Infusion Experiment

[wrussell46]

Last year I grabbed some of the loose leaf that Acid and Tabak cigar boxes are packed with for a humidor project I put together for a close friend.
I have a good amount left in a ziplock bag and one day I was looking at it contemplating what would happen if I stuff a cigar in there.
Dr. Kafie of Kafie 1901 Cigars has been known to flavor personal cigars using coffee beans, and while I haven’t tried that yet, that was my inspiration for this experiment.

I stuffed a Charter Oak Maduro in the loose leaf with a 72% Boveda at the beginning of February and pulled it out last week.

It’s been sequestered for about a week in its own bag to stabilize and I’ll smoke it soon. The color change was very interesting and quite dramatic. I’m not expecting a massive flavor difference, but I do expect it to have changed. The cigar is about 2 years aged already.

Has anyone else tried something like this?

 

[kann]

I remember Gaby telling us about that a few years ago when he was on the v-herf. He did say that it's pretty inconsistent, at best, IIRC.

Someone on here (usually a smoking newbie) attempts the "infusion process" in some way or another once a year or once every other year, or so. I will never try and dissuade someone from experimenting, but I will say that there's a reason you don't see any long-running threads on the subject. Give it a search on here and you are bound to find some of the attempts.

 

[wrussell46]

I thought it was an interesting concept, but nothing I would try. And I never asked him what he did with the coffee beans afterwards! Grind and brew…or discard?

What I found in my Forum Search was interesting…certainly a bunch of different ideas and techniques, none of which have ever crossed my mind.
If this bag of loose leaf wasn’t laying about I wouldn’t have sought it out to try.

The idea also of taking a “cheap stick” and attempting to “make it better” wasn’t part of my thought process. Charter Oak cigars are terrific and I have half a box left from 2021 so it was a relatively easy sacrifice.

One of these days I’m going to “paint” a cigar with Tequila as well…I have a bunch of cedar spills laying about.

 

[Jsilverhands]

I thought it was an interesting concept, but nothing I would try. And I never asked him what he did with the coffee beans afterwards! Grind and brew…or discard?

What I found in my Forum Search was interesting…certainly a bunch of different ideas and techniques, none of which have ever crossed my mind.
If this bag of loose leaf wasn’t laying about I wouldn’t have sought it out to try.

The idea also of taking a “cheap stick” and attempting to “make it better” wasn’t part of my thought process. Charter Oak cigars are terrific and I have half a box left from 2021 so it was a relatively easy sacrifice.

One of these days I’m going to “paint” a cigar with Tequila as well…I have a bunch of cedar spills laying about.

Painting with tequila isn't worth it. Makes the cigar taste like tequila but lose all of its natural nuances. Go a head and try but don't expect much.

 

[wrussell46]

Painting with tequila isn't worth it. Makes the cigar taste like tequila but lose all of its natural nuances. Go a head and try but don't expect much.

Arnold made it sound so good!!!

 

[wrussell46]

It smoked well, though it was still quite moist. I dry boxed for a week.

Fun to play around, nothing cosmic flavor wise. The loose leaf did impart more flavor than expected. Obviously though if one desires a flavored or infused cigar to smoke one designed that way.