An experiment, and would like to solicit advice.

[Fatman]

Hey gang. I have 2 bags of Esoterica's Brighton. I really like Dorchester and Dunbar. seeing as they are scarce these days, I purchased 8oz of blending perique and am going to combine them. I do like a fairly perique heavy va/per, like GQ Tobacco's Askwith kake. My plans would have basically a 25% perique to 75% Virginia. In theory it sounds great, and I would let it marry for a year or so, before trying it.

Any advice for me, and I was wondering of pressing some of it would be a good idea.

Thanks for looking!

John

 

[Fr_Tom]

Hey gang. I have 2 bags of Esoterica's Brighton. I really like Dorchester and Dunbar. seeing as they are scarce these days, I purchased 8oz of blending perique and am going to combine them. I do like a fairly perique heavy va/per, like GQ Tobacco's Askwith kake. My plans would have basically a 25% perique to 75% Virginia. In theory it sounds great, and I would let it marry for a year or so, before trying it.

Any advice for me, and I was wondering of pressing some of it would be a good idea.

Thanks for looking!

John

Using Esoterica tobacco for blending is WAY outside of my set of experiences. I will watch and see what happens.

 

[Ozark Wizard]

I'm not familiar with that Virginia, but I would think it would be a fine base for a VaPer. As far as pressing, my first inclination would be to do so, if for nothing else, expidite the blending and help retard dehydration. Perhaps press some and don't press the balance, and see what happens!

:cheers:

 

[Puff Daddy]

My advice would be to start off blending very small amounts. Take an ounce of Esoterica, add the perique, jar it after you've done what you're planning to do with it, try it a few times over a couple of weeks after it's had some time to sit in the jar and settle. If it turns out good it can be easily replicated with larger amounts. If it turns out to be a mistake you're only out an ounce of good tobacco.

 

[Old Nate]

I'll be interested to see how this plays out... been wanting to try blending as well.

 

[Fatman]

My advice would be to start off blending very small amounts. Take an ounce of Esoterica, add the perique, jar it after you've done what you're planning to do with it, try it a few times over a couple of weeks after it's had some time to sit in the jar and settle. If it turns out good it can be easily replicated with larger amounts. If it turns out to be a mistake you're only out an ounce of good tobacco.

Good idea, thanks!

 

[Blackhorse]

Okay...so smoke the Esoterica blends as is...er, as are...oh whatever. Even molecular level changes to some blends can upset their delicate balance of goodness.

Then, trot on over to 4N's and snag some of John Patton's "Cool Hand Fluke" which is arguably the best Perique forward VA/Perique melange on the planet. And what's more, it's really, really reasonable in terms of cost.

Or how about revisiting some Night Train. Now there's a solid winner!

But that's just me.

 

[joshoowah]

Okay...so smoke the Esoterica blends as is...er, as are...oh whatever. Even molecular level changes to some blends can upset their delicate balance of goodness.

Then, trot on over to 4N's and snag some of John Patton's "Cool Hand Fluke" which is arguably the best Perique forward VA/Perique melange on the planet. And what's more, it's really, really reasonable in terms of cost.

Or how about revisiting some Night Train. Now there's a solid winner!

But that's just me.

+1

Esoterica blends are blended differently than everything else out there. I'd leave their delicate balance intact if it were me, and I would do what Blackhorse suggests.

 

[idbowman]

To the OP:

Ok, so be careful with perique...not just repeating what you can find online, but from personal experience you'll want to play with that stuff incrementally.

I have a "My Own Blend" at P&C that includes VA, Burley, and a touch of dark fired.  I buy blending perique separately to blend into that mixture.  

Keep in mind I LOVE perique, so I (thought) I knew what I was getting into and I (thought) I knew exactly what sort of ratio I was looking for.  I've had a number of perique blends with very high concentrations of the stuff (30%+), so I figured 25% would be a good amount for me.

As it turns out, the combination of tobaccos involved made that 25% seem stronger than than high-octane blends like Cool Hand Fluke.  I scaled it back to 15%, and it wasn't nearly enough for my tastes.  

I've ultimately settled in with a 20% perique blend, where that perique seems a lot stronger than 20%.


So there are a lot of factors to look at, not the least of which is the other component tobaccos (if you're going straight VA, high perique might work because of the high sugar content of VA, whereas my blend included a good bit of more-neutral burley, which the perique dominated).  I'd imagine the particulars of the batch of perique, too, could come into play.



Edit: And I disagree with Blackhorse and Joshoowah. If you want to play, play. Esoterica or not, it's your dollar and your hobby. Do with it whatever you want.

 

[Blackhorse]

Pay no attention to idBowman! His advice is free...so you know how that goes. My advice, however, is very valuable. Just send me a pound or so of either of the blends I suggested and we'll call it good. See?

?

 

[huffelpuff]

Your best bet is to start off small and see exactly what it does to the blend. When you find a percentage you like scale it up and I would press the whole batch. It will make the marriage of flavors easier and faster as well as cut down on the evaporation of all the goodies you worked so hard to obtain. Makes storage easier too. The only caution I have on pressing is to keep the pressure down. You just want it nice and compacted not pressed to the point your extracting liquids which would set you up for a fermentation. That or it'll run out all over your floor or table and then you've lost all the good flavors in it.

 

[Fatman]

I like the idea of starting small, I actually had not considered doing that. The worst that can happen is I don't like the results. I may also try and add some perique to Kingsbridge as well.

I appreciate all the input!