Let's make some Red Queen
Red Queen is a Va/Per and the whole leaf recipe can be found at Red Queen V
This is basically a two day process. First step is strip the stems from the Bright Virginia and Red Virginia.
The Red Virginia had some nice leaves
Red all done
Next the Bright Virginia. When I de-stem I pull from the top of the leaf, one half of the leaf. I pulls apart easily from the top.
Next step is casing. I use a plum casing made from 100g of water mixed to 100g of sugar by weight. I add a capful of white vinegar to invert the sugar and tablespoon of Brewer’s Best Plum extract. I bring that to a boil and let cool.
If pulling fromt the refridgerator I put in the 1oz atomizer and microwave for 10 seconds to heat up. For this recipe both the red and bright Virginia’s are cased with the plum casing.
I basically have the leaves in two trash bags and rotate/flip around while spraying the full ounce and let rest for 24 hours.
next on the list is perique and measure the componets. I find in the 2 foot stainless steel tube with spacers I can make five 150g plugs. So to make 160 plug of Red Queen I need:
- 66g Red Vrigina
- 42g Bright Virginia
- 42g Perique
I measure out the perique and then I unravel the leaves and had rip it up so it will blend better.
After measure and bagging 5 plugs I will makes sure the components are mixed and start stuffing the tube.
I use these cut 3" dowels that are the length of the metal rod in the frame press. Takes 4 of these dowels before the plugs are fully compacted
Once compacted I put a long clamp on to keep compressed and will let sit about a week.
After a week in the press here are the plugs. I'll probably stove them later at some point. Normally I use the small steel tube and stove while pressed.
