Pure Tobacco Pipe Blends You Can Make

[deluxestogie]

Need a Windows folder icon for storing your pipe blend recipes in style? Download this icon, tuck it away in a safe spot (like your Documents folder), then once you create a folder for your recipes, set the Custom Icon property of your recipe folder by navigating to the saved .ico file.

PipeTobaccoRecipeFolder.ico [The above is just a picture of the icon, not the real icon. It depicts a Ropp: Heritage Sandblasted (354).]

Just save this .ico file as described above [Save Image As PipeTobaccoRecipeFolder.ico].

Bob

 

[deluxestogie]

For Android, etc. I believe you can save the folder image as a .png file. If, on the other hand, you have gone over to the Dark Side, here is a link to some manner of Apple-like folder icon. [Provided as-is. No way for me to test it.]

Download Pipe Tobacco Recipe Folder icon for maybe some Apple things compressed as a .zip file.

Bob

 

[deluxestogie]

I consider this an evening pipe blend. Although the nicotine is on the high side between medium and full, it's the aromas and taste that seem to say, "evening", to my brain. Despite all the Cavendish, made from 3 different classes of tobacco, I detect no sweetness, but rather a "dry", dark sensation. Deep, if you will.

With one quarter of the blend Oriental (Krumovgrad—a Basma type—in my blend), the pH is kept in a bite-free range. Burn is good. It is not so heavy that I would consider it only a last pipe of the day. [Confession: I have also enjoyed this blend as an all day smoke. It's even rather nice with my morning coffee. Sigh. Sometimes it's just difficult to categorize a nice pipe blend.]

Krumovgrad is offered in "T2" and "B2", which are similar. The T2 seems a shaver less fragrant than the B2. Both are slightly more edgy than Greek or Turkish Basma. Within a pipe blend, I notice very little difference.

Deep Space

• Virginia Bright Cavendish 31.25% (5 parts per 16)
• Burley Red Tip Cavendish 15.5% (2½ parts per 16)
• Little Yellow Cavendish 28.25% (4½ parts per 16)
• Krumovgrad 25% (4 parts per 16)

Deep Dish

• Virginia Cavendish 31.25% (5 parts per 16)
• Burley Cavendish 15.5% (2½ parts per 16)
• Dark Air-Cured Cavendish 28.25% (4½ parts per 16)
• Oriental 25% (4 parts per 16)

Download 3½" hi-res Deep Space blend label as pdf.

Bob

 

[piping_presbyter]

Genevan Mixture. Very similar to Presbyterian. Medium flavor and strength.

Components (parts by weight)

* 4 WLT Red

* 2 WLT Bright/lemon

* 2 WLT Cavendish

* 3 WLT Basma

* 3 WLT Latakia



Process

1.) put the leaves in a pile and bring to medium case.

2.) Roughly chop.

3.) Press for 30 minutes at full pressure

4.) remove from press and slice into 1.5 mm wide flakes

5.) completely rub into ribbon and mix thoroughly

6.) dry to low-medium case and jar for one month, minimum.

 

[deluxestogie]

What is WLT Cavendish?

Bob

 

[stdly]

What is WLT Cavendish?

Bob

Got two of these for Christmas last year.

 

[deluxestogie]

Ah! I have a bit of that Cavendish as well. It's cased with humectants, so I'll ignore them with regard to Genevan.

Download 3½" hi-res Genevan blend label as pdf.

Bob

 

[deluxestogie]

Thoughts on Endless Pipe Blend Recipes

Over the years, I have made up hundreds of pipe blends, of which somewhere under 200 seemed worth recording. Why so many?

First of all, there is an element of exploration of new categories of pipe blend—new directions; roads less traveled by. That is always fun, and satisfying. So some of my new blends are the result of curiosity and adventure.

