Monthly Home Blending Winning Recipes from the '40's

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fMf Piper

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I absolutely love the whole vibe and content of those old Pipe Lovers mags too!

Can you believe that in 2023 - 77 years after the fact - we are discussing someone's - M.B. White, of Des Moines, Iowa; in this case - home blend which they submitted for a contest in a long out-of-print pipe magazine, from a time when a postage stamp was only 3 Cents - Amazing! - Sherm Natman
I couldn't agree more. I took some time this afternoon to read a couple of editions from volume 1 - amazing.

Much like a pipe itself, I just wanted to slow down and enjoy the experience. Thanks again for sharing.
 

shermnatman

Lifer
Jan 25, 2019
1,030
4,869
Philadelphia Suburbs, Pennsylvania
In that same issue I found this picture... But, other than that, I can't really find any info beyond what is listed on the tins:

Exactly! And, that's a creates a big mystery.

What's worse is, even the VERY cool book which came with the Middleton Home Blending Kit - See in picture - while otherwise very informative, instructional, and cock-full of recipes, tells no more about the key ingredient and Base Burley Blend - Selbur - than what's printed on the tin description - as you so rightly point out.

I learned a heck of a lot more about Orientals/Turkish from Middleton's book than anything else; and the book is pretty darn good otherwise.

Oh well, unless and until I receive a reply email from a knowledgeable MIddleton Product Engineer, who might at least reveal tom me which Burleys and in what cuts - I have no doubt they would never tell the blend ratio or if they added flavoring, and what that might be - we just have go with our best guess in trying to recreate these winning recipes which call for "Selbur".

Middleton_Blending_Kit_and_Book.jpg

Such is life... - Sherm Natman
 

Papamique

Part of the Furniture Now
Mar 11, 2020
792
3,967
I will email and TRY to get a reply from Middleton and get the low-down on Selbur, BUT, since the rumors of the sale - when PA and CH went into limbo for a time - a couple of years back, communicating with them has not been the same.

Anyway, that sounds great, can't wait to read and comparing your experience experimenting with "JAN 1946" with my own.

So that everyone knows... and to save everyone the trouble of having to look it up:

G.L. Pease's Union Square is by description is an unadulterated straight Virginia Blend - Brights and Reds - with nothing added in terms of extra sugar or toppings. Additionally, it is also pressed into cake and cut into FLAKE, so as everyone knows is a very different cut-variation compared to Ribbon - which will of course, will alter the burn-rate, temperature, and smoking experience versus that of using all Ribbon cut tobaccos - as I will be doing with my version.

I think if you like the performance properties of Flake, this sounds like it should be a great choice for a goto generic base or semi-base "Virginia" for experimenting with just by the description of what is and what IS NOT in there for these old school recipes which list wholly non-specific color/cut "Virginia" as called for.

The tobacco you selected as your default "Virginia" ingredient for this month's recreation, is an @JimInks 4-Star Rated Tobacco - Nice!

Will you also be using 4-Star components for the called for Burleys; such as, C&D?

If so, I really like that you are working more at the upper-end of the Gourmet food-chain; whereas, for reasons of costs and availability, I am purposefully keeping my experimental blending ingredients more in the 3 Star realm.

👍I am really happy to have some company on this journey. - Sherm Natman

I have both C&D burley (white and dark) and also macbarron burley flake I could use which may be a close “second” to selbur…..mayb? A more detailed description of selbur would be helpful.

As for the Union square flakes they can be rubbed out into a full ribbon or ready rubbed i guess also.

With the limited information on all of this, I doubt I will get anything close to the posted recipe and original results (especially excluding the Latakia) but I will have fun trying it.

I hope in the next day or two I will be able to find time to put it together.
 

shermnatman

Lifer
Jan 25, 2019
1,030
4,869
Philadelphia Suburbs, Pennsylvania
I have both C&D burley (white and dark) and also macbarron burley flake I could use which may be a close “second” to selbur…..mayb? A more detailed description of selbur would be helpful.

As for the Union square flakes they can be rubbed out into a full ribbon or ready rubbed i guess also.

With the limited information on all of this, I doubt I will get anything close to the posted recipe and original results (especially excluding the Latakia) but I will have fun trying it.

I hope in the next day or two I will be able to find time to put it together.

Agreed. We may never know.

However, I feel that whatever you go with as your "go to" "Basic Generic Burley Blend" and "Basic Generic Virginia Blend", choose one you really like for these recreation experiments and stick with that as a 'constant'; at least that cuts down one more variable under your control for these situations where the non-specific ingredient are called for in the future.

Also, if you keep you basics a hard constant, and say you want to bring something in the basic blend 'more forward', obviously we just add more the 'straight' ingredient to the existing recipe.

