Topping ingredient ratios

[abador]

Hey everyone, I just got everything from the store that I am going to use to make a few toppings for my tobacco crop. I am trying to figure out the ratios that other people have found to be good and I am also wondering if anyone has any experience with my ingredients. I am going to use some honey that came from my hives as a base and I think I need to ad water to that. I picked up some non flavored powdered gelatin from the jello isle but obviously I don't want my tobacco to have a gel layer on it. I am making three different flavors. Vanilla, cinnamon apple and espresso. For the vanilla I picked up some Spice island pure vanila extract without corn syrup. For the Apple cinnamon I got some apple juice concentrate and I am going to ad some cinnamon to it. I am hoping this one will have a nice fall feel to it. For the espresso flavor I am planning on just making a shot of espresso and putting that in the mix. I hope this turns out well. Thanks ahead of time for your input.

 

[leverhead]

Re: Toping ingredient ratios

Is this going into a pipe?? If so I don't understand the use of gelatine. If you use cinnamon, go real light, it's pretty potent! The other flavors I don't have any thoughts on.

 

[abador]

Re: Toping ingredient ratios

It is going into a pipe. the gelatin is meant to be used as a humidification ingredient to keep the tobacco humidified. I kept asking for glycerine but they kept reffering me to the gelatin so my assumption is that they are the same thing.

 

[Gdaddy]

Re: Toping ingredient ratios

Micheal's art supply has glycerin used for making cup cake icing. Thick, clear and sweet. Holds moisture. Molasses holds moisture also. (black strap)

In the spice isle at Publix they have vanilla and coffee extract. Almond is also nice.

 

[deluxestogie]

Re: Toping ingredient ratios

Gelatin is protein. Think of Jello. You've got to refrigerate it to keep it from spoiling (or melting).

I should also add that there is no need for humectants in pipe tobacco. It's used for commercial pipe tobacco so that the product feels "squishy" and "fresh." If my pipe blends get too dry, I just mist it lightly. Pipe tobacco also burns better without a humectant.

Bob

 

[FmGrowit]

Re: Toping ingredient ratios

I kept asking for glycerine but they kept referring me to the gelatin.

Who are "they"?

my assumption is that they are the same thing.

"They" are not the same thing at all.

 

[abador]

Re: Toping ingredient ratios

They are the people that I kept asking at the store.

 

[Jitterbugdude]

Re: Toping ingredient ratios

If you want to add flavorings you will have to get concentrated ones. I'd suggest you start with LorAnn oils. As already stated, you do not need to make a goopy mixture like commercial tobacco. A little bit of PG will add some anti-microbial effect but it is not needed. As Bob said, just spritz with water. It is a learning process. You'll figure it out real quick.

The apple juice concentrate just won't get it!.. get some concentrated apple extract from Lor Ann.

 

[Boboro]

Candy Flavor dotcom Has VG based flavors.

 

[abador]

I made some vanilla as well as some apple cinnamon toppings. I didn't get to try the apple cinnamon but I did try the vanilla and it turned out pretty good. I mixed 1/3 cup vodka, 2 tsp natural vanilla extract and 1 tsp of my home harvested honey. I sprayed the mixture over the tobacco and let it dry. The smells of the topping seem to have faded but I haven't tried the tobacco in a while so I can't say anything for flavor.

 

[BarG]

Whatever happened to just regular ole tobacco? I get totally lost in all the ingrediants to add.

 

[smokinghole]

Whatever happened to just regular ole tobacco? I get totally lost in all the ingrediants to add.

This is exactly why I started on this site and buying WLT. I wanted pipe tobacco with out flavors added and with out additional sugars. I love it and tend to find myself leaving my commercial blends alone when I want to smoke a pipe and grab my own flakes instead because I like the purer tobacco flavor.

 

[SmokeStack]

This is exactly why I started on this site and buying WLT. I wanted pipe tobacco with out flavors added and with out additional sugars. I love it and tend to find myself leaving my commercial blends alone when I want to smoke a pipe and grab my own flakes instead because I like the purer tobacco flavor.

