Brix/sugar refractometer for tobacco

[OakBayou]

Has anyone ever considered using a brix refractometer to measure the sugar content of their leaf? Finding a brix % of a particular bag sample or a priming of leaf seems a lot more approachable and affordable than nicotine analysis, which has been discussed here before and determined to be not worth it and not very useful, either.

Smoking it is a good way to determine how sweet it is, too...but Ive been thinking of this for other reasons.

You see, I've been digging around on pipe forums, and it appears that some little outfit called "McClellands" went out of business a few years ago. Anyone know anything about this? Something about Frogs and Cheer and ketchup, very confusing to be honest...and it was before my pipe smoking days, which only dawned last summer.

Anyway, the pipe forum lore asserts that part of the reason the McNeils didn't simply sell of their company or their blending recipes is because it was becoming harder and harder to source high quality leaf, particularly the high sugar red Virginia (supposedly some of their offerings had reds with 20% sugar or more).

I don't know if any of this is true, and I don't so much care about it as much as it inspired me to consider whether it's worth the money and effort to do a little experiment on some extremely high-quality varieties of flue cured and orientals that are still available for sale, or for the home grower to asses his own leaf objectively.

Thoughts?

 

[deluxestogie]

I can't speak to why McClelland made their decision to close. That did follow soon after a major leaf wholesale warehouse burned down, incinerating one of the last supplies of Latakia tobacco produced in Latakia, Syria. The earliest of my own "Frog" blends were named after the defunct McClelland's Frog Morton series. (I eventually became a frog addict, and used species photos and names of various frogs for unrelated blends. Ribbit.)

I may be just a lazy traditionalist, but I consider the production of tobacco to be subject to so many variables (specific variety of a market class, soil conditions of the specific grower, priming to priming, growing season to growing season, variable curing conditions, variable aging and storage conditions, etc.) that you would need a substantial production scale to successfully duplicate batches of whatever you blend—in order to meet modern consumers' expectations of industrial consistency. In the cigar industry, a new frontmark is usually predicated on a one-time purchase of three years supply of its ingredients. And even then, a blend master has to continually tweak the blend to keep it relatively constant.

As a scientist, I like precision, but only where is makes a meaningful difference in the desired outcome.

do a little experiment on some extremely high-quality varieties of flue cured and orientals that are still available for sale

With enough precision, I believe that you will be able to document that every batch (every imported bale) is different from the last and different from the next.

Bob

 

[OakBayou]

Thanks for the thoughtful reply, Bob. I agree wholeheartedly that enough precision would show that every batch, and that even each leaf in the same bale or even same pound package, can differ in sugar content, sometimes substantially. That's one of the things I think would be interesting to discover and demonstrate. I think it also might show that a leaf that has a lower measurable sugar content might smoke perceptibly sweeter than one with a higher sugar content. Or that casing a leaf with...oh, I don't know...apple cider vinegar and tamarind extract...might change the perception of sweetness/tanginess of leaf that is otherwise similar in natural sugar content or flavor profile. Might also make it smell and taste a little like ketchup or BBQ.

Most of all, I think it might be able to dispel some of the bloviation that exists out there about quality leaf disappearing or what have you, and maybe inspire some folks to stop whining about how the "good old days" are gone like wisps of smoke and try their hand at making something new, instead. Or maybe I'll just set up a sugar testing service myself. Send me an ounce sample, and I'll gladly give you both a quantitative (brix %) and qualitative (I'll smoke it and tell you how sweet it is, using terms like brown sugar, powdered sugar, maple, grass, hay, caramel, etc) test for free! Now that's a great deal!

The earliest of my own "Frog" blends were named after the defunct McClelland's Frog Morton series. (I eventually became a frog addict, and used species photos and names of various frogs for unrelated blends. Ribbit.

And this is exactly what gives this forum its special character and makes it unique and fun.

 

[deluxestogie]

whining about how the "good old days" are gone

In the good old days, English and Scottish tobaccos were made in England and Scotland, respectively. Since they moved production to Denmark, they ceased to be free of "adulterants". And over the past 15 years, virtually all commercial tobacco blends are only sold with (at least) added humectants. So, home-blending whole leaf actually takes us back to the good old days. Light one up for the good old days!

Bob