Seasoning with Deertongue - Need Advice on Process

[Sloopjohnbee]

Get some dry deertongue; how do you use it to enhance blends?
Do you need to mix it a few days prior with adequate hydration in a jar(either from a moist tobacco or by adding more water) so that it marinates/matches level of humidity of the blend? -
or do you just add it to the blend(dry) as is and smoke?
What's the best way to use it as a blender?

 

[verporchting]

Don’t, lol.

I would say go light as it can be overpowering, but then again I detest the stuff.

Best practice for me has been to add small amounts of condiments to a couple of ounces in a jar or bag then shake it up and let it sit for a few days to marry the flavors but nothing would stop you from sampling it immediately to see if the proportions are to your liking. If so it will only get better.

 

[mso489]

Keep in mind that deertongue is a blood thinner, so I'd keep the "dose" pretty low. Anyone already using blood thinner drugs should probably not smoke it.

 

[Ahi Ka]

Also keep in mind that there are a few things that go by the name. Check out this thread:

Deer's tongue

Deer's tongue is a type of grass used in some pipe tobacco blends. There is a small jar of it at my local tobacconist. They might add a pinch of it to a pound of a blend. It has a coumarin type flavor to it, like sweetgrass. I tried to emulate this by putting zubrowka in some tobacco. It turned...

fairtradetobacco.com

id probably make a sample batch of a few bowls worth using 1% DT and one with 5% and leave for a few days to a week. See which one you prefer and tweak from there.

alternatively, just grab some C&D crooner and use as your blending component.

 

[prairiedruid]

A little bit goes a long ways. Use it dry, don't rehydrate it.

 

[Sloopjohnbee]

A little bit goes a long ways. Use it dry, don't rehydrate it.

how about if it absorbs some moisture from the blend over a few days?

 

[Ahi Ka]

how about if it absorbs some moisture from the blend over a few days?

I would say that is optimal. Just not adding extra moisture for the tobacco to soak up

 

[makhorkasmoker]

As a plant nerd I must point out: the deertongue we're talking about (for pipe tobacco) is not a grass. It is a wildflower. It is in the daisy/aster family. There are grasses that go by the common name deertongue. Other plants do too. (This is the trouble with common names, though I love them.) The Latin of the deertongue we're talking about is Trilisa odoratissima.

This flower grows in the southeastern coastal plains, where I have spent almost all of my life. It has a wonderful scent, and for many years I could not place where the scent came from. It was just something almost haunting that I noticed sometimes while walking in the woods. Then a friend of mine whose grandfather used to collect deertongue to sell to the pipe tobacco companies told me the scent was deertongue.

And the scent I used to smell without knowing what it was out the woods Is very much like the scent of burning Crooner. The smell translates very well to a pipe. I personally love it.

 

[Chasing Embers]

the scent of burning Crooner

You should try the other blends with it.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Keep in mind that deertongue is a blood thinner, so I'd keep the "dose" pretty low. Anyone already using blood thinner drugs should probably not smoke it.

Coumadin is a prescription medicine sold as Wafarin, and is a blood thinning agent. ... Coumarin is used to make coumadin, but coumarin is not anti-coagulant itself.

 

[rajangan]

Let's not worry about the health effects of the combustion of ~30mg of deerstongue in a bowl of tobacco. Probably absorb more coumarin breathing in the air as you drive by an alfalfa field in the rain. Maybe don't sit down with a bowl and a spoon.

 

[bullet08]

Hardest part is ripping out of a deer without pissing it off.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Hardest part is ripping out of a deer without pissing it off.

 

[Country Bladesmith]

If you like deertongue, there’s really nothing else like it. Closest thing I can compare it to is like a mix of clover flowers, honeysuckle flowers, and honey. But with an herbal note a bit like dried mint leaves, but not quite.
As for blending, I’d say take notes from what you see from C&D: go easy with mellower blends, and a little heavier with full-tasting tobacco. I’ve noticed there seems to be the most deertongue in Crooner, followed by Gentleman Caller, and then less in Engine #382 and New Market, which are both pretty mellow blends.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Closest thing I can compare it to is like a mix of clover flowers, honeysuckle flowers, and honey. But with an herbal note a bit like dried mint leaves, but not quite.

I get baking spices.

 

[mortonbriar]

Definitely experiment, but yeah try the C&D offerings if you have not already!

The thing I like about a blend with deer tongue is the novelty of a flavour (other than tobacco) coming from a leaf burning, tastes significantly different to me than the way a topping/casing affects a smoke.

I would probably be inclined to smoke a bowl a year for the novelty factor, but obviously there is a market for those who like it regular.

 

[sandollars]

Deer tongue is awesome. I reminds me of what a mountain meadow full of sage brush, thistle and wildflowers smells like after a heavy rain. It brings back fond memories for me. I keep Crooner on hand as a staple.