I found this to be a common among many pipe smokers, this is, smoking flavored tobaccos (aromatics) and then moving towards pure tobaccos. When I first started smoking the pipe, I loved the smell of aromatic blends. As time moved on, I began to discover that there is whole new world out there than flavored aromatics. Now, I very rarely smoke aromatics - usually on the holidays when the family gets together and enjoys the smell of a good aromatic. Other than that, I am a dedicated smoker of additive free pipe blends.

 

[smokinghole]

I found this to be a common among many pipe smokers, this is, smoking flavored tobaccos (aromatics) and then moving towards pure tobaccos. When I first started smoking the pipe, I loved the smell of aromatic blends. As time moved on, I began to discover that there is whole new world out there than flavored aromatics. Now, I very rarely smoke aromatics - usually on the holidays when the family gets together and enjoys the smell of a good aromatic. Other than that, I am a dedicated smoker of additive free pipe blends.

Aromatics actually prevented me liking pipes. I smoked cigars since about 17 and worked in a cigar shop in college after six years in the military. Non-aromatic blends got me to break out my pipes. In fact it was a surprise tin of Penzance and my first experience with latakia that got me hooked.

 

[Planter]

I found this to be a common among many pipe smokers, this is, smoking flavored tobaccos (aromatics) and then moving towards pure tobaccos.

I in some ways went the opposite way... Started with those famous English mixtures and VaPers serious pipe smokers were praising. Some are very nice indeed, but generally, for "pure tobacco", I prefer the homegrown by now, which tends to be much more flavourful and bite-free after 1-2 years of aging.


I´m usually buying aromatics these days, since I found that an addition of about 30% air cured Oriental or cigar leaf does wonders to the depth and smokability of certain flavoured tobaccos, while maintaining or enhancing a cliché pipe smell.


For example, my favourite at the moment is W.O.Larsens "Lotus" mixed with air cured, somewhat cigarish "Tik Konlak" (a similar flavour to Bursa) from last year.
Currently, I´m testing which other aromatics work well that way.


This approach offers endless variety. Others have done that before with aromatics and Latakia, I believe. One of the wonders of the pipe is after all that with each bowl one can experience something new.

 

[deluxestogie]

Although I have posted a number of all-tobacco pipe recipes, and even a recipe for a lightly flavored pipe casing, I seldom follow any of these when making up a batch of pipe tobacco. I cook the same way.

When starting out preparing a pipe blend (or something new for dinner), I believe it is encouraging and helpful to follow a recipe. But once I feel comfortable with rough notions of proportions, and the general ingredients, I usually just wing it. I enjoy the variety and the challenge of modifications.

[OFF TOPIC: The other day, I made a hamburger and sauerkraut soufflé in a dutch oven on the stove-top. Lots of eggs, milk, cottage cheese and Parmesan, along with diced tomatoes. Yep. It was tasty. Did I write down the recipe? Nope. The vague details you see are all that I'll remember. But that recollection opens a new creative space for the next experiment.]

BACK ON TOPIC: Sauerkraut usually goes well with pork. But if there is an open package of ground beef begging to be used, well...considerations change. If you've ever baked a sugar-laced apple in a campfire, then you already know that Latakia can blend well with sweet aromatics.

One of our greatest hurdles to inventive pipe blending (or cigar blending, for that matter) is the categorization imposed on commercial pipe tobacco by consumer expectations. [Books have the same problem. Is a well-written story with some curiously speculative elements categorized as literary fiction, general fiction, science fiction, fantasy, fantasy sci-fi...?] Phooey! Whether you grow your own infinite varieties of leaf, or purchase whole leaf, your own blending can transcend those commercial strictures. Playing with different and unexpected ingredients widens horizons and leads to wonderful discovery. Who knew burley works magic with CT Broadleaf?

I better stop, while I'm still feeling uplifted.

