Forgive me, Mr Pease....

[Puff Daddy]

Would you like to see GLP re-work some of his blends in order to have a line of true flake tobaccos?

Would you still like to see it if it meant that maybe he discontinued some of the older blends that were replaced by new flakes? :shock:

In musing over bits and pieces of different conversations on various forums and in talking to fellow pipe smokers it seems that much joy has come to GLP fans when his broken flakes emerged on the scene and the thought of true cake and flake Pease offerings has a lot of guys excited about the prospects. I know I'd love to see some specific flakes come to fruition. TJ mentioned a burley flake and someone mentioned turning Odyssey into a flake :face: Of course these things sound great, eventhough we know that the process would create something that tastes somewhat different. I fear that the business end of it (pure speculation here) would dictate a ceiling of some sorts on what is feasable to carry, I mean, can a guy have dozens of blends and expect to sell enough of em to keep them all alive? Would it behoove the dark lord to perfect a handful of flakes and simply ride the wave? Would an all out rebellion be in the works? Could I get a 5 figure loan to buy up everything in it's curent form so I could quadruple my investment in 5 years :lol:

 

[jhuggett]

I love every GLP tobacco I smoke in it's current form but the idea of a Burley Flake sounds awesome!

 

[glpease]

P-diddy, are you talking about slices packed flat in rectangular tins kind of flakes? Or, are you just talking about replacing some extant blend with their broken flake counterparts?

It's true that pressing changes a blend, sometimes in remarkable ways. The first prototype of Maduro Cut Cake, for instance, was nothing more than Robusto, squished under the front wheel of my Pinto in a frame made from used 2x4s , then sliced with a Ronco Vegematic. It was VERY different from Robusto, though you could certainly detect a family resemblance, especially by examining the DNA sequence.

This served as an interesting first approximation to the blend I was after, but what struck me most dramatically was that difference. Even when fully rubbed to the same consistency of Robusto, it had a completely different character, and the balance of the blend went all pear shaped. The next prototype came much closer to what I had in mind.

There are blends I could simply press and carry on with, possibly, but most would require some significant tuning to bring them back into harmony.

I do have a couple other squished tobaccos in the works. It'll be nice if we can deliver them in more flake form than the current broken-flake style, but packaging is always an issue. It's hard to put square pegs in round holes.

I've got some things to investigate for '08, and I'll certainly keep this in mind.

-Zero

 

[Carlos]

Cakes are interesting. The process C&D uses to make cakes like Pirate Kake and Bow Legged Bear are very nice. I like them. They are fairly hard and nice to break apart.

Flakes on the other hand. Well. I try hard not to say anything really bad. A bit critical sometimes, but meant in the nicest possible way. The best flake I have had from them is Bayou Morning Flake. I like those thick cut chunks of tobacco. It's wondrous. These newer sliced flakes don't do much for me. They do not hold their shapes well. It's like they were not pressed very hard. They unravel too easy.

So if they are going to be flakes that a good shake will rub out, leave well enough alone.

I much prefer a coarse cut blend. Or cubes. I like cube cut real well. I am probably in the minority, but the cut of Fillmore is too thin. I can remember many times reading complaints of other Bobs having trouble with thick cut blends. I never have understood why.

 

[Puff Daddy]

I think when people speak of flakes they mean the slices (from a plug?) packed in tins like the G&H, SG and Kolhase & Kopp type flakes. That's what I think of anyhow. Many of these manage to go into round tins ala the wessex flakes, Tordenkjold, Astleys, just to name a few. True, the neatly stacked and packed perfect little slices in a rectangular tin like G&H and Solani are gorgeous in their presentation, but the tin presentation of the previous mentioned blends, even though a wee bit of loose stuff is present, doesn't detract one iota in my opinion. There's also the Reiner Long Golden flake idea where a 100G flake is simply rolled and eased into a tin. I'm sure a 50G flake could be rolled and placed into a C&D tin, although the hand labor would surely be higher.

 

[Puff Daddy]

They do not hold their shapes well. It's like they were not pressed very hard. They unravel too easy.

That is a big difference between the euro flakes and the C&D flakes. A good analogy wold be carving roast beef (really!). When you cut beef along the grain the slices come off as stringy and can be quite chewy, when beef is cut across the grain there is no stringyness and the slices are much more tender. C&D flakes (like the new series just recently released - manhattan afternoon et al) are cut across the grain, euro flakes are cut along the grain :scratch: Or at least that how it seems....

