experience.
Alibaba as a search resource. I never would've thought of that. Clever :)
The Tobacco Truth documents are somewhat difficult to search. I will have to spend more time with them, that is a new source for me. I also tried to find an older, original version of them on a file sharing site but didn't have any luck.

 

woodsroad

Lifer
Oct 10, 2013
11,591
15,313
SE PA USA
British tobacco companies used aliases for the actual names of flavorings when formulating blends, in effort to keep both their employees and their competition in the dark about the real composition of their blends. The decoder key for these aliases was a closely held secret, but it was divulged as part of the tobacco litigation. I don't have a link to it on the Legacy Documents site, but it's in there (or at least used to be).

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
Oh no-no-no-no. Not knowing and guessing is one of the great joys of pipe smoking. We've all taken a shot at the flavoring of Dunhill's Royal Yacht. Many say plum, but there are other candidates and some ideas about additional flavorings. I've just established with one of our blending pros on Forums that "rough cut Kentucky burley" Granger is a semi-aromatic with probably some anise and likely one or two other subtle flavors. Many aromatics are forthright about their flavorings -- cherry, rum, whiskey, chocolate, citrus, and so on, but quite a few are not. Peretti's lists on the label of their seasonal Thanksgiving Day: anisette, fruit, citrus, and rum -- and a delightful convergence they are. Welcome aboard, and happy smoking ... and guessing.

 

brightleaf

Part of the Furniture Now
Sep 4, 2017
555
4
I was looking through the Truth Tobacco Industry Documents for their secret sauce recipes. I will probably continue to do so. Here is what I found today:

Data Warning Very Large Document

https://www.industrydocumentslibrary.ucsf.edu/tobacco/docs/#id=hphc0015



Title of Document:
Exhibits 1 through 16 to Heimann Deposition in Ella Mae Horton and Nathan Horton, Widow and Son of nathan Henry Horton, Deceased, Individually and On Behalf of All Wrongful Death Beneficiaries and The Estate of the Deceased v. The American Tobacco Company and New Deal Tobacco and Candy Company, Inc.
pg.1523 Tobacco products are refined by the addition of additives, humectants, tobacco casings, and flavor-enhancing compounds. The most widely used humectants are propanediol, glycerol, diethylene glycol, triethylene glycol, D-sorbitol...Analyses of 18 U.S. Cigarette brands showed ranges of 0.46 to 2.24 percent propylene glycol and 1.7 to 3.15 percent glycerol in the tobaccos...

Pipe tobaccos may contain up to 30 percent of casing agents. These are primarily sugars, starches, humectants, and plant extracted isoprenoids.

pg.1951 “Saucing” material, or casings containing licorice, sweetening agents, sugars, and other flavoring materials are added to improve the flavor, aroma, and smoke taste.
What I thought was interesting was the addition of several new humectants to the list, as well as the claim of up to 30 percent casing agents. I will assume that is 30 percent by weight since by volume wouldn't make sense to me. The last thing I noticed in this document was the specific mention of licorice again. I am beginning to wonder if most all pipe tobacco have some licorice in it.

 

brightleaf

Part of the Furniture Now
Sep 4, 2017
555
4
I just found a source for what I was looking for. It is mainly based on cigarette additives but should be useful to search through.

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Cigarette_additives

 

woodsroad

Lifer
Oct 10, 2013
11,591
15,313
SE PA USA
You've seen Right-Dress Licorice Root Mulch? That's a by-product from the manufacturing of licorice-derived sweeteners and flavorings used in the tobacco industry. Google "Licorice Camden" to start your research. You can then plug "MAFCO" into the Legacy Tobacco library search engine and read more.
rightdress.jpg

 

cortezattic

Lifer
Nov 19, 2009
15,147
7,637
Chicago, IL
That 30% casing by weight for pipe tobacco is a figure I read before in Milton Sherman's 1970-ish book All About Tobacco. Although he was an industry insider, his tone was untroubled and unapologetic. I believe it was an upper limit figure, and mentioned in the context of OTC aromatics.

 

brightleaf

Part of the Furniture Now
Sep 4, 2017
555
4
I would think most of the weight of casings is from sugars, followed by humectants, then flavorings and others taking up the least percentage.

 

condorlover1

Lifer
Dec 22, 2013
7,995
26,613
New York
Somewhere on here we tell you whats in War Horse Bar and War Green. The former uses Valerian root extract which is a natural sedative and was used in the original to stop you wrenching from the poor quality tobaccos used! Really I am not joking either as Dan and myself and our friend Mr 1920s smoked an original WH Bar and Mr. 1920s threw up. Russ wouldn't even smoke the the 1930s sample as C.I didn't have enough insurance coverage on him!

 
Status
Not open for further replies.