Removing Nicotine (Using Distilled Water)

piperbama29 · Jun 16, 2018

I want to use distilled water to remove much of the nicotine from my pipe tobacco. I've seen the process talked about by a youtube pipe smoker. He mentions that this wont work for all blends.
So my question is, will the taste of the blends below be different after using this process?
Mississippi River
HH Old Dark Fired
Orlik: Golden Sliced
Dunhill: Durbar
HH Bold Kentucky
HH Navy Flake
Edited by jvnshr: Title capitalization (please check Rule #9)

snagstangl · Jun 16, 2018

why the hell would you want to do that?

ekert · Jun 16, 2018

That's like putting your liquor through a process to remove the alcohol before drinking it. If you don't want the alcohol grab a soda, and if you don't want nicotine maybe chew some gum instead of smoking.

winton · Jun 16, 2018

I am a nicotine lightweight. Based off this, I usually smoke only blends that have a lower amount of nicotine. If I want to try a strong blend, then I use a small pipe or only fill a pipe half way.
Using water on tobacco sounds very strange. It would be VERY hard to light while it was wet. If you did this and left it to dry, you might lose some of the toppings, introduce mold, and other unpleasant results.
OK, I might have heard of spritzing tobacco, if it was so dried out that it was bone dry. But that would be the step right before you toss the tobacco in the trash.

sablebrush52 · Jun 16, 2018

I would like to see a link to this YT post. How, exactly, is this extraction process done? Distilled water is used to remove caffeine from coffee, but that's done before the beans are roasted to become the final product. I fail to see how using a water bath to leach out nicotine could avoid destroying the flavors of any finished blend, given that such flavors are themselves the product of processing, such as flue curing, as well as casings and toppings that would be leached out.

npod · Jun 16, 2018

I’m all for learning new things and love to read about all things tobacco. But this topic sounds odd. I’m not knocking it but like Jesse said, I’d like to see the video you mention. I couldn’t find anything specific on this topic.

papabearsmoker · Jun 16, 2018

Only way I can think of water taking nicotine out of tobacco is by using it to stew or steep the leaves, like making a nicotine tea from the tobacco, and that would destroy the flavor for sure. Tea leaves, for example, can be steeped and the tannins and caffeine are removed from the leaves, but it also removes the oils, the nutients, and anything else that might possibly make the leaves themselves have good flavor. Like trying to go from regular cola to diet, its not going to taste right. Just as caffiene and sugar are part of how a good cola taste, some of those blends you listed won't taste the same without their nicotine. Peterson`s Irish Flake is a tobacco that knocks me down a peg, but man, that awesome flavor. Take away it's nicotine and yeah, it won't knock me, but the flavor won't wow me either.

cosmicfolklore · Jun 16, 2018

It doesn’t take but a the first few smokes to develop a tolerance for nicotine. Maybe, be patient, and eat some chocolates while smoking these blends that give you problems to stop the “overdose” feeling. However, if it is for health reasons, like heart problems, you are better off just quitting.

Most of those you mention, I din’t think of as having any nicotine at all. Maybe if these blends are giving you problems, try smoking more often. Because, those really aren’t nic heavyweights at all.
As to wetting them... I cannot imagine intentionally doing this to tobacco. They will most likely just not have any taste when youre done.

sablebrush52 · Jun 16, 2018

Caffeine is flavorless.

aldecaker · Jun 16, 2018

If you figure out how to extract the nicotine, let me know. I'll be your first customer for the resultant squeezin's to add to my pipe tobacco. As an enthusiastic consumer of cigarettes, cigars, and chewing tobacco, my only real complaint with pipe smoking is the almost complete lack of nicotine involved. (And before anyone gets started, Yeah, yeah, 5 Brothers, Nightcap, blah blah blah. Maybe if you eat it. Pipe smoking is probably the best vehicle for delivering tobacco flavor, and definitely the worst for delivering nicotine.)

piperbama29 · Jun 16, 2018

Distilled water then filter then let dry. He tested this method and said his tobacco, carter hall, tasted the same yet he got no nicotine hit. And the reason is for health.

cosmicfolklore · Jun 16, 2018

Carter Hall has flavor? Nicotine? Ha ha, if you have to water down your Carter Hall, it’s probably best to find a new hobby. If you have health conditions that nicotine might cause death, then stop smoking. Your health is nothing to play around with, and this water thing doesn’t sound like a viable fix, IMO. If it’s life or death with a heart condition, this sounds like playing russian roulette with a smaller caliber pistol for the sake of safety.

If your doctor says to quit, you have two options, quit or continue. Your choice entirely.

perdurabo · Jun 16, 2018

Why in the world would you worry about nicotine and health? It's the smoke that's the issue. If you're worried about health, you need to skip pipe smoking,
Nicotine is the caffeine in tobacco. Yes it can increase the heart rate. It can constrict blood vessels. So does caffiene. On the other hand it raises testosterone, increases memory, motor skills, and cognition. It is also an anti inflammatory. So worrying about nicotine is the least of your worries. If you have success with this experiment, then by all means do it. It's your pipe and your tobacco. But that god awful smoke will still be swirling around your nose and mouth. Like others have said, a pipe isn't really the best device to get nicotine. Hence, if your smoking Carter Hall and you fall out from nicotine, you probably need to move along.

aldecaker · Jun 16, 2018

"...if you have to water down your Carter Hall, it’s probably best to find a new hobby."
Holy shit, that's funny! :rofl:
I probably shouldn't laugh at that so much, but Carter Hall is about the most benign tobacco there is; it would be like watering down a Coors Light.

mso489 · Jun 16, 2018

Seems like there are many blends including non-aromatics that have almost no noticeable nicotine. If you are very sensitive, I'd smoke one of these maybe every other day. If you are more sensitive than that, maybe reconsider pipe smoking, or any nicotine intake. Don't fight your own body about it. You might try Nat Sherman 536, a non-aro blend that is mild, refined, and low nicotine so far as I can tell, but flavorful.

Chasing Embers · Jun 16, 2018

Pipe smoking is probably the best vehicle for delivering tobacco flavor, and definitely the worst for delivering nicotine.)

+1000
I'm actually envious of people who say they get sick from the amount of nicotine they get from smoking a pipe.

olkofri · Jun 16, 2018

I've never felt any nicotine hits from pipe smoking. I get more effects from the Nic from a cigarette—and I never inhale those either. Two non-inhaled cigarettes in succession will leave me with a headache; I don't get that from a pipe.

brian64 · Jun 16, 2018

I always recommend a consultation with Dogbert's Life Advice to anyone wishing to deniconate their pipe tobacco.
http://dilbert.com/strip/2018-06-16
http://dilbert.com/strip/2018-06-15

Chasing Embers · Jun 16, 2018

I always recommend a consultation with Dogbert's Life Advice to anyone wishing to deniconate their pipe tobacco.

LINK 1

LINK 2

anthonyrosenthal74 · Jun 16, 2018

My question is... why would it remove nicotine from some blends but not others? It's all tobacco.

Removing Nicotine (Using Distilled Water)

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