Slow Cooker Extraction of Tobacco and Tea

[billherbst]

My four cigar extracts are finished---water-bath heated off and on over the past three days; cooled today; then this evening double-filtered, bottled, and labeled.

I mixed up four more small test bottles of juice---same 20% extract, 18mg nic, 50/50 overall mix---to compare the differences between how these were after a single 12-hour water-bath heat versus the 36-hour multiple heating they got over three days.

Oh yes. The difference is obvious and pleasing. The flavors of all four have ramped up considerably compared to the early test. With the possible exception of my English pipe blends, I wouldn't call any of my NET extracts "potent" or "in your face," but these cigar NETs are now definitely full-flavored.

As vapes, the Rocky Patel 1990 Churchill and Aging Room F55 are both straight-ahead cigars. They don't come across as "stogies," if you know what I mean---there's not a hint of cheap or overbearing cigar in either of them. Their vaping signatures certainly say, "Cigar," but even more they say "high-quality tobacco" and "artful blending." Damn good, even fresh from the maceration.

The Oliva Nub Cameroon and Carlos Torano Exodus 1959 50 Years are more aromatic cigars (and vapes). All four cigars might have some casing of non-tobacco flavorings, but I'd guess that the Nub and Torano are more likely candidates. Maybe I'm wrong, though. Maybe none of them are cased. I'm not enough of a cigar guy to know the skinny on cased/infused flavors or curing in an aromatic environment. At any rate, both the Nub and Torano are good-quality, highly-rated cigars, and I look forward to seeing (and tasting) how these extracts will mature over time.

For me to rate these right now---fresh from the maceration and before steeping---would be way premature, but this evening the Rocky Patel gets gets my straw-poll vote as the winner. It's easily as tasty as any of the twelve or so cigar NETs I've had from retail vendors. The Aging Room F55 isn't far behind as runner-up, however.

My personal preference still leans toward cigarette and pipe blend tobaccos, but these cigars are a wonderful addition to my stable of home-made NET extracts. What the heck, I still have another five cigars to extract, but my next batch of four will be more of the Hearth & Home Signature Series Pipe Tobacco Blends, which are my current favorites. (Note to Boomer, Johni, and Dustmight---you'll all get samples of these four extracts in due course. I'll let the extracts steep perhaps a month or more before making your packages, however.)

 

[HoneyGram57]

You may want to buy a jelly straining bag to strain with instead of the coffee filters. You can buy them anywhere that sells canning supplies. These bags won't let any sediment through so there's no need to filter multiple times plus you can squeeze all that goodness out instead of waiting on the slow drip. Then just dump the grounds, leaves, whatever in the trash, wash the bag and you're ready for the next batch.

 

[Scotsman6783]

I was wondering myself how well a jelly bag would work. I have a spare from last years canning season that i may just have to use.
Im currently waiting on a set of small digital scales so i can take exact weight measurements of how much tobacco i use.

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[billherbst]

You may want to buy a jelly straining bag to strain with instead of the coffee filters. You can buy them anywhere that sells canning supplies. These bags won't let any sediment through so there's no need to filter multiple times plus you can squeeze all that goodness out instead of waiting on the slow drip. Then just dump the grounds, leaves, whatever in the trash, wash the bag and you're ready for the next batch.

What you may not realize is that for the first filtering stage I use a French Press coffee pot with a fine nylon mesh filter. That removes all the visible particulates and allows squeezing of the macerated tobacco to release absorbed liquid. The second stage with double pleated coffee filters is for clarifying the liquid---removing the invisible sediment. All the obvious sediment has already been removed by the french press. To minimize coil/wick gunking, however, the extract liquid needs to be filtered more finely. Some of my colleague home-extractors are using lab-quality filters now.

I don't wait for my extract to drip through the coffee filters. Using some VG in the liquid makes gravity filtering very, very slow. I place two layers of round, pleated coffee filters into a Melitta single-cup cone and pour in the once-filtered extract. Bunching up the edges of the two filters into a tight "cap," I gently/gradually twist them into tight liquid-filled balls. Continuing to twist the bunched tops, the liquid is forced through the paper filters. Total filtering takes less than five minutes and works very well to produce NETs that keep coil/wick gunking to a minimum.

