--My DIY Organic VA Blend Journey--
Due to the lack of organic pipe blends on the market, I decided to embark on a little DIY blending adventure -- not really DIY, of course, because I didn't grow the tobacco myself. But I got a couple of lbs of organic whole leaf VA (American and Canadian) from Leaf Only, as well as their cheapest manual shredder. I was hoping for some organic Perique so I could make a Va/Per, but there wasn't any available.
[Sidenote: As for why organic? A few reasons not really worth getting into here. I realize there's no such thing as healthy pipe tobacco, but I also don't entirely love the idea of all those pesticides and fertilizers combusting and then collecting in my soft tissue or whatever. Also, it was my wife's idea. Also, healthier for the earth, etc.]
There are about a hundred ways it could go wrong. I have no illusions that it'll taste like Capstan Blue, etc., or that I'll ever quit buying conventional pipe tobacco. It's just a fun little experiment. I'll report back on the results.
A few steps along the way documented below.
Right out of the bag, this stuff does not smell very good. The closest thing that comes to mind is piss (the ammonia, I guess). I'd thought maybe I could get away with blending it raw, but I think not.
I decided to try it anyway, since a person should know their raw ingredients. So I shredded up a few bowls' worth and smoked them. Interestingly, the piss smell was a lot less after it was shredded, and the 'room note' (outside) and flavor weren't bad -- almost a hint of sweetness -- but also kind of cigarettey, harsh, ashy, and roasted the shit out of my tongue (the front of the tongue, as uncased VAs are hellishly acidic). So, requires casing for sure.
The family that blends tobacco together.... gets irritated lungs together?
This stage is a pain in the balls, mostly because you gotta take out the main vein. Like cleaning shrimp but less gross. I guess you're supposed to use scissors but the wifey and I became too impatient with that method.
Then the shredding! My 9-yr-old did most of it, and the little shredder works decently. The tricky thing is that the whole leaves want a certain humidity: too much and they'll gum up the shredder; too little and they'll turn to dust. I think we were on the dry side. The cut tobacco came out looking pretty good, but a ton of dust went into the air and everyone started to feel a little shitty. Eventually my family fled and I continued the process solo.
Casing! This is like when you try to follow a recipe but you aren't good at following recipes or you only have half the ingredients, and your math skills suck. Based on everything I could find online, I elected to do a 1:1 sugar:water ratio, with a little bit of apple cider vinegar (even though, unlike a burley, I don't think VAs need any lower pH) and a small hunk of lemon peel for prime-VA flavoring. I used a blend of brown sugar and maple syrup for the sugar. Boiled for 10 minutes, then into a sprayer (which instantly gummed up), and then attempted (very unscientifically) to case the tobacco at about 2 oz. per pound. (I've heard that it should be 1 oz./lb if you're working with blending tobacco, 2 oz/lb if it's raw). I probably ended up with more than that percentage on it, though it still felt wicked dry to me and was hard to mix evenly.
That's about 1.5 lb. Conventional wisdom seems to be that I should now let it sit for 10 days. I'm not going to do that. I'm highly concerned that it'll mold if I leave it in there very long, wet as it is. I know mold has been a problem for some of the big tobacco-makers and their attempts at organic blends. I'll probably leave it in there for a day or two. Then dry it down, try it again, and if it's not disgusting, start pressing it!
Will report back on whether the flavors marry harmoniously, or just turn into congealed dogshit.
Onward!
Due to the lack of organic pipe blends on the market, I decided to embark on a little DIY blending adventure -- not really DIY, of course, because I didn't grow the tobacco myself. But I got a couple of lbs of organic whole leaf VA (American and Canadian) from Leaf Only, as well as their cheapest manual shredder. I was hoping for some organic Perique so I could make a Va/Per, but there wasn't any available.
[Sidenote: As for why organic? A few reasons not really worth getting into here. I realize there's no such thing as healthy pipe tobacco, but I also don't entirely love the idea of all those pesticides and fertilizers combusting and then collecting in my soft tissue or whatever. Also, it was my wife's idea. Also, healthier for the earth, etc.]
There are about a hundred ways it could go wrong. I have no illusions that it'll taste like Capstan Blue, etc., or that I'll ever quit buying conventional pipe tobacco. It's just a fun little experiment. I'll report back on the results.
A few steps along the way documented below.
Right out of the bag, this stuff does not smell very good. The closest thing that comes to mind is piss (the ammonia, I guess). I'd thought maybe I could get away with blending it raw, but I think not.
I decided to try it anyway, since a person should know their raw ingredients. So I shredded up a few bowls' worth and smoked them. Interestingly, the piss smell was a lot less after it was shredded, and the 'room note' (outside) and flavor weren't bad -- almost a hint of sweetness -- but also kind of cigarettey, harsh, ashy, and roasted the shit out of my tongue (the front of the tongue, as uncased VAs are hellishly acidic). So, requires casing for sure.
The family that blends tobacco together.... gets irritated lungs together?
This stage is a pain in the balls, mostly because you gotta take out the main vein. Like cleaning shrimp but less gross. I guess you're supposed to use scissors but the wifey and I became too impatient with that method.
Then the shredding! My 9-yr-old did most of it, and the little shredder works decently. The tricky thing is that the whole leaves want a certain humidity: too much and they'll gum up the shredder; too little and they'll turn to dust. I think we were on the dry side. The cut tobacco came out looking pretty good, but a ton of dust went into the air and everyone started to feel a little shitty. Eventually my family fled and I continued the process solo.
Casing! This is like when you try to follow a recipe but you aren't good at following recipes or you only have half the ingredients, and your math skills suck. Based on everything I could find online, I elected to do a 1:1 sugar:water ratio, with a little bit of apple cider vinegar (even though, unlike a burley, I don't think VAs need any lower pH) and a small hunk of lemon peel for prime-VA flavoring. I used a blend of brown sugar and maple syrup for the sugar. Boiled for 10 minutes, then into a sprayer (which instantly gummed up), and then attempted (very unscientifically) to case the tobacco at about 2 oz. per pound. (I've heard that it should be 1 oz./lb if you're working with blending tobacco, 2 oz/lb if it's raw). I probably ended up with more than that percentage on it, though it still felt wicked dry to me and was hard to mix evenly.
That's about 1.5 lb. Conventional wisdom seems to be that I should now let it sit for 10 days. I'm not going to do that. I'm highly concerned that it'll mold if I leave it in there very long, wet as it is. I know mold has been a problem for some of the big tobacco-makers and their attempts at organic blends. I'll probably leave it in there for a day or two. Then dry it down, try it again, and if it's not disgusting, start pressing it!
Will report back on whether the flavors marry harmoniously, or just turn into congealed dogshit.
Onward!
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