* I almost felt silly typing that last sentence to someone like you @Papamique ; but, I really put it in there for the benefit of someone who is truly a raw beginner who might be interested in trying.

As you know know, that is precisely what's happening with JAN1946... He already has 'x' amount of White Burley in there as an existing component of the SelBur Burley Blend; and, he is adding additional amounts of White Burley to that in order to create the whole; and thereby, altering the overall taste and experience of the finished mixture.

* Again, explained for the benefits of others, I wish some kind soul had explained things like this in easy to understand language when I first got interested to Home Blend.

So, whatever you decide to use a basics and non-specific tobacco-types, I would say stick with those; and, as long as you keep notes on how you create your own version of 'Selbur' or 'Virginia', anyone else can reproduce your finished mixtures and try them too... And, with a LOT less effort and guesswork than working with these Pipe Lovers Mag Winning Blends as they are sometimes presented! 👍

We are in luck in other cases, as some people who won with their Home Blends gave very specific ingredient instructions, which hopefully we can play this game long enough through the months ahead to get to those.

I am going to be very interested to learn what you decide on as an existing ready-to-go base blend like C&D's Burley Blending Base or Pease's Union Square for your Basic Virginia - or, like me, build your own from the ground-up, to suit what you already know you like!

I'll be posting the recipe for both my "Basic Generic Burley Blend', and 'Basic Generic Virginia' once I feel confident I can live with those choices over time.

With these I am aiming VERY pedestrian and down the middle.

Note: Consider the verbiage used on the SelBur tin, it says: "Delivers a Mild smoke"; so already I am considering dropping any Dark Burley Ribbon, and considering Medium Burley Ribbon as my Burley 'Bass Note' fora 'SelBur' Burley Blend- or at the Sherm version.

Should be fun! - Sherm Natman
 
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Ahi Ka

Lurker
Feb 25, 2020
6,716
32,127
Aotearoa (New Zealand)
I would assume - dangerous I know - that part of the old recipe was cavendished burley. Whether this was the selbur or the white burley component I couldn’t say. For example they could have used edgeworth or something.

If you are wanting mild burley, consider using some Maryland like telescopes. Also consider natural (I.e unsweetened) stoving/cavendishing some of your blending burley. Of course you could do this with your Virginias too.

As for the Latakia. Consider using even 1% and compare this to a version without. Or…something I have been wanting to do for a while, and hopefully will do shortly, cavendish some Virginia but with a bit of Latakia in the jar too imbue the cavendish with a bit of its flavour.

Enjoy.
 

shermnatman

Lifer
Jan 25, 2019
1,030
4,869
Philadelphia Suburbs, Pennsylvania
I would assume - dangerous I know - that part of the old recipe was cavendished burley. Whether this was the selbur or the white burley component I couldn’t say. For example they could have used edgeworth or something.

If you are wanting mild burley, consider using some Maryland like telescopes. Also consider natural (I.e unsweetened) stoving/cavendishing some of your blending burley. Of course you could do this with your Virginias too.

As for the Latakia. Consider using even 1% and compare this to a version without. Or…something I have been wanting to do for a while, and hopefully will do shortly, cavendish some Virginia but with a bit of Latakia in the jar too imbue the cavendish with a bit of its flavour.

Enjoy.

Interesting thoughts, Brother @Ahi Ka !

And VERY interesting to ponder:

On Cavendished Burley... Very hard to say, and there is no way for us to know at this point.

I've asked older tabak people about this for years - not that it means much - and sadly, I've never spoken with anyone who's smoked SelBur - that they know of - of have seen it, in order to relate what it looked like in the tin.

So again, we are left with our assumptions, as you've said - Yes, potentially dangerous LOL! - which is the best we can do.

Considering what you are speculating, imho, I would say that IF I were to design a so-called 'Selceted Burley Blend' product to used as a Base Tobacco for general mixing purpose, AND IF I was already using a higher than 50% amount of White Burley in most of my OTC products, and I wanted to appeal to those people who have already accepted my commercial offerings, I might PRESUME to use that same OTC Burley base out of the factory, so not to have to 'Re-Win' those tongues and palates over a second time to my specifically branded tobaccos.

Additionally, IF I would be essentially offering a 'Stripped Down Version' of my heavily cased and topped OTCs which are further blended with other taste enhancing tobaccos, AND IF, I felt the product need to be less raw and 'more creamy', 'burn cooler', 'even-out the limited flavor variances', AND IF I didn't want to add even more White Burley to tackle that job, THEN YES,...

I would DEFINITELY consider a flavorless nearly unsweetened Burley Cavendish to handle those tasks and not affect the balance of the profile of SELected BURley Blend as a Ready-to-Go Base;

OR, If my OTC customers who usually identify my brand more with 'sweeter topped and heavily cased mixtures', AND I wanted to also appeal to that association; THEN, I might go with a 'Sweet but Unflavored' Cavendished Burley.

