Boswell Blends

[Briarbabe]

Having access to Boswell's I purchased a few one ounce portions of several of their house blends to try.  While I enjoy most of the ones I have tried so far I do notice they are all incredibly damp. I notice when I am finished the bowl is quite damp.  I have fried my tongue on a couple of these and if I'm not careful they heat up really fast.  I've started setting my tobacco aside for a while before I pack it to try and dry it out a bit, but even after an hour they are still very damp. I've seen it mentioned elsewhere on the internet that Boswell's tobacco was on the damp side.

My boyfriend had a bag of the Boswell's Best that he bought last year and it's been sitting unopened in his pipe box since last summer. We opened it and it was perfect, I smoked an entire bowl on one relight and there was no dampness in the bottom of the bowl when I finished it.  I don't want to wait a year to be able to smoke these so this morning I took my jars down stairs and set them all up in front of my dehumidifier with the lids off.  I'm checking them every half hour or so and giving them a stir.  What do you think? Brilliant idea? You just ruined all your tobacco? Got any other ideas?  How do I tell when it's 'just rite'?

ETA:  I put the lids back on the jars.  I did notice a small difference, the tobacco was moist but not damp.  We'll see how it smokes.

 

[the rev]

well I don't know much, others will give you better advice, but I would pull them out of the dehumidifier right now. Let your tobacco for each bowl dry out before you smoke it. For Boswell most of their blends not all, you should let them sit for a couple of hours before you smoke them. They store better moist.

rev

 

[Briarbabe]

well I don't know much, others will give you better advice, but I would pull them out of the dehumidifier right now.  Let your tobacco for each bowl dry out before you smoke it.  For Boswell most of their blends not all, you should let them sit for a couple of hours before you smoke them.  They store better moist.

rev

They aren't "in" a dehumidifier. It's just a room dehumidifier, not like a food dehydrator. I just have them sitting in the same room with the lids off.

The thing is, I do pull out a bit and set it on a paper plate, what have you, for a while before I pack it and this stuff just seems to stay damp. It's odd.

 

[Richard Burley]

Ask Boswell. The tobacconist, not the writer. Tell him you're thinking of microwaving it.

 

[Anonymous]

I frequently dry out a blend with no ill effects I can recognize. Works best in winter dryness. Summertime, when gulf humidity is around, it can take days.

Wet smokes tend to be hot smokes as the stream release skyrockets -- tongue sauna.

Moisture is one of those personal choice vectors that tends to create long threads. We seldom agree on how wet or dry things should be.

Glycol is often used and that just doesn't go away. I think you can set those blends out in Death Valley and they can stay soggy.

With thousand upon thousand blends around, there are a lot of alternatives you can visit. And it is a valid question to ask of the blender. Soaking a mix adds profit.

 

[Growley]

I'd agree with Rev. Whether it's in or out of the dehumidifier  , I'd go with a more slow approach to drying, one bowl at a time, as needed. Unless it's molding, keep that damp goodness in there, along with your flavor, and just work on preparing each bowl by drying as needed.

This of course doesn't work well for the spontaneous, which is why I smoke most of my baccy too wet , but it's probably the smarter approach to take.

 

[Briarbabe]

Ask Boswell. The tobacconist, not the writer. Tell him you're thinking of microwaving it.

Microwaving it? Do people do this? I'd think that would mess up the flavor because you'd be adding heat to it.

...I smell a set up.

 

[Richard Burley]

Ask Boswell. The tobacconist, not the writer. Tell him you're thinking of microwaving it.

Microwaving it? Do people do this? I'd think that would mess up the flavor because you'd be adding heat to it.

...I smell a set up.

Good nose, BB.

I of course have done it, being rather short on patience from time to time. You can't believe how much moisture comes out. It does seem to change the flavor profile. But you don't cook it. Just zap a few seconds, under glass. Then throw it away. That's what I do.

 

[Dutch]

Anytime I want to speed up the process of drying my tobacco, I will sit my tobacco in front of my floor fan at a distance. I will check the tobacco periodically by pinching it between my fingers. If it stays clumped together at all, I will let it dry a little longer.

My guess is, that the particular tobaccos you are having trouble with are in the aromatic category. You can check with Dan or J.M. to find out if you are dealing with an aro or non aro. They all have some additives, but to different degrees.

To simplify things, I usually dry and prepare my tobaccos today, for the pipes I plan to smoke tomorrow. Once I am satisfied with the moisture content, I will go ahead and load the pipes I plan to smoke tomorrow. This allows some additional drying for the tobacco on top of the bowl, while maintaining the ideal moisture of the tobacco deeper in the bowl. This makes it even easier to light the pipe, because the tobacco on top ends up just a little more crisp after sitting out for almost an entire day.

