Mixing Store Bought Blends

[Cotton1]

I do this way more than smoking any blends straight. Was wondering if any others do or if I am a oddball.

I will have to actually learn about blending tobacco of my "grow your own" experiment works out next year.

I'm currently enjoying a equal parts mix of Ol Toby,BCA, and Gentleman Caller in my St.Pats cobb. It's pleasant to me!

Cotton1

 

[brut666]

Yeah I do that. I have a large jar that I put what I have left over if it doesn't fill a bowl or the last 10 grams or so of a tobacco I'm not bothered about. Shake the jar up every now and then. It's what I smoke when I'm doing bits like washing the car, cleaning the garage ect. I actually quite like it. ??

 

[Capt Morgan]

I started mixing Lane LL-7 and HGL recently. That's the only ones I have tried mixing so far.

 

[jvnshr]

I have a large jar that I put what I have left over if it doesn't fill a bowl or the last 10 grams or so of a tobacco I'm not bothered about. Shake the jar up every now and then.

I have a similar jar since 2015 and I am still convincing myself that one day I will smoke it.

 

[Cotton1]

Yeah I do that. I have a large jar that I put what I have left over if it doesn't fill a bowl or the last 10 grams or so of a tobacco I'm not bothered about. Shake the jar up every now and then. It's what I smoke when I'm doing bits like washing the car, cleaning the garage ect. I actually quite like it. ??

I have a jar that contains all my odds and ends over the last few years. Zero idea what that will be like when I try a bowl.

If I mix blends I do so on a note card that I have bent into a v shape. If I don't think I will smoke the leftovers I dump them in said jar. Gonna be interesting in a few years when it gets full.

 

[greeneyes]

I had some leftover HU Zulu that had dried out in my tobacco bowl. I mixed it with some Esoterica Dorchester. It was phenomenal, but then again why wouldn't it be? The constituent tobaccos are top-quality.

 

[canucklehead]

I have a similar jar since 2015 and I am still convincing myself that one day I will smoke it.

I had a jar like that labeled "scraps" that got full one day so I mixed it with about 25% Latakia and pressed it. The resulting scrap English plug was surprisingly decent, so I repeated the process with the next scrap jar, labeled "jots & tittles" that had a noticable amount of deertongue blends and hint of a hazelnut aro, and it was fantastic, even better. My uncle usually dislikes the room note of my Latakia blends, but he loved that one and got me to try to recreate a bag of it for him which was a fun blending experiment.

 

[Cotton1]

I had a jar like that labeled "scraps" that got full one day so I mixed it with about 25% Latakia and pressed it. The resulting scrap English plug was surprisingly decent, so I repeated the process with the next scrap jar, labeled "jots & tittles" that had a noticable amount of deertongue blends and hint of a hazelnut aro, and it was fantastic, even better. My uncle usually dislikes the room note of my Latakia blends, but he loved that one and got me to try to recreate a bag of it for him which was a fun blending experiment.

I'm sold with "jots and tittles"!

 

[mikestanley]

I believe many of the Tinder Box blends are formulated this very way.

Mike S.

 

[Cotton1]

I'm enjoying Maltese Falcon, Gentleman Caller, and Opening Night in equal parts. I'm enjoying it much.

Sorta had a urge for the Falcon and mixed the other two 50/50 earlier in the week. The little bit of Lat is welcome to me and I think the GC calmed it down a bit...zero bite.

Cheers,

Cotton1

 

[Admiral Byrd]

Yeah I do that. I have a large jar that I put what I have left over if it doesn't fill a bowl or the last 10 grams or so of a tobacco I'm not bothered about. Shake the jar up every now and then. It's what I smoke when I'm doing bits like washing the car, cleaning the garage ect. I actually quite like it. ??

I also have a jar where I drop in small amounts of different tobacco from time to time - it’s labeled “Frankenstein’s Blend”. I haven’t had the nerve to try it yet ?

 

[bullet08]

If I have a bit left over, I just mix with a similar blend and just smoke it. Don't like the idea of a mystery blend.

 

[Cotton1]

I also have a jar where I drop in small amounts of different tobacco from time to time - it’s labeled “Frankenstein’s Blend”. I haven’t had the nerve to try it yet ?

Same.. might be interesting one day. My worry is the Captain Black Cherry that I started off with... chemical to me now. There is a decent amount of that in my "Frankenstein" jar.

 

[Capt Morgan]

I pack my bowls over a coffee filter and when I am done I poor what dropped back into the jar it came from. If it's not enough I will either save it for the refill, roll it, or mix it with similar.

 

[Cotton1]

I pack my bowls over a coffee filter and when I am done I poor what dropped back into the jar it came from. If it's not enough I will either save it for the refill, roll it, or mix it with similar.

Good idea! I have been using a note card bent into a v shape to make a traugh of sorts.

 

[daveinlax]

I believe many of the Tinder Box blends are formulated this very way.

Mike S.

Yeah! Most shops “hand blended” selections are what we call “after blend” mixtures of common bulk tobaccos. ?

 

[anotherbob]

I have only done this with blends I don't really dig that much. Often it's enough to make them a little more interesting. Often aromatics that don't have many dimensions. It is funny how a little more flavor can add so much to something.

 

[chopper]

Buying pound bags of untried blends can be a bit tricky.
My first foray into home blending was 'fixing' blends to suit my tastes.

Sutliff Red Virginia 515 RC-1 was a bit too tangy but it's a brilliant mixer.
Mark Twain is way too sweet and moist for my tastes but when mixed 50/50 with Windsail Virginia it's a rather nice smoke.

PS Superior Navy Flake was a favourite but for whatever reason I wasn't really enjoying it until I mixed in 10% of either Sutliff Virginia Slices or MB Virginia No.1.

Those are just a few blends that I tweak with a little of this or that.
It's cool how just a little addition of this or that can really change a blend to suit ones individuals tastes.

One of my favourites is mixing a Latakia blend like London Squire [that has quite an astringent aftertaste] with an aromatic like 1Q or Mark Twain, which makes a lovely change of pace.

And yes, I've got a bitsa jar. It's what I call my emergency rations. If I ever get to smoking that it means I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel.
By that stage tobacco will probably be $1,000 an ounce here in Nanny State Australia and I'll be ready to meet my maker by then.

 

[labrax]

I started doing this to stretch my budget a few years ago - I bought a pound of Old Joe Kranz and a pound of Low Country Natural Virginia and Burley - as OJK was a little too strong at the time and it worked out very well.

I was low in my cellar, so I went out last month and bought a bunch of blends to try in 4oz and 8oz bulk, but also bought a pound of LC VA&Burley as well as perique and Turkish Izmir to go along with some latakia I had left over. I have been loving a few of the blends that I made up. My favorite may be 12% C&D Izmir, 12% Sutliff Ribbon Perique and 76% LC VA/Bur. It is like a slightly modified OJK, but fruity and spicy. Another good one is 10% Izmir, 10% Latakia and 15% Perique and 65% LC VA/Bur. I also blened half Engine 99 with LC VA/Bur - it toned down the latakia and it is pretty good. Another one was D&R Picayune 50/50 with LC VA/BUR.

You can get a pound of the LC for $20 and paying Child support, rent, college tuition, car payment and a mortgage as well as other the other bills - I want to stretch out my tobacco budget as much as I can, while still enjoying what I am smoking.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Stokebye's LTF and LNF mixed 50/50 is a favorite smoke of mine. It tames down the coconut in LTF and gives interest to the LNF. Together they remind of the aromas in stores that sell Western wear with lots of fresh leather boots on the shelves.