Latakia Info Needed

[dshpipes]

I live for the day when someone figures out how to grow tobacco that tastes like well aged OGS right off the stalk.

 

[badfinger]

Here's the response I received from Greg:


I wish I could tell you! The process is held fairly secret, though if I could go there personally and watch, I'd be able to figure it out. I do know that in Syria, the indigenous pine was one of the woods used, not hardwoods, but I suspect other shrubs were also involved. In Cyprus, my guess is that it's something more akin to a hardwood, but I can't be sure. The result is a little sweeter, less resinous. But, they also start with different leaf.

The temperature would be something that would have to be experimented with. The smoking has to finish the curing, but not too quickly. Too long, the leaf would get too smoky, not long enough, not smoky enough. Just like with smoking meat, there's a balance that has to be struck. I've considered trying to smoke some leaf in my smoker, but haven't done it yet. One of many projects...

I'm also trying to get more information on dark fired Kentucky for an article. So far, not much luck there, either.

It's an intriguing idea to play with, but the costs associated with doing it on a commercial, or relatively commercial scale might be prohibitive. Planning on trying it? I'd love to know what you come up with if you do. The Cypriots use a Smyrna leaf, the Syrians an local, large leaf variety called Shek-il-bint. (You'll see it spelled differently; Arabic doesn't Romanize consistently.)

Cheers,
Greg

 

[MisterE]

Caprican Latakia--smoked tobacco using burnt cylon refuse. 8)

I got it! :lol: