Before you answer, let's see what Master Blender Gregory L. Pease has to say about it in his July column. Check it out at the following link.
Moisture Matters
Do You Dry Your Tobacco Before Smoking? Why or Why Not?
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Interesting to see someone in Greg's position discuss both the 'readiness to smoke' debate we've had on forums for years and the post-tinning aging; it's pretty funny to see how much public opinion on these matters have changed over the last 5-10-15 years.
As for moisture matters, like I said in the other thread bumping around New Posts right now, there's probably a myriad of minute factors that affect this but the one thing that matters most will be your local relative humidity: I would be very surprised if someone in Tampa Florida and someone from Scottsdale Arizona had the same preparation methods.
Wetter is also heavier. Seeing as tobacco is sold by weight, that's gotta be a business consideration too.
As for moisture matters, like I said in the other thread bumping around New Posts right now, there's probably a myriad of minute factors that affect this but the one thing that matters most will be your local relative humidity: I would be very surprised if someone in Tampa Florida and someone from Scottsdale Arizona had the same preparation methods.
Wetter is also heavier. Seeing as tobacco is sold by weight, that's gotta be a business consideration too.
Yes. Depending on moisture levels. I like my blends dry but not crispy…happy medium kinda thing. Too much moisture tends to mute flavors for me and make for a more wet and less enjoyable experience. On average, I dry my flakes out about and hour…Ready Rubbed 15-30 minutes. 
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Unless its 'wet' I no longer bother. I use the breath method of smoking, which immediately rehumidifies the dried tobacco.
As Mark Ryan used to say about D&R, you're paying for the tobacco, not the water.
No drying here, haven't any patience for it. I want my smoke and I want it now! RH is around 65% here at the moment, no impact really.
This was an excellent and informative article by Greg. I like a lot in it. He provides excellent information of the moisture tranformations that tobacco undergoes through processing. I liked that Greg tackled the debate over whether or not tobacco straight from the tin represents what the blender intended. His answer, as a blender, is yes and no, and he goes into considerations.
And he summarizes the article with a suggestion to smokers that they experiment with their tobaccos to see how they taste with different levels of moisture, which in effect says that you can hold some sway over how a blend balances by how you dry it, something I found to be very true. It's great to see that brought up.
And he summarizes the article with a suggestion to smokers that they experiment with their tobaccos to see how they taste with different levels of moisture, which in effect says that you can hold some sway over how a blend balances by how you dry it, something I found to be very true. It's great to see that brought up.
Good article, with many of the nuances of moisture level covered well.
Comments aren't available on the article itself, which may be the way it's intended.
Comments aren't available on the article itself, which may be the way it's intended.
Another banger from G.L. Pease. I always enjoy reading his articles. To answer the question, I only dry out tobaccos that are heavily topped. Otherwise, I try to smoke them as I get them.
Forgot to answer the question.... I let every tobacco breathe quite a bit and so most will dry down a little bit, as humidity levels are ca. 55% in my house. Others I will dry down significantly, but not below 60% RH @ 70º.
I don't usually smoke heavily topped blends, but sometimes PG will get in the way. Those are blends that won't get bought again.
I don't usually smoke heavily topped blends, but sometimes PG will get in the way. Those are blends that won't get bought again.
Definitely a great article and well worth the read. Like Greg, I have no hard or fast rule about drying/not drying. I let the tobacco and the pipe do the talking. If I smoke a blend in a particular pipe and I have issues due to moisture then I give some dry time for the next smoke, if not I don't. I also consider the conditions I'm smoking in as well. It's not rocket science, just experience. So like Greg says just play around and enjoy yourself while you're at it!
Unless its a blend from Sammy Gawith I tend to not worry as most are ready to go by my standards but I do see a lot of people here struggle with the mechanics of smoking tobacco straight from the tin and so dry it like its been sitting in a Santa Ana wind for 6 months. At the end of the day its about what works for you and if you're happy, carry on.
I do not believe anything Greg said in that post is any special science ONLY a blender would know. It sounds like the things we all learn over time.
Ive either learned it from seasoned pipers or found out for myself.
I was actually told by Greg a decade ago that most blenders sell their tobacco at the moisture level THEY believe brings out the best flavors. Of course some lesser brands load up on the propylene glycol to preserve moisture and bulk up their product.
Every time someone asks how to rehydrate tobacco, I tell them to try it first. I have found several blends that taste great bone dry. The covering the bowl of dry tobacco while blowing through the pipe, ive been doing that for many years.
I personally do not dry many blends. Ive just found a way to smoke them at their moisture level. I found that out with FVF many years ago. Everyone said to let it sit out to dry. I did that for awhile. Then I tried it right from the tin one time........and I couldn't get it to stay lit. I tried again, and again, and again.....