More often than not, I explore a new blend because I've run out of my supply of one or more specific ingredients needed to make a batch of an earlier blend. That is similar in spirit to our Quarantine Cooking thread—making something nice from whatever happens to be available at the moment. Sometimes, those impromptu ingredients are actually ones that I've had and ignored for a long time (e.g. a large bag of burley red tips that @BigBonner sent me years ago, and that were "old" already, at the time he sent them. This kilned into the finest burley I've ever had the joy of smoking).

Yesterday, in a search for the names of all of McClelland's "Frog" blends, I stumbled into the fact that McClelland conjured over 300 different blends during the company's decades of existence.

a search of "McClelland":

Tobacco Reviews | Search Tobaccos

Tobacco Search Keyword Search switch to filter search. Try to search for reviews Change to reviews search

www.tobaccoreviews.com

[I haven't figured out how to get that website to show all 309, rather than only 50.]

In scanning through their list of blends, blend types and specific blend components, I realized that the McClellands had been doing the same thing that I have been doing. When the available components of a current blend vanished from the market, they invented new blends. Their ability to transition their blends in a timely manner, in response to market availability, was not compatible with the new FDA requirements that have hamstrung pipe blenders (and essentially fossilized pipe blends) over recent years. Since they were well past retirement age when the new rules threatened, they simply closed-up shop. Bye-bye McClelland.

Pipe blending must be as fluid as home cooking. We, as home-blenders, can make blend adjustments on a per batch basis. There is nothing inflexible or sacred about any of my blends: a little bit of this, a pinch of that. With many of my posted blends, I include a "generic" recipe, in an attempt to make it easier for any home blender to improvise from what they have on hand. Of course, you can play with an infinite combination of added flavorings, but I have chosen to go with just tobacco flavor.

Happy blending.

Bob

 

[Old Gasman]

Is this what you're looking for Bob

https://www.tobaccoreviews.com/brand/37/mcclelland

 

[deluxestogie]

Yay! I found that once before, but then forgot how I found it.

Bob

 

[Old Gasman]

Oh I do that on a daily basis.

 

[Radagast]

Bob
I always look forward to your latest concoction like the anticipated new issue of a beloved magazine. Not just for the tobacco itself but the writing, description and imagery. To me this whole thread reads like a "special issue" of some kind of pipe tobacco magazine, page after page of unique blends, pictures, fun!
Keep 'em coming.

 

[deluxestogie]

the anticipated new issue of a beloved magazine.

Thank you. (I too am a fan of Mad Magazine!)

Bob

 

[Radagast]

Thank you. (I too am a fan of Mad Magazine!)

Bob

This box is my collection of Mad magazine from the 1990's.

 

[piping_presbyter]

I finally have a big batch of my own homemade Cavendish to experiment with. So I’m going to make a version of Genevan with that to compare. But WLT sent me the Cavendish free of charge, so I figured I would use it. So far, I have to say, it’s delicious.

 

[deluxestogie]

A Toofer for November: Two Cigar Scrap pipe blends

———— 1: With Cavendish

The secret of this pipe blend is that there is no recipe! It uses two varieties of Cavendish. The first is fairly straightforward: Flue-cured Virginia Red Cavendish. The second is a Cavendish made from a bag of short scraps from cigar rolling. The only thing certain about it is that it likely began as a cigar filler blend that was pleasing--but in a time-averaged sort of way. These scraps accumulate randomly over a time of ever-changing cigar filler blends. That means that it is actually a filler blend that has never been smoked anywhere on earth--ever. My next batch of the same thing will be different. Your batch will be different.

I used the VA Red Cavendish for both a wrapper and a binder, then rolled a cigar using entirely cigar short scrap Cavendish as the filler. The diameter of the cigar that you roll will determine the ratio between the two ingredients. My cigar was about 60 ring at the foot, gradually tapering to 50 ring at the head. As you can see below, it is haphazard, and rolled into a cigar to facilitate slicing an even shred.

Slice coins, then cut lengthwise 1 to 3 times to limit shred length.

