Your Blend Recipes

[Houtenziel]

My Anise Burley came out of the press a couple minutes ago. I think I sufficiently cranked down on the press, and the tobacco was much warmer, and a tad more moist from the extra casing. It came out about half height of my last two(with a half ounce more tobacco), and it feels almost like plastic. I can't really smell the anise in it, so hopefully it comes through in the flavor, otherwise I might have to start not being so conservative with my additives.

Looks fantastic. I think it's definitely going to take some experimenting to get an actual flavor dialed in vs a hint of aromatic

I think in this case, it's ok. Regular anise seed kinda smells funny anyway.. not the strong licorice kind of smell you get from Star Anise. I prefer the taste of regular anise, as the star variety tastes a little sharp/strong to me. I have a slight aversion to intense licorice.. my family is Dutch, and there is this licorice candy known as salmiak which has ammonium chloride added to it. They all love it, but to me it tastes like salty Sambuca cat piss.

[Mr Beardsley]

My Anise Burley came out of the press a couple minutes ago. I think I sufficiently cranked down on the press, and the tobacco was much warmer, and a tad more moist from the extra casing. It came out about half height of my last two(with a half ounce more tobacco), and it feels almost like plastic. I can't really smell the anise in it, so hopefully it comes through in the flavor, otherwise I might have to start not being so conservative with my additives.

Looks fantastic. I think it's definitely going to take some experimenting to get an actual flavor dialed in vs a hint of aromatic

I think in this case, it's ok. Regular anise seed kinda smells funny anyway.. not the strong licorice kind of smell you get from Star Anise. I prefer the taste of regular anise, as the star variety tastes a little sharp/strong to me. I have a slight aversion to intense licorice.. my family is Dutch, and there is this licorice candy known as salmiak which has ammonium chloride added to it. They all love it, but to me it tastes like salty Sambuca cat piss.

Salmiak sounds absolutely horrible lol. I had a bottle of food grade anise flavor that I got rid of recently (it had been around a while) but that stuff was crazy strong. You could put a few drops on one of those humidifier discs and infuse a blend pretty easily with it

[Houtenziel]

Super Happy with how it cuts.

[Mr Beardsley]

Super Happy with how it cuts.

A beautiful sight to see

[Houtenziel]

Decided, despite many folks saying it doesn't do anything, that I am going to stove half of my Anise Burley cake and see what happens. I figure that since stoving is not unlike cavendish process where the tobacco is steamed to mellow it, that it should actually make a difference.
I am going to use my Virginia steaming protocol (200F for 2 Hours)..

If only I could figure out what Wellman's Process is..

[Mr Beardsley]

Decided, despite many folks saying it doesn't do anything, that I am going to stove half of my Anise Burley cake and see what happens. I figure that since stoving is not unlike cavendish process where the tobacco is steamed to mellow it, that it should actually make a difference.
I am going to use my Virginia steaming protocol (200F for 2 Hours)..

If only I could figure out what Wellman's Process is..

Being completely unfamiliar with "wellman's process" I had to Google it. I've not had granger either. But if I was throwing ideas against the wall to screw with burley I'd find a way to introduce extra moisture (like a metal humidifier disc) while stoving for a good bit of time, say 4-6 hours. Leave the jar all sealed up for 7-10 days and then open it to do your drying / casing / pressing and leave it pressed for 7-10 days

[Houtenziel]

Decided, despite many folks saying it doesn't do anything, that I am going to stove half of my Anise Burley cake and see what happens. I figure that since stoving is not unlike cavendish process where the tobacco is steamed to mellow it, that it should actually make a difference.
I am going to use my Virginia steaming protocol (200F for 2 Hours)..

If only I could figure out what Wellman's Process is..

Being completely unfamiliar with "wellman's process" I had to Google it. I've not had granger either. But if I was throwing ideas against the wall to screw with burley I'd find a way to introduce extra moisture (like a metal humidifier disc) while stoving for a good bit of time, say 4-6 hours. Leave the jar all sealed up for 7-10 days and then open it to do your drying / casing / pressing and leave it pressed for 7-10 days

You hit on my main concern. Moisture loss and having the flavor burn off or get funky at stoving temps is a real possibility. I have read a few places that Wellman's might actually just be extra fermentation of the Burley when it's bailed and kept at higher temps. Kind of makes me wonder if a short stoving might be able to come close to replicating the smoothness. We'll see what happens though.. it's already been stoved and is a couple shades darker. The pressing relaxed a bit, but way less than I was expecting. When my wife came in the kitchen, she honestly thought I had bread in the oven, and didn't believe me when I told her it was tobacco That might be a good sign.

[Fr_Tom]

If only I could figure out what Wellman's Process is..

I read somewhere that the Wellman's process involved prune juice. I can't give you a citation, and it could have been some forum idiot making something up.

[Mr Beardsley]

If only I could figure out what Wellman's Process is..

I read somewhere that the Wellman's process involved prune juice. I can't give you a citation, and it could have been some forum idiot making something up.

Prune juice has been cited elsewhere as a casing ingredient so I wouldn't doubt the possibilities

[Houtenziel]

Stoved Burley jar looked totally dry this morning, and the tobacco was rich and dark and calling to me. Naturally I got impatient and loaded a pipe full. It massively smoothed out this stuff. It's super smooth, nutty, and the anise flavor seems more incorporated rather than standing apart.