A Better Pipe Smoking Community

Either spray with a spray bottle (lightly!) or place in a bowl covered with a wet napkin overnight/ until correct for your taste.

Easy!

You rock my friend, you also paper and scissors;-)

... that Captain Bob also posted a huge thread about rehydrating tobaccos. Perhaps you can do a search through his posts, or search the site for it. Basically it sez what Muddler just said, but I think he goes into various ways to achieve the same result. Using utensils, cooking implements, and the brown thighs of young Cuban girls. Quite exhilarating, really. You should try it.

GezerFan, you've just made me laugh so hard I think I'm gonna pass out!
I shall try and search for the captain's post (in all its glory;-)

You should ideally use distilled water in as fine a mister/spray bottle that you can get your hands on.

Craig Tarler from Cornell Diehl told me he spreads it out flat like on a tray or table, mists evenly but lightly, then mixes it all up. Repeat as needed...

Good luck!

Just don't over spray. Spray lightly. It may seem to need more, but resist the temptation. Pack it tightly in a jar overnight and you are good to go. You can always spray a bit more if really necessary. Remember, dryer is better than wetter!

I can say that, because I was the one who had to ask a couple of weeks ago. I had an idea, but no real clue. This place is great for info. I keep a little spritzer bottle of distilled water in the kitchen now for just such emergencies :-)

Yea, with all that tobacco in your shrine, you may need more than a little spritzer bottle... maybe a pint?

From the FAQ, here's my method:

Q: What should I do about a tobacco that's too dry?

A: My method is to put the tobacco in a large, clean bowl, and cover the bowl with a damp towel. The towel should not touch the tobacco. Check the tobacco every couple hours, and when it reaches the moisture level you like, store it in an airtight container. Glass "bail top" jars work well, but be sure to clean them thoroughly. (See the next item on mold.)

Different tobaccos take up moisture at different rates. The denser leaf, like Virginias and some orientals, take up moisture very slowly. Spraying with water is dangerous, since it's difficult to control the overall moisture level of the tobacco. It's hard to evaluate the difference between damp leaf and soggy leaf. The method outlined above is pretty much foolproof.

Thanks GLP for experienced advice!

Justin: You must also try your dry tobac as is. I have often found new flavours and an enjoyable smoke in tinder dry stuff of certain blends.
Keep well & keep smoking.
Ant

Ant B, yes and no on trying dry.

Coincidentally, over the past couple days, I've smoked a few bowls of a couple different tobaccos bone dry. The first was Westminster, which I've been smoking quite a bit over the past week or so, now that the weather is cooling. I had some leftovers in a tin that was crumbly dry. The experience wasn't bad, but it was far from what I wanted, what I expect from the blend. It was rather sharp and harsh. Brining the moisture back to it improved it immensely.

The second was some old Balkan Sobranie 759 - an opened tin from the late 1970s. The first thing that hit me was that any doubt that they were using Cyprian Latakia by then was removed. No hint of Syrian here. The second was that the stuff suffered from its dryness. The richness that normally accompanies this tobacco was completely absent, and what remained was acrid and astringent.

So, while some do enjoy their tobaccos quite dry, and I certainly like mine somewhat on the dry side, there's a limit to how far it can go before it loses much of its charm. Tobacco needs some moisture to carry the flavours along with the smokestream. By all means try it dry, but don't judge the results too harshly until you've tried it, again, with some moisture put back into it.

And, for more on the subject, have a look at this.

Point taken Greg.
The tobacs that was different and quite good for me bone dry were Petersons flakes, both University and Irish - Oh yes, and of course CONDOR!
Thanks for the link and what a beautiful & stylish blog the Chronicles is!

Greg,
I'm a huge aromatic smoker, (and a lover of Babary Coast). How much is lost doing this with aro's. I know this matters with alcohol, topping, casing, (yeah Bob, don't let it happen).
My thanks.

I had a remarkable (good) experience with SG Chocolate Flake.
I found out that I didn't like it at all and let the flask get moved into the back and forgot about it. I rediscovered it 5 months later and noticed that it was much, much drier (I must not use that flask again, the seal should be defective), not bone dry but dry anyway. I gave it a try and to my surprise it was wonderful, that thing they call chocolate flavor has faded and all was left was a very nice VA flake. So far it is the slowest burning tobacco I ever found.

BobB,

Aromatics! There are two sorts of things involved. The toppings, which can be alcohol based, or can be more volatile essential oils, can certainly, and do, evaporate. That's why you can smell them at a distance in the first place. But, there are heavier components, often applied during the casing process that are less volatile, and these will stick around longer. In general, the tobacco will become less dramatically aromatic as it dries, but will still possess the flavours of the tobacco, and some of the heavier essences will remain. Does this make sense?

Ant B,

Thank you for your comments, and glad you found some pleasure in the Chronicles! There's quite a lot on the site to explore. I'm sorry I've not been updating things as quickly or as often as I should.

The Chocolate flavouring is something that I actually find quite harmonious with Latakia, but it can be a little overpowering. Letting some of it dissipate sounds like a good solution. Try a bail-top jar with a rubber seal for storage. They work amazingly well over long periods. I bought some wonderful apothecary jars at IKEA, with tight fitting press-lids fitted with silicone rubber seals, and they've been fantastic for storing what I'm presently smoking. I bought six of them, and found them excellent. Unfortunately, when I went back to get more, I found that they'd stopped carrying them, and I've not found a replacement.

So far, this are the best jars I have found http://www.vasiquattrostagioni.it/english/Quattro_stagioni_linea.htm

Right now I have one with C&D Red Carpet and two with TF Heritage not to be opened before Christmas 2010.
Unfortunately I was too slow when loading the tobacco and when I closed the leads there was not enough heat left (the jars were boiled before loading) to produce a noticeable pressure differential to pull the leads really tight. I should have placed the jars again in the hot water with the tobacco inside for a few minutes before I closed the leads, I'll do that on my next experience.

And have had success with both. I'll reinterate that you must spray LIGHTLY, a little goes a long way. If tobacco gets really bone dry, however, I don't think it ever tastes quite the same, no matter what you do. Maybe it loses some of its' essential oils. Greg, could you weigh in on this?

I keep my daily pouch fill/dump return supply in them. They are available at Walmart for about $2.50. I refill these from large mason jars that hold the mother load of my tobacco. This system works out well for me. Never a humidity problem and very convenient and attractive for display.

Happy to. In fact, I've already written about this very thing in Tobacco Reanimation in the Chronicles.