Homemade Balkan Sobranie?

[BrewinHooligan]

I got a weed shredder I can send you bro it has a hash catcher in the bottom


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Hahahaha!! Not exactly the shredder I'm looking for, but I used the hell out of those back in the day.

Apparently I remove the midrib, roll each half leaf into a tube, then slice as thin as possible with a sharp knife. If I'm going to get as serious about this as I imagine, I will be buying a tobacco shredder before long.

 

[Sirspanksalot]

Hahahaha!! Not exactly the shredder I'm looking for, but I used the hell out of those back in the day.

Apparently I remove the midrib, roll each half leaf into a tube, then slice as thin as possible with a sharp knife. If I'm going to get as serious about this as I imagine, I will be buying a tobacco shredder before long.

You don't think one of hose craft cutters will help temporarily. Like the ones with the board with the measurements on it


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[BrewinHooligan]

You don't think one of hose craft cutters will help temporarily. Like the ones with the board with the measurements on it


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I don't know. I think that the process is just more tedious by hand than with a machine. I do have plenty of sharp blades and my cigar rolling surface to cut the leaf on. Hopefully I keep all my fingers. lol. I read someone say they toast the tobacco for a little bit in the oven then crumble by hand but that seems messy and not precise enough for pipe tobacco. That was in reference to ryo cigarette tobacco which wouldn't have to be shredded as fine.

 

[BrewinHooligan]

Started processing the Virginias from the kit this afternoon. Man this stuff smells good and must be loaded with sugars as it is way stickier than the cigar leaf I'm used to working with. Slightly hydrating the larger pieces to roll up and slice very thin. The smaller pieces I will crumble by hand after they dry completely.

 

[BrewinHooligan]

Ok, so processing and slicing tobacco by hand is tedious and pretty miserable but this bowl of Virginias smells so good!!

 

[jmg1981]

looks beautiful.

 

[K Williams]

take it easy guy!! Tin?!? Dammit... And I will have a whole pound of this when I finish which I will have to be shared because a whole pound of a single blend is a ton for me since I don't get to the pipe as much as I would like and also like a variety. Hell...

Don't even try to complain about @cigarblunk 's generosity. Waste of time.

 

[BrewinHooligan]

Don't even try to complain about @cigarblunk 's generosity. Waste of time.

Truer words were never spoken. Been battling orientals all day until I got deep enough in the bag to find the larger burley leaves to roll the orientals inside to process and slice. The mail lady left me an envelope that had not one, but 2 tins of tobacco. Completely blown away by this guy's generosity! I will be paying this back and paying it forward as well.

Also, for anyone considering processing raw pipe tobacco from scratch, the orientals are very small and difficult to work with. So small that a tobacco shredder is probably no good. Wrapped inside larger leaves like burley or Virginias helps tremendously. The Latakia will have to be wrapped inside a larger leaf for slicing as well. Hopefully I can get all the leaf sliced by bedtime.

 

[BrewinHooligan]

After playing with the tobacco more and smelling it all over my hands, what I originally thought was burley is most likely red Virginia. I have been laying out two leaves of the red va that have had the midribs removed to wrap the orientals inside like cigar filler inside cigar binder almost and that has been working best for me. It's amazing how small the oriental tobacco is compared to the VA

 

[BrewinHooligan]

All the processing and slicing is finally done. Yellow Virginias on the right, red Virginia, orientals, and Latakia on the left. Tomorrow I will blend it all together to let the flavors marry. The next hurdle is going to be finding an airtight container large enough to hold all this. Apparently I didn't plan this venture out well. I didn't realize how much volume a pound of shredded tobacco takes up.

 

[Xavier Dredo]

Wicked cool! Any idea what the 2 casings might be? What do they smell like?


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[BrewinHooligan]

Wicked cool! Any idea what the 2 casings might be? What do they smell like?


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Casing number 1 went on the bright/yellow Virginias. It just smelled a little sweet. According to the website it is citrus based to compliment the natural tobacco flavors:

Casing number three went on the red va, orientals, and Latakia. The smell wasn't as sweet and I couldn't put a finger on it although it complimented the tobacco very well. According to the website it is a vanilla and coffee casing designed for fire cured tobaccos in order to smooth the raw tobacco flavors:

Only half of each casing was used and the bottles weren't completely full after preparing it per the instructions that came with. They should not change the flavors of the tobaccos at all and did make the aroma better than it already was. Very excited to give this a try and might give it a shot tonight.

Next order is already planned. There is a sampler of 1/2lb each of 8 different tobaccos and all three casing liquids he sells that I will be ordering here before long. Now I just need to get off my ass and finish up my pipe tobacco press so I can make flakes and crumble cakes. I also desperately need a tobacco shredder because there is no way in hell im gonna go through that much leaf by hand. A shredder would have saved me hours and had a more even result.

 

[stin187]

I can see myself falling down this rabbit hole this winter! Great work sir.

 

[BrewinHooligan]

I can see myself falling down this rabbit hole this winter! Great work sir.

It's really rewarding to look at a large pile of tobacco that you processed and shredded yourself, especially when it smells as good as this. I'm waiting to crack the tin @cigarblunk sent me until this has had some rest and time to fully blend together. I am a little concerned at the small amount of Latakia in the kit, but it is very strong stuff and even the small amount is immediately detectable when you smell it. The best advice I can give to anyone who is considering going down this hole is to get a quality shredder. I am going to try a $20 pasta roller from Walmart until I can afford the $100+ machine I have my eye on. Since most of this pipe tobacco runs $14/lb with the exception of Latakia at $25/lb it's a much less costly hobby than rolling cigars and 1lb of pipe tobacco goes way farther than cigar leaf does.

 

[CVAC085]

All I saw in this was Jonathan needs a tobacco shredder.....

 

[cgraunke]

I can see myself falling down this rabbit hole this winter! Great work sir.

I'm thinking a few of us might need to go in on a kit like this dependant on Jonathan's results here

 

[BrewinHooligan]

All I saw in this was Jonathan needs a tobacco shredder.....

Shaddup you

I'm thinking a few of us might need to go in on a kit like this dependant on Jonathan's results here

I tell you what, if it turns out good I have more of this than I can smoke myself. Got it all blended together a little earlier and there is a significant amount here.

The close up

 

[cgraunke]

Shaddup you

I tell you what, if it turns out good I have more of this than I can smoke myself. Got it all blended together a little earlier and there is a significant amount here.

I'll gladly chip in to help cover your costs and time on this batch! (oh, the addiction is looming)

 

[CVAC085]

Wow, that looks great!!!

 

[bostoneo]

yum