Again, as you quite rightly said, we are left purely with assumptions.

As it see it, we only have 2 Solid Clues:

1. SelBur was mostly Burley - But that doesn't automatically mean that's all that's in there. After all, it is a 'Blend'. And, the easy thing to do is 'assume' it's all Burley, and nothing but Burleys... however, there is a difference between "Selected Beef Hot Dogs" and "100% All Beef Hot Dogs".

Wouldn't be funny if we found out that SelBur actually contained x-amount of high-sugar Virginia to add sweetness, as a 'Flavoring Tobacco' - and, by-passing Semi-Base status altogether - rather than using an even higher-sugar concentration casing, as part of it's "Mostly" Burley Blend.

Truth could end up Stranger than Fiction.

2. SelBur's tin description - and it IS sales-copy to be sure, as opposed to anything formulaic - promises SelBur to be an EXTREMELY MILD Burley Blend.

So, if I go by the Tin, I am left to dangerously presume:

To me that says:

a) No Dark Fired Kentucky Burley;

and,

b) No Dark Burley;

and,

c) Perhaps, even a very small contribution of Medium Burley; as the 'strongest' Burley in the Blend?

Who can say?

Not me.

I am going to try to shoot for a SWR, PA, Granger, level of "Extremely Mild" - as I perceive them

YMMV.

However, this is why I say, I think everyone should simply choose what THEY THINK is best FOR THEM, and how they imagine the SelBur blend Could or Should Be; Interpret the Tin Description as you will - My assumptions are mine alone - and create their own version of a so-called 'Select Burley Base' to use in this, JAN 1946 Blend, and in those that follow which call for SelBur in the recipe.

And, please share your version of your own go to Selected Burley Base Blend, which you used.

On Maryland TS-9:

To make up part of someone's "Generic Burley Blend - that may or may not be 100% The Typical Burleys - Yes, absolutely! Why not. I was just introduced to this fascinating varietal last week, and it's properties and characteristics literally fascinate me. So, from what little I imagine I understand about it - an excellent burning Neutral Tasting tobacco - I cannot wait to start fooling around with this one!


ADDED NOTES: In re-re-re-reviewing the MIddleton Blending Book to absolutely double-check there was no additional helpful clues or descriptions of SelBur - there are none - I did discover 2 new clues as they related to both "Virginia" and "Havana":

From page 4: "...two of the unblended tobaccos found in the Blending-Kit my be classified as Semi-Base, the Virginia Bright Granulated, and, the Havana.

Tells us PERFECTLY what the "Virginia" is when called for - Type, Color, Cut - and, absolutely nothing about the other :LOL:

Again, such is life!

I think we can safely assume Middleton's Blending Kit was designed for "Burley" smokers.

@Ahi Ka fabulous post, Brother! Tons of food for thought! AND, because you asked, we serendipitously turned out the defining clue on "Virginia" Thank-you! - Sherm Natman
 
Last edited:

Ahi Ka

Lurker
Feb 25, 2020
6,716
32,127
Aotearoa (New Zealand)
My main “reasoning” behind suggesting that some of the burley is processed like cavendish is that the blend is described as a light aromatic.

I love burley in all its forms, even as stogies straight off the plant in harvest season. But a blend which is essentially half burley, quarter Virginia and quarter perique is on par with something like old jo krantz.

✌🏼

Edit: just for kicks. Weigh some burley and put it in a jar with equal (or half its) weight in water. Seal it up and put in a slow cooker/crock pot (filled with water, not dry) and put on low for 12 hours.

Dry it down and compare the with the original unprocessed component, and also compare it mixed 50:50 with the original unprocessed component.
 

shermnatman

Lifer
Jan 25, 2019
1,030
4,869
Philadelphia Suburbs, Pennsylvania
My main “reasoning” behind suggesting that some of the burley is processed like cavendish is that the blend is described as a light aromatic.

It could very well be; however, I do not see SelBur described on my tin or in the Middleton Blending book as a light aromatic.

My tin and book are from 1935.

Where can I find that description?

Here's the thing your reasoning makes me consider:

If I were a large multi-national OTC company, and wanted to create a Burley Base Bulk Blend for a Home Blending Kit to sell to our customers in local retail stores - using all in-house ingredients - and this blend of 'Selected Burleys'' was to be largest component by volume in kit, wouldn't that be where I might try to save the most money AND maximize my profits on producing these Tobacco Kits; and, look forward to the largest amount of refill sales by weight?

If so, would it not make good business-sense in creating a basic bulk Burley blend, to use only as much individual higher-grade components as required to achieve the desired flavor profile, and then, 'pad' that blend out, purely for the purpose of increasing the overall volume of the contents - which should not impact the overall flavor profile - with something like a non-flavored Cavendish made from a much lower grade leaf to act as the filler component?

