BowhuntnHoosier wrote: ↑Sun Jun 03, 2018 10:03 am
Washing pipe tobacco. Ok so what think you?
You see this?
- 20180603_145757.jpg (309.94 KiB) Viewed 10451 times
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That's me. Calling BS.
I had to check the published date of the video to see if it was April 1st. I'm being silly and don't want to harsh the buzz, but I do have a few issues with the idea....
1.) Nicotine itself is clear (it only turns yellow/brown when burned). The dark stuff he sees in his wash is other stuff - colorants, humectants,
essential oils from the tobacco itself - (these oils are generally desirable, and give tobacco its character and flavor), and
tannins. Frankly, Carter Hall is a mass market Middleton-produced pipe tobacco, not of the highest quality - and likely contains any number of things that wouldn't otherwise be present in higher quality blends. Think Black 'n' Mild versus My Father. You can get similarly colored water from almost any dried/fermented plant matter. Black tea isn't a nicotine champ, but drop some of that in a cup of water for 8 hours. Tannins give it this coloration.
2.) Why do this? Because you found a blend you love but can't handle the nicotine level of this particular tobacco? Then, smoke a little while and put your pipe down until later. I'm absolutely not buying his assertion that the flavor didn't change whatsoever. Refer to the pic above again. If there's no change in flavor after soaking out all that stuff in the tobacco, either a.) his palate is toast and he can't tell the difference, b.) he's lying, or c.) the tobacco had little to offer in the beginning. This kind of mindbending tea-making experiment wreaks havoc with tobacco. If you love a strong blend, smoke it in manageable doses....I believe it will no longer be what you fell in love with after being soaked in water for 8 hours.
3.) Unless you're going to smoke the end product rather quickly, you're absolutely
begging for mold to grow on the tobacco. Even with distilled water. Once you bring it out of the solution and attempt to dry it, the race is on against time.
These things being said, the "tea" he made does have some use. It's a good foundation for betún, what cigar factories sometimes use to achieve uniform color in their leaf. Or, as a pesticide. Nicotine is a phenomenal pesticide, getting rid of all kinds of non-desirable bugs on your garden.
I'm all for experimentation with tobacco - sometimes to a ludicrous degree. But, I think I'll skip this one. I feel like he should have known better because the viewer who recommended the process to him asked for his name to be withheld. That reeks of someone who knew the idea was hokum, or was just pulling this guy's leg.
But hey, I remain a faithful adherent to "smoke what you like, and like what you smoke." If he digs it, more power to him.
