Mixing that Extra Tobacco

greyfoxactual · Jul 9, 2015

So I have finally finishing off a few tins. I've been saving the "extra" tobacco and throwing in an empty 100g Frog Morton; being the first one I finished. I've now had the opportunity to try "The Mix" and have to say, "damn, that's good."
Now I'm interested in making my own mixes, but feel that there are plenty of great mixes out there. Why waste the time?
Q1: Anyone have a solid mix they create and is their main smoke?

Q2: Good place/label to purchase "straight" tobacco (Va, Perique, Oriental blends, etc.)?
I'm not asking for recipes folks. Just thinking out loud as it were. I've read the Russ Ouellette articles and it got me thinking more about The Mix.
Edit: I also notice some people will mix a little extra Va or whatever to a blend they don't particularly care for to make it "better." Is this widely practiced?

cortezattic · Jul 9, 2015

I've tried to create custom blends, and wasted a lot of time, money, and otherwise good tobacco leaf.

I've decided that I just don't have an aptitude for it.

The most I'll do now is tweak a Va blend by adding a dash of Perique or Oriental.

greyfoxactual · Jul 9, 2015

wasted a lot of time, money, and otherwise good tobacco leaf

That is my main concern Cortz. Cheers!

wilson · Jul 9, 2015

Blending tobaccos are sold by some retailers. P&C sells them, as does 4Noggins. I believe that C&D also sells blending tobaccos. I don't do any home blending, so cannot offer any advice on what might be good. Nevertheless, have fun with it and let us know if you happen upon something amazing.

jitterbugdude · Jul 9, 2015

95% of the tobacco I smoke is my own blend. If you want to start get yourself a few "basic" tobaccos such as Latakia, a Virginia and a Turkish. Try something like 20% Lat, 20% Turkish and 60% Virginia. Smoke it! Do you like it? if not, why? Too much of a tongue bite? try your next beld at 20% Lat, 40% Turkish and 40% Virginia. Smoke again and adjust. It can be a very long road to find something that suites your particular pallete. I weigh my tobacco. Each experimental batch is about 25g. This is big enough to give me a good mix but not so big that if the batch sucks I haven't lost a lot of tobacco.
For more variety try whole leaf from Whole Leaf Tobacco. For whole leaf Perique, try LeafOnly.

greyfoxactual · Jul 9, 2015

jittberbug - Great info. As soon as I can loosen up the purse strings for another bout of TAD, this will be on the top of my list.
Cheers!

homewaters · Jul 9, 2015

I have 2 jars for those extra bits of tobacco. One for virginia-based blends and the other jar for latakia blends. The content of those jars gets to age quite a bit before I smoke it. In general they are decent smokes but nothing spectacular. I would say if you get to know a certain blend very well by smoking a lot of it, then you can play and try adding that little extra that you are missing. But as far as mixing tobaccos just for the sake of it, generally doesn't create anything worth the effort. That being said, this late spring I mixed some tobaccos I had here (Boswell's Virginia Slices, Peterson University Flake, Peterson Irish Flake, MacBaren Virginia no.1 and some other virginias I forget what they were. Normally such a jar would last me forever because of the smokes although not bad are nothing too outstanding but this time was different. I went through it in no time! Good luck with your experiments!

cobguy · Jul 9, 2015

Greyfox ... many of us have a "leftovers" jar and it's commonly referred to as "Pensioner's Mix".
Most of the time, it's surprisingly good!
As for blending, it's fun to experiment and the blending tobacco is not expensive.
I recommend getting some Latakia, Perique and Orientals and then grabbing some McClelland 5100 bulk as your mixing Virginia. Use a scale and record all experiments. Mostly ... have fun! : puffy

:

cobguy · Jul 9, 2015

Booker, I think that the BYO at P&C is an 8 oz minimum.
With the separate components, you can make several small batches until you get the right ratios.
Also, you will have leftovers to add that extra Perique or Latakia to spice up other blends.
Besides, you have great taste in tobacco ... wouldn't take you long! : puffy

:

greyfoxactual · Jul 9, 2015

many of us have a "leftovers" jar and it's commonly referred to as "Pensioner's Mix"

Great! I like it. I'm going to remark my container when I get home.
I keep saying that I'm going to smoke through what I have on hand first before I purchase more. Then I got to thinking about that mix that I nearly smoked out over the holiday. After posting this thread I went to P&C and clicked through the wish list and be-damned if I didn't place an order and completely forget to grab some mix makers.
Oh well, next purchase.

frozenchurchwarden · Jul 9, 2015

I actually threw half a dozen Macbaren tins together into one jar since nothing seemed to be particularly interesting on its own.