As for jelly straining bags, I don't know. A little research reveals that jelly/beer/wine/cheese straining bags come in cotton or nylon, and in both coarse and fine weaves. My first reaction is to think that a coarse fabric weave wouldn't work to produce clean-vaporizing tobacco extract. Maybe the fine weave would. Have you made tobacco extracts before using these bags? Your advice carries more weight if you've actually used these bags to make squeaky-clean NETs. No offense meant, just sayin'...

 

[Scotsman6783]

What you may not realize is that for the first filtering stage I use a French Press coffee pot with a fine nylon mesh filter. That removes all the visible particulates and allows squeezing of the macerated tobacco to release absorbed liquid. The second stage with double pleated coffee filters is for clarifying the liquid---removing the invisible sediment. All the obvious sediment has already been removed by the french press. To minimize coil/wick gunking, however, the extract liquid needs to be filtered more finely. Some of my colleague home-extractors are using lab-quality filters now.

I don't wait for my extract to drip through the coffee filters. Using some VG in the liquid makes gravity filtering very, very slow. I place two layers of round, pleated coffee filters into a Melitta single-cup cone and pour in the once-filtered extract. Bunching up the edges of the two filters into a tight "cap," I gently/gradually twist them into tight liquid-filled balls. Continuing to twist the bunched tops, the liquid is forced through the paper filters. Total filtering takes less than five minutes and works very well to produce NETs that keep coil/wick gunking to a minimum.

As for jelly straining bags, I don't know. A little research reveals that jelly/beer/wine/cheese straining bags come in cotton or nylon, and in both coarse and fine weaves. My first reaction is to think that a coarse fabric weave wouldn't work to produce clean-vaporizing tobacco extract. Maybe the fine weave would. Have you made tobacco extracts before using these bags? Your advice carries more weight if you've actually used these bags to make squeaky-clean NETs. No offense meant, just sayin'...

I was thinking the jelly bag just for the first filtering. Additional filtering would need a tighter medium, such as the coffee or lab filters you mentioned.

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[billherbst]

I was thinking the jelly bag just for the first filtering. Additional filtering would need a tighter medium, such as the coffee or lab filters you mentioned.

If we assume that the density of the weave is probably similar between my Melior French Press nylon filter and the fine-mesh jelly straining filters, then the bags should work fine for first stage.

 

[Ian444]

Is there some way of gauging when a maceration is ready for filtering and bottling?

I have a McClellands Dark Star pipe tobacco in a maceration, 12 hours heat-assisted in a water bath at around 60C, and then 2 weeks in the cupboard. It is 5 gm of tobacco and 18ml of PG in a small jar. I sucked a few drops from the top of the jar and mixed it 4 drops to a ml. It seems a bit on the light side of flavorful, there are hints of different flavors lurking in there but not a lot overall. Definitely not sharp or bity, very smooth and non-descript. Should I bottle and steep it, or leave it in the cupboard a couple more weeks?

 

[billherbst]

Is there some way of gauging when a maceration is ready for filtering and bottling?

I have a McClellands Dark Star pipe tobacco in a maceration, 12 hours heat-assisted in a water bath at around 60C, and then 2 weeks in the cupboard. It is 5 gm of tobacco and 18ml of PG in a small jar. I sucked a few drops from the top of the jar and mixed it 4 drops to a ml. It seems a bit on the light side of flavorful, there are hints of different flavors lurking in there but not a lot overall. Definitely not sharp or bity, very smooth and non-descript. Should I bottle and steep it, or leave it in the cupboard a couple more weeks?

Hard to offer a definitive response---too many possible variables may influence what you're getting---the particular tobacco or blend, freshness, moistness, etc. Your ratio seems fine---5 grams in 18ml of PG should be fine---but I don't know that for sure, since the smallest amount of tobacco I've ever used is 15 grams minimum.

In very general terms, macerated tobacco extractions don't produce sharp or biting flavors. Instead, the flavors are more understated, providing the essence of the tobacco but not necessarily the impact (compared to smoking). Heat-assisted macerations tend to produce extracts with somewhat more potent flavors, while cold-processed macerations yield a bit more subtle and nuanced flavors. On that basis, I think that an extra two weeks on the shelf won't do much.

