Recent content by Logs

You could always go with uncut leaf. WLT, Total Leaf Supply, and Leaf Only each sell bags of unprocessed Cyprian for about $25/pound. For home blenders it's not that hard to chop it up and save some money. Ribbon style is a very time consuming but that can be done too.

If you're not willing to believe what a blender is saying about their own blends then what can we say? Sure, maybe they're lying. But it's also possible that they're an exception to the general rule about casing... it doesn't seem like that much of a stretch. I know plenty of home growers and...

Jeremy Reeves is also a master tobacconist who knows the difference between casing and topping. I see no reason to disbelieve him when he's talking about his own blends.

I'm familiar with the original post and I respect Ernie Q a great deal but he is incorrect. They may be the exception to the rule but there are blenders who put out uncased blends. Both C&D and GL Pease have blends made from uncased leaf. Jeremy Reeves is very clear about it in several of the...

Saying all tobacco's are cased is an overstatement. I'm no expert but my understanding is that latakia and orientals are generally not cased. Neither is perique nor dark fired. Burley, cavendish, and VA are the prime suspects for casing but even there you'll find some exceptions. Union Square is...

Diluting the sugar water makes sense. It's likely that's what Ernie Q from Watch City Cigar was suggesting but he left the dilution part of out of his description.

Also if you're too lazy to wait for it to air dry you can heat it up on the stovetop with a skillet. Shake the tobacco around over high heat for 20 seconds. It's fast, it's easy.

I've tried the citrus casing for flue cured VA they sell at Whole Leaf Tobacco but didn't notice much effect. I've also tried making the sugar based casing that Ernie Q recommends (i.e one part distilled water to one part cane sugar boiled in a pot). Those proportions seem off though, it made a...

What I meant: plug = uncut leaf pressed cake = cut leaf pressed

I find Latakia and perique the hardest leaf to deal with. My goal is to use a shredder to cut all my leaf into uniform ribbon but to do that I have to unfold each leaf and flatten it out. With broadleaf VA and burley it's easy to do, but latakia and small leaf orientals can be a pain because the...

I like what I'm seeing. Are you making plugs or crumble cakes? I'm also curious how you're doing the tinning. You don't hear about blenders doing that very often. Even guys like Ernie Q at Watch City don't tin their own blends.

Good choice.

I hope that's not true. Making a good casing that's tweaked to your leaf is the trickiest part of the whole equation. That's the part I'm most interested in discussing with other blenders.

I agree it's a bit of work. I mainly got it because I thought it might be real Syrian. It wasn't but nevertheless, it's good leaf and you can make true plugs using it. If all you're looking for is a quick mixer than yes, it's easier just to buy Stokkebyes

Kind of the depends on the cut you want. You have more options if you buy whole leaf. Personally I wouldn't buy the low quality stuff but maybe it will work for your needs.