EDIT: Fixed Capitalization in Title (See Rule 9) - Bob
OK, so I was basically out of the pipe smoking world for around 1 year.
And the one thing which made me stop paying attention to pipesmoking was... Kretek. If you're not familiar with the word, they are those Indonesian clove cigarettes. Not with clove flavor, but made with real cloves. Gudang Garam is the best of them IMO. And it's goddamn expensive.
Lately I realised I was spending too much on kretek cigarettes (which are literally the most expensive of all cigarettes here in Brazil [Gudang Garam] - R$25, equivalent to 5 USA dollars today - per pack).
What came up in my mind? Stop wasting money with that shit and make my own kretek-like tobacco to be smoked in my pipes.
It would save me a ton of money if I got it right, and would not damage my lungs as much.
The first attempt involved only ground clove (around 30-40% and the rest was just some random RYO virginia tobacco). Not that tasty.
But I am persistent so I kept trying, and I found a blog where a guy shared his recipe (can't find it anymore, sorry) of homemade kretek. The guy's recipe gave me lots of ideas and then I was back on the track. Since then, I've made more 3 or 4 batches, and I'm enjoying the latest ones more and more. 2 days ago I decided to finally quit the cigarettes, stick with my "kretek for pipe" recipes, an also share it with you guys, who helped me immensely in the past.
My last batch hasn't even fully dried, leave alone mature, but it's the most tasty so far. So I decided that the time to share was now!
What I used (for a ~65-70g yield):
(sorry for not having the exact numbers but I have a good sense of weight by hand/eye, and the resulting product filled a 50g empty Kendal Cream can with good leftovers, so, you get a sense of the proportion)
- ~25g clove (ground in normal good old common blender)
- ~20g Samuel Gawith's Dark Bird's Eye
- ~5g Kendal Cream Deluxe
- ~5g Peterson Irish Flake
- ~2.5g Random unnamed sweet Virginia (which a bought in a popular marketplace)
- 1 medium leaf of very dry Nicotiana Rustica (Mapacho) for an extra punch
- a pinch of ground nutmeg (~1/5 tsp)
- a pinch of ground cinnamon (~1/3 tsp)
- ~2 teaspoons of honey
- ~100ml of scotch (I used Logan Heritage Blend but you can use whatever one you feel like using, even maybe Rum)
- ~50ml of Macieira (a Portuguese distilled beverage made from wine, 36% alcohol)
How to make it:
1 - separate the tobacco you feel like using (I like those because they taste more neutral to me, despite the strenght of some).
2 - put the clove in the blender for around 20 seconds, just don't let it get too ground. Too much of a fine powder and it won't make the "crackling" sound of the good kreteks. And when taking off the blender, don't forget to scrape the oily grounded clove on the sides - the oil cointains a LOT of clove flavor.
3 - mix everything: the tobacco(s), the clove, the spices, the honey (if you like some extra sweetness) and the distilled beverage(s) with a spoon in a deep plate (like those we use for pasta, or a larger dish if you're making a bigger amount - I don't recommend making a huge amount at your first time if you don't know if you'll like to smoke it though, you could en up wasting tobacco and other ingredients).
4 - cover the plate with something for 24h, for the tobacco to absorb the flavors
5 - let it dry on open air until it pleases you
6 - store it to let it mature, or smoke right away. I'd recommending storing a part for the future (the flavor does improve within a couple of months) and smoking another part right away if you're curious.
Anyway, I don't know if you guys like kretek, or even the flavor of clove, but I do love both. These recipes (especially this one which came out pretty amazing for my taste) are my contributions to you guys after you guys after many of you helped immensely in 2018 when I was a complete pipe noob.
P.S.: another great thing about this recipe is that you can use the spices, beverages and tobaccos you like the most!
Hope some of you enjoy it!
OK, so I was basically out of the pipe smoking world for around 1 year.
And the one thing which made me stop paying attention to pipesmoking was... Kretek. If you're not familiar with the word, they are those Indonesian clove cigarettes. Not with clove flavor, but made with real cloves. Gudang Garam is the best of them IMO. And it's goddamn expensive.
Lately I realised I was spending too much on kretek cigarettes (which are literally the most expensive of all cigarettes here in Brazil [Gudang Garam] - R$25, equivalent to 5 USA dollars today - per pack).
What came up in my mind? Stop wasting money with that shit and make my own kretek-like tobacco to be smoked in my pipes.
It would save me a ton of money if I got it right, and would not damage my lungs as much.
The first attempt involved only ground clove (around 30-40% and the rest was just some random RYO virginia tobacco). Not that tasty.
But I am persistent so I kept trying, and I found a blog where a guy shared his recipe (can't find it anymore, sorry) of homemade kretek. The guy's recipe gave me lots of ideas and then I was back on the track. Since then, I've made more 3 or 4 batches, and I'm enjoying the latest ones more and more. 2 days ago I decided to finally quit the cigarettes, stick with my "kretek for pipe" recipes, an also share it with you guys, who helped me immensely in the past.
My last batch hasn't even fully dried, leave alone mature, but it's the most tasty so far. So I decided that the time to share was now!
What I used (for a ~65-70g yield):
(sorry for not having the exact numbers but I have a good sense of weight by hand/eye, and the resulting product filled a 50g empty Kendal Cream can with good leftovers, so, you get a sense of the proportion)
- ~25g clove (ground in normal good old common blender)
- ~20g Samuel Gawith's Dark Bird's Eye
- ~5g Kendal Cream Deluxe
- ~5g Peterson Irish Flake
- ~2.5g Random unnamed sweet Virginia (which a bought in a popular marketplace)
- 1 medium leaf of very dry Nicotiana Rustica (Mapacho) for an extra punch
- a pinch of ground nutmeg (~1/5 tsp)
- a pinch of ground cinnamon (~1/3 tsp)
- ~2 teaspoons of honey
- ~100ml of scotch (I used Logan Heritage Blend but you can use whatever one you feel like using, even maybe Rum)
- ~50ml of Macieira (a Portuguese distilled beverage made from wine, 36% alcohol)
How to make it:
1 - separate the tobacco you feel like using (I like those because they taste more neutral to me, despite the strenght of some).
2 - put the clove in the blender for around 20 seconds, just don't let it get too ground. Too much of a fine powder and it won't make the "crackling" sound of the good kreteks. And when taking off the blender, don't forget to scrape the oily grounded clove on the sides - the oil cointains a LOT of clove flavor.
3 - mix everything: the tobacco(s), the clove, the spices, the honey (if you like some extra sweetness) and the distilled beverage(s) with a spoon in a deep plate (like those we use for pasta, or a larger dish if you're making a bigger amount - I don't recommend making a huge amount at your first time if you don't know if you'll like to smoke it though, you could en up wasting tobacco and other ingredients).
4 - cover the plate with something for 24h, for the tobacco to absorb the flavors
5 - let it dry on open air until it pleases you
6 - store it to let it mature, or smoke right away. I'd recommending storing a part for the future (the flavor does improve within a couple of months) and smoking another part right away if you're curious.
Anyway, I don't know if you guys like kretek, or even the flavor of clove, but I do love both. These recipes (especially this one which came out pretty amazing for my taste) are my contributions to you guys after you guys after many of you helped immensely in 2018 when I was a complete pipe noob.
P.S.: another great thing about this recipe is that you can use the spices, beverages and tobaccos you like the most!
Hope some of you enjoy it!
Last edited by a moderator:
