Whole leaf Virginias

[Charley Scanlan]

On the tip of a Canadian from International Pipe Smoker Lounge, I've looked into getting bulk tobacco leaf and a coarse (2-3 mm) shredder. I like buying bulk tobaccos, and this might be the ticket for cellaring a bunch of Virginia, which I like to smoke straight anyway. The cost of the shredder is around $400, and if you buy ten pounds of leaf, $15 a pound for bright Virginia. Has anybody ever stripped the stems and shredded they're own baccy?

The leaf:

https://www.leafonly.com/wholesale/raw-tobacco-leaf.php?tobacco_leaf_id=33

The shredder:

https://www.leafonly.com/tobacco-leaf/tobacco-shredders

 

[JimPM]

Check out Emerson Southern Forged on YouTube. He did a whole video on buying bulk leaf and shredding. He uses a low cost manual shredder @ $40. Thought about doing it a couple times.

PS: Fellow member of the IPSL, great group!

 

[lgoldberg]

Fascinating links! You can buy tobacco seeds and farm your own. Sounds like too much work, though

 

[Zeno Marx]

I've never been too driven to blend, but I do like this whole leaf process. There are a youtuber or two who work with whole leaf. The one I'm thinking of doesn't shred it. He's come up with his own blend and stacks the leaves, after he's trimmed them down to a particular rectangular size, and then pressed them for X amount of time. Then he just treats it like a plug and uses a cutter to make flakes. I think he has an antique bread cutter for that, but you could just as well use a sharp pocket knife. In other words, no special equipment outside a press, but you could just as well cut them into circles and use a noodle maker. I think "ariege pipesmoker" is the most common whole leaf channel, but I'm thinking of Briar Brethren's channel. Here's one of his videos:

 

[Haebar]

I have stripped stems and shredded whole leaf tobacco. You have made a wise choice in going with the Canadian Virginia leaf; it will look much better than the Virginia in the picture below:

I used a hand shredder and it was a chore; they wear out fairly quickly after shredding about 15 pounds. This is Maryland leaf below:

 

[Haebar]

Also made some kakes and flakes:

 

[Charley Scanlan]

I ended up buying a sampler from Whole Leaf with Virginia, Oriental, burley, and Kentucky. I found a pasta machine with a motor on the Goodwill website, and I started pressing in a noodle press, just a 1 oz. blend I made out of other blends. Nice looking kakes, @Haebar!

 

[user 2027]

just do whole leaf plugs and flake it. Takes up less space

AceFour's Notebook

Whole leaf tobacco blending and pressing

acefour.org

https://bookstack.thesmokinglounge.club/books/acefour-whole-leaf-blends

 

[Charley Scanlan]

I got the whole leaf tobacco today, here they are, it's not more than I usually order from Pipes and Cigars

 

[Charley Scanlan]

I picked up a dozen recipes I can do with this sampler, four of which include Cavendish. So I'll be streaming and pressing some bright Virginia and some Dark air cured. Still waiting from Goodwill.com for the pasta machine shredder, and ebay for a curved knife for flaking. I intend to make a Memphis Plug in the noodle press in the meantime (Virginia 50%, Tennessee 50%). Cool!

 

[JimPM]

There are also a couple of books by Robert Goff that I previously downloaded from the internet that cover making your own mixtures. They have lots of scripted recipes, tips and advice. Use these FairTrade Tobacco site links else you have to pay for them @ Amazon.

https://www.bettercodger.com/images/Blend%20Your%20Own_FREE.pdf

https://www.bettercodger.com/images/Ninety%20More%20Pipe%20Blends%2011%20FINAL_FREE.pdf

 

[Aussiemike]

On the tip of a Canadian from International Pipe Smoker Lounge, I've looked into getting bulk tobacco leaf and a coarse (2-3 mm) shredder. I like buying bulk tobaccos, and this might be the ticket for cellaring a bunch of Virginia, which I like to smoke straight anyway. The cost of the shredder is around $400, and if you buy ten pounds of leaf, $15 a pound for bright Virginia. Has anybody ever stripped the stems and shredded they're own baccy?

The leaf:

https://www.leafonly.com/wholesale/raw-tobacco-leaf.php?tobacco_leaf_id=33

The shredder:

https://www.leafonly.com/tobacco-leaf/tobacco-shredders

Or you could get one of theses for your plugs works a treat. Especially for my favourite rum twists rope that is always out of stock because of you buggers hahaah

 

[Charley Scanlan]

There are also a couple of books by Robert Goff

I read both of those books cover to cover, that's where I got most of the recipes I'm planning on using. He's an exceptional communicator, and still going on Fair Trade Tobaccos.

I stemmed, cut, and stacked an ounce each of Virginia Red and Tennessee in my noodle press and have officially started my home blending project. We'll see if it makes a good plug, the stuff is dry enough, perfect for smoking, but may not adhere in my press after four days. It reminds me of a geology paper I wrote in college about where diamonds come from, and I really like the flavor of the leftover Virginia Red.

 

[Zeno Marx]

My memory might be off, but I think in that video I linked above, he lightly sprayed the leaf before putting pressure on it. I'm not sure if it was water or a casing. I wasn't paying super close attention, as I had little intention of messing with this anytime soon. I think it was enough to make the leaf stretchy so it wouldn't turn to dust sitting in the press.

 

[Charley Scanlan]

The tobacco came with a mist bottle of casing for each type of curing, 3 total, Whole Leaf says to apply this to the shredded tobacco.

I made a plug today (didn't use wax paper ((I have parchment paper)) wrapped all around the tobacco and had to do it again) and the guys at the International Pipe Smoker Lounge said not to spray the leaf while I'm stacking it.

@Zeno Marx It's a lot of fun, it tastes great, it's a fair bit cheaper than buying bulk, and you get to decide what you prepare to smoke. So far, and I don't even have a shredder yet, it's been very positive. Of course, I have a biochemistry degree that I never use, and I take a little of that into my blending. To each his own.

 

[Charley Scanlan]

This is what the plug looked like after a five or six hours of pressing when I redid the parchment paper. It didn't seem so uniform when I stacked it but the noodle press is able to spread it out in a circle. I was told to keep it in the press for two weeks, to marry the flavors, and the parchment paper on the inside of the tube and at the top and bottom helps in getting the plug out.

 

[Charley Scanlan]

This is what the plug looked like after two weeks in the press:

It's very dry, I'm going to try moistening the leaves before I press.

These are my shredded blends, about twenty in total. The five classes are aromatic, burley, Virginia, Oriental, and english blends that have Tennessee instead of latakia (that's what I had).

A closeup: