The age old argument regarding what ”true Cavendish” is, notwithstanding, here’s how to sweeten up your own tobacco
Get as big a steamer as you need for your batch. For those of you who are home-economically disinclined…that’s a big pot with a basket in the middle with a lot of holes in it.
Choose your tobacco. You can make ”Cavendish” out of just about anything, but stay away from Latakia and Perique. You can use Burley, Virginia, Even fire cured or Orientals or a blend. Keep in mind that this process will ”mute” some of the flavors in Fire Cured and Orientals, though.
Don’t bother casing your tobacco as in the method for casing I described in the sticky thread..it isn’t necessary here.
Choose a ”sugar” for your Cavendish, or, for a more natural sweetness, choose a tobacco that has a high natural sugar content….like a bright Virginia. You can use Molasses, Cane Sugar, Brown Sugar, Turbinado, Black Treacle, Golden treacle etc….just go easy on the Honey as it can really bite.
Make a solution by WEIGHT of:
3 Part Sugar
3 Part Water
1 Part Vinegar (White or Apple Cider is what I use)
Heat it up to just before boiling but let it cool to around 100 degrees so it wont mess up your spray bottle. You won’t need to pre-heat your tobacco. Use about 1/2 cup of solution per pound of tobacco. Spray. Mix. Spray. Mix. Get your hands into it. it’ll be sticky…suck it up, sissies!
Put the tobacco in your steam basket. Fire it up and let it rip, replenishing water as needed. Don’t fill the reservoir so high that it boils up and hits the tobacco on the bottom as it will ruin it. Stir it up, bringing the bottom to the top several times per half hour. more is better. less is bad.
How long you steam for is dependent on what result you want. If you want to just sweeten up a base tobacco or base blend, a couple hours does a fine job. Want to start caramelizing sugars for that darker sweeter flavor? Go up to six hours. Want to go full on caramelized black Cavendish? Anywhere from 12 to 24 hours (watch the color) but are you really gonna stay awake for all that stirring?
When it’s finished, scoop out the now limp, wet, disgusting looking tobacco with one of those strainer spoon thingies and lay it out on cookie sheets thinly. I would sun cure the sheets but a warm dry room or even an oven at VERY low temps (certainly under 90 Degrees) until crispy dry should be fine.
Grab some distilled water. Heat it. Mist it over the tobacco. come back a half hour later and see how the tobacco feels. If it’s too dry still, mist again. Do this as many or as few times as you need to get it to the humidity level you prefer. Stuff it all in a bag or a jar, let it rest for a week and Bob’s yer Uncle.
To keep from losing a lot of your nicotine and flavor, you can do the same thing in a pressure cooker with the leaf in jars. This way, the leaf only needs to be moist and not ”soaking wet” … 4-6 hours does the trick usually.
