Adding Alcohol to Tobacco

[user 4351]

I like mixing cocktails. I'm no good at it, but I have a few recipes under my belt that I like well enough. Lately I've been curious about taking some tobacco, soaking it in some whiskey, letting it dry, and seeing how it "tastes" (smokes).

I was wondering if any of you have any experience with doing something like this, and if so, how it turned out. Of course I run the risk of ruining the tobacco (probably not beyond use), but unless there are some terribly compelling reasons to avoid doing this, I might try it with some of what I'll pick up here in a bit from the smoke shop.

 

[Blackhorse]

It’s not uncommon add some booze to tobacco. Rum, whiskey & brandy might be the most used. I’m no expert but I think that a small amount is added to some tobacco and then you mix it really well. The “soak the tobacco in it” approach seems heavy handed to me. Extracts are another type of additive...like vanilla, almond, licorice, etc. There used to be a couple of vendors that sold a wide variety of extracts to appeal to home blenders.

Good luck & let us know how it goes.

 

[Stick]

Mr P, you could try drying the baccy a little by spreading it thinly and letting it air dry, then mist it with a spray gun with your favourite tipple to rehydrate. Just don't over do the rehydration.

I seem to recall a thread discussing this elsewhere, where it was noted that the change in flavour was only just discernible.

Oz, our resident tamed baccy manufacturer might be able to shed some light...

 

[user 4351]

It’s not uncommon add some booze to tobacco.  Rum, whiskey & brandy might be the most used.  I’m no expert but I think that a small amount is added to some tobacco and then you mix it really well.  The “soak the tobacco in it” approach seems heavy handed to me.  Extracts are another type of additive...like vanilla, almond, licorice, etc.  There used to be a couple of vendors that sold a wide variety of extracts to appeal to home blenders.  

Good luck & let us know how it goes.

Mr P, you could try drying the baccy a little by spreading it thinly and letting it air dry, then mist it with a spray gun with your favourite tipple to rehydrate. Just don't over do the rehydration.

I seem to recall a thread discussing this elsewhere, where it was noted that the change in flavour was only just discernible.

Oz, our resident tamed baccy manufacturer might be able to shed some light...

You both make a good point that soaking might be too much. I'll see what other approaches I have at my disposal to add a little flavor. Upon thinking over this a little, my concern is mostly in how the sugars and other additives to the alcohol might change the way the tobacco burns, and what that means for the cake, briar, and so on (if anything).

Stick, you may be correct that there's a thread elsewhere on this. I should have looked before starting this one. I'll try to make a habit of searching for threads in the future.

Thank you both for your thoughts.

 

[Corncobcon]

I never get very far with this. Every time I open a bottle, I pour, I drink! :drunken: :cheers:

 

[Ozark Wizard]

PM sent. Well, sending. I've posted this before messaging you. No worries, I'm old.... :lol!:

 

[DrumsAndBeer]

I would think that you would want to infuse it in, not allowing it to make direct contact with the leaf. I remember Mike McNeil talking about all of his direct contact experimentations ending in vain, hence the barrel stave idea for Frog Morton Cellar and Stave Aged 35.

 

[user 4351]

Thanks to advice from Ozark Wizard, I'll be commencing with an experiment this afternoon. The idea is to essentially put a shot glass of spirits in a sealed container with the tobacco, allowing the spirits to evaporate and the flavor to infuse with the tobacco. Ozark suggested I use a Tupperware container, but alas, I am a poor bird, and only have Ziploc bags. However, I don't see why that shouldn't work just as well.

My tobacconist transfers ounces of his tobacco into plastic bags for sale, and I always end up with a marginal pinch of tobacco at the end of each bag. I set one aside, and I toss my less-than-pinches into it, just for the sake of consolidation, and because I'm curious about what kind of flavor profile I'd get. I call it my "daring" bag.

I don't have much to speak of in my daring bag at the moment; maybe enough for a half-bowl. So, I'll be putting a small cup (like a medicine cup) with some spirits in it into the bag, and letting it evaporate. If the experiment goes wrong, it's no large loss. If it goes well, I should have spirited tobacco here in about a week, provided nothing grows on the leaves.

 

[huffelpuff]

Generally speaking when you add alcohol to tobacco it's best to bring the tobacco up to a pretty high temperature. 1 it drives off some of the moisture 2 it opens up the cell structure to the new flavors being added. I don't have my notebooks handy but I believe it's around 180-200* that the blenders look for before adding flavors. Considering the size batch you're talking about experimenting with just letting it get dry should be sufficient though. That said I have just added straight to the tobacco and it does work but it takes a very long time to get it smokeable after that. I have some cherry Cavendish I added 151 rum to about 25 years ago that only really got smokeable about 10 years ago. Before that it tended to burn hot and bite. Now it's a nice mellow smoke.

Jim

 

[user 4351]

Generally speaking when you add alcohol to tobacco it's best to bring the tobacco up to a pretty high temperature. 1 it drives off some of the moisture 2 it opens up the cell structure to the new flavors being added. I don't have my notebooks handy but I believe it's around 180-200* that the blenders look for before adding flavors. Considering the size batch you're talking about experimenting with just letting it get dry should be sufficient though. That said I have just added straight to the tobacco and it does work but it takes a very long time to get it smokeable after that. I have some cherry Cavendish I added 151 rum to about 25 years ago that only really got smokeable about 10 years ago. Before that it tended to burn hot and bite. Now it's a nice mellow smoke.

Jim

Thank you for the input. I'll keep it in mind for future experiments. Currently I've got my bagged experiment set aside, and though I haven't noticed any evaporation yet, it hasn't been too long. I don't know if it helps that my apartment is rather dry, especially with the cold winter air we've had, combined with the heaters that kick on with or without my consent.

 

[user 4351]

So, I kind of forgot I had tobacco set aside with some alcohol. Oops.

It's been two weeks, by my count, and that tobacco has definitely been liquored up. Now I'll need to wait for it to dry a tad before I try smoking any of it. Once it does dry, I'll smoke a bowl and let y'all know how it turned out.

Edit: It's only been a week. Strange. Could've sworn it was two.

 

[Ozark Wizard]

Funny how time flies!