Flue-cured less blend

[Youn]

Searching for ideas of flue-cured less blend, because I ran out of VA and can no longer purchase at WLT, I made a type of carrot with the following components :
- Dark air [ Homegrown Madole ('binder' and 'wrapper' of the carrot) and Goose Creek Red ]
- Oriental [ WLT Prilep and Basma ]
- Latakia (WLT)
- Perique (Cornell and Diehl)
- Kind of Cavendish [ VA bright homemade cavendish, toasted Madole (that behave as a cavendish) and Black Cavendish from Cornell and Diehl ]

The very approximative proportions are :
30% Dark Air
25% Oriental
20% Latakia
10% Perique
15% Cavendish

I rehydrated the dark air leaves with a casing of cocoa, honey and infused liquorice root, then I rolled a tight cigar, misting the 'bunch' with the casing.
I wrapped the cigar with a strip of paper as tight as possible and let it rest for a few days, twisting it regularly. Next I removed the strip of paper and let it dry one day more, sliced it and let the coins rest till completly dry after wich I finally filled a bowl and lit.
I enjoyed the smoke very much and I'm glad to learn I'm abble to blend something good with no flue-cured!

Know, I would like to keep experimenting in that way and I ask you : which are your favorites flue-cured less blends recipes?

 

[deluxestogie]

That was a challenge. Nearly every one of my blends depends on flue-cured Virginia to add acidity. Here is an older blend.

I've also found that different Cavendish varieties (for example Dark Air, Maryland or Burley) may smoke well with Latakia, Oriental or Perique.

Bob

 

[Youn]

I've also found that different Cavendish varieties (for example Dark Air, Maryland or Burley) may smoke well with Latakia, Oriental or Perique.

Bob

Yes, what you say make sense for me.

I'll think about your Warspur recipe… I've never tried air-cured VA and I can hardly imagine what's the taste of it, and the strength, compared to air-cured burley or dark.
In my attempt, what I used as 'dark air' was quite mild, the Madole 'wrapper' was from low-medium stalk position and the Goose Creek Red was from upper stalk but not so strong. Maybe it was closer to air-cured VA than it was to traditional dark air?
This is the reason why I had to give strength to the blend with some Perique, in a proportion comparable to the dark air in your Warspur.

Well, soon I'll have a better basis of reflexion with my 2019 crop… I'll discover the taste of air-cured VA!

 

[deluxestogie]

Consider building a flue-curing chamber.

Bob

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

Consider building a flue-curing chamber.

Bob

Correction :

Deeply consider building a flue-curing chamber.

 

[Charly]

Good idea to start a thread like this !
Since I have not build a flue curing chamber yet (I know I should, but I don't know when I'll find time to do it...)
All I have is air cured or sun cured bright leaves.

My air cured virginia (cherry red), two years old, is smooth and light, a bit acidic (but not much).
I will soon try other bright leave strains I grew last year that I manage to sun/air cure, I hope it will be different so I can compare.

 

[Youn]

Consider building a flue-curing chamber.

Bob

Correction :

Deeply consider building a flue-curing chamber.

Yes, it would be great… but I lack space and maybe my wife would not find the idea so good! I have a cellar but it does not have electricity.
Does the tobacco smell strong during the flue-cure process?
Anyway, I'll do some experiments to cure that leaves as close as possible to what they should be if flue-cured.

 

[Youn]

Good idea to start a thread like this !
Since I have not build a flue curing chamber yet (I know I should, but I don't know when I'll find time to do it...)
All I have is air cured or sun cured bright leaves.

My air cured virginia (cherry red), two years old, is smooth and light, a bit acidic (but not much).
I will soon try other bright leave strains I grew last year that I manage to sun/air cure, I hope it will be different so I can compare.

Thanks for describing your air-cured Cherry Red. Which VA strains did you grow last year?

 

[Youn]

Well, I had a second and a third smoke with this flue-cured less blend, with differents pipes and especially bigger bowl… I wanted to have a long smoke with it and see if the first impression persist.
And yes, I enjoyed again, until the bottom, although it differ from what I was accustomed to.
At least, this experiment made me identify better what's the part played by flue-cured in a blend.

Maybe a flue-cured less blend is a heresy but I will continue to experiment on it anyway

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

Flue curing takes up less space than air curing because you can process a single priming in a matter of a week.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

Maybe a flue-cured less blend is a heresy

Not at all. Smoke whatever you like. Half of my blends don't have flue cured either. It's just that flue cured tobacco is irreplaceable.

 

[deluxestogie]

Does the tobacco smell strong during the flue-cure process?

The entire process for one priming lasts 5 days (a little longer for upper primings), if the leaves are nearly ripe when primed. The first day is just yellowing: no smells. The second day and third day, when the leaf is drying, there is a relatively mild aroma, because of the water that is driven off. The final two days, when the temperature is taken to the maximum, there is very little odor. Regardless, the aroma is never awful, like cooking snus or cooking Cavendish.

My flue-cure season (specifically the total number of primings) lasts 5 or 6 weeks, with roughly 1 week per priming. But it does require electricity.

Bob

EDIT: My endoskeletal kiln can be disassembled while not in use, though I've never done that.

 

[Youn]

The entire process for one priming lasts 5 days (a little longer for upper primings), if the leaves are nearly ripe when primed. The first day is just yellowing: no smells. The second day and third day, when the leaf is drying, there is a relatively mild aroma, because of the water that is driven off. The final two days, when the temperature is taken to the maximum, there is very little odor. Regardless, the aroma is never awful, like cooking snus or cooking Cavendish.

My flue-cure season (specifically the total number of primings) lasts 5 or 6 weeks, with roughly 1 week per priming. But it does require electricity.

Bob

EDIT: My endoskeletal kiln can be disassembled while not in use, though I've never done that.

Thanks for the details, I'll think about that.