Question for the Lakeland’s fans

[Davo]

Any of you Lakeland’s fans tried infusing some homemade blends with a Lakeland’s essence?

I was thinking about rubbing out a flake of something like Ennerdale and mixing it in with something, either prior to pressing, or afterwards, and then placing in a sealed jar in a water bath (190f) for about 5 hours.

Anyone had any success or failures trying this?

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

Any of you Lakeland’s fans tried infusing some homemade blends with a Lakeland’s essence?

I was thinking about rubbing out a flake of something like Ennerdale and mixing it in with something, either prior to pressing, or afterwards, and then placing in a sealed jar in a water bath (190f) for about 5 hours.

Anyone had any success or failures trying this?

Funny you should mention it. I've only just begun exploring this business. Years ago, I bought some Samuel Gawith Grouse Moor and I liked the taste but the ghosts it left were insane and not worth it.

That's my only experience with Lakeland, unless if you count Bob's Chocolate and 1792, etc. I honestly don't know what Lakeland is supposed to be.


But right now, I have, on the go, a very heavy tobacco blend: Goose Creek, Nostrano del Brenta, Bursa, Latakia, homegrown Costello Negro black cav.

To about 2oz, I've added 8 drops neroli oil, 10 drops 9% rose oil, 5 drops of bitters; and 4 caps full of rum; and 1tsp sugar.

The aroma is strong but the flavour is very light.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

The rum is Amrut Old Port.

 

[Davo]

I love the grouse! I’m normally pretty generous with sharing blends around, but that one is off limits! I really enjoy smoking it in a small clay, or sometimes a pinch mixed into a pouch of 79.

Yeah Lakeland’s is a funny one. I haven’t had much experience with the genre but I have enjoyed the range of flavours I have tried. Grousemoor is at one end, with almost an apricot jam vibe going on, then there’s the grasmere side with its heavy rose geranium essence, or some of the darker stuff with a clove/spice thing.

The best description of the genre was from the dude who introduced me to it, saying “imagine coming from a long history of making soaps and snuff and then incorporating that practice into smoking tobacco, almost the complete opposite approach to the states, where chew or smoking was the heritage, the Lakeland’s tradition was based on the nasal experience”. I don’t know how true his observations are, but it certainly made sense at the time.

Anyways, I’m just drying out some of the experiment now for this morning’s smoke.

I placed 1oz of a VA plug I had made and sliced into a sealed jar, with 1.5tspn ennerdale flake diced into very small cubes and 3tspn (1/2oz) of water. Placed inside a water bath in a slow cooker and cooked for 7hours on low. This time included however long it took the slow cooker to come to temperature and once I turned it off I left the jar inside overnight with the lid on till cool. Opened just now and the room smells like treacle and rose geranium.

 

[Davo]

Stumbled upon this thread in the meantime which I found interesting

Lakelands: Let's Build A Sauce Scale :: Pipe Tobacco Discussion

I just fired up some Coniston Cut Plug and read the thread concerning Ennerdale. I've enjoyed the Lakelands I've tried so far and I realize that I've only scratched the surface. For the sake of myself and other "saucy" smokers, let's build a comprehensive list of all things Lakeland and try to...

pipesmagazine.com

 

[Davo]

Well, it worked, and I really like it.

Not the full Lakeland’s experience as you would get from the flake itself, but a much more mellow flavour that permeates the entire bowl. I haven’t really smoked any of the British OTCs, but I imagine this is what they must be like.

Next time I might increase the quantity of ennerdale to match the liquid. I will also add a bit of burley, and maybe a touch of dark fired leaf as a condiment.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

You flavored tobacco with flavored tobacco?
I think, based on the pipesmagazine thread you linked, that you chose the right one.

My blend above is probably a 1.5, but I think if the blend was less full bodied, it would have easily been a 2.

 

[Davo]

Haha yeah it definitely won’t be allowed in the pure pipe blends thread.

I think going forward, I might try adding a bit of Ennerdale (or whatever Lakeland’s dregs I find in the cellar) to the jar next time I make cavendish, and then treat it as a blending component in itself, rather than trying to make a blend in itself.

One day I’ll get around to making a sauce using seasonal ingredients that are grown here in NZ rather than trying to recreate something from a different terroir

 

[karam]

Stumbled upon this thread in the meantime which I found interesting

Lakelands: Let's Build A Sauce Scale :: Pipe Tobacco Discussion

I just fired up some Coniston Cut Plug and read the thread concerning Ennerdale. I've enjoyed the Lakelands I've tried so far and I realize that I've only scratched the surface. For the sake of myself and other "saucy" smokers, let's build a comprehensive list of all things Lakeland and try to...

pipesmagazine.com

Ah yes, Jay's thread, if you like Lakelands like me it is bookmark-worthy!

On point, my only attempts to flavour tobacco with tobacco is mixing MacBaren's vanilla cream (called Classic in the EU) 1:1:1 with a local company's straight Burley and Virginia, I found the mix is better than the sum of its parts.

I will be attempting to flavour my homegrown burley with tonka beans though, hopefuly will get some of the taste coming through. I remember a thread by @ChinaVoodoo in the pipe forum that very little of the natural materials' flavour comes through unfortunately.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

Ah yes, Jay's thread, if you like Lakelands like me it is bookmark-worthy!

On point, my only attempts to flavour tobacco with tobacco is mixing MacBaren's vanilla cream (called Classic in the EU) 1:1:1 with a local company's straight Burley and Virginia, I found the mix is better than the sum of its parts.

I will be attempting to flavour my homegrown burley with tonka beans though, hopefuly will get some of the taste coming through. I remember a thread by @ChinaVoodoo in the pipe forum that very little of the natural materials' flavour comes through unfortunately.

