Casings and Flavours

[Ionel66]

The techniques and processes used for casing tobacco are very similar for all tobacco, if he wants to put it in a cigarette then so be it. We can still share some information about it though. But I will say that pipes are way better than cigarettes!!! Haha jk, to each their own, but if you have some whole leaf anyway, it can't hurt to pick up a corn cob pipe and try it out!!

I am limited to only few sorts of tobacco leaves here in UK, I mean they’re are costly and for that reason I am buying them from Germany where they are far more cheaper. Germany eBay provides you only two types of bright Virginia flue cured, Burnley as sun cured and honey stringed, and Kentucky as sun cured and fired cured. Sometimes if you are lucky enough you might get some chances to get some dark smoked Kentucky. They are not fermented leaves and I have to get them sorted by myself. Not an easy task at all. Started after to create a casing based on alcohol, brown sugar, rom, vanilla and almond extract and steamed the already shredded leaves with it. The results are not that spectacular as expected but improved the quality of the product. As you can see I am a novice but willing to improve. Thank you

 

[Ionel66]

Just heat the tobacco up until it's warm and spray. You can keep it heating in the oven until it dries a bit and repeatedly spray it for more flavour.

What you would advise me related to the liquorice, using it as an extract or simply as as root powder? Thank you

 

[F4RM3R]

Usua

What you would advise me related to the liquorice, using it as an extract or simply as as root powder? Thank you

Usually anise seed is used for a licorice flavour. Also star anise can be used for a slightly different licorice-esque flavour. Licorice root is used to add sweetness to a blend and doesn't really have that familiar licorice taste you are probably thinking of.

All of these can be made into an extract by soaking them in alcohol for about a week. Any alcohol will do, rum goes nice with licorice or bourbon works too, but those will each add their own flavour. Just throw a spoonful of spice in a jar with a couple shots of alcohol.

Also you can add these spices to a syrup solution(invert sugar, molasses water, maple syrup)and boil it to extract the flavour. Then spray on the tobacco.

 

[jaytex1969]

Welcome to the forum from Austin, Texas.

Honestly, you look a bit young to be smoking, and who's that creepy old man hanging over your shoulder? nana

 

[Ionel66]

Welcome to the forum from Austin, Texas.

Honestly, you look a bit young to be smoking, and who's that creepy old man hanging over your shoulder? nana


View attachment 30255

The old man hanging behind the curtains is her beloved grandpa who’s the smoker in this movie. He’s a keen of Freddie , with 11 Elm street address!?

 

[chopper]

Similar

Well basically you can spray a solution on your leaves. The base of this solution can be alcohol or a syrup or a mixture of both.

This thread will explain alot so check it out:

Ernie Q on casing, pressing, and blending

(moderator note: copied from the home tobacco press thread.) Okie dokie. I’ve left the ‘that there terbaccy Elves in charge of guarding your orders at the shop and have a bit more time to talk about pressing etc. First things first...and I CANNOT stress this enough. Every tobacco you buy...

pipesmokersdens.com

Commonly used flavourings for cigarettes are in a syrup like invert sugar, maple syrup, molasses. The flavours are usually licorice, chocolate(for burleys), citrus(for Virginia). For more flavour you can add vanilla extract, almond extract, alcohols like rum or bourbon. Other food grade extracts commonly found in a grocery store can be added too. Just make sure the extract is alcohol based and not oil based. Essential oils can also be added in very small amounts like bergamot, peppermint, wintergreen, clove, lavender.

That's a very good link thanks @F4RM3R - info on casings/toppings is hard to find - might be a good idea if you read it yourself, lol.
The author of that post says NOT to use essential oils [Great, I've already bought several small bottles ]

He suggests anise seeds for e.g. rather than anise essential oil.

Since tobacco is outrageously expensive here in Nanny State Australia [Now over $110 for 50g] I'm growing my own in readiness for when my stash runs dry.
Your link has saved me from learning the hard way that essential oils are not the way to go.

 

[Ionel66]

That's a very good link thanks @F4RM3R - info on casings/toppings is hard to find - might be a good idea if you read it yourself, lol.
The author of that post says NOT to use essential oils [Great, I've already bought several small bottles ]

He suggests anise seeds for e.g. rather than anise essential oil.

Since tobacco is outrageously expensive here in Nanny State Australia [Now over $110 for 50g] I'm growing my own in readiness for when my stash runs dry.
Your link has saved me from learning the hard way that essential oils are not the way to go.

Cheers mate, much appreciate it.

 

[chopper]

Hello there, I am new here and willing to find more about casings and tobacco flavouring procedure. I am buying my tobacco leaves on eBay, shredded them and after injecting in cigarette tubes. So far this was the only forum I could get some informations related to tobacco casings. I am living in UK and here informations are not available at all on forums. Please let me know if someone knows abou. Thank you.

Welcome to the forum.

