Mold?

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Milleniumsmoker

Starting to Get Obsessed
Mar 9, 2020
177
304
Vietnam
Hello,
Just went to try my first Balkan Blend and I saw a lot of white coloration on the tobacco. I am guessing this is mold? There wasn't the usual hissing of air coming out of the tin but I did have to pry it open. mold.jpeg
 

rajangan

Part of the Furniture Now
Feb 14, 2018
974
2,810
Edmonton, AB
It might be sugars, or salts. It could be an organism of some kind, but if it doesn't smell like mold, it would be one that's totally safe, like lactic acid bacteria or a type of yeast. Looks totally fine from here. Let your nose be the guide.
 
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bullet08

Lifer
Nov 26, 2018
10,368
41,965
RTP, NC. USA
If it looks like, smells like and tastes like a moldy slice of pizza minus pizza it might be mold. That doesn't look like it. Oh, don't taste moldy pizza, they don't taste good.
 

Milleniumsmoker

Starting to Get Obsessed
Mar 9, 2020
177
304
Vietnam
Doesn't look like mold, just mineral deposits. Should be fine to smoke. If it looks like cotton candy and it stinks, that's another matter and the only intelligent recourse is to toss it.
Yes that characterizes it better, the crystalline description. I think I may have purchased an old tin that must have been aging.
 

Milleniumsmoker

Starting to Get Obsessed
Mar 9, 2020
177
304
Vietnam
Thank you very much! It's nice to come here and chat. I'm enjoying it here where I am but it's nice to feel connected to other pipe hobbyists online! I have no idea how long that tin I purchased has been sitting in the shop lol which is why I was concerned about the mold. It's a super tasty blend though and actually reminds me of a home-brewed local blend I got back from my first pipe store I ever visited.
 

mikecronis

Starting to Get Obsessed
Nov 5, 2021
148
323
Hello,
Just went to try my first Balkan Blend and I saw a lot of white coloration on the tobacco. I am guessing this is mold? There wasn't the usual hissing of air coming out of the tin but I did have to pry it open. View attachment 104537
This is normal sugars coming out of the leaf. Perfectly normal. Possibly dried-out a bit but fine.
Nicely "aged" and good. I have some tin flake that's about 20 years old doing this and it's mellow and tasty.
Chocolate will "bloom" like this too for those who fancy collecting MREs from bygone days which is perfectly edible and fine.

Tobacco mold will be blue or green.