Saving unpalatable blends

[Scottmi]

well.. unpalatable may be an overstatement, but I enjoy amending/combining some blends to improve (to my taste) some blends I have, and love it when it works. Most recent effort was to save an english, Peretti Crown, which was just too too dry for me (it is famous for being extra dry, apparently). Another sample I had gathered was C&D Mocha. Delightful jar note, but didn't really grab me when burning, which it did well, though on the very moist side. Serendipitous thought struck and 50/50 combination worked: English Mocha! For me, just what the crown needed. Will be easy to smoke that up together. Now wondering how that will compare to the Two Friends English Chocolate. Also thinking will try the Crown with Peretti's Ebony, another black cavendish with chocolate and other flavors (have a sample in a jar, not tried yet). Fun stuff for me.
I know a few others dabble along these lines. Have you had successes?

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

My greatest success has come from throwing unpalatable blends in the trash can.

 

[mso489]

Sometimes aging will transform a blend from not-good to much better or excellent. Sometimes in trying a blend you don't like, you will end up learning it, and it will taste much better when you try it after a few months, having learned it unwittingly.

And as mentioned in an earlier post, sometimes you can get some fine smokes by mixing a clunker blend with a different blend or a condimental tobacco or two. It is often worth a try.

 

[Chasing Embers]

If I don't like it, it's a one way ticket to the landfill. Fortunately, only two or three blends absolutely rubbed me the wrong way.

 

[kcghost]

I with @hoosierpipeguy.

 

[WhiteCrown]

Whenever I get an aromatic that is too sweet, or simply doesn't have enough tobacco flavor, I mix it with something burley. However this caused me to only buy burley aros now so I don't have this problem anymore! The trash works too, but I would have never known I actually like aromatics.

Edit: This is the whole thing that got me to start smoking those peasant codger blends too!

 

[Scottmi]

English Mocha has worked really well -- very much enjoy this crossover aro. Before making up another batch, this morning I mixed up Peretti Crown with Peretti Ebony and look forward to how that will play out. Working title is "Blackadder." I played with a few names, "Archie" being one, but my wife, who is British, said "Do Not."

 

[greysmoke]

I throw odds and ends into a "junk jar." That includes left over scraps, samples that come with the occasional purchase, and tobacco I just don't like but hope it may take on a new life if dumped in a jar with other stuff for a year or five.

To my recollection, you used to be able to buy a "Hoover's Blend" from C&D which contained their various leavings all mixed together as leftovers.

May be worth a try.

 

[Scottmi]

I throw odds and ends into a "junk jar." That includes left over scraps, samples that come with the occasional purchase, and tobacco I just don't like but hope it may take on a new life if dumped in a jar with other stuff for a year or five.

To my recollection, you used to be able to buy a "Hoover's Blend" from C&D which contained their various leavings all mixed together as leftovers.

May be worth a try.

I keep a 'tinbits' tin. Mind you, i'm not trying to keep or save 'trash.' these are quality tobaccos, just don't delight my particular taste on their own. For example, I'm not inclined to order more Crown on it's own, but mixed...wow I really like this!

Does your junk jar provide palatable bowls?

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Me getting rid of those shitty Esotericas...

 

[JimRoseLV]

The way I see it, if you have the space, throw it in a jar and forget about it. Then in a few years, give it another try and see if it's changed or you have. If not, then deep six it or give it to someone you hate.

 

[greysmoke]

I keep a 'tinbits' tin. Mind you, i'm not trying to keep or save 'trash.' these are quality tobaccos, just don't delight my particular taste on their own. Does your junk jar provide palatable bowls?

I think my last junk jar smoke was six years ago. That's one of the greater benefits of this practice: it gives me the satisfaction of not throwing anything away without having to experience the trauma of trying a bad blend again.

 

[AJL67]

Usually if i have something i just don't like it get's "paid forward", usually it ends up in bombs or sent to someone that i know likes it. Had a lot of squadron leader and EMP a dozen tins or so of each, every bomb i sent out over a year had a tin of each in it lol

 

[AppalachianPipe92]

Unpalatable? To the trash or added to the next package i ship out

 

[captpat]

unpalatable blends end up in the garden.

 

[mso489]

I think cured tobacco is supposed to be a good insecticide for some insects and some plants. I would think it makes pretty good fertilizer and mulch too. Better than the landfill.

 

[mosin1932]

I throw odds and ends into a "junk jar." That includes left over scraps, samples that come with the occasional purchase, and tobacco I just don't like but hope it may take on a new life if dumped in a jar with other stuff for a year or five.

To my recollection, you used to be able to buy a "Hoover's Blend" from C&D which contained their various leavings all mixed together as leftovers.

May be worth a try.

I have two "junk jars" one for the spillover of my favorites/rotation and I have enjoyed every bowl of it so far. The other one gets the samples and stuff I know I'll never like, it is probably over 2-3lbs at this point. I use it to practice pressing, stoving and misc. stuff like that because my lizard brain just won't let me throw it away lol.

 

[wyfbane]

Only one blend I have ever truly found repugnant, and this was before I began reading reviews and slowing way down on my blind purchases... That blend got tossed.

 

[mortonbriar]

A blend can be very, very dry without being too dry to smoke...but it requires a certain cadence to enjoy.

But yes, in the past I dabbled in mixing things etc, a lot of fun!

 

[orvet]

I also keep an odds and ends jar for the last bits of tobacco in a tin, or the remainder of the tin that I didn't want to continue to smoking regularly. I have also purchased bulk tobacco, an ounce or two at a time just to try them out and get an idea of how they would blend in my O&E jar.
The O&E jar got so good, that I was smoking it over the tins that I like most!
I decided I wanted to replicate it, as close as possible, or just make a similar blend, so I ordered several different bulk tobaccos that I had tried and at some idea of how they would enhance the blend.

I just blended it a few days ago and it needs some time for the tobacco to marry, but the first couple of bowls I have tried, far exceeded my expectations!

It's also a good way to use up some 30 year old tobacco that has dried out, in spite of being vacuum sealed. I am under no Illusion that I can rehydrate those to their former glory, but even in their less than pristine state they still add some pleasant notes and depth to the mixture.

I have some dried out McClelland's #24 I want to rehydrate a little bit more and add some of it to the mixture as well. The batch I mixed up so far is now almost a pound and will probably exceed that before I'm through adding to it.
I find the whole process of blending them to be entertaining, fun and very tasty!