Make Your Own War Horse Bar!

Log in

SmokingPipes.com Updates

New Cigars




PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

Status
Not open for further replies.

condorlover1

Lifer
Dec 22, 2013
7,995
26,613
New York
As you know I was very lucky to get my hands on a War Horse bar courtesy of Mr. Lowercase. Apart from smoking some I had a small amount analyzed by a good friend who is an industrial chemist with access to some pretty nifty kit in the scientific department. After about 6 weeks the results came and broadly sort of fitted in with what I thought the stuff contained. The War Horse contains the following:
The tobacco topping contains treacle, brown sugar and heavy does of Madeira Wine, Winter Green and Pepper Mint Oil and Licorice Root appears to be the overwhelming constituent. I would think the topping was done as such: Licorice Root is boiled in water and then reduced down by slow boiling with the treacle, brown sugar, peppermint oil and winter green added with the Madeira which will result in the topping or flavor. Looking at the bar of War Horse that Mr. Lowercase sent me I would suggest the tobacco was either soaked or heavily sprayed with the topping or may have been boiled in the topping as part of the process. That would make sense as the bar appears to be made of leaves in the same fashion as 'Jack Knife' plug but with a shiny uniform finish which would be explained by the high sugar content since unlike 'Jack Knife' you cannot peal a War Horse bar apart. If you assume a fairly uniform mixture of the topping I think the best approach would be to take a 'Jack Knife' plug and soak it in the mixture for a day or two. You would then have to build a press out of a wooden sleeve with plunger type arrangement so that the whole thing would fit into a work bench vice. You would then squeeze the plug/s in a very hot garage and leave as such for 36 hours as no one these days has access to a steam press. I would suggest the resulting plugs when removed would have the consistency of Warrior Plug. The only problem I see is neither me or anyone I know on the forum has ever smoked a fresh 'War Horse' plug. I would think a good stab could be made at recreating the blend which is why I have posted the order of composition he so anyone who is interested can have a go at making the stuff. Any thoughts, ideas anyone has I am always interested to hear. As an after thought Mr. Lowercase thinks the tobacco might be an African strain but again unless someone from Gallopers wants to share the secret we will never know. As an after thought the trade mark on War Horse expired in the US in the 1980s so that might give some boutique tobacconists pause for thought!

 

layinpipe

Lifer
Feb 28, 2014
1,025
8
I'm going to be the first to say, this thread is awesome already! That is really cool how you had the war horse bar analyzed and broken down to all the basic components. It is neat to find out the ingredients that actually go into making a solid brick of tobacco like war horse. I think you forgot one ingredient though...a sprinkle of death with a dab of pure unadulterated nicotine face punch. Lol.
Now i want to know, who is going to be the first brave soul to undertake the task of making the first homemade war horse bar?

 

smokeybear

Lifer
Dec 21, 2012
2,202
23
Brampton,Ontario,Canada
Ok took me like two seconds to figure out a press but I just need instructions on the boiling and preparing parts if any one would be so kind to write a step by step plus ingredients I will gladly try it.

 
Yeh, my mind was spinning with the idea that I could integrate my fabric steamer with my hydraulic die press. A frame for the plug, tools, valves, pressure gauges, thermostat, etc... But, then I realized that there is no way that I would want to smoke War Horse Bar, so I just relaxed and let the idea unwind. Ha ha, I think that when I am in need of that much strength in nicotine and "that" flavor, I'll just go cut me a hunk off of my spare tire and pack my pipe with it.

No offense, I'm glad that there are folks that love this stuff. Maybe one day my tastes will change, but god, I hope not that much, ha ha :puffy:

 

dread

Lifer
Jun 19, 2013
1,617
9
Beyond cool that you were able to get the components like that. Interesting ideas on replicating it too!

 

chispa

Can't Leave
Sep 18, 2011
300
5
Somebody grt your steam punk goggles and top hat on and whip up a batch. I'd like to see pictures of this contraption.

