Discover RYO Type Tobaccos

[Briar Lee]

For years I never considered buying any of the $10-12 a pound RYO grade “pipe tobacco” in the smoke shops.

But the makers of the stuff have put one ounce “sampler packs” for just over a dollar, and I bought a few.

If the package is red, it tastes like a good cigarette.

If the package is blue, it’s milder, mostly burleys.

If it comes in yellow package it’s mostly North Carolina bright leaf and mmmm mmmm delicious!

The red and blue blends seem flavored, but not the yellow blends.

Risk a dollar and try some.

My favorite are the yellow label blends. They remind me of the classic cloth sack tobaccos like Our Advertiser and Bull Durham,

You can buy five pounds for sixty bucks.

But a six ounce package for five bucks is plenty, to have on hand for blending or smoking the stuff straight up.

 

[thesmokindragon]

Love blending from whole leaf when I have time - starting with quality leaf is key

 

[Briar Lee]

Love blending from whole leaf when I have time - starting with quality leaf is key
View attachment 283602

The great bulk of the cheapest blends must use flue cured Virginia and sun cured burley plus flavorings.

The leaf price is about $2-$2.50 a pound. It must be aged, after that.

I see some blends advertise Turkish leaf. How much, I wonder?

The makers have so much competition they simply can’t sell bad tobacco. Every one ounce pack I try out it just delicious. And every brand tastes different.

You’ll never have so much fun for $1.25 than to try one ounce.

 

[woodsroad]

For years I never considered buying any of the $10-12 a pound RYO grade “pipe tobacco” in the smoke shops.

But the makers of the stuff have put one ounce “sampler packs” for just over a dollar, and I bought a few.

If the package is red, it tastes like a good cigarette.

If the package is blue, it’s milder, mostly burleys.

If it comes in yellow package it’s mostly North Carolina bright leaf and mmmm mmmm delicious!

The red and blue blends seem flavored, but not the yellow blends.

Risk a dollar and try some.

My favorite are the yellow label blends. They remind me of the classic cloth sack tobaccos like Our Advertiser and Bull Durham,

You can buy five pounds for sixty bucks.

But a six ounce package for five bucks is plenty, to have on hand for blending or smoking the stuff straight up.

What is your favorite "yellow"?

 

[Briar Lee]

What is your favorite "yellow"?

Rouseco Golden Harvest Yellow, $12 a pound.

But there are no bad brands of cheap tobacco in the stores, I’ve tried yet.

The store owners tell me to avoid silver brands, those are ultra mild.

Golden Harvest Yellow is close to a straight Virginia. No additives or flavorings.

It’s poor man’s Capstan.

 

[macaroni]

I'll give some a try. Thanks. Your tip a while back on Sweet Natural by Smoker Friendly was good for me.

 

[MattRVA]

I think I would have been right at home with those cloth sack blends. There’s some pleasure to be had for sure in seeking out the very best quality this world has to offer but give me middle of the road blend and I’m a happy man.

 

[makhorkasmoker]

Mr. Lee, what does “sun-cured burley” mean? I thought burley was air cured in a barn

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Mr. Lee, what does “sun-cured burley” mean? I thought burley was air cured in a barn

Burley can be cured in a variety of ways, but sun cured burleys tend to be harsher on your throat, unless aged significantly. It also has a more musky aroma. I like it for a change of pace in my own blends, but it does require some aging.

 

[makhorkasmoker]

Burley can be cured in a variety of ways, but sun cured burleys tend to be harsher on your throat, unless aged significantly. It also has a more musky aroma. I like it for a change of pace in my own blends, but it does require some aging.

So it's hung up in the sun like an oriental?

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I started off smoking OHM in my pipe. I still have some jarred up, and it does age somewhat. I usually have better blends that I reach for, but from time to time, I will pop a jar out of curiosity. Not a bad smoke.
It never tastes like a cigarette. Cigarettes get their signature flavor from the nasty burning paper.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

So it's hung up in the sun like an oriental?

