Strength of Burley

[zachyweezer]

Hi all,
Relatively new pipe smoker here. I've got a question to which I've yet to find a clear and concise answer.
So, your typical OTC blends like PA and CH are, for all intents and purposes, burley based. They're very mild and don't provide much in the way of a nicotine buzz. The same can be said for a lot of Sutliff blends comprised mainly of burley.
Now Cornell and Diehl are known for their burley game. I have a handful of their blends cellared at the moment and just recently (as in roughly 30 minutes ago) decided to sip on a little "Big 'n' Burley" for a change of pace. Oh, my. I haven't had a nic buzz like this in a long time
Does leaf quality alone account for such a dramatic difference in strength? I'd love to hear what y'all have to say

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Tennessee red burley, Tennesse lite burley, burley #64, Kentucky small leaf, Golden burley, Yellow Twist, KY14, Monte Calme Yellow, Bernette special, Green Brior, Warner, Kelly Brownleaf, and about 300 or more other varieties of burley. Which one were you curious about?
Burley is not one specific plant. It actually encompasses the majority of seed varieties available in tobaccos. It ranges from almost no nicotine stregnth to powerhouse Rustica varieties. There is no one variety of burley. It's a whole rainbow of qualities.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

There are many other ways in which "the industry" classifies tobaccos on various levels. The farmer has a whole spectrum of varieties, breaking down tobaccos in other ways than what we pipes smokers discuss and what is written down on tins as being ingredients.
We get the idiots versions of tobaccos, simplified... Virginias, burleys, orientals, etc... however, try looking for "red Virginias" being discussed by farmers or curers. There is no such thing. It is an over-simplified term for a fermented flue cured brightleaf, of which it could be of many brightleaf varieties. But, commercially, it is most likely Virginia Gold seed stock, created by tobacco processors getting it ready for the cigarette industry.
But, there are a ton of different varieties of burleys and brightleaf that range from top to bottom of the stregnth category. I have even had some "Virginia" leaf that would gut punch most pipesmokers, and I have tried some burleys that have almost no nicotine at all.
What we get in forum lore is an over generalized classification of tobaccos, with a set of stereotypes that don't necessarily reflect the real tobacco world.
Oh, and throw in that environmental conditions from year to year can make varieties of seed stock different also.
This is why it is not possible to have a recipe that says 40% Virginia, 40% burley, and 20% oriental and have that mean anything at all. Depending of which variety and curing of each component is available this recipe could be 100% different tasting depending on where and when the leaf stock is bought or processed.

 

[bassbug]

Thank you for an amazing education and explanation Cosmic.
But I now have a question. One of my favorite blends is Mac Baren Golden Extra, I'm sure you know it so I wont bother describing it. My question is, it seems to be amazingly consistent from tin to tin, year to year. How do companies like Mac Baren or C&D maintain such consistency given all the variables you describe?
Inquiring minds want to know.

 

[scloyd]

I can't really help you zachyweezer. All I have to add is that I had a small sample bag of C&D Burley Flake #5. I smoked a bowl of it one afternoon and it knocked my socks off. I became nauseous, light headed and I just wanted to sit and do nothing. 8O I can smoke PA, CH, Cult Militia and others with no problems. I ended up sending the C&D Burley Flake #5 to another forum member. I'll stay away from C&D BF#5.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Bassbug, I am sure someone inside the pipe tobacco world could better answer that. But, I think that most commercial and even boutique growers try to get consistency in their crops year to year. But, to make up for small differences in flavors year to year is why most blenders use casings, which can be so subtle as to merely enhance certain tobacco flavors. But, as to details of casings and such, it would be better answered by a professional. But, I have heard of things like licorice, cherry, and apple being used almost undetectably to enhance very subtle natural flavors in tobaccos. But, I would imagine that a company like Mac Baren would have someone who looks for certain flavors in crops year to year. That, and I would imagine that some blenders would "cook up" a large enough batch of a tobacco to last more than a year at a time.

 

[madox07]

That's quite a good lesson in terms of tobacco education ... thank you Cosmin.

