Recording Tobacco Preparation......

[derekflint]

Well it seems as my tobacco rotation increases I am having trouble remembering what preparation I used. When I had 4 or 5 jars working I remembered the drying time, how much rubbing out was necessary, or if fold and stuff was the way to go. Now that I have more blends in rotation and pick one to smoke I can't remember what prep I used. So my question: Do you, or should I be keeping a record of what prep worked best for each blend ? Weather it be on a separate sheet of paper or on the jar itself ?

 

[mikethompson]

My rotation is so small its not an issue. But if you have so many on the go that you forget your methods, by all means write it down. No use wasting tobacco and time.

 

[sumusfumus]

Absolutely, record and note everything you do when preparing a mixture, or when you use a special treatment method, etc. How else can you remember everything? What if you come up with a favorite blend of your own making, and want to duplicate it? Think how awful you'd feel if you couldn't remember exactly what you did, and what tobaccos were used..... The extra time you take to write down detailed notes might save your from a lot of grief and bitter tears in your future years. It's worth the trouble, especially if you blend up something that's unique, and you want to mix it up again 5 years down the road.
Any mixtures that I concoct are written down in a note book. I'm a hobbyist, but I came up with a few nice mixtures that I regularly smoke. I'm glad I wrote all the ingredients down in my notebook. I note all the tobaccos, commercial names, their specific brands, types, cuts, exact volumes measures/weights/amounts, my storing methods, how long a blend is aged, etc. Ever try making a chocolate cake without a recipe?
Share some of your mixtures with your friends for their critiques. It's fun.
Frank

NYC

 

[briarbuda48]

This sounds tedious or aggravating but not nearly as frustrating as wanting to repeat an experience and not being able to remember the preparation of the tobacco or what pipe helped make that experience great. Also, picking up a pipe you have not enjoyed for some time and not remembering what tobacco smoked best. All that said, I keep two journals, one for tobacco and one for pipes that are cross referenced. Every time I am finished smoking I make entries in the two books. Over time this has been an excellent resource that keeps me from re-purchasing a tobacco I didn’t care for or smoking a tobacco in a pipe that match up well.

 

[thesmokindragon]

I also have larger blend rotations; what has helped me as a rule of thumb
C&D blends seem to be ready to go out of the gate or shortly after
SG blends, well more wait time the better on those dripping wet flake
As for packing - shags, ribbon, etc. seem to work best IMHO in any pipe with gravity fill method, a quick tamp and then top off - good to go
Flakes - depends on my mood but I like to explore between folding or perhaps cube cut, I tend to go cube cut most of the time, again gravity filling the cube cut as well.
I like to roll the dice on what the next smoke may have to offer me - so sometimes not repeating the same method might surprise you ::

 

[pianopuffer]

Good suggestions so far. I keep a log in my tobacco journal of how I prepare the smoke, not every time, but in a general sense with notes on how it behaved.
I recommend Evernote for this, simply for the ability to create your own spreadsheet with the info you want that syncs to your devices. I believe Google also lets one do this.

 

[derekflint]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm going to keep written track from now on...........

 

[brightleaf]

I like the idea of journals but personally don't use them.

What due you mean by cube cutting flakes thesmokingdragon? Is that slicing the flakes perpendicular to the grain?