 

woodsroad

Lifer
Oct 10, 2013
11,591
15,313
SE PA USA
Licorice Root starts as a spray-dried extract, produced by someone like MAFCO in Camden, NJ. Licorice Extract in a liquid form is available from numerous sources. The extract is then reconstituted in a carrier of some sort, could be the Madeira, the other ingredients added in. It most likely also contains a food grade adhesive, like gum arabic.
The liquid is then applied to the tobacco in a rolling drum. Think of it as a clothes dryer with a spray head inside.
The resulting mess is then dumped into a press and squeezed with around 40 tons of pressure. That's the pressure that Mac Baren uses, and I'm sure that number was not arrived at by pure chance, but rather through eventual industry consensus.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBokPY3RGig
The pressure is kept in place until the bar sets. The bar is then removed to a secondary press and left there for a period of time that could be weeks or months.
Now, how can this be replicated in your kitchen? Read This Thread
Start with straight tobacco, not something already prepared, like JKP. Virginia, Dark Fired, and Air Cured is what you want. If you want to replicate Mac Baren's press, you will need to be able to exert 325 psi
Multiply 325(psi) times the surface area of your mold (in sq. inches) to get the pressure needed to replicate the Mac Baren automated press.
So, for a 4"x4" mold (16 sq.”) you would need 5,200 PSI or (5,200 ÷ 2000) you would need a press rated at 2.6 tons.
If you want to steam the plug, just throw the mold into the oven for a while. Do not boil the tobacco.

 

condorlover1

Lifer
Dec 22, 2013
7,995
26,613
New York
'Woodsroad' you are right as I forgot to tell everyone about the gum arabic as well as the glycerine which makes the plug cuttable and malleable. I would think in the day they would have boiled down the licorice roots as there were definite traces of licorice root fibre in the control sample. I think the idea of using licorice extract with the Madeira as the carrier is an excellent idea especially with the gum arabic, as that plus the treacle/brown sugar explains the bars sturdy construction and probably longevity. I think with the exception of the reduced licorice one would have to make up about ten control batches to get it right. I am pretty sure the sugar and treacle would be a minority component of less than 5% otherwise the tobacco would have strange burnt sugar smell when smoked. I would expect the glycerine content to be about 15% per volume with winter green and peppermint oil at approximately 5% of volume each with the rest made up of Madeira and reduced licorice essence. I think that dark fired would probably make a reasonable good donor tobacco in the same way that I would expect 'Jack Knife' to work or better still an unwound length of rope, treated and pressed might also work. As I have said no one really knows what the stuff tasted like but I would expect to pretty dense. If anyone knows the whereabouts of a clean fresh War Horse bar let me know as I will happily purchase it to further this interesting project!

 

woodsroad

Lifer
Oct 10, 2013
11,591
15,313
SE PA USA
You might want to back way off on the mint oils. I use peppermint oil to make soap, and I can tell you that it is powerful stuff. 45g of peppermint oil in 4 kilos of soap and you'll smell like a Pep-O-Mint Lifesaver all day long. So that's just above 1% AND a lot of that gets lost in the saponification process.
Licorice Root: I'm willing to bet that what you think is licorice root is really tobacco midrib. What is the tobacco composition? Whole leaf? Some plug is, indeed, made with the entire leaf. Even if it wasn't, tobacco leaf is processed by machine nowadays, so bits of midrib can always end up in the finished product. I'm quite certain that some form of extract was used, if for no other reason than simplicity. But the more pressing reason would be batch-to-batch consistency. Extracts are quite uniform, batch-to-batch, and undergo extensive analysis, rendering the kind of data that blenders need to keep their product uniform over time.
I'll do some research into other heavy plug tobaccos and see if I can come up with a starting point for this. My best approximations might make for tasty tobacco, but will indeed be wrong for replicating War Horse Bar, so you're on the money when you say that the drill-down will take quite a few batches.

 

condorlover1

Lifer
Dec 22, 2013
7,995
26,613
New York
Excellent as I really want to look into this project as I know it will make Mr. Lowercases day. As a back up he suggested a custom blender in England who I have also emailed to see if they can do anything. They will not ship to the US but yours truly has a UK address and I will be in London next month - steady boys with the orders OK!

 

grouchydog

Can't Leave
Oct 16, 2013
413
1
Please forgive the irrelevancy, but all I have to contribute is my opinion that this thread is GREAT! And that it's the first time I've seen the word "saponification" in any context. Please carry on...

