Mixing Tobaccos

[Relax62]

Question… I’m a little over a year into smoking a pipe and it’s been interesting to say the least. By that I mean that I’ve read so much, tried different techniques, and purchased several pipes and a lot of different tobacco’s! Overall… a very good journey, in large part thanks to all of you that have given so much good advice and insight!

I’ve recently started playing around with mixing tobacco’s that I really like and wanted to get some ideas from others that have done the same. So I’ll start with my favorite so far…. I mixed about 75% St. Bruno (which I love by itself) with 25% Solani Silver flake (which I also love) and wow… this mixture really hits all the notes for me. I’m planning to play around with the percentages of each to see how it compares with my current mixture.

What have you tried that works for you?

 

[Scottmi]

Sounds like you are doing it just right!
I've not advanced yet to mixing up 3 or more tobaccos/blends, but have been very happy with some two tobacco mixes (which themselves may be blends of various leaf). One of my favorites is a ~60/40 mix of Bayou Morning/Hamborger Veermaster. Another is 50/50 Storm Front with Yorktown. Another is 2 parts Lancer's Slices to 1 part St James Park... I am typically impelled to try mixing these when I find a blend that nice but either too strong, or too weak, or I want a bit more of something, which may be more strength, or sweetness, etc along with a flavor profile (suggested by experience with what I have tried and is on hand)...

 

[dottlejockey]

I've always enjoyed this aspect of the pipe game as well. I currently have 6 home blends on tap. I started doing this many years ago, starting with blends that aren't exciting enough to smoke on their own, blending with like varieties and then adding blending tobaccos to bring the whole mix up to a level i will actually smoke. This includes methods like bringing up the nicotine with Rustica or body with something like Bold Kentucky or even making it a bit more interesting by adding perique or orientals, etc. I always start with small amounts at the table, testing in a clay. Once i find something that works, i scale it up and do the remainder of the blend by proportionate weight.

I did post about this a while ago, if you are interested in seeing that here:

Favorite Home Blend Recipes? :: Pipe Tobacco Discussion

I tend to make large jars of home blends when there are several tobaccos of a certain ilk that I just don't tend to reach for often enough and mix in other bulk blending components to add whatever might be missing from the batch, once blended. The goal is to take several uninteresting (to me)...

pipesmagazine.com

Happy blending!

 

[Strange Quark]

I had a similar idea with Mixing Mac Baren Old Dark Fired with St. Bruno. I wouldn't be surprised if they are comprised of the same base tobaccos and production method, just in different proportions. Old Dark Fired is St. Bruno's fat sister with no make-up on.

 

[Relax62]

I had a similar idea with Mixing Mac Baren Old Dark Fired with St. Bruno. I wouldn't be surprised if they are comprised of the same base tobaccos and production method, just in different proportions. Old Dark Fired is St. Bruno's fat sister with no make-up on.

I mixed about 25/75 Old Dark Fired/St. Bruno today and smoked two bowls tonight… it was really good! I do recommend it.

 

[telescopes]

Blending your own tobacco only makes sense - I am not referring to mixing canned blends, but more like what @dottlejockey mentioned above.

Sutliff, Lane, and C&D as well as others have plenty of blending leaf to pick from. You can choose from Sweet, Stoved, Red, and other various Virginias, mix with various white and dark Burley tobaccos, fill with Maryland or Delaware, top with various types of Green River Cavendish, or add fullness with Latakia, Perique, and various Turkish Orientals. Need a bit of flavor, each of the above companies have tobaccos that when added in small doses can serve as a condiment.

After blending, you can stove, steam, and press the tobacco to add types of complexity that would otherwise not be available.

Lastly, home blending teaches the blender more about standard tobacco blends by enhancing the home blenders knowledge of how various leaf interacts with other styles of tobacco.

 

[bullet08]

I don't like mixing things. But coming out with new blends with blending tobacco might be a nice thing to try. When I first smoking pipe, I did top off the bowl with left overs. Never really kept any records.

 

[kcghost]

I'm with @bullet08.

 

[telescopes]

Here is an example of what a home blending recipe might look like:

6 oz 507C,
3 oz 515RC,
3 oz White Burley,
1 oz Turkish,
2 oz Smyrna
3 oz black cherry,
1 oz Maryland

This blend creates a Virginia based tobacco backed by Orientals and white burley. the The black cherry is for room note as well as using the Cavendish to soften the edges.

Another example, one of my favorites

6 oz Lane RLP-6,
2 oz Lane BCA,
1 oz Smyrna,
1 oz Turkish,
1 oz Maryland,
4 oz Latakia,
2 oz Perique,
3 oz Sutliff Cherry Cavendish - B23

This one takes what is essentially Captain Black White and uses a bit of Cavendish in the BCA to help it transition to a strong English blend with a fair amount of Turkish added to add some mid level flavor notes in the tobacco.

This blend gets rave reviews from people who have sampled it. I press this one into plugs.

By creating and experimenting with your own blends, the smoker learns more about the constituent components of various blends available as well as how these different tobaccos can work together to create various tasting notes.

 

[khiddy]

I have quite a few mixes/blends that I've been experimenting with. My best creation so far is my homage to JM Barrie's fictional Arcadia Mixture (which was the historical Craven's Mixture):

Barrie’s Arcadia Mixture
8/28 (28.6%) Low Country Natural VA & Oriental
8/28 (28.6%) Sutliff TS-18 Blending Latakia
4/28 (14.3%) Sutliff 515RC-1 Matured Red Virginia
4/28 (14.3%) Peterson Sherlock Holmes
4/28 (14.3%) Sutliff 507-S Stoved Virginia
Blend tobaccos well.

This blend/mix smokes like a champion, smooth and lovely, with a bit of tang from the 515 and the topping on the Sherlock Holmes. I smoke the heck out of this.

Another blend of mine is a nice and deep, dark smoke:

The Famous Howie Kailin Blend
7/28 (25%) Sutliff Matured Red Virginia 515RC-1
7/28 (25%) Blending Latakia
3.5/28 (12.5%) Sutliff 502 Medium English (or Sutliff Count Pulaski)
3.5/28 (12.5%) Sutliff 504C Aromatic English (or Sutliff SPS17 Lavish English, for a touch less sweetness)
3.5/28 (12.5%) Per Georg Jensen Bold & Strong (rubbed into fine ribbons)
3.5/28 (12.5%) Sutliff 507-S Stoved Virginia
Blend tobaccos well, mist lightly with bourbon. Rest for several days before smoking.

This is delicious, really smoky and deep with the latakia and the PGJ Bold & Strong that brings DFK and Rustica to the table. I keep a quart jar of this in my cellar and top it off with a fresh batch when I get down to less than 4 ounces.

 

[robski]

A 50:50 mix of Petersons Irish Flake and 1792. Not for the faint hearted, but, my goodness, it was tasty.