You've made one huge step in the right direction by buying raw leaves.
Tailor-made cigarettes have a staggering 300-600 added chemicals.
Pipe tobacco has none [Some blends have a little harmless PG as a humectant]

I was a slave to cigarettes for 35 years. Over ten years ago I switched to a pipe and smoke blends with mild Vit N. What a difference it's made.
Now I smoke for pleasure rather than addiction.

Info on casing/toppings, recipes in particular, are extremely hard to find.
The link given by @F4RM3R says that ALL tobacco has been cased with sugar. Although many will disagree, I've read this many times before [Apparently tobacco is much harsher without]

Over a decade ago I grew some Virginia. At the time I could not find any info on growing or casing tobacco so I winged it.
The leaves were brittle so I sprayed them with a mix of water/port/brandy [50% water, 25% each of port and brandy] dried and sprayed again.

Once dried the leaves felt like soft leather. It turned out to be a rather nice smoke. The sugars in the port must have been sufficient.
Friends also found it a reasonable smoke.
A total fluke but there you go.

www.fairtradetobacco.com forum may be of help.

 

[condorlover1]

There was a book published by the Tilthy Tobacco Growers Cooperative in Dunmow in Essex about growing your own tobacco which is well worth tracking down. Another one was Grow Your Own Tobacco by Guy N Smith if my memory serves me correctly. Good luck.

 

[Ionel66]

There was a book published by the Tilthy Tobacco Growers Cooperative in Dunmow in Essex about growing your own tobacco which is well worth tracking down. Another one was Grow Your Own Tobacco by Guy N Smith if my memory serves me correctly. Good luck.

Thank you, I will see what I can do about.

 

[F4RM3R]

That's a very good link thanks @F4RM3R - info on casings/toppings is hard to find - might be a good idea if you read it yourself, lol.
The author of that post says NOT to use essential oils [Great, I've already bought several small bottles ]

He suggests anise seeds for e.g. rather than anise essential oil.

Since tobacco is outrageously expensive here in Nanny State Australia [Now over $110 for 50g] I'm growing my own in readiness for when my stash runs dry.
Your link has saved me from learning the hard way that essential oils are not the way to go.

Essential oils are fine. But use a small amount, it's easy to use way too much when it comes to these. Essential oils are used in some blends(ex: lakelands Rose geranium, lemongrass, etc.)

I have used them before. Such as bergamot, wintergreen, benzoin, rose geranium.

But just as I don't listen that posters advise, you don't have to listen to mine haha. The key is to use small amounts. Essential oils are highly concentrated extracts and one drop can sometimes be the equivalent oils of many ounces or lbs of plants. It's not rocket science though. It's fairly easy to tell if you overdid it, because your batch will REEK like whatever oil you decided to use too much of. I found a good thread before somewhere with some info on using essential oils. I may have copied the information. I will see.

It depends on the oil but I have used(per ounce of tobacco) 1 to 2 drops of any given essential oil. For something like bergamot 2 drops would be Ok, but that would be too much with something like wintergreen, unless you really want that flavour to really stand out.

My suggestion is to mix a drop or two into a couple teaspoons of alcohol and spray some on. That way you can really control the amount better.

As for anise, I think an alcohol soak extraction would be better. Essential oils are more for the fragrance and not really taste as much, so if you want the taste it's better to do an alcohol soak or a syrup.

Again take my advice with a grain of salt. I may be totally wrong, but this is just what I have done. With some pleasing results.

 

[F4RM3R]

Here is that info I copied from a thread somewhere:

"
Anise oil, lavender oil or extract, mint oil or extract, rose geranium oil, bergamot oil, lemon grass oil are good, sweeten and smoothen the smoke. Patchouli also has a smoothening effect, but adds a wooden aroma, which one may like or not.


Measurements: You want to stay in the range of 0.1-0.5% ACCUMULATED for all essential oils added. It's tempting to add more, but it only impresses once or twice, it can easily become overwhelming. Vanilla extract can be used in addition (0.1-2%, 0.3% seems just right most of the time).


For 20g tobacco dissolve 2 drops (=0.5% of tobacco weight) rose geranium oil and 0.3% Vanilla extract in enough good whisky/cognac/rum to moisten all the tobacco (appr. 5ml)."

 

[Ionel66]

Here is that info I copied from a thread somewhere:

"
Anise oil, lavender oil or extract, mint oil or extract, rose geranium oil, bergamot oil, lemon grass oil are good, sweeten and smoothen the smoke. Patchouli also has a smoothening effect, but adds a wooden aroma, which one may like or not.


Measurements: You want to stay in the range of 0.1-0.5% ACCUMULATED for all essential oils added. It's tempting to add more, but it only impresses once or twice, it can easily become overwhelming. Vanilla extract can be used in addition (0.1-2%, 0.3% seems just right most of the time).


For 20g tobacco dissolve 2 drops (=0.5% of tobacco weight) rose geranium oil and 0.3% Vanilla extract in enough good whisky/cognac/rum to moisten all the tobacco (appr. 5ml)."

I just bought liquorice powder and aniseed extract along with other two bottles of propylene glycol and glycerol. I am looking for casing recipes containing these ingredients. I do appreciate all your advices you gave me. Thank you

 

[chopper]

Essential oils are fine. But use a small amount, it's easy to use way too much when it comes to these. Essential oils are used in some blends(ex: lakelands Rose geranium, lemongrass, etc.)