 

[johni]

Is there some way of gauging when a maceration is ready for filtering and bottling?

I have a McClellands Dark Star pipe tobacco in a maceration, 12 hours heat-assisted in a water bath at around 60C, and then 2 weeks in the cupboard. It is 5 gm of tobacco and 18ml of PG in a small jar. I sucked a few drops from the top of the jar and mixed it 4 drops to a ml. It seems a bit on the light side of flavorful, there are hints of different flavors lurking in there but not a lot overall. Definitely not sharp or bity, very smooth and non-descript. Should I bottle and steep it, or leave it in the cupboard a couple more weeks?

Ian, I think you can safely filter now. Fresh mixed juice almost always lacks in flavor or at least mine do initially. Your tobacco to PG ratio is similar to what I use so I would say you will get good flavor by mixing 15 to 20 percent extract in your juice.

 

[gotalotgoingon]

Ian, I think you can safely filter now. Fresh mixed juice almost always lacks in flavor or at least mine do initially. Your tobacco to PG ratio is similar to what I use so I would say you will get good flavor by mixing 15 to 20 percent extract in your juice.

I use an ounce if tobacco in mine. I use leaves that I cut up myself and I use 300mls of pg. That amount doesn't even cover all the leaves. How do you guys get away with only using that ratio? Btw, at that ratio you would use 103ml of pg with an ounce. Do you use leaves, pipe blend or cigar?


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[Ian444]

Thanks for the info bill and johni. I was thinking it should be ready, but lacked the confidence to proceed, having done only a few extractions and I have no previous experience with pipe tobacco. I'll hopefully have time to filter it tonight, and will report how it goes after a couple of weeks of steeping.

gotalotgoingon - I've only used commercial pipe tobacco and RYO tobacco. That ratio usually leaves a little bit of free liquid on top of the tobacco.

 

[billherbst]

Do you use leaves, pipe blend or cigar?

If by leaves you mean single-leaf varietals, I don't use those for my extractions. I macerate only pre-blended tobaccos---pipe, cigar, or RYO---primarily because I have no particular interest in going through that learning curve. I prefer to leave the challenge of blending to the professional tobacconists, especially since the retail marketplace for pre-blended tobaccos is so vast and inexpensive.

I'm not suggesting that anyone else should or shouldn't do what I do. If single-leaf extractions make you happy, by all means go ahead. In my situation, however, and with my preferences, the marketplace of pre-blended tobaccos is my playground of choice.

I started a year ago extracting specialty cigarettes, moved into pipe tobacco blends, and have recently begun cigar macerations. Although my skills and techniques improve over time, of course, the overall experience of my 25 simple-soak macerations has been very satisfying. Having vaped more than a hundred retail NETs from all the major vendors, I'm very pleased with my own results. I still have many retail NETs and still enjoy vaping some of them. But between my home-made extracts/DIY and swaps with home extractor friends and colleagues, I feel no need to buy any further retail NET juices.

 

[gotalotgoingon]

If by leaves you mean single-leaf varietals, I don't use those for my extractions. I macerate only pre-blended tobaccos---pipe, cigar, or RYO---primarily because I have no particular interest in going through that learning curve. I prefer to leave the challenge of blending to the professional tobacconists, especially since the retail marketplace for pre-blended tobaccos is so vast and inexpensive.

I'm not suggesting that anyone else should or shouldn't do what I do. If single-leaf extractions make you happy, by all means go ahead. In my situation, however, and with my preferences, the marketplace of pre-blended tobaccos is my playground of choice.

I started a year ago extracting specialty cigarettes, moved into pipe tobacco blends, and have recently begun cigar macerations. Although my skills and techniques improve over time, of course, the overall experience of my 25 simple-soak macerations has been very satisfying. Having vaped more than a hundred retail NETs from all the major vendors, I'm very pleased with my own results. I still have many retail NETs and still enjoy vaping some of them. But between my home-made extracts/DIY and swaps with home extractor friends and colleagues, I feel no need to buy any further retail NET juices.

I have used pipe blends and an ounce doesn't take as much room as a single shredded leaf, probably due to the fact that it is shredded finer then the leaf.

I have done both pipe blends and single leaf and both have came out just fine. I have also done a blend with single leaf that turned out far better then I expected. I have just found that I have to use more pg in single leaf macerations then in preblended macerations. I too have tried some of the top NET blends and I am very satisfied with mine as well.

Edit---- Thanks for the help to all the people posting in this area. Learned quite a bit lately.

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[johni]

I too am quite happy with my extractions. Like Bill, I have used pipe blends and shredded cigars.

One ounce of tobacco in a half pint mason jar then cover with PG. Ends up taking 100 to 120 ml PG and yields 70 to 90 ml of extract. I don't measure anymore, just cover the tobacco. A day or two in, I will add a little PG if it looks like the tobacco has soaked up much. I gently roll the jars occasionally, pull a sample at 2 or 3 weeks in, and filter at 4 weeks usually. Surprisingly easy!

All extractions are essentially experimental and there really are no hard and fast rules. I try to keep my extraction hobby uncomplicated, enjoyable, and relaxing. It's cool when you find what works for you and your friends like it too.

 

[Scotsman6783]

Thats a good yield. What percentage, on avaerage, do you use in your juices.

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[johni]

Thats a good yield. What percentage, on avaerage, do you use in your juices.

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I like strong flavors so I mix most extracts at around 20%. Ten to fifteen percent will provide a more subtle flavor. Some extracts come out a bit stronger, some not so much so a bit of experimentation gets the flavor density dialed in.

 

[Scotsman6783]

I like strong flavors so I mix most extracts at around 20%. Ten to fifteen percent will provide a more subtle flavor. Some extracts come out a bit stronger, some not so much so a bit of experimentation gets the flavor density dialed in.

Thank you sir.

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[Dustmight]

Is there some way of gauging when a maceration is ready for filtering and bottling?

I have a McClellands Dark Star pipe tobacco in a maceration, 12 hours heat-assisted in a water bath at around 60C, and then 2 weeks in the cupboard. It is 5 gm of tobacco and 18ml of PG in a small jar. I sucked a few drops from the top of the jar and mixed it 4 drops to a ml. It seems a bit on the light side of flavorful, there are hints of different flavors lurking in there but not a lot overall. Definitely not sharp or bity, very smooth and non-descript. Should I bottle and steep it, or leave it in the cupboard a couple more weeks?

If you haven't filtered your Dark Star yet, I would advise doing at least an extra pass or two with whatever method you choose. I just finished a McClelland Dark Navy Flake extraction, which is very similar to DS, and due to the heavy casings on these tobaccos, there was a lot of thick sediment. Also, don't be alarmed if this stuff mixes up close to black in color in a juice mix, even at lower %. Be VERY aware of how quickly for coils gunk as well. Otherwise, great tobacco choice!

 

[Ian444]

I had 5 little jars going:

Samuel Gawith Full Virginia Flake
Samuel Gawith Navy Flake
McClellands Vanilla Black Cavendish
McClellands Dark Star
Various cigar tips from a cigar seller/smoker.

After a couple of days steeping, the flavor of all five is starting to develop. Dustmight thanks for your info, much appreciated. I had already bottled when I read your post, but I think/hope it will be OK. I have the impression that Dark Star is possibly a more complex flavor (or a flavor I'm not familiar with), making it difficult to get an overall view of it with no steeping time, whereas the others are heading in a definite direction. If I'm wrong about this, which I could easily be, I'll know better for the next batch.

The four pipe tobaccos mixed up dark in color, the Navy Flake and Dark Star being equal darkest, the other two close behind. The cigars mixed up to an amber color. In typical newb fashion some of the jars got 24 hours of warm heat, and some got 12 hours, but other than the cigar mix I don't know which ones of the four tobaccos got 12 or 24 hours

I'm having a ball though, and have not extracted anything I don't like yet, so I'll keep at it and soon I'll know what I'm doing, well that's the plan Stan.

 

[Merryhellion]

Joining in here. I've read through the entire thread now, and am preparing to do some extraction on my favorite loose leaf green jasmine tea, Yin Hao from Peet's Coffee. Hoping to put it together with a bit of honey flavoring. Already had a cold extract batch (first trial) going in pg, when I came across this thread. Any tips on tea handling are more than welcome with me. =)