 

[thomas james]

Since we're wishin.

Would LOVE to be able to get Laurel Flake and Stonehaven in little round blue tins. Nothin wrong in that,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Toyota did it to GM.

:no: tj

 

[Anonymous]

As far as packaging goes, weigh out a half pound, dump it into a tin with some kind of liner, and call it close enough for Yak work. Hell - tin a half-pound in a baggie. Who cares ?

:face:

 

[smokey422]

I agree with Carlos that some kind of pressed cake would be intriguing, particularly in Greg's English and Balkan blends. C&D already has the capability and if it was sliced like Bow-Legged Bear it could probably be put in the round tins. Does Craig Tarler post on here? Maybe he could weigh in on this.

Smokey

 

[alfredo_buscatti]

I love flake tobacco and would be very pleased if Haddos and Cumberland were so translated.

 

[ZuluCollector]

Well, since I've been smoking a prototype of a Blackpoint flake, I can only say that this is a very successful transformation of this already great tobacco.

More, I want more!

 

[thomas james]

Looks like the cat is out of the bag on Blackpoint Flake. It is one of the recent samples bestowed upon me with my Christmas wish from Pease Valley. I only got it yesterday and have not yet tried it. I can tell you this, read the tin descrption of Blackpoint and follow that with a reading of Vito's recent "Nocturne" review and I guarantee they will generate much anticipation,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,and downright yearning. Several weeks ago I finished a 3+ yo Blackpoint and the transformations that occured within that time yielded a mind blowing smoke. If doing Blackpoint in a flake can produce a similar offering right off the shelf, then brace yourselves for a monumental treat. I am a "focused" smoker and smoke a tin top to bottom before moving on to another. Blackpoint just grew and grew on me. It's like a fine meal. Christmas dinner for us is always prime rib cooked slowly in a Weber grill. We only have it once a year and it is very much looked forward to. Getting to the middle of a tin of Blackpoint is exactly like getting to the halfway point of a perfectly cooked prime rib. Your hunger is no where near being satisfied and you just can't savor it enough. Of course, copious amounts of an aged Cabernet makes it go down even better. This is one tobacco that I just know will exceed all expectations.

In Vitos review, I made referrence to Chopins Nocturnes as Nocturne is what he calls the "mystery" blend. I enjoy drawing corelations between musc and tobacco. My comment was that Blackpoint in it's original form, aged to 3+ years, is gracefully melodic at times and unabashedly bold at other times, just like Chopins Nocturnes. It, the tobacco, is just that; subtle, complex and very forthright.

I can hardly wait to try Blackpoint Flake.

tj

 

[Mikem]

Blackpoint Flake, wow I can't wait :bounce: . Blackpoint is one of my favorite blends.

 

[thomas james]

:bounce: indeed!

 

[Carlos]

Ohboyohboyohboy!!!

 

[glpease]

Well, since I've been smoking a prototype of a Blackpoint flake, I can only say that this is a very successful transformation of this already great tobacco.

More, I want more!

I need to say a couple of things about this. Though the basic idea for this flake was inspired by Blackpoint, and I code-named it "BPF," to say that it's just Blackpoint Flake, per se, might be a little bit misleading. It's really something more than that. It inherits much from its pregenitor, but carries its ancestry to a new lands. Its rich, almost chewy flavours are ideal for evening smoking, which is precisely what I was after. (Of course, that doesn't mean it's not good any other time of day.)

In another thread, Vito dubbed it "Nocturne," and I've decided to name it that; I can't imagine a more fitting, more resonant name for the blend, especially give the foundational intent of the blend. (I've already sent Vito email letting him know, and thanking him both for his wonderful comments, and for the most excellent name for the blend.)

I'm really very excited about the blend, and it WILL be released, but there is, of course, still work to do before it's a product. I'll announce it in the News, of course, so stay tuned. In the meanwhile, I've got to get Maltese Falcon on the shelves...

 

[jhuggett]

Brother Vito dubs the name for a Pease blend... how cool is that?

 

[Carlos]

Brother Vito dubs the name for a Pease blend... how cool is that?

That is very cool! 8)

 

[pencils]

*checks post for surprise packages from Mr Pease*

Darn!

 

[rbman]

I for one would like to get my hands on his tobacco's up here in canada.

His new one sounds very tasty.

rbman