Tobacco extraction using heated Ethanol

Hot ethanol extraction produces a more robust, wider spectrum tobacco flavor. In addition to the brighter flavor notes that ethanol alone produces, hot processing also provides the deeper, richer notes cold processing lacks. I've only extracted four different tobacco blends using this method but all turned out quite exceptional, better than well aged PG, VG, and "cold" ethanol extractions of the same tobacco blends.

Prepare a hot bath with water temperature set at 160F (71C). Ethanol boils at 173F (78C), so make sure the process temperature stays below 170F (77C). I use a crock pot set on "warm" but a thermostatically controlled hot plate would work as long as it is accurate.

Place shredded tobacco in a glass container, pour in enough ethanol to completely cover the tobacco plus 5 - 10% extra for absorption. I use half pint canning jars (jelly jars), which work quite well. Lightly seal the container and place it in the hot water bath, add enough warm water to the bath to match the level of ethanol inside the container. Process for 12 hours, check periodically and add water to the bath if needed.

Put a coffee filter inside a funnel and place the funnel in a clean glass container. Dump the tobacco and ethanol into the coffee filter. Gather/fold the edges of the coffee filter together encapsulating the tobacco inside and gently squeeze to release/recover most of the ethanol. Discard the tobacco and filter. Lightly seal the glass container and place it in a freezer for 24 - 48 hours. Ethanol won't freeze, it just gets cold. The waxes and oils pulled from the tobacco will stratify at the bottom of the container.

Put a coffee filter inside a funnel and place the funnel in a clean glass container. Retrieve the ethanol from the freezer and gently pour it into the coffee filter while still cold. Don't squeeze the filter this time, just discard it. Now your extract can be filtered to whatever level you prefer, I currently use 1 micron borosilicate glass filter paper.

I use the ethanol extract at 7% as a flavoring but you could also transfer the flavor from the ethanol to either PG or VG. Do this by adding/mixing an equal amount of PG or VG to the ethanol, heat the uncovered mix to 150F and allow the ethanol to evaporate.

 

Sharing is what this sub forum is all about, advancing/exploring the art of home extraction. I extract for flavor. A recent lab analysis on NET indicates our methods of "flavor" extraction yield little or no measurable nicotine. I have no reason to believe ethanol would be any more effective than PG or VG for leeching nicotine from tobacco but don't know for certain. Alkaloids may be a different story but without a comprehensive lab analysis I have no way of knowing for certain. What I do know is ethanol produces extracts that are - distinctly - different in flavor and "feel" from any other solvent I've used which is why I continue to experiment with it.

 

Flavor is the only goal in any of my experiments/extractions. By the time it's mixed and ready to vape I doubt there would be more than a trace amount of nicotine present. Alkaloids are different matter but I'm unsure what alkaloid content might be present in a hot ethanol extraction.

 

That's the report I posted on last week but you might want to read the part concerning nicotine again.

Dr Farsalinos abstract;
"The study verified that tobacco-derived toxins are lower by orders of magnitude in e-liquids compared to tobacco products. Characteristically, nitrosamines were 146-1447 times lower in e-liquids compared to tobacco products (in 1 mL liquid compared to 1 gram of tobacco), while nitrate was 1360 times lower. NET liquids contained somewhat higher levels of tobacco-derived toxins compared to conventional e-liquids, but the levels were still significantly lower compared to tobacco. Deviation from labeled nicotine content was on average 5.9% for conventional e-liquids and 1.5% for NETs, with maximum deviation being 22.1%. Interestingly, no difference between conventional liquids and NETs were observed, indicating that the flavor extraction process does not lead to extraction of nicotine from the tobacco leaves."

 

Sutliff Voodoo Queen, Dunhill NightCap, Cornell & Diehl Billy Budd and The Smoker St. James. I used these blends because I have an ample supply of them, they are some of my personal favorites for extraction. When testing "new" extraction methods I like to use tobacco blends I know well and have comparative well aged samples of from other extraction methods to judge the results by.

 

The point is this; Historically we have learned that - everything - is toxic, it is only the dose that seperates the toxic from the non-toxic. Nicotine is a deadly poison but in small doseage is little more than an addictive stimulant. Even water is toxic (dilutional hyponatremia), if a large amount is consumed in a relatively short period of time yet harmless and benificial at smaller doses. According to recent a comprehensive lab analysis the NET we make is hundreds of times less toxic that the tobacco it was derived from. To put it a different way, I can vape NET for an entire year and still not be exposed to the level of toxins a smoker is in a single day. Not to mention since we aren't burning the tobacco the heavy carcinogens associated with "smoking" aren't generated in the first place. That same lab report found very little difference between NET and conventional (synthetic), e-liquid from a toxilogical stand point.

 

Clay at NET.com, Diane at MVJ, Nick at GEJ and most all commercial NET manufacturers extract flavor from tobacco using the same methods we do, cold and heat assisted simple soaks. All use 20 - 25% tobacco extract to make their NET, some do offer "flavored" NET (added caramel, vanilla, cherry etc..), but even those contain the same % of tobacco extracts. All offer their NET at 0mg nic because there literally isn't but trace amounts present unless they add it. That is what the lab analysis found, NET made with our simple soak tobacco extracts contains little if any nicotine. However, I personally believe our extraction methods do actually leech "some" nicotine from the tobacco. While this may seem/sound contradictory it actually isn't, the explanation is in the math.

Last year I extracted the tobacco contained in a single pack of Marlboro 100's, it yielded 110ml of extract. That extract, mixed as a flavoring at 20%, yielded 550ml of ready to vape NET, enough to last most people several months. To put it a different way, what a smoker consumes in a single day takes someone vaping NET several months to consume.

Even if our extraction methods were somewhat effective at leeching nicotine from the tobacco, it would still take us "several months" to consume what little nicotine we are able to extract from a single pack of cigarettes that's the math of the situation. To make matters worse, the pipe tobaccos we normally use for extraction contain far less nicotine than does the "chemically enhanced/modified" cigarette tobaccos. The good news is they also contain - significantly - fewer toxic chemicals.