Sparkplug - Initial Issues

[originalnutcracker]

So I popped my first tin of Sparkplug yesterday. It smells fantastic. I'm a huge fan of GLP blends, and the collaboration with SG makes it doubly interesting.

The "plug" itself is a plug only inasmuch as it consists of pressed leaves (i.e. it's not a cake). However - the plug itself is fairly loose. I tried to slice off flakes to rub out and the plug comes adrift in large chunks. Usually a true plug is a fairly solid block of tobacco that I cut flakes off quite easily.

After the thing partially disintegrating into large leaves, I gave up and dropped it in my noodle press to give it a decent crushing.

What is the experience of others......?

 

[Country Bladesmith]

It is definitely looser than SG plugs, etc, but with a sharp knife, I have no issues cutting fine shag off the plug. Make sure to use a really sharp knife. That said, you could’ve just gotten hold of a really loose one. Lucky you! ?

 

[CoffeeAndBourbon]

I reach for Spark Plug when craving an English blend!

 

[Magpiety]

I just break it up with my hands and it seems to burn fine. I might have gotten an extra dry one though.

 

[originalnutcracker]

It is definitely looser than SG plugs, etc, but with a sharp knife, I have no issues cutting fine shag off the plug. Make sure to use a really sharp knife. That said, you could’ve just gotten hold of a really loose one. Lucky you! ?

My brand new fancy dangle Les Fines Lames literally didn't cut it too well.

I guess as a "bladesmith" you have the right tools!!!

 

[Country Bladesmith]

I guess as a "bladesmith" you have the right tools!!!

? I usually just use a kitchen knife, honestly, but I keep them quite sharp.

 

[kcghost]

I really like G.L. Pease blends but didn't cotton to the Sparkplug.

 

[CoffeeAndBourbon]

I have a smallish Japanese knife I use. It's super sharp and easy to keep that way too!

 

[mso489]

Sounds messy. I think I'd break it up by hand, per Magpiety post, or cut it into pieces with a carbon blade and rub it out further if needed. Glad to know about this before I decide about ordering. It doesn't sound like my favorite cut.

 

[Country Bladesmith]

Sounds messy. I think I'd break it up by hand, per Magpiety post, or cut it into pieces with a carbon blade and rub it out further if needed. Glad to know about this before I decide about ordering. It doesn't sound like my favorite cut.

Don’t let it dissuade you from trying it. It’s probably my favorite Pease English blend I’ve tried so far.

 

[originalnutcracker]

I smoked my butchered “large cube” version and it smoked really well. This is quite delicious and highly recommended, despite my troubles......

 

[kola]

I like the blend a lot but the plugs? I've experienced were way too loose, floppy and separated easily. I just cut it all up and mix it together otherwise you'd get a different smoke every time. I think the next one I open up I'll put it in my press for a few days or weeks. Great blend, poor finish work. And maybe re-name it Sparkfluff.

 

[Country Bladesmith]

Mine haven’t been that bad. Not a dense plug, but mine haven’t fallen apart in my hands. ?‍
The taste is worth any prep troubles anyway, IMO.

 

[saltedplug]

I once asked Pease why his flakes were broken. He said because the flake blends he smoked had come to him as a broken flake, and he liked starting with them to pack a bowl. So familiarity governed that choice.

But pressure so small as to produce an extra crumbly cake would not seem to fit with extent blends where some pressure produced a krumble cake and more produced plug. But only glancing pressure produced Sparkplug, which is unfamiliar.

Perhaps then that press was as whimsical as that made by a chef when as the last gesture of plating a dish he must choose the garnish.

 

[Country Bladesmith]

I once asked Pease why his flakes were broken. He said because the flake blends he smoked had come to him as a broken flake, and he liked starting with them to pack a bowl. So familiarity governed that choice.

But pressure so small as to produce an extra crumbly cake would not seem to fit with extent blends where some pressure produced a krumble cake and more produced plug. But only glancing pressure produced Sparkplug, which is unfamiliar.

Perhaps then that press was as whimsical as that made by a chef when as the last gesture of plating a dish he must choose the garnish.

This one isn’t a broken flake or a crumble cake. It’s a whole-leaf plug. The coming apart issues would be of the delamination variety.

 

[strave19]

I don’t think C&D is really set up to make flakes that hold together. At least I haven’t come across any. Kajun Kake is probably the most solid “kake”-type of theirs that I’ve come across. Maybe they just don’t use any binding agents so they are always broken-flake or floppy-plug. ?‍ Just my observation.

 

[Country Bladesmith]

I don’t think C&D is really set up to make flakes that hold together. At least I haven’t come across any. Kajun Kake is probably the most solid “kake”-type of theirs that I’ve come across. Maybe they just don’t use any binding agents so they are always broken-flake or floppy-plug. ?‍ Just my observation.

Could be.

 

[pantsBoots]

Interesting. Will have to add this one to the list.