Tobacco Prohibition

[ernest]

Smokers of any sort seem to be in a constant line of fire more and more from certain groups.Does anyone ever think we will face a real threat or challenge of tobacco prohibition or would the under-ground market for tobacco just thrive.What is the best way to store pipe tobacco and how long could you preserve it for?Do certain types of pipe tobacco preserve better then others?I would like to get a seven year supply started on rotation.

 

[chuckw]

The anti's want a smoke free world and one day, they will achieve it. When is anybody's guess. An underground market will exist for awhile until they do away with the plants.

The best way to store tobacco is in clean Mason (Ball) jars in a cool enviroment out of light. It an be stored for many years. I have several tins that are almost 13 years old.

I cannot think of any one type of tobacco that store better than another although many mellow and improve with age. Virginia's will become sweeter, English blends will mellow. Burley blends will just set there.

 

[ernest]

I should clarify what I mean by a seven year supply on rotation.I would like to start with a seven year supply of pipe tobacco in stock and have it stocked in such a manner that what I use in one month will also get replaced that same month but put to the back of the line.That way when prohibition is enforced(if ever) I will have a seven year supply up front to start gnawing away at.This would just be for personal use and I would only be smoking once or twice a day.

 

[ernest]

chuckw-Should it be packed tight?What should the humidity level read or does it not matter?

 

[chuckw]

I pack my English tobaccos tightly. Latakia will loose it's flavor over time if air is allowed to get to it.

My Va's and burlies are gravity fed onto the jar and left that way. Va's still age and get smoother and sweeter with air. Flake tobaccos are just dropped into the jar. I cut/chop my ropes and gravity feed them also as they are mostly Va's. I use quart jars for storage and remove just enough to carry me along for a week or two.

I don't worry about humidity although I probably should. The humidity is what it is when I jar it. It doesn't seem to change providing I have an airtight seal. I don't heat the jars either and they seem to seal just fine.

 

[chuckw]

By the way Ernest, I am envious of your mustache. What do you use to keep it in place?

I use Clubman neutral.

 

[ernest]

Believe it or not,that's achieved by a good and wet tobacco smoked real hard and backed off a quarter inch to steam it.

 

[cortezattic]

Ernest, you might enjoy (and benefit from) reading some of G L Pease's blogging in The Briar & Leaf Chronicles.
I think Chuckw's advice is spot-on, though I would recommend the very small (½-pint) Mason jars, which hold about 2 oz. comfortably. They require slightly more overall storage space, but allow you to use only what you need in the short term while the remainder continues to age. No need to vacuum them shut; and the wide mouth variety, if you can find them, makes loading and unloading easier.
I think Pease has said that most varieties will continue to improve out to around 20 yrs., and then begin to decline -- but probably remain smokeable up to as long as 50 yrs.

 

[ernest]

Now that's what I'm talking about.Senior members rule.

 

[admin]

Here's a great article Bob wrote:
Pipe Tobacco Storage

 

[strongirish]

Seal the mason jars as tight as you can, you want no air exchange at all. VA's get much better the longer you age it. Also, sterize the jsrs first or you will get mold in them in storage. If you are storing tins, just don't open them, they will cellar fine the way they are.

 

[ernest]

O.K. Now I feel I am being steered in the right direction,so here is my progress report.I weighed the tobacco that it took to fill my pipe which came in at 15.3 grams.I plan on smoking my pipe twice per day during prohibition,so now I need 30.6 grams daily.Therefor to stock up a seven year supply I will need 78,183.0 grams.I am going to be using half pint mason jars.I am going to fill one jar with pipe tobacco and weigh the jar before(empty)and after(full).I will deduct the weight of the jar and from there find how many jar fulls of tobacco will be needed for my rotation.I think as an extra precaution I will label the jars in numerical order so my rotation will not get messed up accidentally.I'm still open for suggestions to get this done properly.

 

[kcvet67]

ernest,
Unless you smoke Magnums, you might want to double check your base weight. I just filled an Estella 505EX, one of my largest pipes, and it took 8 grams. An averaged sized bowl takes around 5 grams. As for the total number of jars you'll need, be sure to take into account the different densities of tobacco forms. Flake or slice tobacco is more compact than a loose tobacco so a jar will hold more weight. Plugs are even more dense, but the size and shape of the plug will affect how much you can get into a jar.
Like chuckw, I don't heat the jars either but I do rub a block of beeswax around the rim before putting the lid on. You can get it at most craft stores or on ebay. You could probably use paraffin, but that's petroleum based and a block of beeswax big enough to seal hundreds of jars should only cost you a buck or two.
Good luck on your project.

 

[ernest]

To kcvet67: I just re-weighed my tobacco and I'm glad you sent me that last post.I forgot to deduct the weight of the plastic tray holding the tobacco.So now one bowl full weighs in at 2.8 grams.Going through all the calculations again I will need a total of 14,308.0 grams.That sounds quite doable now.Big difference from 78,183 down to 14,308.

Thanks for watching my back kcvet67.

 

[surfmac211]

To smoke 2 bowls a day for the next 30 years at about 8 grams per bowl I would need 386.3 pounds of tobacco. So at an average of $35 a pound I would spend a grand total of $13,520.50. I think I found my goal to shoot for lol.

 

[krgulick]

I am with chuckw in that if there is a prohibition of tobacco products, there will be an underground very much like alcohol in the 1930's. There will be many more smugglers of tobacco products from other countries and the like. Just a matter of who will be the "Al Capone" of tobacco products when that time comes about.

 

[bubbadreier]

My goal is to get my cellar up to at least 50 pounds... I could probably get it done if I buy all bulk and no tins but I don't want like 25 different blends, I want hundreds! haha

 

[ernest]

The more the merrier.Sounds like an awesome goal your shootin for.

 

[caliguy]

As to prohibition, this may be asking too much but I'm hoping the powers that be will take a look at current drug laws and the history of the prohibition on alcohol. The ban on alcohol did nothing to stop alcohol consumption and it brought organized crime to this country in way never before seen. An unintended consequence that has harmed untold millions. Many more that alcohol alone would have harmed.
The current bans on certain drugs may be necessary, as in the case of narcotics, but lifting the ban on marijuana and selling it legally would put a serious dent in the drug cartels of Mexico. People in the US still grow it, smoke it, and profit from it. Why not tax it and have the country reap some of the benefit, instead of the crooked officials in Mexico.
Should there be an outright ban on tobacco I believe the result will be much the same as we have seen in the marijuana trade. We would only be adding to the drug cartel's inventory of products. Good honest people will be forced to deal with unsavory characters in order to get what they desire. And people always find a way, good or bad, to get what they want. It's those unintended consequences that will bite you in the butt.
Sorry for the rant.

 

[bubbadreier]

Caliguy you make some very valid points and these are points that I am sure many of us have thought of before. But we could take advantage of the situation if they do ban tobacco...
We could become the unsavory types that people would have to deal with! Who better to be the new tobacco dealers than us? Most of us have cellars and some of us have more than a couple pounds, we already have the product! We could rule the new tobacco ring!
I am kidding of course, I would never sell my tobacco if it ever became illegal.
But I do have another thought, if they did make tobacco illegal, do you guys think they would make us hand over our stashes of tobacco? Or would they ban the sell of tobacco and whatever you have left is what you can keep?