In some non-alcohol related news, I’ve recently planted a large variety of tobacco, and the first sprouts are now beginning to come up.
As many of you know, I’m a lover of a good smoke. That necessarily omits most of the commercial brands of Big Tobacco, which are a far cry from the flavorful and mild blends I recall from my youth. I fondly remember Camels when they were really made with fine Turkish tobacco instead of the stinky, sulfurous weeds now foisted upon us by corporate greed.
I also love good cigars, which fortunately are not yet extinct.
Most of the varieties I’ve planted are Turkish, Cuban, and South American, although a few are North American, and several of them are heirloom strains free from hybridization and genetic mucking about. One strain is an intact rustic variety identical with the tobacco first imported into Europe. I have seeds from Argentina, Brazil, China, Colombia, Ecuador, France, Greece, Paraguay, Persia, Peru, Turkey, United States and Venezuela.
All in all there are about 25 varieties coming up, so I’ll probably only grow a few plants of each variety just to see which do best in this climate and which have the flavor and aroma characteristics I’m looking for. I’m mostly looking forward to the Izmir, Xanthi Yaka, Smyrna, and Havanas. Xanthi Yaka was the variety grown in Yenidje, and was the gold standard of Turkish tobacco. Anyone who’s enjoyed a Balkan Sobranie cigarette from before 1980 will be smiling wistfully right about now.
Most of the tobacco will be sun-cured by Turkish methods, but I’ll be air curing some. I’ve also got some Perique that I’ll be press-fermenting and some Latakia I’ll be fire-curing for that dark, smokey quality.
I’ll post more pics as the babies grow!
You’re located in Washington? How many of these varietals grow that far north? I know that there were tobacco plants growing in Connecticut along the Farmington River that were perfect for cigar wrapper tobacco. I guess that your experiment will figure that out, and perhaps letting the tobacco varietals cross-pollinate will let you develop a strain (through selection) that grows well up there.
Definitely a cool project!
Thanks Frederic. Yes, the idea is to discover which strains, if any, do well in our unusual climate; unusual for tobacco-growing anyway.
I’ll be topping the plants before they can cross-pollinate, because I don’t want any hybridization just yet. But that may come later.
Apparently there are a few hobbyist growers in Eastern Washington who are quite successful, but the climate there is much closer to that where tobacco is usually grown.
However the main thrust of the project, as it has been with so many of my projects over the years, is to try to provide myself with something that I can’t get elsewhere.
I initially learned fine-woodworking just to make myself a Celtic harp, because at that time (mid-80s) there were no accurate historical reproductions that were affordable.
That is very cool about the heirloom seeds and them not being mucked with. It’s so hard to tell if what you’re getting (seed or even food-wise) has been altered.
Are you growing them outdoors or in a greenhouse?
What is the Turkish sun drying method?
The seeds I’m growing were provided for research purposes by the USDA/GRIN Nicotiana Collections at various repositories, such as at North Carolina State University. Some of the varieties were collected or donated in the early 1900s and have been carefully cataloged and maintained.
I’m required to report my findings at the end of the (very enjoyable) experiment.
There are four major methods of curing tobacco:
Air curing, where the leaves are hung in a ventilated barn and left to dry for about four to eight weeks.
Fire curing, where the leaves are hung in a barn with a low fire. This can take anywhere between 3 days to 10 weeks.
Flue curing, where tobacco is heat-cured in barns using fires, but the tobacco isn’t exposed to the fire or smoke. This takes about a week.
Sun curing, where leaves are cured in the sun,strung on frames. This is mostly used in Mediterranean countries.
Sun curing produces a mild but fragrant tobacco that’s lower in nicotine and sugars than all of the other methods.
Personally, I believe Big Tobacco is probably behind the scarcity of Turkish tobacco precisely because it’s low in nicotine.
Oh, and right now they’re in a terrarium in my greenhouse. Once they’re ready I’ll transplant them to large containers, since I don’t have a lot of space at home for growing.