I've mixed different blends from other blends before. Some I bought and thought needed something else so I would add what I wanted to it. Other blends I've really liked and thought they didn't need to be changed, so I would keep a majority of that blend to the side and just take a small part and mix it with others just to get something different. Nothing wrong with having something you really enjoy to smoke. Wolf, if you're looking to send out some samples, I'm always game to try new things.
@thesubcon I always ask before i use someone else blend, even though it is posted in semi public page it is out of respect. I will let you know if I like it, might be a while before I can try it, have to get the blends and still can't smoke due to smoke inhalation still bothering my throat plus I just broke a tooth and had it pulled today.
@fgreen04 I will let you know if I decide to share a couple samples, you will be on my top five mailing list.
Anyone feel like sharing samples in the mail? Might be fun and a way to try new things? We could share the same amounts of sample blends to each other, would only be paying shipping because we would all get samples back....Think about it..... I think I posted that somewhere else a while back.
I've messed around with mixing some aromatics with english blends. The aros I used were rum and maple based and when I smell the tobacco now I only smell latakia. But when I smoke it the aros come through in taste only slightly but the room note is much more pleasant and tolerable to my wife. I also enjoy cutting up cigars I like and mixing the cigar leaf with various aros and non aros. Just yesterday I finished a Romeo Y Julieta 1875 Bully robusto that I blended with 1Q. It was quite satisfying. I also enjoy mixing in or adding extra perique to my tocaccos. Especially haunted bookshop.
I started the discussion "what do you smoke in the morning?" Early Morning Pipe is too weak for my liking. I mixed it with London Mixture (50:50) and it greatly improved for me.
I have spent the past year smoking through aromatics to find "the one" I would love. I am partial to English blends, but my wife and kids like the smell of aromatics. However, from casings to toppings to tongue bite to chemical flavor to aftertaste, it seems there has always been something to turn me away. So, I've been on a quest for one that works well! I enjoy one bulk aromatic from my local B&M. I also like 1Q and both Cherokee and Old Toby (after letting it dry a bit) from TCS get close.
So this thread encouraged me to make a stab at it. I followed the old adage: Start simple.
Recipe: P&C had bulk tobacco from Lane on special, so I picked up a pound of 1Q and BCA. I borrowed my wife's digital cooking scale and I've been experimenting with different percentages. As it turns out, 50/50 by weight makes a nice blend. ZERO tongue bite (go ahead and try to abuse it. Puff after puff. Your briar will ignite before this mixture gives you any tongue bite).
It packs well and even though you might think it feels moist (borderline sticky), you will find that it stays lit fairly easy once you start smoking. Flavor: This is a sweet tobacco, if you don't like aromatics and if you don't like sweetness in your smoke from virginias and cavendish - this blend is NOT for you.
Room Note: I smoked it on a walk with the dogs the other day and I heard a few women behind me talking: "Do you smell 'smores? It smells like someone is baking vanilla scones..." When they caught up to me and realized it was a pipe, they both commented how much they loved it.
Who knew that playing with a blend would solve my quest.
Now that I read the post above by @thewanderingdude - maybe I will blend in a little burley too.
@mangoandy sounds like we are on the same quest. The BCA/1Q mix is good but still lacking in enough taste for me. The SWR seems to add just enough for my tastes. Someday I will mix some blending Latakia in to the mixture as well. I would be interested in your thoughts of it if you give it a shot.
I will also suggest that you give Scotty's Stonewall a shot, It hits close to the mark for me.
@thewanderingdude Just took a peek at Scotty's Stonewall and bought an ounce to try. I'm not a huge fan of burley. I'll add in a little and see if I can keep it in the background.
@Mangoandy I am so glad to hear this thread has opened your mind and helped you mix a blend you have been looking for, I made this thread for those reasons.
@ everyone else, glad you have all put in some input it might not seem like much but it helps everyone that wants to be helped and you never know, you might come up with a magic blend that you could name and have a store sell!
Also Mangoandy would love to see you post your post in the Aromatic smokers only thread.
