The most impressive thing about the ‘whole leaf’ is the colour. It is bright yellow/brown. It is also aromatic – it smells sweet with certain unidentifiable extras.
Now…….. I do not want to be judgemental. Too many subjective judgements are involved. However, I have to say that, as far as my own taste-buds are concerned, the whole leaf tastes just the same as commercial stuff. It is OK, but rather bland. However, I did remark yesterday about how dry and brittle it was.
And so I ripped the leaf(s) to bits and put them into a container with orange peel. This morning, the flakes were soft and pliable and sweetened by the orange peel. The very dry whole leaf seems to be particularly absorbent – I had to leave the cig which I created for some time because it did not draw well at all – it was still a little ‘damp’. After a couple of hours, it lit and smoked perfectly normally, and, having been sweetened overnight, the taste was enhanced as far as I personally was concerned!
As far as I am concerned, I have no doubt that my own stuff is more concentrated than commercial stuff, which is why I need to mix it. However, I do not wish to be beholden to tobacco companies for the stuff with which I mix my own stuff. So far, I am happy to have found a source of mixable stuff which does not involve the payment of duties, although it is only a stop-gap.
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I’m pleased with the direction in which I am heading, although it is by no means perfect. I would like to be able to produce a ‘lighter’ tobacco in addition to the ‘intense’ stuff. I am convinced that part of the difficulty is the nature of the soil hereabouts – it is not conducive to production of ‘light’, pretty yellow/brown, tasteless tobacco leaf.
For this next year, my objective is to grow splendid plants. I want quantity. Quality will depend entirely upon the nature of my soil, although I shall do my best to enhance its productivity.
12/01/2013 at 11:45
my objective is to grow splendid plants.
Then you know what to do.
I am just on my way to the garden centre to pick up a new bag of John Innes No3 LOAM based compost, for sowing in little modules in my heated propagator this weekend along with the chillies.
Race you … : )
12/01/2013 at 20:35
You’re on!
12/01/2013 at 16:52
My Friend,
You asked if I was storing my ramblings anywhere.
Frank has been kind enough to let me put them in the comments of his 1/1/13 blog- ‘Mince Meat to die for’.
12/01/2013 at 20:36
Got that Gary……..
12/01/2013 at 19:37
Hi i am knew to this site and being quite a heavy smoker,that also grows my own tobacco I wanted to share some of my own experiences.One thing I have noticed on this site is that some people seem to make a big deal out of how difficult it supposedly is to cure tobacco and for some reason make it sound like rocket science.I was amazed in one of the articles it said don’t try and copy what the cigarette companies do,and why not its bloody easy.First of all keep it simple.Build yourself a big well insulated box,with 2 venterlation holes,one at the very bottom of the box and one on the side,near the top of the box.Next run 4 lots of wire evenly spaced(to hang your tobacco from)across the top of the box,fixed to the inside of the box.Now at the bottom of your box place a 500w oil filled heater and a room humidifier.Take your tobacco leaves off the plant.Put your tobacco leaves in bundles,5 leaves per bundle and tyre the stalks of leaves very tightly with rubber bands.Each bundle can now be hung with strips of wire from the 4 wires inside the tobacco box.Now turn the heater and humidifier on.Make sure you have a good temperature/humidity gage that can handle high heat(I’ve fried a few of those in my time).This bit is the only tricky bit,but you will get the hang of it,turn the temp up and humidifier up.Put the top on top of the box,come back in about 45 minutes and check temp/humidity.You want to get the temp to level out at about 150 degrees farenhiet and humidity around 65-70%.Generally I find that if you keep turning the temp down you get to a point where it will level out nicely.You need to keep the tobacco at this temp for 3 weeks.It doesn’t use a much electric as you think,if the box is very well insulated.After 3 weeks hang the tobacco up in a warm place for a month,then put the tobacco back in the box lying on the floor at 150degrees for one week,hang it back up for one week then you are done.Tobacco is beautiful and ready to smoke.Always keep your tobacco around 70% humidity,some times on the first week of curing I turn my humidifier off as so much moisture will come off the tobacco.ps build your box/miniature tobacco barn outside for safety.
12/01/2013 at 21:15
Hello, Clowse.
Your method is very similar to that described on the Coffinails site.
I wonder if you have read the “GROWING, CURING, ETC….” essay which can be found via the sidebar?
In that essay, methods are described which enable the process of curing to be completed in a couple of weeks, without the need for high temperatures or ventilation. In that method, you process a few leaves (say, ten or so) at a time, as they mature on the plant and become available.
You might like to try it with a few leaves next season and let us know what you think.
13/01/2013 at 17:05
This looks promising, J, this whole leaf of yours looks like it may have been either flue dried or sun-dried, I’ve had a scout around around and it is much cheaper in bulk, say a hundred quid’s worth.
It is similar to mine, although to be honest, I have developed a bit of a taste for the dark stuff lately, know what I mean? So I think I shall be going the wadded fermentation route this season.
Smells like poo but tastes like heaven, lol,… it’s a bit special, isn’t it?
On the subject of which, I used the old rolling pin on some soft stems with almost flowering shoots, then fermented it in a plastic bag, very tasty and smokable stuff… anyone else tried that?
13/01/2013 at 21:24
The advert said flu-cured.
Now that I am satisfied that whole leaf is ok, I have ordered some more from a different place. I haven’t gone for significant bulk yet.
When you say ‘the soft stems’, do you mean the top part of the stalk which carries the flowering buds? If so, I hadn’t thought of that. I don’t suppose that there is any reason that you should not treat soft parts of the stalk in the same way as the main ribs.
Interesting.
14/01/2013 at 12:25
Yes, the flowering buds, before the petals emerge. They shoot out from lower down the main stalk, too, on my particular strain… I think they’re called ‘suckers’ in the biz.
14/01/2013 at 08:13
“When the tobacco plants were quite dry, the leaves readily fell off.
Leaves that remained on the plants were smoked, of course; but it was the stems that furnished most of the smoking.”
http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/buffalo/garden/garden.html#XIII
I did wonder what they did with them.
14/01/2013 at 12:43
Thanks Rose, where would we be without the internet?
15/01/2013 at 15:32
“I’m pleased with the direction in which I am heading, although it is by no means perfect. I would like to be able to produce a ‘lighter’ tobacco in addition to the ‘intense’ stuff.”
I may have inadvertently found a solution for your quest, J.
After the successful experiment with the soft stems, I decided to roll up some freshly harvested leaves into wads, thereby omitting the stacking in towels stage, wrapped it tightly in a polythene bag with elastic bands, and then hung it up in the moderate warmth of the airing cupboard for (only) two days. The result was a lighter, less intense but extremely tasty tobacco, which is golden brown in colour.
“I am convinced that part of the difficulty is the nature of the soil hereabouts – it is not conducive to production of ‘light’, pretty yellow/brown, tasteless tobacco leaf.”
I think it may have more to do with the curing method; from my experiments, I have ascertained that sun-drying my leaf results in a degraded and bland end product, an observation that is corroborated by Buffalo Bird Woman in the piece linked to by Rose above. I imagine the heat involved in flue-curing would do the same.
Whereas the wadded fermentation method retains all of the goodness and oomph.
15/01/2013 at 16:03
That sounds very promising, Acet. I’ll certainly give it a go when I have leaves. If it comes out ok, then I’ll add it to the essay on GROWING ETC as an alternative.
15/01/2013 at 22:54
… or perhaps for blending with the dark stuff.
Thanks J, I’m honoured, let’s hope it wasn’t a fluke, eh?