I've done a fair bit of blending, mixing and noodle pressing about a dozen blends so far, mostly Burley blends with perique, Virginia and orientals. I use the tobaccos from pipes and cigars, and I have just recently purchased all of the rest of the blending Virginias they offer, as well as perique. I want to do my first Va/Per, but I wanted to get folk's opinion on the percentage of perique by weight. What's percentage do you find well balanced? What are the percentages of some well known Va/Pers? At what point does the chameleon leaf start to overpower the Virginia? I plan on making two blends, one bright Virginia dominant and one red dominant. Any thoughts?
Va/Per Perique Percentage
- Thread starter Effortlessdepths
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Blends like Escudo and Navy Rolls tend to use about 12% perique in them. I always used that as a base line when I home blend as I am very familiar with those products. When you start blending, add a little less than you think you want and then try it. You'll learn how much you want before long.
Thanks Jim, I'll start there. Do you know of any blends that purposely skew toward more bright Virginia, or more red?
Sutliff Crumble Cake Red Virginia is a good one to try, although there already is a VaPer version of it. Watch City Simply Red will be out in November. For bright , really more gold, try Sutliff 507-C Slices. Solani Silver Flake has a little Kentucky and a lot of Red Va. Low Country Natural Virginia (bulk only and cheap).
I will go as high as 20%, but I have to admit that it kinda becomes the only thing I can taste, depending on the other components.
I feel like my preference is somewhere above 5% and below 10% where it shapes the blend rather than takes it over.
I feel like my preference is somewhere above 5% and below 10% where it shapes the blend rather than takes it over.
Sorry, I meant any Va/Pers that skew more bright or more red
Seems like my favorite VaPers all have between 10-20 percent Perique, although I also like Bayou Morning which is 25 percent. Once you get below 10 percent I feel like the Perique is really in the background, which isn't necessarily a bad thing if the Virginias are good quality, but I view those blends as tasting pretty much like straight Virginias.
I imagine a lot will hinge on the leafs you acquire. Jim gave you a great jumping off point, and it’ll probably be some trial and error from there, unless you nail it on the first try. I usually like a noticeable Perique presence. To me, D&R Rimboche SJ and AP are just about right, but I’m not sure of the percentages Mark Ryan uses. Bayou Morning Flake is a blend I like quite a bit, but that’s pushing the upper end of the envelope for most people’s tastes, I believe it’s 25%.
Why even bother watering down the perique? Just load up a bowl of perique and enjoy.
Courtesy of GL Pease:
“ Perique, on the other hand, is like salt. A pinch can enhance the flavours of a blend, without really making its presence known. A little more, and it becomes an influence to the overall taste. Too much, though, and your food becomes unbearably salty. Depending on the other tobaccos in a blend, the perique’s presence can be detected when the quantity reaches somewhere between 2% and 4% (by weight) of the overall mix. It may or may not be detectable in this range, but if it were removed from the blend, its absence would certainly be noted; the flavor of the blend would be more subdued, like someone turned down the volume.
Between about 4% and 8% or so, it begins to really make itself known. Somewhere in this range, perique’s voice begins to rise beyond the subliminal level, and the smoker begins to hear it, albeit softly. In this range, depending on the smoker, the detection of perique can be anywhere from, “I think there’s perique in this,” to, “This is a great blend, and the perique really adds something.”
In the 8% to 12% range, all doubt is removed. No matter what other tobaccos are vying for the smoker’s attention, perique will definitely wave its arms to be noticed. It’s not quite at the jumping up and down stage here, but the arm waving is certainly persistent throughout the bowl. It is when the percentage of the leaf is in this range that its lovers are happiest, and those who do not care for it would just as soon throw the pipe in the fire.
The jumping up and down begins at higher percentages, where the perique becomes an assertive, dominant component of the smoking experience. These are the waters on which only lovers of the stuff will sail. Some blends contain as much as 18-20% perique, and this is, indeed, a good working maximum, unless you want hair to grow on parts of your body you’d never expect it.”
“ Perique, on the other hand, is like salt. A pinch can enhance the flavours of a blend, without really making its presence known. A little more, and it becomes an influence to the overall taste. Too much, though, and your food becomes unbearably salty. Depending on the other tobaccos in a blend, the perique’s presence can be detected when the quantity reaches somewhere between 2% and 4% (by weight) of the overall mix. It may or may not be detectable in this range, but if it were removed from the blend, its absence would certainly be noted; the flavor of the blend would be more subdued, like someone turned down the volume.
