Home toasted virginias
Posted by timmo on Tuesday, 17-Jul-2007
Hi all...
I'm a fairly new SYO smoker from the UK and have been reading here with interest for the last couple of months. Most of your tobaccos aren't available in England and it would be so nice to try the miriad of tobaccos you have available to you. On the other hand though, we have some superb tobaccos over here that you won't find in the states, such as original drum, golden virginia and old holborn being the most popular 'store bought' brands.
I'm currently smoking:
1 part Golden Virginia
1 part Drum Halfzware
2 parts JW Von Eicken virginia blend (imported from Germany)
On a friday I buy enough to last me a whole week which is 150g or just over 6oz in total. After mixing these I always 'toast' them under a very hot grill, as opposed to 'stoving' them. For me it's quicker and I feel more in control of whats happening to the tobacco. All I do is spread the tobaccos over a sheet of baking foil and place under the grill, wait for a hint of smoke, then whip it out and mix well. I do this several times until the colour changes ever so slightly to a darker (but not burned) shade.
This method usually dries the weed out real quick so you have to be very careful during the process; 2 seconds too long under a burning grill will give you a burnt crisp dust.
I re-hydrate the tobacco afterwards with a sterile damp cloth draped over the lid of my makeshift humidor (thanks tupperware!) and within a few hours its ready to smoke.
I mostly use Vera Cruz Nocturnes and Rizla 'cigarette size' tubes. In a Rizla slim tube, this tobacco is sweet, nutty and toasty, a lot like a lucky strike but without the crap, and somewhat stronger in taste, which I love.
Incidentally, the Rizla 'cigarette' size are not really a recently new 'innovation'. We have had them here in the UK for years under the name of Rizla 'concept'. They are exactly the same: 7.8mm tube with a 22mm filter. They also sell a rolling tobacco to go with it, made by John Player, which is expensive crap to be honest. It costs £2.70 (or $5.40) for 14g (Yes 14g!) and is full of reconstituted tobacco and what looks and tastes like cardboard. Ugh.
Of course it costs more over here, as does everything else. My weekly tobacco spend for just a fraction over 6oz of tobaccos is £21.60 (literally about $43.00), and $8.00 on tubes alone. But - if I were to go back to smoking premade Marlboro I'd be spending $120 per week.
I cant ever see myself taking a backwards step and smoking a premade again. Even if I were 'skint' as we say over here, and all I could afford was cheap and nasty bottom shelf tobacco, i'd still buy that and stuff my own as it is almost guaranteed to taste better than the crap they shove into premades.
Thanks for this site - a brilliant read.
Comments [ new ]
- Re: Home toasted virginias
- Posted by Rob S on Thursday, 19-Jul-2007
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What is the purpose of "toasting" the tobacco.
- Re: Home toasted virginias
- Posted by Dave L on Friday, 20-Jul-2007
Aging is more commonly associated with Virginia than toasting is. Rom's posts on stoving [link] [link], E.S.O.'s on aged Bali [link] and Matt's on super fast aging [link] might provide some insight. Aging tobacco, more common in pipe tobacco circles, is a hobby for some. What I've read indicates that Virginia tobacco benefits the most from aging, but, that not much happens after the first couple of years. The tobacco in brands like Stokkebye has already been aged.
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Toasting is typically associated with Burley tobaccos and has a similar goal, enhancing the sweet and smooth qualities of the tobacco. Burley isn't a sweet tobacco and applying and toasting a sugar/flavoring sauce to the tobacco is common. D&R's Two-Timer goes through a double toasting which results in a surprisingly sweet/smooth Burley. There's a related Burley thread started by Bob [link] and there's Clarence Walker's blog for more toasting ideas [link].