Making Your Own Blends from Your Cellar

[Franco Pipenbeans]

I made up a batch of “Ogden’s Mixture” a few years back - equal amounts of Gold Block and St Bruno and I’ve just revisited it this evening; it really has married together nicely which took me a little by surprise because Gold Block on it’s own is like smoking razor blades in my opinion.

I was just wondering if anyone has a home made blend that they make up that they might like to share with us? Maybe Haunted Bookshop and SWR aromatic or Three Nuns and a dash of Navy Flake or something?

I’d be interested to see if there are any suggestions that I should have a crack at?

 

[OzPiper]

Only putting left over odd&sods together until there is enough to fill a bowl

A bit like my wife "recycling" leftovers from the fridge. Occasionally (VERY) a winner. Generally edible, but ?

I've bought blending tobacco but so far my efforts have been somewhat underwhelming ?

Coming up with DIY blends sounds easy, but there is a good reason why I'd pay someone to do it for me ?

 

[sablebrush52]

Good luck making this one. 75% McClellands Yenidge Supreme with 25% HH Vintage Syrian. Hell of a lot better than that fake Balkan Sobranie that's in production.

 

[camaguey]

Do you mean home blend from scratch?. That is not so easy. However , there are some blends that you may feel that they lack something. If you have a basic knowledge of tobacco then you may be able to "fix" it to your taste. Just keep in mind that different companies have different casings and sometimes they do not mix.

 

[lukasstrifeson]

I made up a batch of “Ogden’s Mixture” a few years back - equal amounts of Gold Block and St Bruno and I’ve just revisited it this evening; it really has married together nicely which took me a little by surprise because Gold Block on it’s own is like smoking razor blades in my opinion.

I was just wondering if anyone has a home made blend that they make up that they might like to share with us? Maybe Haunted Bookshop and SWR aromatic or Three Nuns and a dash of Navy Flake or something?

I’d be interested to see if there are any suggestions that I should have a crack at?

Love mixing a latakia heavy English with a variety of aromatics; my current favorite is Nightcap with a sprinkle of GH&Co's American Sweet Peach. The tricky part is timing the drying times correctly, gotta remember to start the aromatics a good while before you mix in the Nightcap.

Longer term projects: during the initial lockdown I followed the Ernie Q casing method and case some 2017 Dunbar with this sugary sake and then pressed into a noodle press puck. Very interesting results both visually and on the taste. I would wholeheartedly recommend playing around with it yourself to your taste.

 

[mso489]

Professional blenders can spend months or years developing and tuning a blend they want to be a permanent legacy, adjusting proportions and experimenting with condiments and flavorings and sourcing leaf.

Acknowledging that, it is amazing how good you can make a mix off the cuff at home. The surest bet, to me, is a burley/Virginia mix. From there you can throw in a pinch or two of black Cavendish for smoke volume, and a dash of this or that condiments.

I mostly don't bother adding Latakia or Perique, since plenty of excellent blends have those (and quite a few mediocre blends as well). A dash of Turkish, dark-fired, cigar leaf, or other condiment can also add dimension.

But just off the shelf, simpler is probably going to be more successful. You can tweak the proportions to get different flavor profiles.

I seldom make any quantity, just a bowl or four. I trust the pros for go-to blends. But I enjoy doing mixes -- no pressing, no stoving, no aging in particular. I'm amazed that this can be as good as it often is. It most often surprises me in a good way.

 

[makhorkasmoker]

My daily smoke is 80% c&d dark burley with 20% of their white.
sometimes, for a change of pace, I’ll add a pinch of this mixture to ramback

 

[sablebrush52]

I do make up a few blends from scratch for fun, but again, some of the components I have at my disposal are no longer available.

 

[The Amish Tyrant]

What sort of blends are you looking for it trying to replicate?

Adding 1-Q or perique to blends is fairly common. Personally, I add Five Brothers to aromatics if in the mood for something stronger.

Then there are common copy cat recipes, like Hobbits Weed: 50% Lane BCA, 25% Sutliff Very Cherry, 25% Sutliff 1-M or Lane 1-Q.