After all, if that component was only 'going along for the ride' and contributing 'ballast', while helping to control the burn-rate without using more of the expensive higher-grade White Burley as a cost of goods sold, that would make good business sense to do so.

If so, then I could see a very plausible justification for why this might be something an OTC mfg. might do.

Perhaps they did.

However, again we must face that fact that we can speculate; but, we simply do not know at this point in time.

For all we know, the hats at Middleton could have just said: "The next batch of Carter Hall which goes down the line gets NO Spray, NO Toppings, No Nothing... Just move the basic blend down the line and mark it as: "SelBur."

Actually, that sounds like the business thinking of a lot of guys I knew 25 years ago :LOL:

I could also see where some gourmet mfg - not a huge OTC mfg - would be of the complete opposite philosophy, and only use the highest-grade leaf available, and nothing other than 'the best and no filler, just pure gold in every ounce' .

Since we cannot possibly know what was in the minds of the folks at Middleton at the time they designed SelBur.... Who can or cannot say?

Again, I just have to design something to stand-in for SelBur which fits the description and bill as I imagine it, and as Basic as possible, while thinking Extremely Mild Burley Basic Blend, no fills, can take on lots of semi-base and flavor (condiment) tobacco contributions - and... pleases me ;) - and, is not too far off the mark in any one direction.

Essentially we are trying to Reverse Engineer something which we really do not know what it is, only a very vague piece of advertising copy to go by

It's a puzzler, for sure. - Sherm Natman
 
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shermnatman

Lifer
Jan 25, 2019
1,030
4,869
Philadelphia Suburbs, Pennsylvania
Edit: just for kicks. Weigh some burley and put it in a jar with equal (or half its) weight in water. Seal it up and put in a slow cooker/crock pot (filled with water, not dry) and put on low for 12 hours.

Dry it down and compare the with the original unprocessed component, and also compare it mixed 50:50 with the original unprocessed component.

Sounds interesting but Wifey long, long ago banished me from her Kitchen - her little Fiefdom - nor near any of her Kitchen equipment since "The Incident"...:rolleyes:. Which actually works out in my favor, big time ;)

So what results might I expect to see from your described experiment? - Sherm Natman
 
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Grangerous

Lifer
Dec 8, 2020
3,454
14,286
East Coast USA
Sounds interesting but Wifey long, long ago banished me from her Kitchen - her little Fiefdom - nor near any of her Kitchen equipment since "The Incident"...:rolleyes:. Which actually works out in my favor, big time ;)

So what results might I expect to see from your described experiment? - Sherm Natman


You’re a lucky man. At my house, I hide money in the stove.
 

shermnatman

Lifer
Jan 25, 2019
1,030
4,869
Philadelphia Suburbs, Pennsylvania
You’re a lucky man. At my house, I hide money in the stove.
Ah... you've got to play the angles, so even when things blow-up in chaos and disaster... as was the case in "The Incident".... somehow... magically... you get "sent to your recliner to smoke your pipe and stay out of the way", so the more "competent" people take on the tasks-at-hand... again, it's all in how your play the angles.

I am on Double-Secret Expulsion with No Chance of Review or Appeal... Works for me! 👍 - Sherm Natman
 

telescopes

Pipe Dreamer and Star Gazer
Do you think Selbur could be Prince Albert? Not really, but a main stay selling tobacco in use at the time that fit the bill. What was Middleton's big selling Burley tobacco at that time. They want to sell more it. Sel Bur makes sense to me. Having the public come up with experimental recipes that improve upon the base tobacco makes sense to me. Why not just alter something you already have in stock.


Never mind, you already nailed it. Just saw your previous post above.
 

telescopes

Pipe Dreamer and Star Gazer
@shermnatman

Now you have me thinking about this blend. Using Sutliff blending tobaccos as noted below, do you think the burley tobaccos and the Virginia slices could recreate the blend in a fairly faithful manner?







 

Singularis

Part of the Furniture Now
Sep 11, 2019
618
3,039
Wausau, Wis
I have all of those from either C&D or Sutliff, including C&D's excellent White Burley ... except for the "Selbur". I wonder if I could substitute a MacBaren burley like Symphony? Going to try this very soon.

Thanks for putting this post and thread together! So fun to go back to the "glory days" of pipe smoking.
 

telescopes

Pipe Dreamer and Star Gazer
I can whip up a 7 1/2 oz blend for this recipe for around $40 shipped. Since I can't purchase Latakia by the 1/2 oz I would need to cut the latakia in half.

Everything else could go into a bowl, mix, jar, and set.

What do you think. Would this make this a VaBur blend? I think so. Or, are you wanting to refer to this as an English/American blend?

By the way, I think keeping with one maker might in some ways mimic what Middleton was doing as well. I don't know, but it is a thought.
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