Today I finished my batch of five Cornell & Diehl pipe tobacco blends after a 2-day heat-assisted maceration using all VG as the solvent, followed by an entire day of filtering. (Yes, I know, this is the cold-maceration thread, but we're all family here, right?)
Here's the list:
I wasn't happy with how the French Press performed using the "sandwich" filtering---first the plunger's wire mesh, then the 2.5-micron Ahlstrom filter in the middle, and finally the 5-micron poly felt. The 2.5-micron paper lab filter was held in place perfectly well, but it required a very slow plunger travel, and I wasn't able to "plunge" slowly enough to keep some unfiltered solvent from oozing up around the inside wall of the glass carafe. The French Press method works beautifully using just the plunger's wire mesh and the 5-micron poly felt, but not with the third, finer-pore filter added.
So, I reverted to a two-stage filtering. First I used the French Press with poly felt to take out the solid mass of tobacco and get the solvent filtered down to 5 microns, then I set up a tiny funnel I have that's designed for filling juice bottles into which I placed one layer of the 9 cm 2.5-micron paper lab filters. Each maceration yielded about 75ml of extract, but the funnel holds only about 20ml at one time, so the gravity filtering took three pours for each maceration. No problem, really. Each 75ml volume of VG extract took about two hours to gravity filter into the bottles, so the whole process took about ten hours with a fresh filter for each of the five extracts. I'm pleased to confirm that 100% VG will indeed go through the filters with gravity alone, even if it's not a particularly speedy process.
These all-VG pipe extracts will definitely need steeping time for the flavors to develop fully, but I expect them to be very tasty in a month or so. I'm looking forward to finding out how cleanly the DIY juices made from them perform with the finer filtering. I don't expect any miraculous absence of crusting/gunking, but I'm hopeful that the additional filtering to 2.5 microns will produce a noticeable improvement in their benign effects on coils and wicks by diminishing or at least ......ing the accumulation of carbon.
Since I have all-VG extracts and all-VG ultra-clean VapersTek nic (which is remarkable for allowing flavors to shine through with no adulteration), I can actually make 100% VG NETs from this batch. We'll see how that goes.
Here's the list:
Cornell & Diehl Autumn Evening (Aromatic Pipe Blend)
A red Virginia Cavendish cased with a delicate maple/vanilla flavor.
This is one of those rare aromatics that actually tastes the same as it smells.
The three day process that’s used to make the blend is what insures the flavor and aroma.
Cornell & Diehl No. 458 Poplar Camp (Non-Aromatic Pipe Blend)
Poplar Camp is a great example of the Virginia/Perique genre.
Bright and red Virginias have been toasted to develop more depth and a more
caramelized type of sweetness and the Perique brings some zip to the proceedings.
Cornell & Diehl Old Joe Krantz (Non-Aromatic Pipe Blend)
Another Bob Runowski creation for Cornell & Diehl, Old Joe Krantz uses the nuttiness
of cubed Burley, the earthy spice of dark Burley, the toasty sweetness of red Virginia
and the musty/sweet spice of Perique to create a heady, rich smoke.
Cornell & Diehl Oriental Silk (Non-Aromatic Pipe Blend)
Oriental Silk is a different kind of blend made of a healthy dose of sweet Virginias
wedded to some excellent Turkish tobacco and rounded out with Perique, rather than
the expected Latakia. The result is rich and hearty with a nice tang.
Cornell & Diehl Serenity Consolation Vintage (English Pipe Blend)
A true American/English comprised of Virginia, cubed Burley,
toasted black Cavendish, Turkish and Latakia; slightly sweet and smoky.
A red Virginia Cavendish cased with a delicate maple/vanilla flavor.
This is one of those rare aromatics that actually tastes the same as it smells.
The three day process that’s used to make the blend is what insures the flavor and aroma.
Cornell & Diehl No. 458 Poplar Camp (Non-Aromatic Pipe Blend)
Poplar Camp is a great example of the Virginia/Perique genre.
Bright and red Virginias have been toasted to develop more depth and a more
caramelized type of sweetness and the Perique brings some zip to the proceedings.
Cornell & Diehl Old Joe Krantz (Non-Aromatic Pipe Blend)
Another Bob Runowski creation for Cornell & Diehl, Old Joe Krantz uses the nuttiness
of cubed Burley, the earthy spice of dark Burley, the toasty sweetness of red Virginia
and the musty/sweet spice of Perique to create a heady, rich smoke.
Cornell & Diehl Oriental Silk (Non-Aromatic Pipe Blend)
Oriental Silk is a different kind of blend made of a healthy dose of sweet Virginias
wedded to some excellent Turkish tobacco and rounded out with Perique, rather than
the expected Latakia. The result is rich and hearty with a nice tang.
Cornell & Diehl Serenity Consolation Vintage (English Pipe Blend)
A true American/English comprised of Virginia, cubed Burley,
toasted black Cavendish, Turkish and Latakia; slightly sweet and smoky.
I wasn't happy with how the French Press performed using the "sandwich" filtering---first the plunger's wire mesh, then the 2.5-micron Ahlstrom filter in the middle, and finally the 5-micron poly felt. The 2.5-micron paper lab filter was held in place perfectly well, but it required a very slow plunger travel, and I wasn't able to "plunge" slowly enough to keep some unfiltered solvent from oozing up around the inside wall of the glass carafe. The French Press method works beautifully using just the plunger's wire mesh and the 5-micron poly felt, but not with the third, finer-pore filter added.
So, I reverted to a two-stage filtering. First I used the French Press with poly felt to take out the solid mass of tobacco and get the solvent filtered down to 5 microns, then I set up a tiny funnel I have that's designed for filling juice bottles into which I placed one layer of the 9 cm 2.5-micron paper lab filters. Each maceration yielded about 75ml of extract, but the funnel holds only about 20ml at one time, so the gravity filtering took three pours for each maceration. No problem, really. Each 75ml volume of VG extract took about two hours to gravity filter into the bottles, so the whole process took about ten hours with a fresh filter for each of the five extracts. I'm pleased to confirm that 100% VG will indeed go through the filters with gravity alone, even if it's not a particularly speedy process.
These all-VG pipe extracts will definitely need steeping time for the flavors to develop fully, but I expect them to be very tasty in a month or so. I'm looking forward to finding out how cleanly the DIY juices made from them perform with the finer filtering. I don't expect any miraculous absence of crusting/gunking, but I'm hopeful that the additional filtering to 2.5 microns will produce a noticeable improvement in their benign effects on coils and wicks by diminishing or at least ......ing the accumulation of carbon.
Since I have all-VG extracts and all-VG ultra-clean VapersTek nic (which is remarkable for allowing flavors to shine through with no adulteration), I can actually make 100% VG NETs from this batch. We'll see how that goes.