I blend PS Cube Cut one to one with Bugler Pipe Cut. I also have a small amount of the same blend with a few pinches of a heavy Latakia blend in it for a change of pace.
I keep Sutliffe Red VA, PS VA 701, Dark Fired, Perique, Dansk Black (cavendish), Latakia and D&R Windsail and Windsail Platinum. I experiment with differing amounts and tend toward VA and VaPer for my tastes. Another thing that I have done is to "cook" the Red VA and Windsail. Moistened in a mason jar in the oven at 220 F for 220 minutes or so. It seems to decrease the bite and deepen the sweetness. Seems best when I leave it moist and let it sit for at least 5 days before drying to a smokeable moisture level. I love it and mixed with Perique I get something that, although certainly not Escudo, I enjoy just as much.
As I've mentioned in the discussion of Aromatics, I mix Sutliff's Maple Street 50/50 with their Molto Dolce. Smokes cool, tastes great, smells TERRIFIC, even to the smoker, and doesn't bite. Damn near perfect, except I do enjoy an English blend with a little Latakia from time to time....
I pretty much smoke only blends that I mix. All are English style...heavy Latakia and Orientals, usually with Perique if I can get it. Recently I've been able to get Cigar Leaf from P&C and have been using that as the base rather than a Virginia. P&C has a great selection of blending tobaccos...
Here is a nice gentle little mix to start...
Bill's Blend v 4
Tobacco
Oz
%
Cigar Leaf
6
32%
Izmir Ribbon Cut
3
16%
Latakia
6
32%
Red Virginia Ribbon
2
11%
Blended Turkish Ribbon
2
11%
Total
19
100%
I tend to use it in one of two styles of pipe....a graceful slightly curved Prince or a 3/4ths bent billiard. Don't know why...seems to do better in those shapes. I'd love some feedback on what your taste buds tell you
Nice, I love when people share their mixes. Maybe we should do a day of personal mixes?? Everyone could post one or two mixes they made themselves and explain the tastes and smells....
I'm typically happy with the blends as they are but sometimes I get one that I just don't like by itself, I like the 1-Q and BCA mixture (I call it front porch blend) so when I realized I found D&R picyuane way too spicy for my tastes I took 45% 1-Q, 45% BCA and 10% picyuane and ended up with a nice blend. The Perique sort of melted into the lane tobaccos and instead of being spicy and pungent ended up adding a richness and "heft" to the smoke. Since that worked I blended 5% picyuane into some cavendish in the woods and had a similar result. Now I keep the picyuane around to use as the butter of my tobacco blending. I did not however like blending the perique into codger burley's. I thought it would have the same effect but all it did was make prince albert and granger bitter and deliver some wicked tongue bite
I've been an aromatic pipe smoker for over 45 years and, although attempting a few times, just can't get into English blends. Which keeps me from participating in a lot of discussions. I feel a bit awkward ... sort of like the country bumpkin who never graduated from high school in a room full of successful college educated professionals.
There have been a few times I've tried making my own blend from combining established blends but have discovered on more than one occasion ... a Master Blenders is a true magician - and it's hard to improve upon their recipe. But my one glowing success is a blend I call 'Hudson's 221B Bakery Blend'. Being a lifelong Sherlock Holmes aficionado I felt the need to christen my blend with reference to Holmes . But knowing the type of hearty English blends he smoked my aromatic concoction would be out character for the master sleuth. But I could easily imagine the scent of this vanilla/chocolate confection wafting up to his room from his landlady Mrs. Hudson's kitchen below. And so with that in mind created my patchwork collection of Sutliff blends - "Hudson's 221B Bakery Blend".
3 parts Sutliff Vanilla Custard
2 parts Sutliff Chocolate Mousse
1 part Sutliff Crème Brulee
Followed by a liberal sprinkling of Sutliff Irish Cream added while mixing
The pouch note is amazing and smells like something baking in the oven while smoking.
@ghostsofpompeii Wow that Blend sounds good, I will have to see what I have and what I need to mix a little up and try it. Thanks for sharing.
