Seasoning with Deertongue - Need Advice on Process

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Sloopjohnbee

Lifer
May 12, 2019
1,291
2,288
Atlantic Coast USA
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

Lifer
Dec 30, 2018
2,879
8,933
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.
 
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Ahi Ka

Lurker
Feb 25, 2020
6,520
31,471
Aotearoa (New Zealand)
Also keep in mind that there are a few things that go by the name. Check out this thread:


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.
 

makhorkasmoker

Part of the Furniture Now
Aug 17, 2021
564
1,354
Central Florida
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

Captain of the Black Frigate
Nov 12, 2014
43,250
108,355
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

Part of the Furniture Now
Feb 14, 2018
974
2,809
Edmonton, AB
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.
 
May 2, 2020
4,664
23,771
Louisiana
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.
 

mortonbriar

Lifer
Oct 25, 2013
2,652
5,662
New Zealand
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.