Rehydrating - with Whisky?

[ReAndyMator]

Evidently one of my bail-top jars isn't as airtight as I thought. As I filled my pipe on Saturday, I realised the tobacco was a little too dry, but I lit up anyway. That afternoon, while refilling, I happened to have a 0.5ml phial of whisky next to me, and just added a few drops, leaving it for a wee while before lighting. Worked rather better than the overly dry stuff.

If I was to add a couple of ml (finely sprinkled) to the jar, and give it a good shake (before leaving for a few days), is it likely to give me a problem?

 

[the_edski]

I haven't heard any negatives in regards to this. Good idea to leave it for a few days, don't want to light up and have a flash-over with the whiskey! The only tip I know is that it's better if you can spritz or spray the whiskey over the tobacco to more evenly distribute it, but shaking is a good substitute. Experiment and let us know how it goes!

 

[KarlMaldensNose]

I've read that bringing water into direct contact with the leaf can leave the door open for bacterial growth, mould, etc., but whiskey, or any other spirits, should work just fine. A bit off the whiskey path, but I was cleaning out/taking stock of my 'bar' and came across some old bottles of Frangelico, Tia Maria, and Bailey's Irish Cream. If I can figure out how to use these for tobacco flavour infusion, I think I just might be able to have something nice to say about aromatics... hazelnut, coffee, whiskey and cream... sounds like an amazing dessert smoke.

Please do report back on any experimenting you might do in the future.

 

[Commander Quan]

Once you do rehydrate the tobacco don't forget to change out the lid on the jar if you suspect it is not sealing well.

 

[ReAndyMator]

I've replaced the rubber seal. No idea why it didn't seal properly - the rubber still feels relatively flexible - but for 59p for a new seal, it's not worth notchanging it.

 

[Blackbeard's Delight]

Wow, I was just coming to the Brown Leaf to ask about this very subject. I was thinking about some of the cheaper blends I have tried that were fairly plain-jane flavored, and wondered why a tobacco company can flavor tobacco but we can't... I haven't read anything about anyone doing this before. I'd love to hear how the experiment goes! I've worked through many a 'boring' pouch of bacci and think back as to how I could have spiced things up with some booze or some other kind of flavoring.

Has anyone heard of flavoring with anything other than booze? Maybe with herbs, like dried peppermint leaves or something? The whole idea of tobacco alchemy is pretty interesting...

 

[Commander Quan]

What may work better if you're trying to actually flavor the blend is to lay it out flat and spritz it with a mist of the flavoring.

Vodka is cheap and comes in all kinds of crazy flavors so you could add mint, berry, apple or salmon flavoring to the blend.

 

[nortac]

What may work better if you're trying to actually flavor the blend is to lay it out flat and spritz it with a mist of the flavoring.

Vodka is cheap and comes in all kinds of crazy flavors so you could add mint, berry, apple or salmon flavoring to the blend.

Gives a new meaning to smoked fish! Mmmm..mmm..not!

 

[ReAndyMator]

Well, I left it for a couple of days, while I was away, and it was great. No real whisky taste (hey, there was only about 2ml added to the jar), but it smouldered away nicely for an hour.

Oh, and I use whisky rather than vodka, because for me, whisky's the cheap one (staff shops rock)

 

[Boro62]

this thread has sparked i am bored experiments all over the place in my head....

 

[KarlMaldensNose]

This guy has some informative videos on the subject. Here's one of his that deals with alcohol flavouring and pressing your own flakes. He's got a ton of other interesting stuff. YouTube pipe guys can be a crapshoot, but Doc Brown is class.

 

[the_edski]

this thread has sparked i am bored experiments all over the place in my head....

A man of your means and stockpile, the mind recoils at all the possibilities. Keep us posted if you try anything, I'm intrigued!

 

[Boro62]

A man of your means and stockpile, the mind recoils at all the possibilities. Keep us posted if you try anything, I'm intrigued!

I'll definately let you guys know...the more i dig the more im looking at trying my hand at blending too....

 

[whavens]

Just about any cigarette you have ever smoked was flavored with an alcohol based after-cut flavoring. I spent 8.5 years as a flavor room supervisor for a major cigarette manufacturer. Other humectants you might want to consider to act as flavor vehicles might include glycerin and water mixed with the alcohol. I would shoot for somewhere between 12-13% moisture level in the leaf for long term storage. That should be low enough to not promote mold growth, yet wet enough to maintain leaf integrity. Just my .02.