Bob

 

[thatshychef]

For a basic 'keep-the-tobacco-from-burning-hot' casing, I have been going with a mix of 4 parts water to 1 part glycerin; this I apply on the loose or shredded leaf with a spray bottle (just until the tobacco is just a little bit damp... not soaked) and then allow the tobacco to air dry until it returns to the proper moisture level. Because most of the other stuff in non-oil extracts (including vanilla) is glycerin and propylene glycol (something that has smoking properties similar to glycerine), I will usually use extracts in mixes with a water-to-extract ratio similar to that of the basic casing (usually 4-to-1 or 8-to-3). Just be careful to read the labels on extracts... NEVER use any thing that has 'oil of' in the ingredients... they are wretched-tasting when burned. If you want to tinker with flavors, I suggest that you try the LorAnn candy flavoring 'oils' (they usually aren't actual oils) available at Wal Mart, Michaels, or Amazon; I will usually cut the LorAnn flavorings with glycerine (3 parts flavoring to 1 part glycerine) and use the resulting mixture in a basic 4-to-1 casing. For smoking, I have found that the flavor of fruit juices really doesn't carry over into the flavor of the smoke. Overall, in regards to real food products used as tobacco additives, it seems like the taste of the smoke (i.e. the burnt food ingredient) is rarely similar to that of the actual food (with the exception of dark liquors... which I consider a legitimate food group ).

 

[deluxestogie]

NEVER use any thing that has 'oil of' in the ingredients...

Welcome to the forum. Feel free to start a new thread in the "Introduce Yourself" forum.

I am hesitant about using the word, "never." I have successfully used Canadian Whiskey as a casing solvent for oil of anise. A drop or two of the anise oil in several ounces of whiskey will add a vague sweetness to the tobacco--after evaporating the ethanol, without making the anise flavor recognizable. I haven't tried other flavoring oils. One easy test is to allow a drop of an oil flavorant to fall onto a hot, stove-top burner. Those that smell foul are pretty obvious.

But I agree that PG-based flavors are usually a better choice. A good online source (both PG-based and oil-based) is http://www.candyflavor.com/PG_Based_Candy_Flavor.html.

For "hot-burning" tobacco, just bringing it into case with a misting of water solves that problem, and seems to me to be a cleaner tasting smoke. [The blight from which most of today's commercial English-style pipe blends suffer is the addition of humectants to what used to be wonderful, pure tobacco blends. Dunhill's, Rattrays and others--in the hands of nouveau marketeers--have destroyed their lovely, historic blends with their newly-introduced chemical approaches to increasing shelf life and an eternally springy feel.]

Also, the addition of certain leaf can serve to maintain moisture content. Home-made black Cavendish, commercial Latakia, dark air-cured and pressure-cured Perique tend to be more hygroscopic than the flue-cured portion of a pipe blend.

Bob

 

[thatshychef]

Neat! I'll have to try diffusing the oil flavorings into a spirit/alcohol. In the past, I have attempted to use the oil-extracts in the 1-to-4 type mixes, giving the blends a lovely orange-y or lime-y burning tire taste. Nonetheless, regardless of the casing style/flavor, it always seems that a 'light hand' is always the best... if you're going to smoke tobacco, you might as well taste it. Personally, I break out casings if I'm pressing a crumble cake (were I've broken up the leaf-pieces a liiiiiitle too much and need a little bit of 'glue') or smoking an unmixed, hot-burning leaf like a Virginia flue cured. In regards to the hot-burning leaves, it seems that when I just use plain water, the tobacco dries out a third to half way through the bowl (even when sipping the pipe), leaving the smoke with a hot, bite-y, cigarette-like taste. By lightly using the casing (the tobacco should still be able to dry out even with the casing), it seems to slow the drying of the tobacco as it burns, allowing the leaf's delicate, sweet-zestiness to come through for most of the bowl. With the flavored casings, they're just condiments to add a little 'something-something' to a leaf, like twist of lemon or dash of bitters in a spirit... not an all-the-time thing, but something to spice things up every now and then. Nonetheless, as you pointed out, if making blends that do or could incorporate a cavendish or slower burning leaves like latakia or perique, forget the casing and let the tobacco work its own magic!

 

[Jitterbugdude]

I only using flavoring in my dip/chew. Smoking pure tobacco tastes too good to add flavorings to it. The closest I come is I add Deer's Tongue to a few of my pipe blends.