 

[Franco Pipenbeans]

Love mixing a latakia heavy English with a variety of aromatics; my current favorite is Nightcap with a sprinkle of GH&Co's American Sweet Peach. The tricky part is timing the drying times correctly, gotta remember to start the aromatics a good while before you mix in the Nightcap.

Longer term projects: during the initial lockdown I followed the Ernie Q casing method and case some 2017 Dunbar with this sugary sake and then pressed into a noodle press puck. Very interesting results both visually and on the taste. I would wholeheartedly recommend playing around with it yourself to your taste.

That’s what I’m talking about - never in a month of Sundays would I have put Nightcap with Peach…but now you’ve said it, I think I’ll have a go!

 

[Franco Pipenbeans]

Only putting left over odd&sods together until there is enough to fill a bowl

A bit like my wife "recycling" leftovers from the fridge. Occasionally (VERY) a winner. Generally edible, but ?

I've bought blending tobacco but so far my efforts have been somewhat underwhelming ?

Coming up with DIY blends sounds easy, but there is a good reason why I'd pay someone to do it for me ?

I’ve got a small jar that I collect the last wisps of pouches, tins and the crumbs from cutting plugs; when the jar is full, I’ll have a bowl of it. My prediction is that it will go one of two ways - 1) it will be almost unsmokeable because there will be too much going on in the bowl, like a pizza with too many toppings and no topping is discernible or 2) it will taste like pure heaven with a 0% of it being replicated! ?

 

[Franco Pipenbeans]

Do you mean home blend from scratch?. That is not so easy. However , there are some blends that you may feel that they lack something. If you have a basic knowledge of tobacco then you may be able to "fix" it to your taste. Just keep in mind that different companies have different casings and sometimes they do not mix.

No, I mean “do you like to smoke a straight Virginia like ‘Hal o the Wynd’ and mix some ‘Presbyterian mix’ and a dash of black cherry” kind of blending.

Not buying pure perique, Latakia and Burley and trying to make a match to ‘Longhorn Plug’ that was discontinued in 1920…though feel free to add those recommendations too, if you have any?

 

[Franco Pipenbeans]

Professional blenders can spend months or years developing and tuning a blend they want to be a permanent legacy, adjusting proportions and experimenting with condiments and flavorings and sourcing leaf.

Acknowledging that, it is amazing how good you can make a mix off the cuff at home. The surest bet, to me, is a burley/Virginia mix. From there you can throw in a pinch or two of black Cavendish for smoke volume, and a dash of this or that condiments.

I mostly don't bother adding Latakia or Perique, since plenty of excellent blends have those (and quite a few mediocre blends as well). A dash of Turkish, dark-fired, cigar leaf, or other condiment can also add dimension.

But just off the shelf, simpler is probably going to be more successful. You can tweak the proportions to get different flavor profiles.

I seldom make any quantity, just a bowl or four. I trust the pros for go-to blends. But I enjoy doing mixes -- no pressing, no stoving, no aging in particular. I'm amazed that this can be as good as it often is. It most often surprises me in a good way.

What are some of your ones that you think are worth giving a try @MSO?
Are they just ad-hoc “I’ve got a bit of this and that left over” kinds of mixes and you don’t make a mental note of the mix?
I have a jar from when we were deep in lockdown and I didn’t write on the jar what it was. I’ve got a vague recollection that there is some fruit element; I think it was Grousemoor plug, cut up and rubbed out, Elizabethan mixture and a splash of rose water but I couldn’t swear by it. It’s virtually unsmokeable anyway - it tastes like smoking some aftershave from the ‘70’s though it might have mellowed out a bit?

 

[Franco Pipenbeans]

My daily smoke is 80% c&d dark burley with 20% of their white.
sometimes, for a change of pace, I’ll add a pinch of this mixture to ramback

What does the white burley add to the dark burley or maybe it’s the other way round?

 

[Franco Pipenbeans]

What sort of blends are you looking for it trying to replicate?

Adding 1-Q or perique to blends is fairly common. Personally, I add Five Brothers to aromatics if in the mood for something stronger.

