Hello all, UK cheapskate here: @Smoke-me-a-Kipper

[Smoke-me-a-Kipper]

Hi,
I'm smoke me a kipper from the UK's sunny south, where the air is fresh and the tobacco is slug-bitten.

Started growing my own tobacco (2nd season) due to silly shop prices and a desire to keep looking cool.

Currently growing Turkish Basma, catterton, harrow velvet and possibly yellow twist. Made the mistake of growing Virginia gold last year in pots and did not enjoy the piss-soaked hay taste, so I thought I would try something different that hopefully is ready with minimal waiting time.

I hope to learn from the greats and become the envy of shop bought tobacco smoking masses.

 

[deluxestogie]

Welcome to the forum. Read the New Growers' FAQ, linked in the menu bar. You may wish to scan through the topics in our Index of Key Forum Threads, also linked in the menu bar.

Most tobacco requires more than simply color-curing to be useable. Aging. Kilning can speed the process. The Basma can be sun-cured.

Bob

 

[Smoke-me-a-Kipper]

Thanks Bob. I have been leaving the Basma leaves on the plant until more or less crispy. I plan to rehydrate them slightly (bread method) before shredding.

I was under the impression that the varieties that I selected this year wouldn't need much curing/maturation time. Will the taste be that different if I wait 1 year before smoking?

 

[deluxestogie]

Most leaf that is simply color-cured will taste somewhat grassy. Burley noticeably improves with a few months of rest after color-curing. Flue-cured tobacco is ready immediately after coming out of the flue-cure chamber. Just about everything else continues to change significantly for months to years after simple air-curing (color-curing), unless you kiln it for 4-6 weeks. Even then, it further improves with age. Tobacco is simple, but slow.

Bob

 

[Knucklehead]

Welcome. Thank you for joining us.

 

[plantdude]

Don't throw your Virginia Gold away if you have any left. Set it aside for a year or so and it should improve - if it didn't dry green anyways.
You can try sun curing the orientals and Virginia gold in the future if you don't have a flu curing chamber, it will turn out better than air curing. To sun cure, put the leaves or stalk harvested plant in the sun after it begins to wilt slightly. Same concept more or less as air curing but you put them in direct sun instead of the shade and hope your humidity stays up. They should turn brown in 3 days to a week (stalk harvested plants take a little longer sometimes). Sun curing should keep the sugar content in the leaves up a bit higher and make them a little more appealing for cigs or pipe tobacco.
I'd avoid sun curing your burley or any cigar varieties though. I'd also suggest letting your harrow velvet and yellow twist bud (both very nice burleys that I also grow) air cure an extra week or two and rest for a month or two after air curing. Bob made the observation a while back that the white stem burleys seem to do better with a little longer air curing time and it does seem to help when I've tried it. Good luck.

 

[deluxestogie]

Bob made the observation a while back that the white stem burleys seem to do better with a little longer air curing time

White stem burleys lose their chlorophyll before the rest of the curing has completed. So they look really nice, but are just tricking you.

Bob

 

[Alpine]

Welcome to FTT

pier

 

[Smoke-me-a-Kipper]

Don't throw your Virginia Gold away if you have any left. Set it aside for a year or so and it should improve - if it didn't dry green anyways.
You can try sun curing the orientals and Virginia gold in the future if you don't have a flu curing chamber, it will turn out better than air curing. To sun cure, put the leaves or stalk harvested plant in the sun after it begins to wilt slightly. Same concept more or less as air curing but you put them in direct sun instead of the shade and hope your humidity stays up. They should turn brown in 3 days to a week (stalk harvested plants take a little longer sometimes). Sun curing should keep the sugar content in the leaves up a bit higher and make them a little more appealing for cigs or pipe tobacco.
I'd avoid sun curing your burley or any cigar varieties though. I'd also suggest letting your harrow velvet and yellow twist bud (both very nice burleys that I also grow) air cure an extra week or two and rest for a month or two after air curing. Bob made the observation a while back that the white stem burleys seem to do better with a little longer air curing time and it does seem to help when I've tried it. Good luck.

Yeah, I didn't throw it away, a problem smoked is a problem solved. It wasn't pleasant but I got through it and now I am a better man because of it.

How is the taste of the harrow velvet/yellow twist?
I think my harrow plant (or at least one) is looking rather sad, there were only like 4 decent sized leaves. The rest of them are pretty small and the whole lot have an odd colouring (as they die off). I will take some pictures of the leaning tower of velvet tomorrow.

I still have some bought whole leaf, so I will do my best to not smoke my crop too soon.

 

[Smoke-me-a-Kipper]

Most leaf that is simply color-cured will taste somewhat grassy. Burley noticeably improves with a few months of rest after color-curing. Flue-cured tobacco is ready immediately after coming out of the flue-cure chamber. Just about everything else continues to change significantly for months to years after simple air-curing (color-curing), unless you kiln it for 4-6 weeks. Even then, it further improves with age. Tobacco is simple, but slow.

Bob

I did buy some Burley and the taste is confusing, sometimes it tastes wonderfully sweet and reminds me of 'the devil's lettuce' and sometimes it tastes like the inside of an old glove smothered in manure. I believe it was grown in India, but I don't know the specific variety.

Is that a normal taste range for burley?

 

[deluxestogie]

Is that a normal taste range for burley?

Not that I am aware of.

Bob

 

[Smoke-me-a-Kipper]

Not that I am aware of.

Bob

Oh.

 

[plantdude]

Harrow velvet is a medium strength burley, yellow twist bud is a mild strength burley. Both have a nice flavor and both have leaves the naturally yellow and lighten while they are on the plant. It almost makes the plant look sickly but it's not. The lighter leaves on them is good for people just starting out because that's a pretty visual cue that those leaves are close to maturity and can be harvested soon. The drawback is the same chlorophyll mutation that causes those yellow leaves also seems to decrease the overall fitness of the plant a bit. Bot varieties can struggle more than other tobaccos in less than optimal conditions.