 

fnord

Lifer
Dec 28, 2011
2,746
8
Topeka, KS
Condor and Woods:
Dear God, I love how your minds work.
I doubt my chest is hairy enough for this blend, but I am certainly entertained by the thread.
Please carry on.
Fnord

 

andrew

Lifer
Feb 13, 2013
3,042
400
Didn't you use this as a makeshift press woodsroad? How did it turn out?
newborn_caulkgun.jpg


 
May 31, 2012
4,295
34
Simply incredible scientific breakdown here!
Such dedication is awe-inspiring and holds my deep interest, but I am woefully inept at the involved processes and give a most great respect to those who can make the magic happen.
I think that dark fired would probably make a reasonable good donor tobacco in the same way that I would expect 'Jack Knife' to work or better still an unwound length of rope, treated and pressed might also work. As I have said no one really knows what the stuff tasted like but I would expect to pretty dense.

I would agree.
...and Dan said:

I'll do some research into other heavy plug tobaccos and see if I can come up with a starting point for this. My best approximations might make for tasty tobacco, but will indeed be wrong for replicating War Horse Bar, so you're on the money when you say that the drill-down will take quite a few batches.

Very true, very true.
I loved seeing the steam presses at the Mac Baren factory,

one of my favorite colors is "industrial avocado mist" :)

...the trickiest part of replicating the overall characteristics may perhaps be trying to get that smooth deepness that the steam-presses achieve, a taking-off of any rough edges.
Here's what the steam-presses at Wills looked like:
JPh1WDI.jpg

Anyway,

I am totally stoked to see such a project underway!
Galloper's may ride again!
ManWar.jpg


 

darwin

Part of the Furniture Now
Apr 9, 2014
820
5
Now this is an objective worthy of "kickstarting". I can kick in a C-note towards development costs.

 

woodsroad

Lifer
Oct 10, 2013
11,591
15,313
SE PA USA
Andrew, I have been using the BaccyPacker® caulking gun to press leaf, and it has worked out very well. What I have learned: It doesn't take a lot of pressure to "marry" flavors. I don't have a way to measure the pressure exerted by a caulking gun, but it isn't much. Yet, it will pack cased tobacco into a very dense, homogenous lump. It is not enough pressure, though, to create a plug that will hold up under slicing. The tobacco manufacturers discovered that you need a lot more pressure, you need an adhesive (like gum arabic) and it helps to add heat (both to enhance flavor and set the adhesive). Think of how Cavendish is made, and you'll have idea as to what heat/steam can do to tobacco.
So, it's clear that the process plays as important a role as the ingredients.
Misterlowercase, those presses are (pun, ouch) impressive! There are lots of ways to press tobacco, and lots of cheap presses out there, like the Harbor Freight POS crap. But even beginning to replicate what those presses did is daunting. Now, a lot of what you see in those old presses is their shear (shit, another pun) size. How can I do this on a much smaller scale? First off, one has to be able to control the amount of pressure applied, which most shop presses can't do. I'm looking at a press with a pressure gauge readout. This will enable me to hit and repeat a target pressure.
That's a $300 press, so I haven't sprung for it yet!
Next in line are the molds. I have all of the stainless to make them (4x4 structural SS and 1/4" plate), and I'll start welding them up soon.
Then there's the issue of heat. How did those old presses operate? Did they steam the tobacco before pressing? Did they press into a hot mold? Was pressure applied in stages (yes, we know that it was)? Was heat applied after, before or during the press? I don't know. Maybe some of the research-oriented folks here (hint, hint, MLC) can provide some answers. Steam jacketing is out of the question on a small scale, so my next choice is to put the mold into an oven. I have a small lab oven with a PID controller, so that's what I'll do. Options include placing a thermocouple inside the mold to monitor temperatures.
After the process is worked out, it's all just cooking and keeping good notes. Trial and error. And that will take a while.
@Darwin: Your generosity is appreciated. This isn't going to be an inexpensive undertaking, but it is probably best accomplished in stages. The recipe can be approximated on the cheap using a BaccyPacker®, however, there is still leaf to buy. I suspect that War Horse used Air Cured and African Dark Fired in addition to the usual suspects. And I haven't even seen a sample of War Horse yet. Was it pressed from whole leaf?
Here is my starting point, a blend that I've already made:
Rich and Strange

04-29-2014
Virginia: 2012 Red Leaf 20%

Dark Fired (African): 13%

Stoved Black Virginia: McClelland 5105 10%

Latakia 1997 crop: 10%

Perique: P&C PT00028 Ribbon 10%

Oriental: Izmir 12%

Cigar Leaf: Aleman Seco Banda 2005 15%

Dark Air Cured 10%

Shiraz: Mitcham, Aus. 2012 30ml

 
Status
Not open for further replies.