Beginners' Pipe Blending

[GreenDragon]

Homebrew Flake in a Poul Hansen.

My homebrew flake:
Lemon Virginia 65%
Latakia 25%
Perique 5%
Little Dutch 5%
Cased and pressed in maple syrup and McKellen's 12 yr old Scotch- yum!

I decided to take a leaf out of Dr. Pierce's book tonight and mix up a small 25g batch of his blend. I blended 2 Tbls of Macallen's with 1/4 tsp of maple syrup and added the mixture and the tobacco's to a quart bag, tossed for a minute, and placed in my press under a modest 30 lbs. I'll leave it for a day or two to marry all the flavors, shred, and dry it. Hopefully will be able to try out this weekend.

On an unrelated note, it was a cold and dreary weekend, so I kept myself busy with errands, chores, and a few hobbies. Updated my tobacco inventory, cleaned up the cigar wrapping / pipe blending area, bottled my 5 gallons of Pilsner (which smelled great BTW, so this should be a good batch) and made two batches of homemade soap.

 

[GreenDragon]

I took the soaked tobacco out of the press tonight and made a rough cut. I must confess, I'm a slightly leery at this point, as the scotch and the Latakia combined to make a distinct note of "grandma's soap" that I'm not digging at the moment. I'm hoping that upon drying it will change. I'll let it dry for 24 hours and give it a test run tomorrow after work.

 

[GreenDragon]

Quick update - I checked the blend this morning and am delighted to say all the "grandma soap" smell has gone! Hoping to spark a bowl tonight weather permitting.

 

[Chris A]

The English are an invasive species in Australia.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

Maybe throw in some aloe you can use in case you spend too much time there, yourself.

 

[Charly]

The English are an invasive species in Australia.

 

[GreenDragon]

Even better; it's TEXAS lavender for TEXANS only! Ya'll keep your hands off!

 

[GreenDragon]

I've decided to follow Bob's excellent advice and created a mise en place of blending ingredients. I spent this evening shredding 12 different pipe tobaccos and placing them into ball jars so they are ready at instant when the mood strikes to whip up a new blend. I used a teaspoon to measure out my first micro blend - a riff on Bob's Basma Pastry Party. It had to be a riff because I don't have any Basma! Each teaspoon equaled ~10% of the mix:

Basma 40% (Converted to 20% Samsun and 20% Bulgarian)
Virginia Brightleaf - 25%
Virginia Red - 15%
Perique - 20%

All ingredients added to a quart freezer bag, tossed well, then squeezed to compact the blend. It's supposed to be raining for the next few days, so I will let the blend marry until it is nice enough for a test bowl.

 

[GreenDragon]

Summer has turned to autumn and this year's crop is safely tucked away for aging. What to do now? Time to pull out the pipe tobaccos of course!

For the first blend of the season I wanted to play with some interesting selections that @deluxestogie (Bob) was kind enough to send me samples of to experiment with. I decided to try to emulate a blend by GL Pease that I enjoy; Haddo's delight. To my palate it presents as a subtle yet complex "VaPer" with no one component standing out.

The Blend (in parts of 16) (I used grams)
Va. Bright Leaf - 5
Ca. Va. Lemon - 1
Bob's Shiraz Fire Cured - 2
Bob's N. Tomatosa - 1
Bob's Black Mammoth Cavendish - 2
Stacked Basma - 2
Steve's Burley "Beerique" - 1
Perique - 2

The whole leaf was very lightly misted with rum to case, stacked in alternating layers into a square approximately 4"x3", placed in quart Ziploc bag, and pressed under high pressure for 2 hours. The contents were then removed, cut in half, and stacked into a 4"x1.5" block and pressed for another 2 hours. The block was then cut in half again for a final plug size of 2"x1.5" and pressed for 3 days under high pressure. The plug was then cut into flakes and left to age in a dry humidor for a week. As you can see from pictures the perique tends to liquify and migrate throughout the plug under high pressure, turning the entire mass a chocolatey brown. I took a bowl's worth, very lightly rubbed out, and loaded a cob. Very pleased with this: subtle and smooth. Took a few tries to get going, but once lit did not need relighting. HOWEVER, the wife said it was my most stinky blend yet and demanded I take a shower! The dogs didn't care though, so there is that.

 

[deluxestogie]

...demanded I take a shower!

Yeouch! An hour with pouch aroma might lead to a night of couch aroma.

I suspect that the fire-cured Shirazi and the Black Mammoth are the culprits.

