A question about smoking smoking tobacco.

[elvishrunes]

Hi thanks for having me,
So I purchased this can of "Tudor" mixture thinking it was an English blend... D'uhh "Tudor" is a royal English name, should be.
Anyway, it's not! It's a mild perique/Virginia blend. Basically a straight tobacco. I like smoky English or sweet cavendish flavors best... This smells decent, but pretty boring...
Thinking of putting the open tin on the BBQ and lighting a few old tea bags on the other side and cold smoking the open tin a few times... Put a little smoke into the mixture.
Anyone heard of this?

 

[pipesmokingtom]

English doesn't mean "English" when it comes to tobacco.
No - I don't suspect it will take on smoke well after it's already cured, treated and tinned. My guess is that it will become dry, bitter, and entirely unsmokable. But - you don't like it anyway, so what's the harm in trying? I look forward to your reporting back.
Welcome.

 

[aldecaker]

I smoked some Carter Hall with mesquite once, and it took on some of the mesquite smell. Why not just mix in some blending Latakia or use it to thin out a Lat bomb?

 

[pipesmokingtom]

Why not just mix in some blending Latakia or use it to thin out a Lat bomb?

Well, yeah. That's the "better" advice, but how will we find out if smoking it with tea does anything?!

 

[aldecaker]

Good point. Now you have to do it, in the name of science.

 

[elvishrunes]

Yeah I'll give it a try, why not,,, Haven't had a bowl yet, will tomorrow... I'm sure it's good, but the tin doesn't smell of smoke, love the smoke.
I don't own any pure Latakia, only English blends or I would mix some sure!
Not worried about it drying out, because I keep my tobacco in a humidor and im not using any heat. Literally just lighting the old tea bags with a match and closing the Barbie after for a few minutes, cheers.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Most humidors don't cut it for medium-long term storage of tobacco. But tell us more about it!

 

[mawnansmiff]

"D'uhh "Tudor" is a royal English name, should be."
Actually the name 'Tudor' is Welsh, not English!
Regards,
Jay.

 

[woopigpiper]

Dear me! Next time you're unsatisfied with a VA or VaPer blend, please PM me so I can trade you some of my unwanted english/balkan/orientals. Haha.

 

[mso489]

Whenever possible buy your first purchase of a blend in sample size. Don't stock up on anything until you've had a chance to use up a sample over time, and had time to think it over. Many blends are wonderful to me, but not necessarily a re-order call. At least not right away. It's always fun to try new stuff, besides. You have to be a little cagey with your enthusiasms.

 

[woopigpiper]

Come on, mso489! You've got to go big or go home. :wink:

 

[elvishrunes]

So I had a bowl of the "Welsh" named Tudor, and it was quite good, but a little flat, dull, and boring... D'uhhh, It has no smoke or Latakia in it Ahh, I sure enjoy me my over the top euphemisms...
Actually, it was quite a fine respectable tobacco blend, nothing negative to say about it, but when you're expecting something else...?
Anyhow, the experiment was a semi-success and here's how it went;
The old used dried tea bags surprisingly don't burn that well, but I added about 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil to sustain the flame and kept re-lighting...
Pros:
-It actually did improve the tobacco and after many (7) smoking sessions sustained a little subtle smokey flavor.
-remained moist and lively as I kept the tin open in my humidor after smoking for a few hours.
Cons;
-Too time consuming. If you have no life and want to keep re-lighting tea bags all day that won't burn well, enjoy.
-Not enough improvement for the effort, but there was some. At least I didn't ruin it.
Moral of the story, buy Latakia blends if you want smoke flavor and research your purchases well before hand I do really prefer my smokey blends.

 

[pipesmokingtom]

-Too time consuming. If you have no life and want to keep re-lighting tea bags all day that won't burn well, enjoy.

This made me laugh.

 

[mortonbriar]

Out of curiousity, why did you decide to burn tea bags, of all the burnable options?

 

[elvishrunes]

Mortonbriar;
Tea is somewhat common for quick smoking in the restaurant industry and I needed something I could light by hand that burns and doesn't produce much heat or involve actually lighting the BBQ to burn... Wood would produce too much heat unless really tiny pieces were used. I suppose dried herbs may work.
Edit: after smelling the tobacco again today, barely any smoke remains... I may try a couple more rounds, but realistically it's a waste of time...