First attempt at stoving Va

[huffelpuff]

There is so little information out there about stoving tobacco I thought I would do some experimenting and share my findings.

I started with about an ounce of C&D Opening Night Flake. I toasted it in a pan on the stove top so I could have better control of what was going on. I toasted the tobacco until it was fairly dry and just starting to smoke. I then added a small amount of liquid made up of dark tobacco water, honey, rum and a tiny amount of glycerol. This immediately caramelized and turned the Va to a very dark black/brown. While still heating the pan I then added about a tablespoon of cider vinegar and cooked it out. The resulting tobacco is very dark and has a glossy slightly sticky feel to it. The aroma is completely changed. The original smell is slightly fruity with honey overtones. The stoved tobacco has a very distinct roasted aroma. Like a nice dark roast coffee. I don't detect anything from the cider vinegar. I may need to add more. Oh and yes cider vinegar is used in blends. The Danish pipe shop has their version of Mississippi Mud and they flat out say they add cider vinegar to get that tangy tomato smell. I will leave it in a jar for a few days and see what develops with it and try blending some of it to see how it smokes.

Jim

The original flakes are on the left the stoved tobacco on the right

 

[Brewdude]

WTG Jim! I'll be curious to read your tasting results.

Cheers,

RR

 

[Ozark Wizard]

I like apple cider vinegar for part of my mix, otherwise sounds like the right mix.

Do tell how the flake took. Never thought to use an already finished product to stove.. I'll bet it will be nice!

 

[huffelpuff]

I couldn't take the wait anymore. I mixed up a big bowlful at a rate of 60/40 stoved/unstoved. The smell is nice more of stewed fruits now. It's pretty hard to light but once lit it burns steady and slow. The flavor is a total transformation. The straight flake tends to burn hot and is fairly edgy with the tongue burn and the flavor is light fruit and honey. Mixed with the stoved, it's sweeter, burns slower, less ashy tasting if pushed and much friendlier to my tongue. I'm picking up stewed fruits, rum, and some darker musty flavors I can't quite put my finger on. I'm picking up more spice especially on the retrohale. There's no perique in here but I'd be hard pressed to say that if I didn't know for sure. All in all I would say this took a decent smokeable flake and made it much better.

Now let's be honest I don't suggest you run out and do this to all your blends.  If you have one that tends to burn hot or give you tongue burn though then why not give it a shot. Personally the only reason I'm even doing this is to try and find a substitute for Blackwoods.

Jim

 

[Ozark Wizard]

:cheers:

Sounds like a winner!

 

[huffelpuff]

I've blended this down and I think I like it at about 20-30% of a blend. It adds a tremendous sweetness and a fair amount of richness while allowing me to use some tobaccos I would otherwise not smoke because they burn so hot.

Jim

 

[wij]

This is very interesting to me especially since I'm new to pipe tobacco. Could this be the start of the next McClellends company?

 

[Ozark Wizard]

That would be great, unfortunately we are past the date the FDA would approve a new product without vast sums of money and extensive research.

 

[huffelpuff]

No chance of that I'm afraid. If and that's a great big IF I can come up with something that scratches the itch for Blackwoods Flake it would never be available to the general public. My heath isn't good enough for that kind of intense labor I'm afraid. I may succeed on a small scale but unless Mike McNiel releases his techniques and ingredients it would never be more than a shot in the dark. But playing around with these ideas keeps me off the streets and out of trouble with the exception of course of my wife. I'll always be in trouble for something lol.

Jim