Between about 4% and 8% or so, it begins to really make itself known. Somewhere in this range, perique’s voice begins to rise beyond the subliminal level, and the smoker begins to hear it, albeit softly. In this range, depending on the smoker, the detection of perique can be anywhere from, “I think there’s perique in this,” to, “This is a great blend, and the perique really adds something.”
In the 8% to 12% range, all doubt is removed. No matter what other tobaccos are vying for the smoker’s attention, perique will definitely wave its arms to be noticed. It’s not quite at the jumping up and down stage here, but the arm waving is certainly persistent throughout the bowl. It is when the percentage of the leaf is in this range that its lovers are happiest, and those who do not care for it would just as soon throw the pipe in the fire.
The jumping up and down begins at higher percentages, where the perique becomes an assertive, dominant component of the smoking experience. These are the waters on which only lovers of the stuff will sail. Some blends contain as much as 18-20% perique, and this is, indeed, a good working maximum, unless you want hair to grow on parts of your body you’d never expect it.”
10-25 % is what I would play with.
Sounds like a forum challenge! ?
I've smoked pure perique on many occasions, and anyone who says it blew their minds is a damned liar. It doesn't even have much nicotine in it at all. According to Mark Ryan in a lecture at La Poche, the fermentation process changes the nicotine molecule into a more complex molecule to where it becomes an acid. So, it has even less nicotine than a Virginia. However, the acid that it becomes makes the absorption of the leaf that it is blended with more absorbent. So, in a VaPer, the perique merely makes the excess nicotine in Virginias more absorbable. There is already enough nicotine in a Virginia to kill a horse, but because of the type of acid the VA is, we don't absorb it by itself. With a touch of perique, you can actually "feel" the effects of the Virginia's nic.
By itself, perique is merely boring. I advise that anyone interested in VaPers or blending smoke it by itself a few times. It will NOT make you sick, nor queezy. It merely is a pure acidity, very monochromatic.
On its own, it's not plummy. The new complex molecules help the aging of blended leaf, giving IT the more plummy aromas. So, it is not like a salt. It is more like a cinnamon. A little make a blend more sweet, fruity, etc, but too much, and the blend becomes acrid and peppery.
I’ve never tried it on its own. I might try it if I can find some the next time I get ready to order tobacco.
I've done lots of blending with perique too and have done everything up to 40% !! Ha that was a strong one. It was paired with a black stoved Virginia and topped with tonka bourbon, so it was mellowed out by those.
Other posters have described it quite well. I like perique quite a bit so 10% is nice in a blend(like and English or with DFK) to add fruit and spice. I personally wouldn't go lower than 15% on a straight vaper, and around 20% is where I like it, sometimes 25%.
depends on if you are blending with more than just virginia. 8-15% is nice for blends. I use alot of black stoved and medium stoved Virginia in my blends, so I'm not usually mixing with a light and bright virginia, I like things a little darker and richer, so I can up the perique a little.
Other posters have described it quite well. I like perique quite a bit so 10% is nice in a blend(like and English or with DFK) to add fruit and spice. I personally wouldn't go lower than 15% on a straight vaper, and around 20% is where I like it, sometimes 25%.
depends on if you are blending with more than just virginia. 8-15% is nice for blends. I use alot of black stoved and medium stoved Virginia in my blends, so I'm not usually mixing with a light and bright virginia, I like things a little darker and richer, so I can up the perique a little.
Didn’t Aleister Crowley smoke only 100% Perique soaked in rum?
I asked this question to Jim above but it must have got lost in the mix: does anyone know of any Va/Per that uses predominantly bright/yellow Virginia? Can anyone comment on the difference between using mostly bright/yellow or mostly red?
Everyone has different taste buds, but to me, the lighter colors tend to taste more grassy, and the reds more like bread, caramel, and fruits.
Just to be clear I meant in the presence of perique.
"Can anyone comment on the difference between using mostly bright/yellow or mostly red (in a VA/Per)?"
Not sure if I've ever seen a VA/Per that ises predominantly bright/yellow Virginia
There isn't one that I can think of. For red Va. and perique, try Sutliff Crumble Cake Red Virginia with Perique.