 

[newbroom]

Big 'n Burley did that to me too! It sneaks up because it's so smooth that before you know it, you're over the top with nicotine. Great blend!

I wasn't too excited to see C&D exploit the Old Joe Krantz blend by generating an entire 'line' of Krantz's.

Another solid nicotine blend, but not so dependent on burley is D&R's Picayune.

 

[davek]

There are lots of ways to mellow Burley. One big reason Burley has such a kick is because the alkalinity makes for more nicotine freebase in the smoke which is more readily absorbed. Sugar added, especially invert sugar, will make the smoke more acid during combustion and that's why Burley is so often cased. You can take straight Burley with a heck of a kick and case it with honey (high in invert sugar) and remove the nic kick considerably.
Virginia is high in sugars and mellows Burley a lot when added, thus Burley and Bright being quite a good blend.
There's toasting, stoving etc. as well.
http://www.leffingwell.com/download/Leffingwell%20-%20Tobacco%20production%20chemistry%20and%20technology.pdf

 

[kickinbears]

@cosmic ... I’ve read that there can be a substantial difference in nicotine strength between the lugs vs. tips of the plant. I.E. leaf taken from the tip is much stronger than the big broad lug leaf from the bottom. One study on Ethiopian tobacco showed that the lugs of the Billate had an ~2.24% nicotine level, whereas on the same plant the tips had over ~3.26%. Source: Levels of nicotine in Ethiopian tobacco leaves see page 11, table 2
Do blenders ever use this biology to their advantage when making blends?

 

[blendtobac]

How do companies like Mac Baren or C&D maintain such consistency given all the variables you describe?

There are a number of ways to make a consistent product. One method is to gradually blend together leaf from different crop years. If you have 2014 and 2015 leaf of the same variety, you can start off using 90% of the '14 and 10% of the '15, gradually changing to more and more of the '15. Another way to do it is to make some tweaks to the blend, and as Cosmic mentioned, casing and top-dressings can certainly mask minor changes in the crops.
Russ

 

[zachyweezer]

Wow. I didn't expect so many thoughtful and detailed answers. It's much appreciated.
I guess the information we get from tin and pouch descriptions is much like that you get from any other product, simplified and abbreviated for marketing purposes. Many folks could care less, I suppose. They just want to smoke the stuff!
As for the C&D burley blends, I'm sitting on several ounces of Haunted Bookshop, Old Joe Krantz, Shandygaff, and Pegasus. Out of them all, Shandygaff is my favorite. It's delicious, in fact, but like its burley brothers, is very strong. I typically smoke mild English blends (love latakia), lightly cased aromatics, and several OTC type blends (Sutliff Revelation, SWR, Velvet). One thing I like to do occasionally is add a little HB (or any of the previously listed, really) to blends that might be just a tad too mild. It adds a nice oomph

 

[matchstickman]

There are many other ways in which "the industry" classifies tobaccos on various levels. The farmer has a whole spectrum of varieties, breaking down tobaccos in other ways than what we pipes smokers discuss and what is written down on tins as being ingredients.

We get the idiots versions of tobaccos, simplified... Virginias, burleys, orientals, etc... however, try looking for "red Virginias" being discussed by farmers or curers. There is no such thing. It is an over-simplified term for a fermented flue cured brightleaf, of which it could be of many brightleaf varieties. But, commercially, it is most likely Virginia Gold seed stock, created by tobacco processors getting it ready for the cigarette industry.

But, there are a ton of different varieties of burleys and brightleaf that range from top to bottom of the stregnth category. I have even had some "Virginia" leaf that would gut punch most pipesmokers, and I have tried some burleys that have almost no nicotine at all.
What we get in forum lore is an over generalized classification of tobaccos, with a set of stereotypes that don't necessarily reflect the real tobacco world.

Oh, and throw in that environmental conditions from year to year can make varieties of seed stock different also.

This is why it is not possible to have a recipe that says 40% Virginia, 40% burley, and 20% oriental and have that mean anything at all. Depending of which variety and curing of each component is available this recipe could be 100% different tasting depending on where and when the leaf stock is bought or processed.

And that, children, is how Cosmic single handedly won the internet.