How was my version? The burn was excellent. It seemed moderate in nicotine. (Cavendish cooking moderates the pH of the smoke, in this case, lowering it from the cigar range, and resulting in less nicotine absorption.) I don't smell any characteristic cigar aroma, but rather a soft, deep, richness. In comparison to smoking a bowl of pure Cigar short scrap Cavendish, this blended version is smoother, with a broader flavor profile. But I found it a bit too alkaline (biting at the sides of my tongue). The addition of a bit of Oriental (I added perhaps 15%) remedied the bite. Another remedy to make the blend less alkaline is to roll a thinner cigar, which increases the surface area (wrapper and binder) in relation to the volume (filler).

Moonscape: roll a cigar of

• Flue-cured Virginia Red CAVENDISH as wrapper and binder
• Random Cigar short scrap CAVENDISH as filler
• Add a bit of Oriental, if needed, to make it less alkaline

Download 3½" hi-res label for Moonscape as pdf.


———— 2: No Cavendish

Belted Galloway

Your cigar short scrap is certainly different from my cigar short scrap. But the greater the number of varieties and priming levels represented by your cigar (mostly) filler over the time that you accumulate the scrap, the lovelier the resulting pipe blend. Mine, for this batch, is medium in nicotine, and presents a broad flavor profile, and a bite-free blend. Since your scrap will be different, adjust the ratio between the two flue-cured varieties—the bright and the red, to tune in a bite-free pH. The higher the bright percentage, the greater the bite at the tip of your tongue.

If your filler scrap tends to be predominantly viso and ligero leaf, then you might start with 40% scrap or lower, and increase the bright and red in their initial ratio (4:3) to make up the remaining 60%.

Short cigar scrap can become so much more than a step-child cigar.

Belted

• Random Cigar Short Scrap 56.25% (9 parts per 16)
• Flue-cured Virginia Bright 25% (4 parts per 16)
• Flue-cured Virginia Red 18.75% (3 parts per 16)

Download 3½" hi-res label for Belted as pdf.

Bob

 

[deluxestogie]

Photo: Iszzy Hayter-Rogers

This blend demands little attention from you as you smoke it. The smoke offers a slight edge (from the Izmir), but no tongue bite. There are no intense or dominating aromas. The tiny portion of Perique is noticeable in the pouch aroma, though subtle. The major role of Perique here is to adjust the pH a smidgen higher. Since Maryland is usually more hygroscopic than other classes of tobacco, I suggest smoking this blend on the dry side. Virginia "red" is flue-cured leaf from the upper primings, providing less acidity to the smoke than yellower bright leaf, but a little higher nicotine. If you substitute VA bright leaf for the red, then you may want to increase the proportion of Perique slightly. For a slightly less sparkly tinsel, use Basma or Krumovgrad instead of Izmir.

Christmas 2022 blend is a good choice to smoke in a pipe with a larger diameter bowl, since its nicotine is only moderate. Room note is merry, with an occasional jingle.

Christmas 2022

• Maryland 609 43.75% (7 parts per 16)
• Flue-cured VA Red 12.5% (2 parts per 16)
• Izmir 37.5% (6 parts per 16)
• Perique 6.25% (1 part per 16)

Holiday 2022

• Maryland 43.75% (7 parts per 16)
• Flue-cured VA 12.5% (2 parts per 16)
• Oriental 37.5% (6 parts per 16)
• Perique 6.25% (1 part per 16)

Download 3½" hi-res label for as pdf.

Bob

 

[tkaraca]

I am blending my own tobacco from leaf and this thread is my most favorite in the forum. Since I learned a lot here, I wish to share some recipes that I enjoy a lot and they are my regulars. You may like them too.

 

[Alpine]

Welcome to FTT @tkaraca feel free to introduce yourself in the introduce yourself section of the forum. And thank you for sharing your pipe blend recipes.

pier

 

[deluxestogie]

Interesting recipes, @tkaraca. I'll have to give them a try. And welcome.

Bob