Perique Farmer Brandon Gravois on Radio Show of Sept. 1, 2015

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Smoking a Pipe Right Now
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Nov 16, 2008
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pipesmagazine.com
Our Featured Interview on The Pipes Magazine Radio Show​ tonight is with Perique farmer from St. James Parish, Louisiana, Brandon Gravois. Brandon also farms sugar, soybeans and is a cattle producer. He was one of the four Louisiana Farm Bureau Young Farmers and Ranchers Achievement Award finalists in 2013. Check out this really cool video of him on the farm talking about Perique.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6L0xdzk4Obg

 

jpmcwjr

Moderator
Staff member
May 12, 2015
24,570
27,077
Carmel Valley, CA
This will be terrific! In my area, N. CA, we have a number of similar farmers, fingers in many pies, articulate, and doing well. Just a very different set of crops, and accents that can't touch Mr. Gravois'.

 

jpmcwjr

Moderator
Staff member
May 12, 2015
24,570
27,077
Carmel Valley, CA
I will be in St. James, London listening to the podcast after I land tomorrow, so I started wondering if this St. James was named after that St James. A quick Google didn't do it, and I have yet to pack! But this tidbit was interesting…
That Blake Pontchartrain individual who writes a little “your questions answered” column for the Gambit has an item about St. James Infirmary — the place. Someone asks where, in New Orleans, this was located. The answer is nowhere, of course. B.P. says: “The actual St. James Infirmary was in London and was a religious foundation for the treatment of leprosy.”

 

dutch65

Might Stick Around
Feb 11, 2012
93
2
Fantastic interview with Brandon Gravois! It never ceases to amaze me, how you continually find unique topics to explore, and at the same time promote the hobby of pipe/tobacco smoking and collecting. Too bad you didn't get to actually go to Louisiana to do the interview. Those folks really know how to cook down there!
Also, thanks for the heads up Brian. I am done with Fed Ex!

 

anchovyd

Might Stick Around
May 17, 2015
52
3
What a great guest. I hope that Brandon's able to make the NOLA Pipe Show, I'd love to meet him. Congratulations on putting out a very interesting and informative show. It was good to learn that someone other farmers are out there growing perique. There was a big issue in the 90's that Percy Martin was going to stop growing it because it wasn't wroth growing as he couldn't get a good price for it. Poche who did the processing wouldn't pay him enough. Some local guys who had a tobacco shop on Magazine St. started distributing it and saved Percy's perique operation. They used to sell pure perique in mason jars. It smelled wonderful and tasted great but was whole leaf pretty much, it wasn't cut at all. It was a pain to put it on a cutting board and chop it up with a knife to smoke it. I still have 5 jars of the stuff. Smells incredible though.
I guess when Mark Ryan was on and talking about the farmer who had a big crop that was exclusive to cigarette manufacturers, he must have been talking about Percy Martin. I didn't realize that all these guys, Gravois, Poche, and Martin were all related but it makes sense. It's good to see Brandon hitting the books to produce even better quality perique tobacco. Thanks for the great show.
Yours truly,

AnchovyD

 

newbroom

Lifer
Jul 11, 2014
6,088
6,412
Florida
I like the idea that it's a family operation. Just like the old days. Country living off the land and water.

You'd think that any pipe show would invite and underwrite this man's appearance to show him the love he deserves.

Seems like there are at least two locations in the world that produce a tobacco flavored by the land and curing process. Belgium and Louisiana.

 
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