Cigar Infusion

For those of you who follow MySideOfTheBar, you undoubtedly remember some posts on infusing Alcohol (See Jan 10 – Infused Vodka Part I and August 23 – Infused Vodka Part 2). So it seemed logical for us to attempt infusing cigars. Now infused cigars are no strangers here as Central Patti enjoys them often. One of her favorites is CAO’s Moontrance as well as a Hazel Nut/Coffee cigar.

I started by fresh roasting some coffee beans from Ethiopia. The reason I choose those particular beans is that when roasted properly they are very, very oily and I believe they would be just right for infusing cigars.

I took an empty cigar box and placed two cigars (Graycliff Avelino Lara) the fresh roasted and ground coffee beans and a small bowl of water. The cigars were a light tobacco which I hoped would absorb more flavor than a darker cigar might. The water was to not only assist with humidity, but to also aide in the infusing process. I left the cigars in the box for about 3 weeks checking every few days to make sure the humidity stayed at an optimal level and sprinkle a few drops of water into the grounds to keep activating the coffee in hopes it too would aide in the infusion process.


The result was better than I could have ever had hoped for. The cigar not only absorbed a nice coffee flavor, but also turned the cigar into a milder smoke, something that delighted Central Patti.












I also decided to try to infusing a couple of cigars using some Laphroiag Scotch. I placed two cigars (Villiger 1888’s) into another empty cigar box along with a small bowl of the above Scotch I again infused for about 3 weeks checking every few days making sure the humidity was optimal for infusing. The evidence here was both the cigars and Scotch we gradually becoming darker absorbing from each other.














The final output of the Scotch infused cigars was excellent, however it reminded me of other alcohol infused cigars that I smoked in days gone by. You lose a lot of the alcohol taste and keep the sweet flavors.

So with mixed results I will absolutely have to try cigar infusing again, maybe with flavored coffee and Bourbon next time.

Cheers

Comments

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