DIY NET Tobacco (Cold Maceration) Experiment

[Deleted]

After a long discussion about retail NET (naturally extracted tobacco) juices in the e-juice section (as well as sampling quite a few recently), @yinyang and I were inspired to start our own small home brew NET experiment using the "cold extraction" method. So rather than continuing the discussion there I thought we should move it over to this part of the forum.

"Cold Maceration" is a simple process (I like simple) where the dry tobacco leaves are soaked in a small amount of PG or VG and then left to soak/steep at room temperature for 4-8 weeks. After this it is filtered several times to remove as many bits as possible (coil gunkers), leaving an amount of natural tobacco concentrate that you use just like any other concentrate. It is reported that 28g of tobacco leaf soaked in 110-130ml would typically yield 80-90ml of concentrate, which should be enough to make 400-500ml of finished e-juice.

Just to test the potential of this process I started by using 37.5g of Old Holborn rolling tobacco (I'll try better tobacco next time), which I placed in a sterilised Kilner jar. I poured in just enough PG to cover the tobacco (as it was quite dry it soaked up more than I expected) and I used about 220ml of PG in the end (I chose PG as it will be easier to filter, but VG is fine also apparently).

I plan to use an unloved Aeropress handheld pressure coffee machine & filters for the filtering process, but you can also buy finer scientific filters from Amazon which will do a better job of removing bits of tobacco from the liquid. I know my initial filtering efforts will be lacklustre, but I tend to rewick my tanks every day or two anyway, so I'm prepared for a very short wick lifespan.

I'm on day 7 of the initial steeping process now and the liquid looks a nice dark colour and it smells fresh and as it should. It will be interesting to see how this pans out. Hopefully @yinyang will jump in and add his comments/experiences here as well (he's using nicer tobacco than me), along with anyone else who is interested in the subject, or has used this or another method to produce NET.
Fingers crossed!

[lobeydosser]

During WW2 many of the larger gardens around here grew their own tobacco.
It is said that after year 3 the tobacco plants adjust to the ground they are growing in and produce first class leaves.

Although it is illegal to sell tobacco in the UK that is grown by yourself, it is legal to buy tobacco seeds and grow your own for your own consumption.

There is much information on this subject on the internet and also where your can buy the seeds.

There is also a lot on drying and curing tobacco.

Between @hondo 's letter and a nicotine testing kit, I see no reason why anyone with the garden space, cannot produce decent nic base for very little expenditure.

[Deleted]

A great idea this thread @hondo
Hopefully some of our more experienced NET members will chip in with hints and tips and tobacco recommendations.

For my tuppence worth, I have had the following macerating for the past 5 days.

50g of whole red and gold Virginia tobacco leaf (cut into small pieces around half an inch square with simple kitchen scissors). This took 280 mls of PG.

25g of Peterson's Founder's Choice pipe tobacco ... This took 100 mls of PG.

20g of Holborn Yellow roll-your-own tobacco (I asked for Old Holborn in Tesco's but apparently they no longer stock it ???) ... This took 110 mls of PG.

After 5 days the PG in each sample is taking on the hoped for darkish colour
Now comes the hard bit ... Waiting for a minimum of 4 weeks before filtration
This is a photo of my efforts so far:
L to R: whole leaf Virginia's, ryo Holborn and pipe tobacco

[Pepperty]

Quite fascinating, I'll be following thread

[Bobsbeer]

How are you going to test the nicotine % in the steeped product? Is there an easily available testing method?

[gill2009]

  I'm looking forward to following this thread 

[Deleted]

Nov 5, 2016 17:41:38 GMT Bobsbeer said:

How are you going to test the nicotine % in the steeped product? Is there an easily available testing method?

Apparently the nicotine content of the extract is negligible ... What you are getting is the flavour of the tobacco in a PG suspension much the same as any flavour concentrate except that this is real tobacco flavour rather than artificial.

There is concern among some that the level of "nasties" in NET is about twice that of most artificial flavours (but still many hundredths those of tobacco).

[monty]

Nov 5, 2016 15:40:50 GMT @hondo said:

After this it is filtered several times to remove as many bits as possible (coil gunkers)

Filtering may help a bit but it is the sugars and some other PG/VG soluble chemicals that cause most of the gunking.

[Bobsbeer]

I wondered if that was the case. Not sure I can bring myself to buy tobacco though. I always look at the que at the tobacco counter as we leave ASDA and think, glad that's not me any more.

[Deleted]

Nov 5, 2016 19:05:52 GMT Bobsbeer said:

I wondered if that was the case. Not sure I can bring myself to buy tobacco though. I always look at the que at the tobacco counter as we leave ASDA and think, glad that's not me any more.

Thank God I've been tobacco free for so long  now that even handling the stuff presented no temptation ... but the smell of a freshly opened pack of tobacco is soooooo nice

[Bobsbeer]

I still like the smell of tobacco and fresh smoke. I have some dried up tobacco in a drawer in our kitchen. 2 years old now and not tempted to roll one, but I like the smell if standing next to someone smoking.

[Perpetua]

What seems like a long time ago now I had a go at following Kev's method here with some tobacco leaves I'd bought on Ebay at the time . . . .

allaboute-cigarettes.proboards.com/thread/12176/steeping-tobacco-leaves-menthol-crystals?page=1&scrollTo=243094

Filtering I found the most time consuming part, an old pair of tights proved to be quite good for straining - the end results were really quite good and authentic tasting . . . . but then I went off of tobacco flavoured eliquid, so never tried it again.  

[lobeydosser]

Before I found out about e-cigs and how they were used, I was Vaping Tobacco.

I bought an Iolite and this has a bowl where you put dried tobacco. This is then heated using the flame of a gas burner. It heats the bowl to 190 degrees C and vaporises the tobacco.

Most folks use the Iolite to vape on Wacky Baccy because they get all the effects without the giveaway Aroma.

It was okay, but I much prefer e-cigs.

[Deleted]

Nov 5, 2016 21:09:03 GMT Perpetua said:

What seems like a long time ago now I had a go at following Kev's method here with some tobacco leaves I'd bought on Ebay at the time . . . .

allaboute-cigarettes.proboards.com/thread/12176/steeping-tobacco-leaves-menthol-crystals?page=1&scrollTo=243094

Filtering I found the most time consuming part, an old pair of tights proved to be quite good for straining - the end results were really quite good and authentic tasting . . . . but then I went off of tobacco flavoured eliquid, so never tried it again.  

That was the thread that kick started my interest Mandy ... Then @hondo linked me to a thread on ECF about cold maceration www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/threads/cold-maceration-of-tobacco.508026/
and it all went from there. 

[Deleted]

If anyone is worried about the increased risk associated with vaping NET eliquid, this article is worth reading:
ecigarettereviewed.com/NET-e-liquid-flavor-vs-added-risk