Casing your own tobacco.

Mini Press Second Results:











The mini press works pretty well I'd say.


Not quite the plugs that I was making with the pollen press, but they're the same weight.

I forgot my lighter for scale, but you can see the size of the wafer compared to my first mini batch test. The wafer is slightly longer than a BIC lighter and a half inch thick.


This wafer is cigarette tobacco, but the press process is the same for pipe tobacco.

This wafer rubs out nicely. I rolled a few smokes out of it.

https://1drv.ms/a/s!Anj1ZjnfhV3qgS-hMu2TIl4ZvnsQ for the whole album.

I have. If you can call it that- I have my own "navy blend" I've made on my own at home.

4 oz Virginia No. 1
2 oz Turkish
2 oz Burley
2 oz Perique

1/2 tsp of honey mixed with 3 shots of Shellback Rum
tobacco is moistened just so it's moist but not soaked. Mix it well, let it dry for a bit. Now here's the kicker: put it in a mason jar and forget about it for 2 years, lol...or smoke it but it's better with a bit of age. If you like Peter Stokkebye's Luxury Navy Flake, and even maybe Plumcake, this would be somewhere between the two.

ClemsonTigerz said:

I have. If you can call it that- I have my own "navy blend" I've made on my own at home.

4 oz Virginia No. 1
2 oz Turkish
2 oz Burley
2 oz Perique

1/2 tsp of honey mixed with 3 shots of Shellback Rum
tobacco is moistened just so it's moist but not soaked. Mix it well, let it dry for a bit. Now here's the kicker: put it in a mason jar and forget about it for 2 years, lol...or smoke it but it's better with a bit of age. If you like Peter Stokkebye's Luxury Navy Flake, and even maybe Plumcake, this would be somewhere between the two.

Click to expand...

Interesting. What kind of Turkish leaf are you using?

The only "casing" I've done was to revive some bulk burley that arrived dry. I used a whole mini-bottle of a Puerto Rican rum (courtesy of a co-worker) to moisten about a pound of the burley. It's delicious!

On the rum casing. That's awesome. Rum rehydrated Burley.


When I initially started this thread, I kinda thought I'd hop right into full on casing. But the more I go along this project, the more I realize that it's more than just casing to manufacturing tobacco.

Right now I figure I'll start from the beginning: Blending and Aging. Then I'll give a shot at actually casing.

If I could change the thread title to Manufacturing Tobacco I think I would.

I need to get back on the wagon and finish up the last 4 compressed samples thought. I'll admit, I've been lazy. But...it'll all get done eventually.

I've almost got the ounce prepped of Izmir Turkish/Oriental leaf ready. It's pretty shaky though. Lots of small leaves that have crumbled a bit. So I think this oz is going to just be flake instead of ribbon like I've been working with. But so long as my motivation doesn't wane, I'll get that in the press within the next few days.

Lots of stuff going on offline at the moment thought, so my progress has been slow.

Although, on casing itself. I think it really is a 'what works for you' scenario. There is so much to consider in burn characteristics, flavour and longevity of leaf.

Lately I've been battling the local humidity. I've been needing to dehydrate my leaf a lot more to get a decent burn. It's just been so humid in Halifax the last week or two. Unless I really dry my leaf out, my smokes don't smoke.
It's not been such an issue with a pipe. But you know, once you get the bowl going well, almost anything smokes.

If someone takes pity on me and changes the thread title to Manufacturing tobacco, I'll start branching out and touching on RYO cigarettes too. I've been doing that for a couple years now and have some info on the process and blends for anyone interested.

Found a couple minutes to get the Izmir Turkish Oriental leaf in the press.
Somewhat back on track now.

I was re-reading this thread... What a journey!!!