Anyone else have a good aromatic blend they have made? You do know you don't always have to mix just aromatics or just non-aromatics, you can blend them together and make some good smokes. I used a Non-Aromatic with a couple Aromatic blends and got a great Halloween blend that tastes like candy corns, chocolate candy bars and at times a small hint of plastic and wood, kind of a mystery smoke because with each puff it changes flavors and they are not strong but just enough to know.....If I haven't posted it I will later next week.
Black Cavendish soaked and dried twice with Madiera Wine and a little bit of Latakia makes up a blend similar to "Old King Cole" my favorite Wally Frank blend from the 70s..
@ghostsofpompeii here is that post about mixing your own blends, feel free to comment about making your own blends or other home made blends you have tried from other people.
Last night I put on my Frankenstein lab coat and went all out creating a new blend that went beyond simply mixing existing blends or adding a touch of Perique or Latakia to an established blend. And since I've pretty much given up on English blends and happily accept the fact that I am and always will be an aromatic smoker I decided to expand my blending experiments by adding a combination of Watkins flavor extracts from the kitchen cupboard to an ancient can of Velvet Tobacco which has been gathering dust in my closet for over 20 years.
My mind raced like the mad scientist in an old Universal Horror Classic. In that instant I was a combination of both the brilliant Henry Frankenstein and his mentally and physically challenged assistant Fritz, madly eyeballing the pile of 20 year old Velvet tobacco in the Tupperware container, as dead and dry as a mummified corpse, hoping to infuse new life into the crumbling remains. With equal parts anatomy, applied science, culinary artistry, alchemy and astrology I prepared the potion that would bring my creation life starting with a mixture of orange concentrate (about six capfuls), followed by an additional four capfuls of pure vanilla extract, and for added measure another four capfuls of imitation caramel flavoring. I then transplanted a pinch of Out Of Office "Gone Fishing" caramel flavored tobacco into the still dormant cadaver - and as a finishing touch ... a light dusting of clove seasoning. I then began hand mixing and massaging the moist concoction until I felt a faint heartbeat. After screaming ... "It's Alive!" I closed the lid on the Tupperware container to contain the beast for at least 24 hours.
And this morning after opening the sealed container the unmistakable aroma of 'Dreamsicle' filled the air. The pouch note is a dead ringer for the orange and vanilla popsicle delight ... and the room note when smoking has a faint hint of it as well. Before telling her what I had created I asked my wife to sniff the contents of the Tupperware container and she immediately recognized the aroma as Dreamsicle. Even detected a trace amount in the room note while I was smoking. Unfortunately, although a very sweet and pleasant smoke I didn't detect that orange and vanilla flavor I was expecting. So I'll add a bit more tonight ... then let it age for a few days before trying again. It sure did smell nice though. If is ever tastes as good as it smells I'll have a real winner.
Comments
@fgreen04 I will let you know if I decide to share a couple samples, you will be on my top five mailing list.
Anyone feel like sharing samples in the mail? Might be fun and a way to try new things? We could share the same amounts of sample blends to each other, would only be paying shipping because we would all get samples back....Think about it..... I think I posted that somewhere else a while back.
I had some tobaccos left from my bulks that weren't enough to fill a bowl so I mixed them together:
John Patton Quadruple Virginia
PS Deluxe Navy Flake
Newminster Superior Round Slices
McClelland Dark Navy Flake
McClelland Classic Virginia
H&H Anniversary Kake
Not bad.
Flavor: This is a sweet tobacco, if you don't like aromatics and if you don't like sweetness in your smoke from virginias and cavendish - this blend is NOT for you.
@ everyone else, glad you have all put in some input it might not seem like much but it helps everyone that wants to be helped and you never know, you might come up with a magic blend that you could name and have a store sell!
Also Mangoandy would love to see you post your post in the Aromatic smokers only thread.
Thanks
Another thing that I have done is to "cook" the Red VA and Windsail. Moistened in a mason jar in the oven at 220 F for 220 minutes or so. It seems to decrease the bite and deepen the sweetness. Seems best when I leave it moist and let it sit for at least 5 days before drying to a smokeable moisture level. I love it and mixed with Perique I get something that, although certainly not Escudo, I enjoy just as much.