I suspect tonka is very effective because deerstongue is quite good in miniscule amounts.

The ingredients I'm most skeptical of are beverages like whiskey and rum, and coffee, and anything fruity. It takes more rum by weight, than tobacco to really notice it for instance, so when a tobacco company says anything like that, it's most assuredly not actually what they say it is.

I'm experimenting with essential oils atm. So far, I've concluded a couple things. I'm not sure how helpful these discoveries are so far, but I thought I would share anyway.

Vitiver is disgusting.
Rose/Geranium at 2.5% weight in a blend smells crazy strong but tastes balanced.
Real 9% rose oil(non geranium) at 0.75% in a blend has a nice tin aroma and is subtle and hardly 'noticeable' in the smoke.
A similar amount of neroli is less recognizable as a flavour you would identify, and blends well with vanilla.

Deerstongue leaf is good at amounts between 1 and 3%.

Alcohol based vanilla extract at 50%w/w in a blend is noticeable 200% baker's weight is too much, but can be used as a blending component.

Grape molasses is totally superior to molasses molasses. 30g cigar trimmings plus 12g grape molasses plus 15g of a sour wine has a balanced pH when you smoke it.

 

[karam]

@ChinaVoodoo this stuff is gold.

I'm thinking to try to make an extract, apparently steeping them in alcohol can force their essential oils, including coumarin, to precipitate on the skin of the bean, which are then scraped off and further processed. What I'm thinking is to crush a bean or two into pure alcohol, steep it in a closed jar, perhaps in warm water, then filter this slurry and use the filtrate for flavouring, with some honey and maple syrup dissolved in it, how does that sound?

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

@ChinaVoodoo this stuff is gold.

I'm thinking to try to make an extract, apparently steeping them in alcohol can force their essential oils, including coumarin, to precipitate on the skin of the bean, which are then scraped off and further processed. What I'm thinking is to crush a bean or two into pure alcohol, steep it in a closed jar, perhaps in warm water, then filter this slurry and use the filtrate for flavouring, with some honey and maple syrup dissolved in it, how does that sound?

That sounds good to me but I've never even seen a tonka bean before so my guess is as good as yours.

I realize most of us are diy types, but have you considered simply buying tonka bean extract? Maybe it's hard to find. I know where I can get it here.

 

[karam]

I realize most of us are diy types, but have you considered simply buying tonka bean extract? Maybe it's hard to find. I know where I can get it here.

You're right, my instinct is always to try to make something from scratch, although I can buy tonka extract in Athens indeed.

Found this post by @Jitterbugdude on the pipe forum, now I know what I'll do, though any additional information would be very welcome.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

.. any additional information would be very welcome.

I will without shame report my experiments. And I hope to learn from your work as well!

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

Ok, so in response to the excellent work of @Krausen89 , and a bowl of Samuel Gawith XX, I decided to play around with olive oil.

This is the first of two. I took flue cured Ostrolist, which has been in the form of a carotte for a few years. I filled a jar with dried elder berries, mixed in some water and olive oil and stuck a chunk of tobacco in. Baked in sealed jar at 280°F for four hours, then left in hot oven until cool. Then sliced and dried on top of the radiator.

I just sampled it.
There was a little too much oil absorption, to the point of noticing it in the aftertaste. I think I'll spread it on paper towel for a bit of time. It burns well, has definitely moved towards that XX profile. A bit of fire cured mixed in would do it even more. Overall, the tobacco is much better than before I did this.

I think I would pay more attention next time to the amounts used. Also, I think if I used rope instead of carotte, it would absorb less oil, because the carotte has 'end grain' which wicks it in. Wrapping it in a binder leaf or something would make a big difference. Maybe too much. Not sure.

 

[karam]

Great experimenting! What's the purpose of the elderberries? I can't recall their taste at all, think I picked some from a bush by the roadside in the UK, many years ago, were tart more than anything, and maybe very slightly floral.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

Great experimenting! What's the purpose of the elderberries? I can't recall their taste at all, think I picked some from a bush by the roadside in the UK, many years ago, were tart more than anything, and maybe very slightly floral.

Dried elderberries are more like dried currants. More raisin than raisin. I've done that before with a flue cured rope, baked in elderberries (and water) and it enhances the pruniness of the tobacco.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

Olive oil experiment 2

I took a chunk of Pergeu carotte, a Brazilian dark air cured tobacco, and smothered the outside in olive oil, wrapped it in parchment paper, suspended it above water in a jar, and baked at 280°F for 4 hours.

The oil and steam only penetrated half way.
It was too dry on the inside to cut without crumbling, and afterwards, I had to add water. If done again, I would use a narrower chunk.

Smoking it, it is also better than before the treatment. It is more smooth, and surprisingly became more complex with previously absent floral, smoky, and leather notes.

Overall, it certainly went in the XX direction, and not nearly as far as the Ostrolist batch.

Next step is to use these components in a blend. I'm thinking a starting point of 47.5% of each, and 5% WLT dark fire cured.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

12.5g each of Costello cav,
KY17, &
cigar scrap (mostly Corona wrapper, Piloto seco, PA ligero, Nic hab viso, pelo de Oro seco, nic wrapper)
5g grape molasses
0.4g rose hibiscus essential oil
6g Free Form cab sauv


It's ok. I wouldn't call it a success. Lots of rose though.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

I want to tell you about a new blend I made which I like a lot, that I think fits the Lakeland umbrella.

So I took 50g of shredded fire cured Delhi-34. (Delhi-34 is usually flue cured, so it's a lighter, sweeter tobacco to begin with.)
I added 2g of palm oil, and 60g water.
I pressure cooked it at 11lbs for 75 minutes then baked it to low case at 200°F
Then I added 5g WLT dark air.