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Tobacco storage and rest
rsherman24
Posts: 6,775 ✭✭✭✭✭
in Pipes
Looking for some advice on a baseline for storing and resting room temp prior to smoking. I understand that each blend will be different and some of the aromatics seem to be very moist compared to some of the other blends.
If you get an order in today, what is your standard operating procedure? Right into a jar, let it rest 1 week, let it rest out of the jar for 30 minutes?
If you get an order in today, what is your standard operating procedure? Right into a jar, let it rest 1 week, let it rest out of the jar for 30 minutes?
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"I've got a great cigar collection - it's actually not a collection, because that would imply I wasn't going to smoke ever last one of 'em." - Ron White
I jar everything immediately. Even vacuum sealed tins get popped and transferred simply because my OCD demands continuity of storage. I like about 4 ounces of jar capacity for 1 ounce of tobacco or some multiple of that, 8 to 2, 16 to 4...anf if you ever find a mason jar over 64 ounces let me know because I need some. This ratio works well with loose tobacco like ribbon, coarse, $hag, ready rubbed and the like. The denser cuts like medallions, flakes, cakes, plugs and twists are a different game. I try to jar them in whatever size jar allows me to maintain their structural integrity.
I find every tobacco is it's own beast. It's fairly uncommon that two blends act identically in all aspects. I cannot speak to its treatment before it reached me but my batch of 1q arrived and was jarred within a few hours, sat for maybe 4 days sealed up, I doled out a few trade samples and dumped the remainder of the jar in my tobacco pouch where it rested for about a full day. When I got an itch for a smoke, I checked the moisture and thought it could use a bit of air so I just left the whole pouch open for about 30 minutes, then packed and lit up. It was still wet enough it threatened to bite but slowing my roll kept me safe enough. I had a jar of squadron leader I jarred 4 years ago that was so wet I left the whole jar open for two full days and I still give a bowl worth an hour of open air before I'll burn it. And who is to say whether my next order of 1q will be dripping wet or that next tin of squadron leader will come crispy dry?
I do a moisture test before ever loading the bowl. Similar to a pinch test on a cigar but you are looking for something else. Take about a golf ball sized pinch and squeeze it together firmly and release. The pinch should stick together for a second or maybe two but no longer. Longer equals wetter. A few ribbons stuck lightly to your finger is acceptable too. If the strands of tobacco crumble and break, it is too dry. Sticky pinch gets dried on some kind of clean, dedicated, flavor neutral surface like a saucer, paper plate, sheet of newspaper, or a super fancy leather tobacco mat. You will learn how long to dry best by personal experimentation. Springy "1 to 2 second" pinches can be loaded right up and smoked. Crispy pinches need rehydrated and that is another thread entirely. After loading your bowl, the remnants left on your plate can be dumped right back into your jar. I prefer the paper plate for this because I can fold it gently and make it into a pour spout. Even if your tobacco is ready to smoke straight from the tin or jar, I recommend the plate for catching stray stuff.
I suppose my point without the anecdotal runaround is that there is no hard and fast rule or schedule for resting or drying. Smoke it, if it was bad, change something, if it was good, don't. Or maybe even if it's good, change anyway just because you're curious. Just don't change too much at once or you'll never pin down a repeatable experience.
Thoroughly confused yet?
Thanks for the input
But I suppose that's the fun of it for me, trying to find the right way to smoke a particular blend in a particular pipe.
Hmm. May have a target for my first pipe bomb as well.