To re hydrate I usually pour some distilled water on a water towel and wring it out and place it is the container overnight. By morning the tobacco is ready to smoke.
How Dry is Too Dry?
- Thread starter Gavrin
- Start date
If you open the tin and a mini Haboob forms, your tobacco is too dry to smoke but perfect to put on your roses.
Hmm… well, if I do it “properly,” I won’t be allowed to eat the cookies until after dinner. So I’d say those need to be washed down with a couple bowls of Nightcap.
I smoke mostly English/Balkan with the occasional Virginia flake throw in. They’re relatively dry compared to Aros already. My pandemic ritual was to spread out a bowlful on this ceramic tray I have, watch an episode of The Sopranos, then pack my pipe and go smoke. I live in the southwest so mine might dry just a bit quicker than someone in the southeast.
Ive found that tobacco that’s dry to the touch and just a bit crunchy works best for my packing and smoking style.
Ive found that tobacco that’s dry to the touch and just a bit crunchy works best for my packing and smoking style.
I like a bit of moisture in most my blends. Crack a tin, wait about 10-15 min and start smoking through it. That’s what I do. However, I’ve smoked through a crispy package of 5 Brothers & some Haunted Bookshop kindling and enjoyed it immensely. To get the best out of dry tobacco…best to have a relaxed cadence & a slightly firmer packing/loading of the pipe. And, tamp less often too. ?
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I've been using a Mr.Coffee electronic coffee warming device to dry my tobacco before smoking. It was like $11 brand new, very cheap.
Turn on the coffee warmer, grab an empty tin, prepare your tobacco so you're ready to smoke it, dump tobacco into tin, set tin on top of warmer. DO NOT WALK AWAY. It should take less than 5 minutes for most tobacco.
Might take a few tries to get the hang of it as the tobacco often gets warm/steamy in the tin while warming, but then dries out even a little bit more once it cools (let it cool for a minute before loading it into the pipe).
This is a much more repeatable/controlled way of drying tobacco since ambient room humidity varies region to region, and day to day.
Turn on the coffee warmer, grab an empty tin, prepare your tobacco so you're ready to smoke it, dump tobacco into tin, set tin on top of warmer. DO NOT WALK AWAY. It should take less than 5 minutes for most tobacco.
Might take a few tries to get the hang of it as the tobacco often gets warm/steamy in the tin while warming, but then dries out even a little bit more once it cools (let it cool for a minute before loading it into the pipe).
This is a much more repeatable/controlled way of drying tobacco since ambient room humidity varies region to region, and day to day.
Different tabac from different blenders comes in various moisture, and even a blend from the same blender can vary at times.
It’s not to say that Virginias are drier than Aromatics, you could get a Virginia/blend that is quite moist.
Drying out your tabac to smoke it will come down to a personal preference, but as it’s been mentioned before, smoking to moist is not a good thing, and how dry, that is something for you to experiment with.
As an example, I have a blend from Ken Byron Ventures, called Anne Cap, which is slightly moist, all it needs is 10 minutes, if I dry it any longer it looses flavor.
Some times almost bone dry is ok, but not dust. Most of the time you take a clump and pinch it and it should feel faintly moist, just a wee bit, but then again, it’s a personal thing.
10 mins, 20 mins, 30 mins, an hour, a few hours, half a day, a whole day drying, just experiment and have fun!
It’s not to say that Virginias are drier than Aromatics, you could get a Virginia/blend that is quite moist.
Drying out your tabac to smoke it will come down to a personal preference, but as it’s been mentioned before, smoking to moist is not a good thing, and how dry, that is something for you to experiment with.
As an example, I have a blend from Ken Byron Ventures, called Anne Cap, which is slightly moist, all it needs is 10 minutes, if I dry it any longer it looses flavor.
Some times almost bone dry is ok, but not dust. Most of the time you take a clump and pinch it and it should feel faintly moist, just a wee bit, but then again, it’s a personal thing.
10 mins, 20 mins, 30 mins, an hour, a few hours, half a day, a whole day drying, just experiment and have fun!
An easy way to cut down the guesswork: Get a couple of small hygrometers. Five bucks or less. Anyone needing help in how to effectively use them, post away your questions.
This is exactly what I do. During northeast summers, the humidity doesn't get low enough to effectively dry tobacco.
I get my best flavors from Virginias when they are smoked just sy of bone dry. Dry to the touch when squeezed twixt thumb and forefinger, no sense of moisture against my skin, but still pliable, not crumbly. Bone dry is OK, but not as good for me.
I used to know a guy who was a very experienced pipe smoker (had over 300 pipes) and when he bought some new tobacco he would take it home and lay out some newspaper on the kitchen table, spread out the tobacco on it and let it sit till it was completely dry. Then it was ready to smoke. The moral of the story is that the amount of moisture in a blend is a matter of taste.... and that some pipe smokers be crazy! 
And it also reminds us that tobacco is shipped with a lot of excess moisture so that it doesn't dry up awaiting sale and consumption.I used to know a guy who was a very experienced pipe smoker (had over 300 pipes) and when he bought some new tobacco he would take it home and lay out some newspaper on the kitchen table, spread out the tobacco on it and let it sit till it was completely dry. Then it was ready to smoke. The moral of the story is that the amount of moisture in a blend is a matter of taste.... and that some pipe smokers be crazy!
Ha ha, especially if a company isn't even going to take the steps necessary to seal their tins. JK
