Just a cool dark closet; rolled it around about once a week.
The hot part was an 8 hr cook at about 140 degrees in the crock pot.
1 Like
Great, thanks. Canāt wait to hear how it turned out!
1 Like
What is the ratio of tobacco to PG or VG for your maceration? I read somewhere that it is about 1 part tobacco to 2 parts PG or VG. Would that be about right?
3 Likes
Help me out here because Iāve missed a LOT of this thread and too lazy to go back and try to find my answer if itās even here.
Did you ever try any alcohol extraction? My thoughts are to extract using Everclear, cold for about a week to 10 days. Then use a double-boiler method (placing the jar with extraction into a saucepan) and let the alcohol evaporate off till thereās maybe 5-10 ml left. Filter this which would be quite easy compare to PG or VG. Then, when adequately filtered, add some PG to make a 1oz bottle of NET.
Any thoughts or wisdom you can share? I want to extract from thisā¦
4 Likes
My typical ratio is 1oz of tobacco to 150ml of solvent (your choice).
The jars I use (small pimento jars; my wife eats pimentos like thereās no tomorrow) are the perfect size for this maceration ratio. 
But, half pint balls jars would be good vessels as well.
6 Likes
Yup. PGA macerations are my fav, but they are more labor intensive. 
My fav method is heating the PGA to 150 degrees, topping the tobacco with the PGA and then itās off to the cool steep closet for a month (or more).
This extraction is then double filtered through regular coffee filters (20 micron), then double filtered through 2.5 micron filters.
Then the extraction goes into the freezer for āwinterizationā (which precipitates tobacco plant waxes/fats/chlorophyll to the bottom of the vessel). At the final filter process, the vessel is tipped just enough to allow the clear extract to fall; the sludge at the bottom of the vessel is discarded. This process results in a cleaner final product after a final filter (2.5 micron).
Sludge after winterization. ^^^^^
Itās a lot of work, but the flavor is awesome and the coil gunk reduced significantly.
7 Likes
Almost forgot:
The final extract then goes through a (no heat) air evaporation process and is reduced down to 30ml; then the extract is ready to be used in a mix.
10 to 20% extract for a stand alone flavor juice is the norm.
That Da Vinci looks awesome! I love me some Virginia. 
5 Likes
Kinnikinnick, Thank you. Appreciate it.
4 Likes
I must admit I am now hooked on the flavor from these NETs that you turned me on to.I have only tried about 10-12 out of the 60-70 that I purchased thus far.The Gurkha and Man O war cigars and Pete Stokkebye pipe mixes have been my favorites to date.
I hate it that they ,myvapejuice, are no longer in business and wish I knew more about the method of extraction they used.I was told they only used PG/VG for the extraction but the only info I can find is through cached pages as Diane has pulled the web pages down.
I have started putting up some notes on the ones I have tried.
@Kinnikinnick I canāt thank you enough for putting your NET experiments here for us to learn!
4 Likes
Iām glad youāve had a pleasant experience with your MVJ collection. My first NET experience was with Naturally-Extracted-Tobacco.com. A year later, Iām still savoring whatās left of my purchase; itās almost all gone. 
I really wanted to get some of the Blowout Boxes from Diane, but decided to forgo the temptation and just buy tobacco for future extractions.
Once a person starts doing their own extractions, they find what works best for them. Most importantly, thereās really no true right or wrong way to do tobacco extractions, other than using the tried and proven solvents (i.e. PG, VG, PGA or other vapable products such as these). Secondly, no one should be intimidated by the process of tobacco macerations. Itās not that hard. Some processes just take longer than others, but as DIY mixing people know, sometimes it takes time for the product to come to fruition and be tasty!
3 Likes
Just tried my PS Optimum 31 (Blk Cavendish, Burley, Cavendish, Virginia) NET.
You are going to love that Da Vinci! 
The combo Cavendish is what makes this Optimum 31 so friken tasty. 10% extract was all I used in a stand alone mix for it to be stunningly good! It tastes just about identical to the P&C description:
ātopped with a unique mixture of fruit essences and creamy vanilla to create a singular flavor and aroma.ā
However, the fruit and vanilla are in no way overpoweringā¦just a nice hint of it on top of the tobacco flavors.
1 Like
I used to love smoking Da Vinci, thatās for sure. And my family loved when I smoked it.
Did I miss something? I had asked about doing an alcohol extraction in a previous post.
So I decided no sense wondering, letās just do it. So just today I started a maceration with Mac Baren Plumcake. Their description -
Plumcake brings your imagination back to the old times when the sailors filled their pipes with good, satisfying pipe tobacco.
This blend consists of carefully selected Virginia tobaccos in a beautiful ribbon cut, Burleys cut as a ready rubbed, some Original Cavendish and finally to top the blend off, a handful of Latakia is added.
All together the different tobaccos add a perfect taste of natural sweetness and a smokiness coming from the Original Cavendish and of course, the Latakia.
It is a full-bodied blend with offers the natural tobacco taste and on top of these excellent tobaccos we have added some genuine Jamaican Rum.
Youāve heard my impressions of Latakia before. Well Iām not backpeddling. I actually love Latakia, but only in scant amounts. Thatās whatās in Plumcake.
So, the plan. I will slosh, shake and shimmy this (in a tightly sealed jar of course) for the next 2 weeks or so. In the meantime I will acquire a press. Then after the 2 weeks my plan is to place the jar in a saucepan and double-boil on med high until the alcohol is burned off. Since everclear is 95% alcohol, this would leave very little in the way of moisture. So I will add just enough PG to come up to the top of the tobacco in the jar. Let that sit another 2 weeks. Filter and voila.
Does this sound like it will work to you?
2 Likes
You sure? Iāve heard that itās not a good idea to apply that much heat to 95% alcohol. It is extremely flammable. I think the safer route is to let the alcohol evaporate at a slower pace. I think @Kinnikinnick puts it in a bowl of hot rice, or something like that, Iām sure he will correct me if Iām wrong 
2 Likes
Iāve done this a few times with another type extraction without incident. I will do outside on my gas grillās stove burner as usual. If you hear a loud rumble followed by plumes of smoke, it could be me winning the Darwin award! 
4 Likes
Look back 4 posts (157 & 158). That was my (PGA) alcohol extraction process.
Lemme get out of 5 oāclock traffic and Iāll get back with ya.
3 Likes
Just be safe, is all Iām saying. Outside, good! 
Iām 
I know.
3 Likes
Awesome review and tutorial of NETs. I am curious about getting into them w/ tobaccos and Teas. Just need more time. Thanks for the great information and pictures !
4 Likes
Well I guess Iām too dumb to realize PGA was an alcohol based liquid. 
No rush. I suppose all the info I ever need is already here. I just have terminal laziness sometimes.
3 Likes
No worries! 
I assume too much at timesā¦ Should have written out āpure grain alcoholā (PGA) for folks who are not used to some of the NET abbreviation speak.
Anyway, you can reduce your extraction anyway you see fit. I just choose not to add any heat to the process; except at the very beginning when I put heated PGA on the tobacco before the cool closet steep. Does this make for a smoother end product? Who knows? Iām just following in the footsteps of others on some things and blazing my own trail with other things.
Trial and error. I imagine even cave men/women found out over time whether they liked their mammoth steaks rare, medium or well done on their stick!
1 Like
Thanks bud. And I assume to much too thinking every time I see the letters PG it means propylene glycol.
Ok, so I didnāt do any heating. But I can certainly bring this up to 150 easy enough.
What did you think of the rest of my plan?
1 Like