Bob

 

[GreenDragon]

Decided to play with some new blends last night. First was an attempt at making a batch of "Crooner". I made some pressed cubed cut Burley last year that I came across the other weekend and I've wanted to try out Deer's Tongue so decided to order a sample to play with. I mixed a couple of teaspoons of the Burley with a few pinches of Deer's Tongue, then lightly misted with Rum to wake up the leaves (both were very dry). This definitely made the Deer's Tongue aroma pop. I'll let some mojo happen for a few days and try it out this weekend.



Second was an attempt to make a "Stonehaven" type blend. I saw a description for it the other day and thought I might like it, but I'm too cheap to pay for it. So this is my loose attempt that I'm going to call "Nestled Pebble":

Red Va - 5 grams
Dark Air - 4 grams
Maryland - 4 grams
Burley - 7 grams
Perique (aged 1 year in Tomatin Scotch) - 4 grams (wet)
Casing - 1/4 teaspoon homemade vanilla extract + 2 teaspoons Tamdhu Scotch.

Leaf was misted with casing until pliable to prevent crumbling, then stacked in alternating layers to form a rectangle. This was placed in a Ziploc bag and placed in the vice where it will remain until the weekend.

 

[deluxestogie]

I love to see blends that are more daunting than I'm willing to explore. My crystal ball tells me that a bowl of Nestled Pebble will leave you nestled among the pebbles.

Bob

 

[GreenDragon]

I love to see blends that are more daunting than I'm willing to explore. My crystal ball tells me that a bowl of Nestled Pebble will leave you nestled among the pebbles.

Bob

Yep, in hind sight I should have halved the amount of Maryland and DA (Scotch might have been applied to more than just the leaf). The perique was very wet, so dry weight I probably added less than 2 grams. If I like the flavor I will start blending in some Lemon Va or similar to lighten the wattage a bit. These will be SMALL trial bowls to start!

 

[GreenDragon]

Quick update. I took the plug out of the vice today after work and cut it in half to double the thickness. I also used this opportunity to add in some Canadian Lemon Va before loading back into the vice.



Before cutting


Back in the vice.

 

[GreenDragon]

I took the plug out of the vice last night and cut into slices to start drying out for tasting this weekend. In the pre-cut pic you can see the Lemon Va I added the previous day. The aroma is deep and complex. Strangely, you cannot pick out the vanilla or Scotch, it's just one medley of goodness.


I left the strips out to dry on a piece of root ball I hope to turn into a few pipes when dried out.


A polished piece from a similar root I removed from the yard this summer. Very hard wood and beautiful grain.

 

[PressuredLeaf]

I took the plug out of the vice last night and cut into slices to start drying out for tasting this weekend. In the pre-cut pic you can see the Lemon Va I added the previous day. The aroma is deep and complex. Strangely, you cannot pick out the vanilla or Scotch, it's just one medley of goodness.
View attachment 28894

I left the strips out to dry on a piece of root ball I hope to turn into a few pipes when dried out.
View attachment 28895

A polished piece from a similar root I removed from the yard this summer. Very hard wood and beautiful grain.
View attachment 28896

Looking good! Isn't amazing how the seemingly strong additives just sort of disappear into the leaf? The just yesterday I was casing a blend and was actively trying to add enough vodka extract of Anise to get some licorice flavor. I thought I over did it, but after letting it dry overnight I cant even smell any licorice just the rich tobacco. This is extra surprising to me because Anethole (the compound responsible for the licorice smell) has bp well above water, so its not like it just evaporated.

 

[GreenDragon]

Looking good! Isn't amazing how the seemingly strong additives just sort of disappear into the leaf? The just yesterday I was casing a blend and was actively trying to add enough vodka extract of Anise to get some licorice flavor. I thought I over did it, but after letting it dry overnight I cant even smell any licorice just the rich tobacco. This is extra surprising to me because Anethole (the compound responsible for the licorice smell) has bp well above water, so its not like it just evaporated.

Wait until you light it, the heat will liberate the oils that have soaked into the leaf, so try a bowl before you add more. I'm actually steeping a 50/50 mix of Licorice root and star anise right now to use in my next blend - a takeoff on Orlik Dark Strong Kentucky. Stay tuned!

 

[GreenDragon]

Went ahead and loaded a pipe to smoke while grilling some brauts for dinner. Smokes cool and has a nice flavor, but lacks something flavor wise. Needs a little “pop”. Any suggestions?

Also, the wife rated the stinky factor as a 4/10 - score!

 

[deluxestogie]

Perhaps a bit of something brassy, like Basma or Lemon Virginia might liven it up. The initial ingredients all seem on the side of tubas and trombones.

Bob

 

[GreenDragon]

Thanks for the inspiration Bob. I ribbon cut two leaves each of Stacked Basma, Katerina, and homemade Latakia (made from stacked Basma). I mixed that in with the remaining blend, but in a bag and will press overnight to marry and make a crumble cake.