The reason I kept trying is because the flavors I was getting when it was lit, was fantastic. Eventually I learned how to smoke it and use that knowledge with other moist blends. The flavors can be drastically different at different moisture levels.
In the end, smoke it like YOU like it, but seriously try ALL options. Ive heard too many people say they have always dried their moist tobacco because the internet told them to. Some even leave every single bowl of tobacco out for hours, never trying the blend at the tin moisture. And some even MICROWAVE their tobacco!! All bit guaranteeing the essential oils are destroyed.
I haven't read all the posts here. If you are a microwaver........KNOCK IT OFF!!
Ive either learned it from seasoned pipers or found out for myself.
I was actually told by Greg a decade ago that most blenders sell their tobacco at the moisture level THEY believe brings out the best flavors. Of course some lesser brands load up on the propylene glycol to preserve moisture and bulk up their product.
Every time someone asks how to rehydrate tobacco, I tell them to try it first. I have found several blends that taste great bone dry. The covering the bowl of dry tobacco while blowing through the pipe, ive been doing that for many years.
I personally do not dry many blends. Ive just found a way to smoke them at their moisture level. I found that out with FVF many years ago. Everyone said to let it sit out to dry. I did that for awhile. Then I tried it right from the tin one time........and I couldn't get it to stay lit. I tried again, and again, and again.....
The reason I kept trying is because the flavors I was getting when it was lit, was fantastic. Eventually I learned how to smoke it and use that knowledge with other moist blends. The flavors can be drastically different at different moisture levels.
In the end, smoke it like YOU like it, but seriously try ALL options. Ive heard too many people say they have always dried their moist tobacco because the internet told them to. Some even leave every single bowl of tobacco out for hours, never trying the blend at the tin moisture. And some even MICROWAVE their tobacco!! All bit guaranteeing the essential oils are destroyed.
I haven't read all the posts here. If you are a microwaver........KNOCK IT OFF!!
Good article! As far as my own smoking preparations go, it depends on the blend style. For aromatics I'll smoke them fresh out of the tin/jar with no dry time at all, since in my experience drying the tobacco mutes the flavor intensity of whatever toppings were added.
On the opposite end of the spectrum are pure Virginias, which I find to smoke the coolest and offer the broadest range of flavors when dried to the point of being almost (but not quite) crispy. In the middle are English, dark-fired, and Burley blends; which seem to perform and taste the best for me when dried a little but still slightly springy between the fingers.
In any case I always jar my tobaccos up at whatever moisture level they came out of the tin, just for the sake of preserving the volatiles in the tobacco until I'm ready to smoke it, and just dry a bowl's worth as needed. Weather willing of course, since here in Minnesota it's often so humid during the summers that my options are to either smoke the tobacco at the moisture level it came at or set it on a plate in front of a space heater for 10 or 15 minutes to dry; since I could leave it sitting out all day in the open air and it wouldn't dry a lick.
During the winter though the humidity is so low that's it's the opposite, and even the wettest Gawith blends will fully dry sitting out in the open air for 20 minutes. Just depends on the season!
On the opposite end of the spectrum are pure Virginias, which I find to smoke the coolest and offer the broadest range of flavors when dried to the point of being almost (but not quite) crispy. In the middle are English, dark-fired, and Burley blends; which seem to perform and taste the best for me when dried a little but still slightly springy between the fingers.
In any case I always jar my tobaccos up at whatever moisture level they came out of the tin, just for the sake of preserving the volatiles in the tobacco until I'm ready to smoke it, and just dry a bowl's worth as needed. Weather willing of course, since here in Minnesota it's often so humid during the summers that my options are to either smoke the tobacco at the moisture level it came at or set it on a plate in front of a space heater for 10 or 15 minutes to dry; since I could leave it sitting out all day in the open air and it wouldn't dry a lick.
During the winter though the humidity is so low that's it's the opposite, and even the wettest Gawith blends will fully dry sitting out in the open air for 20 minutes. Just depends on the season!
As to the moisture level being "what the blender intended", I'm the one smoking it, not them. If their blend needs to be dried out so that I enjoy it more than if it were straight from the tin, then it needed to be dried out.
The amount of drying, if any, that I apply varies from one blend to another, no hard and fast rule. I determine what works best for me and do that.
The amount of drying, if any, that I apply varies from one blend to another, no hard and fast rule. I determine what works best for me and do that.
I do not dry my tobacco. Ever.
This is only because I'm an impatient lazy bastard.
This is only because I'm an impatient lazy bastard.
