John Rider's Infusion Experiment

[Bigfoot]

Any one remember seeing the espresso cigar by Bahia a few years ago?

At the foot of the box was about a 1/2 inch of space that was filled with espresso beans, then there was a barrier that separated the beans from the cigars. the cedar barrier had holes in it and on the other side the Cello was cut short on all of the cigars so the foot was exposed. The idea was to infuse the coffee flavor thru the foot of the cigar. I smoked a few, big Coffee flavor thru the first inch and then it faded after that.

Not a bad Idea, but when you displayed the boxes in a B&M Humidor, the beans would aways spill.

[happy1]

Yeah bro how are the MM infused cigars?

[Lok17]

wow, i am really curious as to how this turned out john!!!

[JohnRider]

I actually haven't tried one since shortly after they came out of the "infusing" coffee can. First, I observed that several of the cigars had split their wrappers - not sure why they would split AFTER being pulled out of the high humidity. You'd think they would split from swelling while being infused. Alright, so that is strike one.

After sitting in my "pipe tobaccy" humidor for the last couple of months, I just pulled one out to try. As you might recall, these are some Rocky Patel Connecticut cigars of some sort that Cigars International was pumping like mad late last year. They are marginally "okay" cigars to begin with - certainly not the best that RP makes by any means. My first impression is pretty simple - I can't taste the bourbon in them at all. Other than perhaps improving the overall flavor a bit, I can't pick up anything at all that would ever lead me to believe they were "infused". So, I guess the result of my experiment is not too exciting. Perhaps coffee or some other flavor would yield better results. I will say this, however, this marginal stick tastes a lot better than I remember...but perhaps that is just the extra six months of age.

[Gatormoye]

Do you think coffee would have worked better?

[JohnRider]

Yes, perhaps coffee would have worked better...

I am close to the halfway point on the cigar, and although I still don't taste anything that reminds me of bourbon, it is tasting better than I remember that stick ever tasting, so it is certainly no worse for wear, except for the few that now have wrapper splits. Having gone through that high-humidity cycle may have actually drawn some of the fertilizer and so forth out of the cigar or something. ???

[Gatormoye]

I think age helps everything. Even the mild ones. I believe those cigars are very young to begin with. I might try some mild ones in some coffee. I don't drink, so coffe would apeal to me. By the way love the cabin view.

[brianhewitt-cl]

You may have already mentioned it (I scanned through quickly and didn't see it), but how long do you think is optimal to infuse the cigars? 2 or 3 weeks?

I wonder if you'd smoked them sooner than 6 months if you would have gotten more of the flavor out of them. Maybe 3 months of resting might have been better?

The other thing I was thinking is that I know some manufacturers age the leaves in special wood barrels, perhaps if you age them with some bourbon soaked cedar?

Regardless, it sounds like the end result was positive and worthwhile, even if you didn't get the flavor you were looking for! Very cool.

[canney]

Originally Posted by JohnRider

I guess just about anything would work, and it is all about what YOU might like to infuse the cigar with. So, if you have some mediocre cigars laying around that you might not otherwise get around to smokin, give it a shot. I'd plan on leaving them sealed up in a container for at least a couple of weeks.

I was thinking. Under the weather, sore throat or whatever and you want a stogie???

[brianhewitt-cl]

Originally Posted by canney

I was thinking. Under the weather, sore throat or whatever and you want a stogie???

Nyquil cigars! Now there something that'll knock you flat out!

OK, I got one, how about lettin' 'em marinate in cologne for those times when you don't want to bother with using deodorant!

oflmao: I just noticed the Preparation H!

[Labman-cl]

I've heard if you put a so-so cigar in with some nice pipe baccy for a while it can drastically improve the taste of the cigar. I can't remember where I heard it, but I think it was the DWSC.

[Dun killin time]

I think this is the thread....http://www.cigarlive.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4610

[PremiumsOnly]

Originally Posted by JohnRider

I actually haven't tried one since shortly after they came out of the "infusing" coffee can. First, I observed that several of the cigars had split their wrappers - not sure why they would split AFTER being pulled out of the high humidity. You'd think they would split from swelling while being infused. Alright, so that is strike one.

The culprit may just be drying them out too quickly from 100% to 70%, which will tend to stress the wrapper causing the split, analogous to how an untempered glass will crack when taken from a hot dishwasher and filled with cold water too quickly.

You may want to stage your drying out (much like you stage your re-humidification for a dried out stogie) to prevent splitting in future experiments.

[mansonicman]

Allow me to offer my humble opinion, here is what i did.
I used another humidor and put a couple of cigars in it that i wanted to try that with, also i took a shot glass and filled it up with my favorite WILD TURKEY 101 and kept refilling it everytime it evaporated for a about 6 to 7 months. Man was i blown away it was like i was smoking a drink of W/T 101. Now that may have been partly due to my love for W/T101 (taste buds) or it could have been that they actually abosorbed it all, but i know one thing all that Bourbon certainly went somewhere.....

Respectfully Submitted,

MansonicMan...!!!

[canney]

Hey John
Hows this going?