 

[the rev]

I do exactly what Dutch does, only I don't dry the tobacco at all, or put it in my pipe the day before, or use a fan, but I do wind up burning the shit out of my tongue, aside from that I do everything the same



rev

 

[Briarbabe]

Anytime I want to speed up the process of drying my tobacco, I will sit my tobacco in front of my floor fan at a distance. I will check the tobacco periodically by pinching it between my fingers. If it stays clumped together at all, I will let it dry a little longer.

My guess is, that the particular tobaccos you are having trouble with are in the aromatic category. You can check with Dan or J.M. to find out if you are dealing with an aro or non aro. They all have some additives, but to different degrees.

To simplify things, I usually dry and prepare my tobaccos today, for the pipes I plan to smoke tomorrow. Once I am satisfied with the moisture content, I will go ahead and load the pipes I plan to smoke tomorrow. This allows some additional drying for the tobacco on top of the bowl, while maintaining the ideal moisture of the tobacco deeper in the bowl. This makes it even easier to light the pipe, because the tobacco on top ends up just a little more crisp after sitting out for almost an entire day.

Yup, all aros, isn't that what all of us newbs smoke?

I would assume the dehumidifier is less drying than the floor fan as it's set to a specific humidity and will shut off once that threshold has been reached. I don't pipe every day, it's more of a spontaneous thing, I'll figure this out eventually.

 

[Anonymous]

I do exactly what Dutch does, only I don't dry the tobacco at all, or put it in my pipe the day before, or use a fan, but I do wind up burning the shit out of my tongue, aside from that I do everything the same rev

Yeah, me too!

:lol!: 

 

[huffelpuff]

BB you might try setting up a spot near the exhaust fan on your computer to dry your tobacco. The air comming out is fairly warm and moving at a good clip. I have been able to dry out overly moist stuff in about 20 minutes time. Another favorite of some of the old timers is to set a small plateful under a desk lamp for 20-30 minutes.

Hope this helps

Jim

PS check the community in action posts Riff Raff is planning a meet up at Boswells soon

 

[Briarbabe]

BB you might try setting up a spot near the exhaust fan on your computer to dry your tobacco. The air comming out is fairly warm and moving at a good clip. I have been able to dry out overly moist stuff in about 20 minutes time. Another favorite of some of the old timers is to set a small plateful under a desk lamp for 20-30 minutes.

Hope this helps

Jim

PS check the community in action posts Riff Raff is planning a meet up at Boswells soon

Laptop over here, but I do have a desk lamp that gives off quite a bit of heat...

Thanks for the tip. I'll pop on over and see.

 

[ITSETTLE]

BB,

I smoke a lot of Boswell's tobacco's. I usually open the pouch halfway and keep in a desk drawer for one to two days before I smoke and this helps a lot.

 

[Briarbabe]

BB,

I smoke a lot of Boswell's tobacco's. I usually open the pouch halfway and keep in a desk drawer for one to two days before I smoke and this helps a lot.

Thanks for the info. I will give this a go. It might make paying bills nicer as they will undoubtedly smell like sweet tobacco. OK, it probably won't, but it's still a nice thought.

 

[KevinM]

Couple things for your consideration --

"House blends," usually aromatics, aren't the best place to start because they encourage bad habits, like excessive puffing (in an effort to get more of that strawberry cream topping taste), which leads to an overheated pipe, which leads to goopiness, leading to baked tongue, which ultimately leads to using your new pipe for a doggy fetch toy. Beside, they're misnamed, because they're usually just a manufacturer's bulk offering that have been renamed by the shoppe.

Better to ask your tobacconist for a sampler of a mild-to medium English, a straight Virginia and a Burley. These are the basic tobacco food groups and will help you learn what each one tastes like as well as the general care and feeding of your pipes.

Once you have your smoking pace under control, you can proceed wherever your interests lie. You'll find slower smoking, sipping, delivers maximum taste from an aro. Dramatic puffing dials up heat on any tobacco.

You'll be surprised how dry tobacco should be for best performance. The humectant, I suspect, is added because pipers think it shows freshness. Then they have to dry it before they smoke it, though they would refuse to buy it in smokable condition. One EZ way to dry moist tobacco -- see if your local shoppe has any of those cheap yellow vinyl roll up pouches. Keep a few days supply in that.

You sound like you're doing fine. At first, everyone has the same problems you're having.

 

[Hawker]

BB. Not sure if your still having problems with wet baccy but here is what i do with some of my Boswell blends when i don't have a proplerly dried supply to smoke. About 1/2 - 3/4 of an hour for really wet tobacco in front of my computor fan does it. (Some of the old timers are probably cringing right now).
Also gives the room a wonderful aroma. I find it's perfect when it no longer stays together when pinched.

 

[Briarbabe]

Ha, ha, I'm going to have to try that.

 

[gravel]

George Kaplan does the same thing when he dries baccy. Not sure where GK wandered off to, but I miss his humor.