I have used them before. Such as bergamot, wintergreen, benzoin, rose geranium.

But just as I don't listen that posters advise, you don't have to listen to mine haha. The key is to use small amounts. Essential oils are highly concentrated extracts and one drop can sometimes be the equivalent oils of many ounces or lbs of plants. It's not rocket science though. It's fairly easy to tell if you overdid it, because your batch will REEK like whatever oil you decided to use too much of. I found a good thread before somewhere with some info on using essential oils. I may have copied the information. I will see.

It depends on the oil but I have used(per ounce of tobacco) 1 to 2 drops of any given essential oil. For something like bergamot 2 drops would be Ok, but that would be too much with something like wintergreen, unless you really want that flavour to really stand out.

My suggestion is to mix a drop or two into a couple teaspoons of alcohol and spray some on. That way you can really control the amount better.

As for anise, I think an alcohol soak extraction would be better. Essential oils are more for the fragrance and not really taste as much, so if you want the taste it's better to do an alcohol soak or a syrup.

Again take my advice with a grain of salt. I may be totally wrong, but this is just what I have done. With some pleasing results.

That's good to know.
That's a very small amount so I can see how it could be way too easy to go overboard with an essential oil.

Since I've got limited amount of homegrown to experiment with I'll probably try soaking anise seeds in rum before venturing into the essential oils.

Thanks for sharing your experience, much appreciated.

 

[F4RM3R]

Welcome to the forum.

You've made one huge step in the right direction by buying raw leaves.
Tailor-made cigarettes have a staggering 300-600 added chemicals.
Pipe tobacco has none [Some blends have a little harmless PG as a humectant]

I was a slave to cigarettes for 35 years. Over ten years ago I switched to a pipe and smoke blends with mild Vit N. What a difference it's made.
Now I smoke for pleasure rather than addiction.

Info on casing/toppings, recipes in particular, are extremely hard to find.
The link given by @F4RM3R says that ALL tobacco has been cased with sugar. Although many will disagree, I've read this many times before [Apparently tobacco is much harsher without]

Over a decade ago I grew some Virginia. At the time I could not find any info on growing or casing tobacco so I winged it.
The leaves were brittle so I sprayed them with a mix of water/port/brandy [50% water, 25% each of port and brandy] dried and sprayed again.

Once dried the leaves felt like soft leather. It turned out to be a rather nice smoke. The sugars in the port must have been sufficient.
Friends also found it a reasonable smoke.
A total fluke but there you go.

www.fairtradetobacco.com forum may be of help.

I just bought liquorice powder and aniseed extract along with other two bottles of propylene glycol and glycerol. I am looking for casing recipes containing these ingredients. I do appreciate all your advices you gave me. Thank you

Glad you enjoy the advice. I haven't used propylene glycol or glycerol myself so I can't offer any suggestions for those. As for the licorice powder(licorice root?) Just put a teaspoon or two in some alcohol to soak for a few days to a week and strain it out. I use chopped dried licorice root extracted in bourbon as a sweetener sometimes, but usually just use maple syrup(I'm Canadian after all) dissolved in a little bourbon or water.

 

[jpmcwjr]

On the other hand you also have five digits.... You could do as the original Brit blenders did: flavor only with latakia and perique.... Just a though from an old grump.

So glad to see folks growing their own. I'd do so if I had the room and climate.

 

[chopper]

On the other hand you also have five digits.... You could do as the original Brit blenders did: flavor only with latakia and perique.... Just a though from an old grump.

So glad to see folks growing their own. I'd do so if I had the room and climate.

Before the Naziesque laws applied I ordered a pound each of Perique and Latakia for the specific purpose of blending with my homegrown.

I enjoy most types of tobacco including aromatics that aren't overly flavoured.
It's nice to have a range of blends from which to choose.

 

[chopper]

Glad you enjoy the advice. I haven't used propylene glycol or glycerol myself so I can't offer any suggestions for those. As for the licorice powder(licorice root?) Just put a teaspoon or two in some alcohol to soak for a few days to a week and strain it out. I use chopped dried licorice root extracted in bourbon as a sweetener sometimes, but usually just use maple syrup(I'm Canadian after all) dissolved in a little bourbon or water.

I'm not intending to use PG or glycerine - Home growers at the FairTrade Tobacco forum who make their own unflavoured black Cavendish for example [None of the regulars there make aromatics] regularly impress that it needs to be stored at a much lower case than commercial blends that use a humectant.

 

[supdog]

Don't know if this will help, but you could have a look

Tobacco Flavorings for Home Grown Tobacco

Tobacco Flavorings for Home Tobacco Growers

www.seedman.com

 

[chopper]

Don't know if this will help, but you could have a look

Tobacco Flavorings for Home Grown Tobacco

Tobacco Flavorings for Home Tobacco Growers

www.seedman.com

Seedman will not post outside of the U.S.