HostilePride
Active Member
Hello fellow tobacco enthusiasts,
Boy am I diving head first into yet another hobby.
Lately I have become interested in some things that will get me outside and in the garden. I have a hell of a lot of indoor hobbies and want to get away from the screen for a bit (massively into videogames, programming, and electronics/designing - May post more on this later as I have had a few ideas revolving around easier monitoring of humidity/temperatures for various parts of the tobacco processes, but I shall save that for another day). I am also a hobby Blacksmith/Bladesmith and machinist.
A brief introduction of myself:
My name is Kaden, I live in the south-west of Western Australia. I am currently 27 and was smoking Cigarettes since around 18.. I quit (Twice!) smoking cigarettes and have not smoked for at least 2 years now.
Personally I do not miss cigarette smoking, but have wanted to get into the occasional Cigar or Pipe smoking as I feel it's something I can enjoy doing once or twice a week, to help unwind and relax, or something to accompany my cup of coffee on a day off, etc.
I enjoy the DIY aspects of almost everything, whether it comes to Home brewing Beer or Distilling spirits (Both I do on quite a consistent basis), to custom built technology to integrate normal life into the technological world, or even the hands on experience of home renovation (Although my girlfriend probably wishes I don't take so long researching or planning everything in advanced... she can't see the amount of progress I make in my own head haha).
Importing tobacco products into Australia is very restrictive (Seeds will probably be the only thing I can import without getting some sort of ridiculous tax) so my only real option is to grow and do everything myself.
Daunting? No not really.
Excited to try it? Heck yea!
Information Overload? You betchya!
So here I am. I have gained a fairly good understanding on the whole process. But I have a few questions that I feel I need answered. Bellow I will list a bit of information I can provide to try and help.
I understand a lot of this can be subjective, I will take all answers with a grain of salt. This will be a lot like Beer or Cooking, not everything is for everyone. I just want your outlook on what could work for me.
My growing conditions:
I live in the South west of Western Australia as I mentioned. This area is a coastal, Semi-rural area where I have a decent amount of land. The soil here is not particularly fertile, but has amazing drainage. it is very gritty with very little plant matter, so I am expecting that I will either need to plant in large pots (Prefered as I could move the plants around if they are getting too much sun or not enough), or put some serious work into making some sort of plantbed area. Currently I grow very little vegetables or herbs, and those that are grown are done so in raised garden beds (Which are not all that large, probably not suitable for large plants).
This area, from what I can tell, is close to the US System of Region 10-11 (I was not aware of any growing regions or the like before starting this venture, so I may be incorrect with this. I am taking this information from Here)
Currently it is Winter so I have a lot of time to get things sorted for my growing season (Or what I perceive to be my growing season, I feel around August/Sept will be the best time to start).
Winter in Australia is VERY mild compared to other parts of the world. In my area if you asked someone "When is the last frost date for you?", you will get a blank stare and a reply of "What the bloody hell is a frost?"
In all seriousness though, we very rarely get to bellow 0°C (32°F), and frost isn't something I would worry about too much. 9 out of 12 months in Australia are usually quite hot, although where I am being coastal, doesn't really get too ridiculous, with an average of 18-28°C (64-83°F).
Humidity is something I never really paid attention to before now, but checking it out now, the average for my area is around 50%-60% from October and onwards, in summer it probably gets a little lower.
I want to focus on making my own Cigars with the possible potential for Pipe tobacco blends. The problem I have is I don't want to grow too many varieties as this can become fairly expensive (Both time and money-wise) and I wish to minimize the chances of cross pollination. I want to harvest the seeds as they are probably going to be a bit of a pain to get here, but this part I will have to see when I order.
What sort of varieties would you all recommend? I don't have the luxury of ordering leaf tobacco to try first which is a real shame. I don't have any local tobacconists (that aren't a 3 hour drive away). I have the potential to order some cigars online from within Australia but they are fairly expensive as out tax on tobacco products is exceptionally high.
I guess the best I can do is try and suggest some flavors of things I like or would like the cigars to compliment, so here goes:
I enjoy drinking coffee, which I normally serve with milk and sometimes with sugar (depending on how I am feeling), I usually go for a darker roast but don't like it if it gets too bitter.
I like drinking red wine (My area is super well known for it's wines), usually something like a Shiraz (I like the tannin mouth feel and taste of reds).
I enjoy a good beer as long as it isn't too floral/Hoppy (If I was to choose I like Stout/IPA as long as not too floral, and ALWAYS enjoy a good stout like Guiness, probably the Irish in me).
I would usually drink a Cider or a Ginger beer over a traditional beer if I had the choice, not too sweet but a hint is quite nice as a thirst quencher.
I enjoy chocolate and caramel flavors as long as they aren't too bitter (If I needed to choose a chocolate darkness it would probably be 60-70% dark).
I am aware that flavors are subjective and also the process of curing and aging have a huge impact on flavors.
I would probably want to start with no more than 3 varieties. I feel this would give me a good starting point as I work out what I like, and being on the lighter side would probably be better. When I smoked cigarettes I would usually choose something quite harsh (Winfield Red was my usual, high in nicotine and quite a harsh flavor, but I wasn't really smoking it for its amazing aromatic/flavor profile).
From these plants I would like to be getting the Filler/Binder and Wrapper out of these 3 plants (Or less, got any single plant suggestion? fire away!) and would have fun experimenting with different blends.
If there is anything commonly used as a Pipe tobacco that too would be a plus. I would be open to trying many plants later but for now I feel like I should keep it small.
What did you all start with?
Boy this post is getting massive. Still here? Thank you so much for your time.
I feel I should cut this here, any information you can provide is greatly appreciated. If I can learn from your mistakes it's one I don't have to make (or at least can identify when I do make it haha)
Many thanks,
Kaden.