I like mixing stuff so think I will do a few different blends like I usually do, maybe I can salvage so smoke. LOL
Cut
https://thispipelife.com/tpl-article/13/
Thanks guys!
I've been an aromatic pipe smoker for over 45 years and, although attempting a few times, just can't get into English blends. Which keeps me from participating in a lot of discussions. I feel a bit awkward ... sort of like the country bumpkin who never graduated from high school in a room full of successful college educated professionals.
There have been a few times I've tried making my own blend from combining established blends but have discovered on more than one occasion ... a Master Blenders is a true magician - and it's hard to improve upon their recipe. But my one glowing success is a blend I call 'Hudson's 221B Bakery Blend'. Being a lifelong Sherlock Holmes aficionado I felt the need to christen my blend with reference to Holmes . But knowing the type of hearty English blends he smoked my aromatic concoction would be out character for the master sleuth. But I could easily imagine the scent of this vanilla/chocolate confection wafting up to his room from his landlady Mrs. Hudson's kitchen below. And so with that in mind created my patchwork collection of Sutliff blends - "Hudson's 221B Bakery Blend".
3 parts Sutliff Vanilla Custard
2 parts Sutliff Chocolate Mousse
1 part Sutliff Crème Brulee
Followed by a liberal sprinkling of Sutliff Irish Cream added while mixing
The pouch note is amazing and smells like something baking in the oven while smoking.
Anyone else have a good aromatic blend they have made?
You do know you don't always have to mix just aromatics or just non-aromatics, you can blend them together and make some good smokes. I used a Non-Aromatic with a couple Aromatic blends and got a great Halloween blend that tastes like candy corns, chocolate candy bars and at times a small hint of plastic and wood, kind of a mystery smoke because with each puff it changes flavors and they are not strong but just enough to know.....If I haven't posted it I will later next week.
OK @Wolf41035 here is the post.
Last night I put on my Frankenstein lab coat and went all out creating a new blend that went beyond simply mixing existing blends or adding a touch of Perique or Latakia to an established blend. And since I've pretty much given up on English blends and happily accept the fact that I am and always will be an aromatic smoker I decided to expand my blending experiments by adding a combination of Watkins flavor extracts from the kitchen cupboard to an ancient can of Velvet Tobacco which has been gathering dust in my closet for over 20 years.
My mind raced like the mad scientist in an old Universal Horror Classic. In that instant I was a combination of both the brilliant Henry Frankenstein and his mentally and physically challenged assistant Fritz, madly eyeballing the pile of 20 year old Velvet tobacco in the Tupperware container, as dead and dry as a mummified corpse, hoping to infuse new life into the crumbling remains. With equal parts anatomy, applied science, culinary artistry, alchemy and astrology I prepared the potion that would bring my creation life starting with a mixture of orange concentrate (about six capfuls), followed by an additional four capfuls of pure vanilla extract, and for added measure another four capfuls of imitation caramel flavoring. I then transplanted a pinch of Out Of Office "Gone Fishing" caramel flavored tobacco into the still dormant cadaver - and as a finishing touch ... a light dusting of clove seasoning. I then began hand mixing and massaging the moist concoction until I felt a faint heartbeat. After screaming ... "It's Alive!" I closed the lid on the Tupperware container to contain the beast for at least 24 hours.
And this morning after opening the sealed container the unmistakable aroma of 'Dreamsicle' filled the air. The pouch note is a dead ringer for the orange and vanilla popsicle delight ... and the room note when smoking has a faint hint of it as well. Before telling her what I had created I asked my wife to sniff the contents of the Tupperware container and she immediately recognized the aroma as Dreamsicle. Even detected a trace amount in the room note while I was smoking. Unfortunately, although a very sweet and pleasant smoke I didn't detect that orange and vanilla flavor I was expecting. So I'll add a bit more tonight ... then let it age for a few days before trying again. It sure did smell nice though. If is ever tastes as good as it smells I'll have a real winner.