Laid out till the color is right, and then hung up... like any sun cured tobacco. Cigar leaf can also be done this way.
There is no one specific way to cure. It depends on what the farmer is going for.

 

[makhorkasmoker]

View attachment 283761
Laid out till the color is right, and then hung up... like any sun cured tobacco. Cigar leaf can also be done this way.
There is no one specific way to cure. It depends on what the farmer is going for.

Thank you. The only tobacco I've smoked that claims to have "sun cured burley" in it is Velvet. I've always wondered about it.

 

[Briar Lee]

Mr. Lee, what does “sun-cured burley” mean? I thought burley was air cured in a barn

I meant sun ripened.

The old Velvet packages used to say the burley was sun ripened to perfection in nature’s slow but sure way.




The two basic tobaccos are white burley and flue cured Virginia. Orientals are mostly condimental.

I found some old Smoker’s Pride Black Cavendish and mixed up about half and half with Gambler’s Gold.

It looks, tastes, burns and smells about like Captain Black.

There is a lot of flue cured African Virginia on the market.

When the bales come in the factory I’ll bet some goes in Gambler Gold and some in the little two ounce tins that cost $15.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

The two basic tobaccos are white burley and flue cured Virginia.

So, you don't believe that a dark burley exists? There are actually a lot more tobaccos that just burley and bright leaf.

 

[Briar Lee]

So, you don't believe that a dark burley exists? There are actually a lot more tobaccos that just burley and bright leaf.

Yes, there’s dark Burley and I understand most of it goes into chew and dip.


No law that says they can’t use a little dark fired burley in a RYO blend. They might use some in the Red blends to give it a kick.

But if you and I had a Big Tobacco Factory, and we wanted to sell tobacco to smoke, we start with traditional Kentucky burley or North Carolina Brightleaf.

The burley is a little cheaper, but not much.

For cigarettes burley takes flavorings better, I’ve read.

And all leaf must be aged. It’s not good for a while.

A big smoke shop might have four or five different brands of RYO grade tobacco and those will be divided into Red, Blue, Gold and Silver. Where allowed they’ll have Green menthol. I’ve seen some that have Turkish.

None of it tastes bad, or has anything wrong with it. Every blend has to be mild enough to inhale. If there’s any PG there’s not much, and all are ribbon cut.

The taxes on it are all $2.83 a pound which is likely just a little more than the leaf costs. $5 a pound will cover tax and leaf.

Try the gold ones. They are mostly Virginia.

 

[Bbailey324]

Most of the 'smoke' shops in my area are vape and weed stuff with minimal tobacco, even RYO. I'll have to keep looking around for some of these low cost blends to try. I go in the places to buy butane and ask about pipe tobacco but usually to no result.

 

[Briar Lee]

Today I bought two more Gold variety packages of RYO tobacco.

High Card Gold is extremely rich tasting, If this was the only tobacco in the world we’d still smoke pipes and like it.

But my new favorite is Buoy Gold by Rounseco.

When you open the package a wonderful smell of good, aged Virginia rushes out.

If there’s anything other than Virginia tobaccos in Buoy Gold I can’t taste them. The captions say it’s all natural and burley and flue cured, but it smells like new mown hay, has a citrus taste and is utterly delicious like any good Virginia blend.

No rough edges, either.

It’s rich in nicotine.

$6 for 6 ounces.



I smoke this stuff so you won’t have to.

Seriously, folks, try Buoy Gold.

If you don’t like it straight it would make a wonderful mixer.

 

[Briar Lee]

I hit another cheap smoke shop today and paid $6 for six ounces of Gambler Turkish.

The package reads there’s 85 per cent imported tobaccos.

This is utterly delicious in a pipe, mellow, smooth, bursting with straight tobacco flavor.

If you broke apart a couple of real, no filter, honest to goodness, humpback package Camel cigarretes this is close.

Good ribbon cut pipe tobacco can be bought for a dollar or less an ounce.

Try a few and see which ones you like.

You can’t lose much.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Man, has the economy gotten so bad that lawyers can't make enough money to buy real pipe tobacco? wow!