Then there are common copy cat recipes, like Hobbits Weed: 50% Lane BCA, 25% Sutliff Very Cherry, 25% Sutliff 1-M or Lane 1-Q.

Not trying to replicate just interested if anyone has a “homemade” blend they make on a fairly regular basis that would be worth having a shot at?
My grandad used to mix certain blends together on a piece of newspaper. I can see him now tossing the tobacco on the sheet and mixing it with his fingers before pouring it into a large leather tobacco pouch that looked like some medieval purse.
He did 1oz of Erinmore to 2oz of Condor if I remember rightly. He was quite happy to mix anything in though, if he didn’t like any blend on it’s own.
I was just wondering if others do similar?

In a similar vein; I’m more than happy to have the “mix so much of this, 1oz of that and a pinch of whatever and it tastes pretty much like Yesteryear Flake” recommendations as well.

I’m a Pipe-a-naut (lol), ready to go into deep space on the hunt for a bowl of something that I don’t even know what it is that I’m looking for; all I know for sure is that when I find that perfect smoke I’ll probably hop back into my pipe-ship and head out again into deep space looking for the next “best smoke ever”.

 

[Franco Pipenbeans]

I do make up a few blends from scratch for fun, but again, some of the components I have at my disposal are no longer available.

@sablebrush any examples you can share? With obtainable tobacco or not.

 

[Franco Pipenbeans]

What sort of blends are you looking for it trying to replicate?

Adding 1-Q or perique to blends is fairly common. Personally, I add Five Brothers to aromatics if in the mood for something stronger.

Then there are common copy cat recipes, like Hobbits Weed: 50% Lane BCA, 25% Sutliff Very Cherry, 25% Sutliff 1-M or Lane 1-Q.

Hmm, I have seen the Hobbit Weed on the YTPC and I was watching a video of a gentleman (sorry I can’t remember the channel’s name) where he went to buy 8oz’s of this and so many ounces of that from a store local to him (I think it was in an old rail car but I could be getting mixed up with Diners, Drive Ins and Dives to be honest). He threw it all into one big bag and shook it all together and off he went.
I’m going to have a look for Sutliffe’s and Lane now but I don’t think they are available in the U.K - I’ll have to spend some more time looking for anything that is close to those over here; oh no, not more time looking at tobacco? How will I cope?!?! ?

 

[simong]

Best advice I can give you is when you do find a mix that works for you is to PRESS IT! I press my own mixtures between two blocks of wood in a vice for about a week. Much better than waiting 6-12 months for the tobaccos to meld loosely in a jar.
Not many of my attempts at home blending have been successful but here's a few that I do keep repeating.
Sam Gawith's FVF / BBF.
St. Bruno / Uncle Toms (Germain's).
Rum Twist / Brown Flake Unscented (Gawith Hoggarth's).
Condor / Black Cherry.
Carey's #7 Dark Flake / Brown Flake Unscented / Perique & a pinch of Black & Brown (my own version of 3 Nuns).

 

[chopper]

One of my favourite home blends is mixing an English blend with an aromatic.
When I first found online tobacconists I'd bought a pound of both London Squire, which was dry and a bit astringent, and Mark Twain, an aro that was too sweet and moist.
When roughly one part MT was mixed with two parts LS it made a rather nice crossover.

 

[heathandleaf]

Blending is difficult. I shy away from my own creations because I don't want 4 oz of something that tastes worse than its components. That being said, I've tried a couple of recipes from others that have been worthwhile:

1. 50% Planta Bulk Anno MMVII + 50% Cyprian Latakia. This came from Fred Hanna (or an iteration of it). Personally, I find 30% Latakia to be enough, so as to avoid the tongue fatigue I get from Latakia
2. 50% Sutliff 507S + 50% Sutliff 515RC1. I found this recipe somewhere in this forum (I apologize for not tracking to whom the credit is owed). I believe it's intended as a mock McClelland 5100 blend. Does it taste the same? No, but the components are available, it has a nice tangy flavor, and burns very slowly.