Boy am I diving head first into yet another hobby.
Lately I have become interested in some things that will get me outside and in the garden. I have a hell of a lot of indoor hobbies and want to get away from the screen for a bit (massively into videogames, programming, and electronics/designing - May post more on this later as I have had a few ideas revolving around easier monitoring of humidity/temperatures for various parts of the tobacco processes, but I shall save that for another day). I am also a hobby Blacksmith/Bladesmith and machinist.
A brief introduction of myself:
My name is Kaden, I live in the south-west of Western Australia. I am currently 27 and was smoking Cigarettes since around 18.. I quit (Twice!) smoking cigarettes and have not smoked for at least 2 years now.
Personally I do not miss cigarette smoking, but have wanted to get into the occasional Cigar or Pipe smoking as I feel it's something I can enjoy doing once or twice a week, to help unwind and relax, or something to accompany my cup of coffee on a day off, etc.
I enjoy the DIY aspects of almost everything, whether it comes to Home brewing Beer or Distilling spirits (Both I do on quite a consistent basis), to custom built technology to integrate normal life into the technological world, or even the hands on experience of home renovation (Although my girlfriend probably wishes I don't take so long researching or planning everything in advanced... she can't see the amount of progress I make in my own head haha).
Importing tobacco products into Australia is very restrictive (Seeds will probably be the only thing I can import without getting some sort of ridiculous tax) so my only real option is to grow and do everything myself.
Daunting? No not really.
Excited to try it? Heck yea!
Information Overload? You betchya!
So here I am. I have gained a fairly good understanding on the whole process. But I have a few questions that I feel I need answered. Bellow I will list a bit of information I can provide to try and help.
I understand a lot of this can be subjective, I will take all answers with a grain of salt. This will be a lot like Beer or Cooking, not everything is for everyone. I just want your outlook on what could work for me.
My growing conditions:
I live in the South west of Western Australia as I mentioned. This area is a coastal, Semi-rural area where I have a decent amount of land. The soil here is not particularly fertile, but has amazing drainage. it is very gritty with very little plant matter, so I am expecting that I will either need to plant in large pots (Prefered as I could move the plants around if they are getting too much sun or not enough), or put some serious work into making some sort of plantbed area. Currently I grow very little vegetables or herbs, and those that are grown are done so in raised garden beds (Which are not all that large, probably not suitable for large plants).
This area, from what I can tell, is close to the US System of Region 10-11 (I was not aware of any growing regions or the like before starting this venture, so I may be incorrect with this. I am taking this information from Here)
Currently it is Winter so I have a lot of time to get things sorted for my growing season (Or what I perceive to be my growing season, I feel around August/Sept will be the best time to start).
Winter in Australia is VERY mild compared to other parts of the world. In my area if you asked someone "When is the last frost date for you?", you will get a blank stare and a reply of "What the bloody hell is a frost?"
In all seriousness though, we very rarely get to bellow 0°C (32°F), and frost isn't something I would worry about too much. 9 out of 12 months in Australia are usually quite hot, although where I am being coastal, doesn't really get too ridiculous, with an average of 18-28°C (64-83°F).
Humidity is something I never really paid attention to before now, but checking it out now, the average for my area is around 50%-60% from October and onwards, in summer it probably gets a little lower.
I want to focus on making my own Cigars with the possible potential for Pipe tobacco blends. The problem I have is I don't want to grow too many varieties as this can become fairly expensive (Both time and money-wise) and I wish to minimize the chances of cross pollination. I want to harvest the seeds as they are probably going to be a bit of a pain to get here, but this part I will have to see when I order.
What sort of varieties would you all recommend? I don't have the luxury of ordering leaf tobacco to try first which is a real shame. I don't have any local tobacconists (that aren't a 3 hour drive away). I have the potential to order some cigars online from within Australia but they are fairly expensive as out tax on tobacco products is exceptionally high.
I guess the best I can do is try and suggest some flavors of things I like or would like the cigars to compliment, so here goes:
I enjoy drinking coffee, which I normally serve with milk and sometimes with sugar (depending on how I am feeling), I usually go for a darker roast but don't like it if it gets too bitter.
I like drinking red wine (My area is super well known for it's wines), usually something like a Shiraz (I like the tannin mouth feel and taste of reds).
I enjoy a good beer as long as it isn't too floral/Hoppy (If I was to choose I like Stout/IPA as long as not too floral, and ALWAYS enjoy a good stout like Guiness, probably the Irish in me).
I would usually drink a Cider or a Ginger beer over a traditional beer if I had the choice, not too sweet but a hint is quite nice as a thirst quencher.
I enjoy chocolate and caramel flavors as long as they aren't too bitter (If I needed to choose a chocolate darkness it would probably be 60-70% dark).
I am aware that flavors are subjective and also the process of curing and aging have a huge impact on flavors.
I would probably want to start with no more than 3 varieties. I feel this would give me a good starting point as I work out what I like, and being on the lighter side would probably be better. When I smoked cigarettes I would usually choose something quite harsh (Winfield Red was my usual, high in nicotine and quite a harsh flavor, but I wasn't really smoking it for its amazing aromatic/flavor profile).
From these plants I would like to be getting the Filler/Binder and Wrapper out of these 3 plants (Or less, got any single plant suggestion? fire away!) and would have fun experimenting with different blends.
If there is anything commonly used as a Pipe tobacco that too would be a plus. I would be open to trying many plants later but for now I feel like I should keep it small.
What did you all start with?
Boy this post is getting massive. Still here? Thank you so much for your time.
I feel I should cut this here, any information you can provide is greatly appreciated. If I can learn from your mistakes it's one I don't have to make (or at least can identify when I do make it haha)
Many thanks,
Kaden.
