Don’t bore us, get to the chorus.
- FLV Sweet and Smokey- 1%
- FA Oakwood- 1%
- FA Black Fire- .5%
- FLV Apple Filling- 2%
- JF Dulce De Leche- 1.5%
Steep for at least five days to let the Black Fire calm down a bit.
A caramel apple pie pipe tobacco. Has a nice kick to it. The kind of tobacco recipe that is well suited for sitting on porch in late September to unwind from the day. There is a pipe tobacco that fits this description, but judging by the reviews, I think this recipe is a little less disappointing.
- FLV Sweet and Smokey- 1%
- FA Oakwood- 1%
- FA Black Fire- .5%
- FLV Eggnog- .75%
- FA Clove- .3%
Steep for at least five days.
A bit more mellow than the autumn pipe, the eggnog takes off a bit of the bite that the tobaccos bring. Some hints of Christmas-esque spices and a full bodied feel. There is also a real tobacco that is similar, but I went a bit of a different way with it. Maybe worth a shot replacing the clove with cinnamon and adding some vanilla and rum, but for this tobacco base, I went a little more spice heavy.
I’ve always been a bit of a sucker for the seasonal flavors. So this year I figured I’d keep the tradition alive and try to throw some stuff together for fall and winter. I decided to use the same tobacco base for both recipes, and see how it responded to being dressed up different ways.
The tobacco base
- FLV Sweet and Smokey- 1%
- FA Oakwood- 1%
- FA Black Fire- .5%
A while back I emailed Flavorah to request that they try to create a Latakia flavor. All the ones that are called “Latakia” that I’ve tried have been miserable representations to what real Latakia is actually like. To my surprise, they gave it a shot! They sent me a little sample of what they had come up with, and while it was pretty good, it still lacked that distinct campfire component to it. I started trying to dress it up with some stuff I had to see if I could help them get it a little closer, and I even sent them a sample of a Latakia NET to see if it would help. Not too long after that, Sweet and Smokey came out. I believe they may have tweaked it a bit from the “Latakia” sample, and gave it a new name. I respect the decision to give it a new name rather than just throw it out there as “Latakia.”
Anyway, I digress. The point is, Sweet and Smokey is only a couple little additives away from being a pretty good Latakia flavor, and that’s what I’m going for with this base. I added FA Oakwood to give it a bit of a moist, earthy vibe. Then some FA Black Fire to get that campfire aspect in there. The only thing you’ll want to consider if you want to use this base for your own recipes is the sweetness that comes along with all three flavors. For my recipes here, I’m kind of leaning on that sweetness and using it to blend in with the caramel apple and eggnog. So if you want to use it in a more straight up tobacco recipe, you might consider throwing some INW DNB in there to try to neutralize the sweetness. Maybe even a drop of Bitter Wizard. You could also swap out the Oakwood for TFA Red Oak or FLV Oak Barrel. Experiment with it.
The Caramel Apple Pie
Nothing too crazy here. When I’m making a tobacco recipe that involves other kinds of non-tobacco elements to it, I don’t go too crazy with trying to make it taste authentic. I’m always more concerned with getting the tobacco part right. So if you think you will be able to just mix up Apple Filling and Dulce De Leche and get a super realistic caramel apple pie, you’ll probably be disappointed. It’s more about getting those flavors in to the mix without ruining the tobacco. Just like you wouldn’t buy an aromatic pipe tobacco blend and be disappointed that it didn’t taste exactly like your grandma’s pies, don’t go in to this expecting too much. I’m sure you can find an excellent caramel apple pie recipe somewhere. So, why did I choose these two? Apple Filling is great because it’s got a wonderful cinnamon flavor to it, and the apple isn’t too in your face. The cinnamon note works really well with the tobacco base and gives the recipe a really nice kick to the back of the throat. I’m a big fan of some kick. The Dulce De Leche I used because a while back I was trying to make a white chocolate caramel apple thing, and while I never quite got it to taste right, Duce De Leche was a perfect caramel type flavor to go with the apple. A lot of caramel flavors I don’t really seem to be able to taste, but this one is plenty flavorful, and adds some nice body to the mix. It plays with the tobaccos in a really interesting way that just clicked for me early on.
The Eggnog
Again, not going for an authentic eggnog. Just wanted something in the area of eggnog so it would taste somewhat like an aromatic pipe tobacco that you would enjoy around the holidays. FLV Eggnog, to me, is flirting with being a bit too moist for this type of tobacco, but the FA Clove brings it all back in to the right direction. Could there be a better clove for the job? Perhaps. But what I like about the FA Clove is that it seems a bit easier to hide in the recipe. It gives enough of that dry, spiciness, but doesn’t turn it in to a Clove cigarette recipe.
Oh man, that Early Autumn looks amazing! Thank you for sharing these.
It’s definitely my favorite of the 2. I’ve got the Jolly in my tank right now for testing purposes, but I’m real excited to get back to the Early Autumn.
Do you think these would work in an MTL device or should I up the percentages a bit? Thank you.
I haven’t tried them in my MTL tank, but I wouldn’t necessarily do an across the board bump on them. For the Early Autumn, I’d try 1.5% on the Sweet and Smokey and .75% on the Black Fire, then keep everything else where it is, and then tweak it from there. But I suppose it kind of depends on your taste and your device. That would be what I would try.
Then for the Jolly, I’d do the same with the Sweet and Smokey and Black Fire, then maybe a little boost for the Clove, maybe .5%, and 1% or so on the Eggnog. The Eggnog takes quite a bit of edge off of the tobaccos, so I wouldn’t go too crazy with it.
Don't bore us get to the chorus
Oh that’s just something I put because when you look up a food recipe online, you gotta read someone’s life story before they give you the recipe. I heard the saying from Dave Grohl talking about an Aerosmith song I think.