About 30 years ago I decided to have a go at growing tobacco, I did'nt know if would grow in the UK as no-one I knew had done it before, but to my surprise it grew brilliantly and I got a large crop, this I hung up to air dry thouroughly, after this the instructions I had been give with the seeds said it should be boiled for 10 minutes and then simmered for a further 50 minutes, this I did with a sample and it was awful so it was put into cardboard box's and put in the attic where it as remained for 30 years, this week I decided to try again and brought some down, this I moisten with distilled water,destalked it, shredded it, simmered it 3 times which removed most of the black, oven dried it until just a small amount of water remained. When I tried it in a roll-up it still tasted "green" and what I am wondering is does this need to be stored again and if so how, should it be stored damp in sealed containers or left open and for how long. I think the tobacco I grew was Virginia, Burley and Turkis if this makes any difference. Any help be greatly appreciated as I have 10 large cardboard box's and a sack to work through.
30 year old tobacco
- Thread starter jimbob
- Start date
- Status
Welcome to the forum. Feel free to introduce yourself in the Introduce Yourself forum.
I think another 30 years should do it.
Seriously, I'm not sure what the "boil" was about. Once it is cooked, it can no longer age significantly, since the required leaf enzymes have been destroyed. For cigarettes, Virginia tobacco is traditionally flue-cured (a process that begins with green leaf and controlled heat, performed over 5 days, and allows the leaf to fully yellow, then dry to a crispy dry). Burley is traditionally air-cured, then simply aged for months to a year or more. Turkish is traditionally sun-cured, then aged a bit.
My impression is that all that stored tobacco is likely worthless, if after 30 years it's still awful. Tobacco that is black may be molded.
Have a look at the Beginning Growers' FAQ (link at the top of the page) for the essentials of growing and curing, and the Index of Key Forum Threads (also a link up there) for various topics.
I would suggest that, while your long stored tobacco may still be suitable for making snus (IF the "black" you rinsed away was not mold), it will likely never be smokable. Now is a great time to start seed for 2019, and do a small grow with all the knowledge available on this forum. Purchase seed from a reliable source, since it's really inexpensive when compared to the effort of growing it and curing it. An excellent source is Northwood Seeds.
Other members may have further or different recommendations.
Bob
I think another 30 years should do it.
Seriously, I'm not sure what the "boil" was about. Once it is cooked, it can no longer age significantly, since the required leaf enzymes have been destroyed. For cigarettes, Virginia tobacco is traditionally flue-cured (a process that begins with green leaf and controlled heat, performed over 5 days, and allows the leaf to fully yellow, then dry to a crispy dry). Burley is traditionally air-cured, then simply aged for months to a year or more. Turkish is traditionally sun-cured, then aged a bit.
My impression is that all that stored tobacco is likely worthless, if after 30 years it's still awful. Tobacco that is black may be molded.
Have a look at the Beginning Growers' FAQ (link at the top of the page) for the essentials of growing and curing, and the Index of Key Forum Threads (also a link up there) for various topics.
I would suggest that, while your long stored tobacco may still be suitable for making snus (IF the "black" you rinsed away was not mold), it will likely never be smokable. Now is a great time to start seed for 2019, and do a small grow with all the knowledge available on this forum. Purchase seed from a reliable source, since it's really inexpensive when compared to the effort of growing it and curing it. An excellent source is Northwood Seeds.
Other members may have further or different recommendations.
Bob
Youn
Well-Known Member
Welcome to FTT.
A question : were your leaves yellow or brown after drying? If not, especially if they were still green, the problem certainly resides in the method of drying and this can probably not be saved.
A question : were your leaves yellow or brown after drying? If not, especially if they were still green, the problem certainly resides in the method of drying and this can probably not be saved.
davek14
Well-Known Member
Try some without the boiling before you do anything. That is just a way to make a barely smokeable product with unaged or unkilned leaf.
30 years aging may have mellowed it although that is a seriously long time. It's worth a shot. If it is not good, you might try kilning, but it's probably no good.
30 years aging may have mellowed it although that is a seriously long time. It's worth a shot. If it is not good, you might try kilning, but it's probably no good.
30 years ! That's a loooooong aging time !
Maybe the "black" removed by boiling is just the color of the water when he boiled it.
After 3 boiling times, the water may be "clean".
If that's what the black refers to, than I encourage you (@jimbob) not to boil your tobacco. Just try to smoke some directly to see if it's good or not.
Youn asked a good question : what is the color of your leaves ? can you post a picture ?
Maybe the "black" removed by boiling is just the color of the water when he boiled it.
After 3 boiling times, the water may be "clean".
If that's what the black refers to, than I encourage you (@jimbob) not to boil your tobacco. Just try to smoke some directly to see if it's good or not.
Youn asked a good question : what is the color of your leaves ? can you post a picture ?
Thank you all for your replys, I think I need all the help I can get. To answer some of you questions the leaves are all perfectly brown, ranging from golden brown to dark brown for the different varieties and when I opened the box's the tobacco had a lovely sweet smell. The instructions said the reason of the boiling process is to reduce the nicotine level and the ammonia and tars and this was also mentioned on a you tube channel, the colour of the leaves remain unchanged while the water go's thick black and I was wondering if this was meant to replace the fermentation process.
skychaser
Well-Known Member
Welcome to FTT jimbob
I recommend you delete that you-tube link and keep reading here.
Sounds wonderful! Smoke it! I'd say it was ready to smoke about 29 years ago. Or you can mail it to me and I will happily dispose of it for you.
Boil it? lol That's one I've never heard before. Anyone who recommends you boil your tobacco hasn't got a clue.
I recommend you delete that you-tube link and keep reading here.
None of those varieties should be cooked, unless you intend to make Cavendish. Also, it is unlikely that they needed to have their nicotine levels reduced. All that thick and black water extracted both the nicotine and the flavors.
Boiling definitely does not replace the fermentation process, and virtually prevents any significant "aging" improvements with time. [Fermentation depends on intrinsic oxidase enzymes within the leaf cells, and these are destroyed by boiling.]
The info that you can find on this forum is unquestionably more reliable than "instructions" and YouTube (other than a handful of our own videos posted there). Sorry. We didn't exist 30 years ago, but still, I have no idea why the instructions would have recommended cooking. That's just plain incorrect for cigarette tobaccos.
I'm afraid your saved tobacco can not be improved significantly. You can try misting it with a mild citric acid solution, to see if that helps any. Another possibility would be to purchase one of the tobacco casings sold by Whole Leaf Tobacco: https://www.wholeleaftobacco.com/cat/accessories/
Bob
Welcome jimbob. I believe you didn't boil all the tobacco. Just a sample.
Other tobacco should be good after 30 years of proper storing. If you have 18 deg.Celsius and 65% to 75% humidity in your attic must taste very good.
I was trying many things during learning last 7 years. Steaming, heating, vacuum it, casing,...but the best results are always traditional way. Fermenting, proper storing and ageing.
If you have few pounds in each large card box like you say, send few samples to fellow growers here in forum to try and debate about tobacco...after all this is FairTradeTobacco forum... we know what is good
Good luck.
Other tobacco should be good after 30 years of proper storing. If you have 18 deg.Celsius and 65% to 75% humidity in your attic must taste very good.
I was trying many things during learning last 7 years. Steaming, heating, vacuum it, casing,...but the best results are always traditional way. Fermenting, proper storing and ageing.
If you have few pounds in each large card box like you say, send few samples to fellow growers here in forum to try and debate about tobacco...after all this is FairTradeTobacco forum... we know what is good
Good luck.
- Status
Similar threads
