Blending my own Pipe Tobacco - Step One?

[Northern Neil]

I have recently purchased some ingredient tobaccos (Yellow Virginia Ribbon, Red Virginia Ribbon, Stoved Virginia, White Burley Ribbon, Izmir Turkish Ribbon, Smynra Turkish Ribbon, Latakia, and Perique), and want to experiment with creating some of my own blends.

Before combining these tobaccos in different quantities to form a complete blend, I want to smoke each one individually and see how they taste. Here in lies my question. What is the best way to smoke a straight tobacco and get the full unadulterated experience?

I am thinking about going out and purchasing a couple of new corn cobs and smoking each of these tobaccos through a new cob. This way there will be no ghosting or anything influincing the flavour.

Does anyone have any other ideas?

 

[tiltjlp]

That's the way I always did it when I was blending commercially. I used Prides, since they are natural, and small. I also cleaned them completely afte each smoke. I also used a digital scale and weighed by grams. I never mixed a batch less than 25 g, so I had enough to sample and adjust. Keep notes on everything you do, and smoke your failures, as they will be a good learning experience.

 

[bosun1]

I was reading something from one of the commercial blenders (Pease possibly?) What he would do is take some of the tobacco, put it in various parts of his mouth to get the sense of how it tastes . Then he could take those tastes and blend from there. Also heard that is what glass pipes are made for as they don't transfer flavors after a good cleaning..

 

[jefe1037]

I was reading something from one of the commercial blenders (Pease possibly?) What he would do is take some of the tobacco, put it in various parts of his mouth to get the sense of how it tastes . Then he could take those tastes and blend from there. Also heard that is what glass pipes are made for as they don't transfer flavors after a good cleaning..

Just my usual silly note: that's not "what glass pipes are made for" but its the first legal use for them that I have heard.

 

[George Kaplan]

Just my usual silly note: that's not "what glass pipes are made for" but its the first legal use for them that I have heard.

:lol!: The other use is legal in my town now, but the head shops still have an annoying habit of advertising as "pipe and tobacco" stores. I think they're just trying to lure guys like me in to sell a black-light Bob Marley poster.

 

[jefe1037]

my favorite "cigar and tobacco shop" I stopped in on blew me away with a question when I asked where they kept the pipe tobacco (they advertise "pipes and tobacco" on the window) she said "You mean like a Sherlock Holmes pipe? Captain Black is right there." They also sell flavored Philly Cigar wrappers as the only tobacco products in the store. BTW, this is on Main Street in my town.

I am blown away that they can get away with this charade. However, the CB is only 4 bucks a pouch, so...

 

[George Kaplan]

They don't even need the charade here, but they still keep it up. Not long ago I was in an unfamiliar part of town and saw a pipe shop I'd never heard of. The sign even had a silhouette of a bent billiard in the logo. Nope. Another head shop. Lately, franchise "tobacconists" have been popping up. I went into one, found a small shelf with some CB and PA, and asked if that was all the pipe tobacco they had. "Turn around," the guy said. I was standing in front of a wall probably 50 feet long, hung floor to ceiling with bags of RYO "pipe tobacco".

 

[George Kaplan]

Back on track: Any blending advice from tiltjlp is worth listening to. I've dabbled a bit, with varying degrees of success. I use fresh cobs as "tasters". Never tried straight perique, though.

 

[Wet Dottle]

Some blenders use clay pipes as the vehicle for obtaining the purest flavor out of a given tobacco. Where did I read that? :scratch:

 

[petertschantz]

I'm trying to resist the urge to try blending myself, but pretty sure it will happen before long...

 

[Northern Neil]

That's the way I always did it when I was blending commercially. I used Prides, since they are natural, and small. I also cleaned them completely afte each smoke. I also used a digital scale and weighed by grams. I never mixed a batch less than 25 g, so I had enough to sample and adjust. Keep notes on everything you do, and smoke your failures, as they will be a good learning experience.

Thanks for the advise Tiljlp. It looks like I will be making a trip to my tobacconist today. Hopefully they have some cobs in stock.

I have a journal that I will be recording all of my notes in. And, I will definetely start with small batches to ensure the taste is too my liking before making anything on a large scale.

Also, that is a good point about smoking your failures. I guess you can learn just as much from mistakes, if not more, as you can from success.

Once I have determined the flavours of all the tobaccos, I will then try combining them in small batches in varying percentages that I think would accent the different flavours. To start, I will not use any sprays our sauces, I will simply leave the blends under slight pressure for 24 hours or so. I am hoping this will help the different flavours infuse together.

I have to say, I am looking forward to this experience.

 

[Northern Neil]

Some blenders use clay pipes as the vehicle for obtaining the purest flavor out of a given tobacco. Where did I read that? :scratch:

This would make sense as you can really clean the "cake" out of a clay pipe, same with meeshrum. However, I am looking for something a little more cost effective at the present moment.

Thanks for the advise though.