I'll let you know how it turned out in five years or so, hopefully some age will make all the difference.

greyfoxactual · Jul 9, 2015

I'll be here waiting.

rblood · Jul 9, 2015

I think I may be the minority but, I do not jar the left-overs. I usually mix it (no matter what it is) with enough Brown Bogie to fill the bowl and puff away.

tennsmoker · Jul 9, 2015

Some of the worst stuff I have ever smoked came as a result of my fine experiment. The thing that kicked off the flashing lights in the lab were an unfinished tin of Virginia.
So, I added some Virginia this and some Virginia that. Some Latakia here, some Latakia there. Some Orientals for exotic reasons and a touch of burley for the muscle beach feel.
I let all this concoction rest for several weeks. When I returned, I noticed a particular smell: polecats came to mind. Nevertheless, a pipe was filled and lit.
Instantly, my mouth caught fire. The blaze didn't end there. I began to down glasses of water. The more I drank, the higher the flames grew. I thought maybe I had mistakenly mixed some habanero peppers.
A few days later, I added more Virginia, more Latakia, more burley.
A few weeks later, I took a whiff. This time the smell of rotting flesh was muted. I thought this just might be the thing.
A pipefull sent me to the water spigot. Flames roared from my mouth.
When I tossed the stuff into the garbage can, I will swear on a stack of, um, well a stack that flames burst forth and the thing smoldered for days.
Never again. I will leave the mixing to the fellas who know what they are doing.

aldecaker · Jul 9, 2015

I just take the occasional loss of some tobacco to a failed blending experiment as a small cost for an enjoyable hobby. I use CH as the base for a lot of experiments, so it's not that expensive anyway. R&D on my ongoing attempt at the perfect CH/OGS/Latakia blend is actually going surprisingly well.

cobguy · Jul 9, 2015

Lol ... anything Heinz related makes me think of my late grandmother who would claim to

have, "more (fill in the blanks) than Heinz has pickles"! More dishes, more towels, etc ...
I'm positive she would say that I have more tobacco than Heinz has pickles! :mrgreen:

mso489 · Jul 10, 2015

I don't like to dump all the last bits of leaf in one jar. It works better for me to selectively mix the last bit with what I hope will be a complementary tobacco like a single Virginia or burley. As for home mixes, I like equal parts of Virginia and burley (what ever is on hand) with a pinch of Cavendish. I've had some satisfying smokes from these two sources. However, I can't equal the consistent satisfaction and contentment I get from my favorite professionally blended tobaccos. For me these include 965, Nat Sherman 536, P&C (Russ's) Midtown Chestnut, and so on. Occasionally, with my mixes, I can get those edgy little nuances and surges of various flavors, but with "real" blends, I get it every time. Then there are those lovely single leaf tobaccos like Semois (some love, some hate it) which shouldn't be mixed.

okiescout · Jul 10, 2015

The most I'll do now is tweak a Va blend by adding a dash of Perique or Oriental.
Sounds like good advice. What little I have thrown together did not go anywhere special, but a little tweaking is not going to take you far of course. I am probably just to lazy to keep the necessary notes to make blending "a eureka concoction" a repeatable occurrence.

greyfoxactual · Jul 10, 2015

Great information all. I threw together The Beast last night. I plan on setting her alight in a few weeks to see how it goes.
There were only about three mixes I didn't care for (mostly aros), and I mixed in a dash of MV1000. I'm sure The Beast is going to smell something akin to Tenn's experience. I don't count it as loss b/c I didn't care for the baccy to begin with. The Beast may just get composted.
I think from now on when I have a bit o' "tin dottle" of a smoke that I truly enjoy, I'll save that aside with others a la mso489. Most of what I find pleasing at this point in the hobby are heavy latikia, English, and a few aros. A little extra Pensioner's isn't bad to have around when baccy gets low.
Course, that's what the cellar is for...

murf · Jul 10, 2015

I tend to just take whatever's left and mix it with something else. I've never really gotten the chance to dedicate a jar to scraps since I usually have an open tin waiting to get jarred up

Mixing that Extra Tobacco

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