I Think I Finally Perfected My "Black English" Home Blend...

[ScienceSmoker]

I've been making my home blend, "Black English", for quite a while. I fiddled with the "recipe" over time... starting out with about 30% Sutliff Red Virginia, 30% Sutliff Stoved Virginia, 20% blending Latakia, and 20% Sutliff's blended Turkish. I tried using Solani's 633 in place of the first Virginia component for a while. Then I finally got a scale and a noodle press and settled on a very simple 25% Sutliff's Virginia Slices, 25% Sutliff's Stoved Virginia, 25% Stokkebye's 310 Black Latakia, and 25% blending Smyrna from PipesandCigars... and then pressing it for about a week. And I love it. It's really one of my favorite English blends now. It's sweet and smooth and it smokes nice and cool.

Any more experienced guys have any thoughts, ideas, ways to improve?

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

Don't know enough about any of those to say anything other than that sounds like a lot of fun!

 

[F4RM3R]

Sounds tasty! I’ve done many a test of various English style blends. Just adjust to your preferences. I like around 20-25% latakia but my orientals usually sit around 10-15%. Unless I really want them to stand out.

sometimes I’ll wrap the plug in foil and stove it @200F for some or many hours. A blend like yours might benefit from a couple hours of stoving to meld things a bit. I’ve really “black stoved” some Kentucky Latakia Virginia blends for many hours (12-16) until they were actually black(almost) and they are thick and smooth, but the Latakia changes quite a bit and is much softer.

one of the blends I’m smoking now is an American English style:
-50% kentucky
-25% latakia
-25% red Virginia
- basma oriental(around 5% or so. Didn’t want to do the math)

pressed noodle press overnight and stoved 2 hr at 200f

 

[LotusEater]

That’s awesome!
I’ve been mixing and pressing my own English blends recently with Turkish Ribbon, Macedonian Prelip, blending and stoved Virginia and Latakia. I’ve come up with some decent mixes but I need to take better notes so I can replicate with consistency. Glad to hear you’ve found the ratios that work for you.

 

[ScienceSmoker]

Sounds tasty! I’ve done many a test of various English style blends. Just adjust to your preferences. I like around 20-25% latakia but my orientals usually sit around 10-15%. Unless I really want them to stand out.

sometimes I’ll wrap the plug in foil and stove it @200F for some or many hours. A blend like yours might benefit from a couple hours of stoving to meld things a bit. I’ve really “black stoved” some Kentucky Latakia Virginia blends for many hours (12-16) until they were actually black(almost) and they are thick and smooth, but the Latakia changes quite a bit and is much softer.

one of the blends I’m smoking now is an American English style:
-50% kentucky
-25% latakia
-25% red Virginia
- basma oriental(around 5% or so. Didn’t want to do the math)

pressed noodle press overnight and stoved 2 hr at 200f

"A blend like yours might benefit from a couple hours of stoving to meld things a bit."
I never even thought of that... it sounds like a great idea. thanks!

 

[mso489]

Sounds good. I'd play around with tweaking the proportions, since I think you have plenty of flavorful leaf to work with. Doubling this and reducing that can make major differences for the better or not.

 

[augiebd]

I like around 20-25% latakia but my orientals usually sit around 10-15%.

I have also played with creating some English blends around the 25% Latakia level. I will have to experiment with stoving.

 

[dctune]

I've been making my home blend, "Black English", for quite a while. I fiddled with the "recipe" over time... starting out with about 30% Sutliff Red Virginia, 30% Sutliff Stoved Virginia, 20% blending Latakia, and 20% Sutliff's blended Turkish. I tried using Solani's 633 in place of the first Virginia component for a while. Then I finally got a scale and a noodle press and settled on a very simple 25% Sutliff's Virginia Slices, 25% Sutliff's Stoved Virginia, 25% Stokkebye's 310 Black Latakia, and 25% blending Smyrna from PipesandCigars... and then pressing it for about a week. And I love it. It's really one of my favorite English blends now. It's sweet and smooth and it smokes nice and cool.

Any more experienced guys have any thoughts, ideas, ways to improve?

I mean, if you need a second opinion, I’d be more than happy to partake of a few bowls and report back! ?

 

[CherokeeBilly]

Sounds tasty! I’ve done many a test of various English style blends. Just adjust to your preferences. I like around 20-25% latakia but my orientals usually sit around 10-15%. Unless I really want them to stand out.

sometimes I’ll wrap the plug in foil and stove it @200F for some or many hours. A blend like yours might benefit from a couple hours of stoving to meld things a bit. I’ve really “black stoved” some Kentucky Latakia Virginia blends for many hours (12-16) until they were actually black(almost) and they are thick and smooth, but the Latakia changes quite a bit and is much softer.

one of the blends I’m smoking now is an American English style:
-50% kentucky
-25% latakia
-25% red Virginia
- basma oriental(around 5% or so. Didn’t want to do the math)

pressed noodle press overnight and stoved 2 hr at 200f

What does the room note smell like while stoving? Wanna know if I should pre plan my funeral

 

[Jimmy_Jack]

That’s awesome!
I’ve been mixing and pressing my own English blends recently with Turkish Ribbon, Macedonian Prelip, blending and stoved Virginia and Latakia. I’ve come up with some decent mixes but I need to take better notes so I can replicate with consistency. Glad to hear you’ve found the ratios that work for you.

Where are you finding prelip?

 

[LotusEater]

Where are you finding prelip?

Sutliff Pipe Tobacco 1-lb Macedonia Prelip

A new and exciting and deliciously unique recipe, Sutliff Macedonia Prelip blend is a quality mixture of choice Orientals and other select exotic tobaccos, cased to sweeten the tobacco and deliver a smooth yet flavorful taste and aroma.

www.tedtobacco.com

 

[Dr. Van Loafer]

Agreed with others this seems like a good blend. I blended an english that is similar to the first recipe with Sutliff 515, Bright Reds, Lighter Reds, Stoved Virginia, Izmar, and Latakia. I used a kitchen scale and made about 1 oz. It has been sitting in a mason jar for 6 months “melding.” So not sure what it tastes like yet! I am wondering and thinking about getting some of P&C’s Turkey that has a blend of oriental to add depth if it seems flat.