Favorite Burley?
- Thread starter jeff59
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8O :worship:
There aren't too many tobaccos that I would buy pounds and pounds of, but this is definitely one of them. Mild, easy to pack, easy to light, well behaved, burns all the way to the bottom, has a very wonderful flavor, excellent room note, nice and mild but with a good bit of flavor, just an all around damn good smoke.
I can also second the recommendations of Storm Front and MacBaren Golden Extra, as well as throwing Gentleman Callers into the ring. The deer tongue in Gentleman Callers gives it that little something extra.
Prince Albert and Prince Albert Choice. PA was the first pipe tobacco I remember smoking and enjoying. Before that I had just tried a cherry house blend, yuck!
I could never choose just one burly I like. Half and Half is my go-to tobacco, I also like to smoke my homemade blend of tobaccos I grew. I mix burly and Virginia in a certain ratio and cased with some honey, organic vanilla, and a few choice spices. it makes for a good and strong smoke. Another favorite is Prince Albert, another classic! Sometimes I'll even smoke pure burly, it's got a good nicotine hit. Inhale and you are glued to your seat! Bzzzzzzz... :mrgreen:
busyhands,
I've cased plain burley (and a little VA) with honey before and it's one of my favorite smokes, but I haven't tried using vanilla, though I've been tempted to try it. Do you toast/steam/heat the cased tobacco at all, or do you just case it and let it dry out a bit? And do you just use alcohol-based vanilla extract?
I've cased plain burley (and a little VA) with honey before and it's one of my favorite smokes, but I haven't tried using vanilla, though I've been tempted to try it. Do you toast/steam/heat the cased tobacco at all, or do you just case it and let it dry out a bit? And do you just use alcohol-based vanilla extract?
jeff,
For me, "casing" the tobacco means mixing a little honey with some warm water and drizzling that over a little pile of tobacco. Then I fold the wet pile of tobacco up in some parchment paper until it's nice and tight (you could just as well wrap the parchment parcel with some foil to keep it closed). Anyhow, I set the toaster oven at 200 degrees and bake for about two hours.
Be forewarned, when you steam burley like that it will smell like... I don't know what -- something grassy and "agricultural" you might say. Sometimes I leave the warm steaming chunk of tobacco in a mason jar for a few days to settle down. Alternatively, you could leave the warm, wet tobacco spread out on the opened parchment and let it dry a bit before putting it away in a jar. Once it settles down it smells really nice -- like nutty burley with a bit of honey.
To me, the smoke is amazing. Just that little bit of honey adds not so much sweetness as a minerally taste. If you've eaten straight honey before, there's something that sort of sticks in your throat and has a sort of spicy, mineral-like zing to it. That little bit of "zing" really comes through in the smoke and I really enjoy it. Moreover, the burley itself, because of the steaming process, is really, really smooth and bite-less. In fact, some of my best results have come from plain white burley that originally tasted like old gym socks. On fire. Inside my mouth. (Yuck.) But the casing and steaming process totally changed the character of that cheap, bulk burley.
Hope this helps!
For me, "casing" the tobacco means mixing a little honey with some warm water and drizzling that over a little pile of tobacco. Then I fold the wet pile of tobacco up in some parchment paper until it's nice and tight (you could just as well wrap the parchment parcel with some foil to keep it closed). Anyhow, I set the toaster oven at 200 degrees and bake for about two hours.
Be forewarned, when you steam burley like that it will smell like... I don't know what -- something grassy and "agricultural" you might say. Sometimes I leave the warm steaming chunk of tobacco in a mason jar for a few days to settle down. Alternatively, you could leave the warm, wet tobacco spread out on the opened parchment and let it dry a bit before putting it away in a jar. Once it settles down it smells really nice -- like nutty burley with a bit of honey.
To me, the smoke is amazing. Just that little bit of honey adds not so much sweetness as a minerally taste. If you've eaten straight honey before, there's something that sort of sticks in your throat and has a sort of spicy, mineral-like zing to it. That little bit of "zing" really comes through in the smoke and I really enjoy it. Moreover, the burley itself, because of the steaming process, is really, really smooth and bite-less. In fact, some of my best results have come from plain white burley that originally tasted like old gym socks. On fire. Inside my mouth. (Yuck.) But the casing and steaming process totally changed the character of that cheap, bulk burley.
Hope this helps!
Wow, we got this far with no one mentioning Lanes Burley Without Bit? It's tasty on its own and great to mix,
for example with some McClellands 5100, some black Cavendish, and a dash of blending Latakia and/or Perique,
in various combinations. PA is good. Half-and-Half ain't bad, though some people react negatively. I like
good old Granger for homespun burley comfort. The tonier blends have been well covered otherwise.
for example with some McClellands 5100, some black Cavendish, and a dash of blending Latakia and/or Perique,
in various combinations. PA is good. Half-and-Half ain't bad, though some people react negatively. I like
good old Granger for homespun burley comfort. The tonier blends have been well covered otherwise.
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