I was fortunate enough to grab a few pounds of 5105 back in late 2017, early 2018 as McClelland stock was flying off the shelves. Not my favorite blend but I thought, it's McClelland in bulk at a good price, so why not? I jarred most of it but left some in an apothecary jar and set it aside. Ran across it a couple of weeks ago, it was dried substantially (note: apothecary jars clearly aren't suitable for long term storage) but tasted good. I decided to rehydrate it or at least try to.
So the question was, how to do this with the least amount of effort. I ultimately decided to take an empty plastic water bottle, cut off the top portion and put some beads with distilled water in it, place this in the top of the apothecary jar, then close. Within 2 days, I had to refresh the water. Not nearly as much water was absorbed in the ensuing week. The end result however is the tobacco now seems to be a perfect moisture. I'm smoking a bowl as I speak. I will likely use this approach again in the future. As you can see, a few pieces of tobacco ended up getting into the beads and discolored them a bit. Not a problem, probably fifty cents worth of beads if that, throwing them away.
So the question was, how to do this with the least amount of effort. I ultimately decided to take an empty plastic water bottle, cut off the top portion and put some beads with distilled water in it, place this in the top of the apothecary jar, then close. Within 2 days, I had to refresh the water. Not nearly as much water was absorbed in the ensuing week. The end result however is the tobacco now seems to be a perfect moisture. I'm smoking a bowl as I speak. I will likely use this approach again in the future. As you can see, a few pieces of tobacco ended up getting into the beads and discolored them a bit. Not a problem, probably fifty cents worth of beads if that, throwing them away.