Malawi Style Cob Curing.

[idiit]

This analogy between cob making and fine wine making really appeals to me

amen.

it's a great analogy. cannabis is far more sophisticated than wine imo. you only get one high off wine for example.

California did not win any gold medals until they found the right grape varieties. i'm an outdoor grower and as my strains improve for my specific outdoor area my results have dramatically improved as well.

the wine analogy really works for outdoor grows as each season is different just like the wine industry.

the cobs bring in an entire new element into the cannabis scene. pretty exciting stuff imo. the anaerobic cure concept is very interesting.

we need more ppl to come forth and post smoke results.

my crop last year was severely impacted in a very negative way by the continuous dreary, sunless and rainy weather during flowering.

I've got some psychoactive strains going this year just for the cob cure.

 

[Tangwena]

amen.

it's a great analogy. cannabis is far more sophisticated than wine imo. you only get one high off wine for example.

California did not win any gold medals until they found the right grape varieties. i'm an outdoor grower and as my strains improve for my specific outdoor area my results have dramatically improved as well.

the wine analogy really works for outdoor grows as each season is different just like the wine industry.

the cobs bring in an entire new element into the cannabis scene. pretty exciting stuff imo. the anaerobic cure concept is very interesting.

we need more ppl to come forth and post smoke results.

my crop last year was severely impacted in a very negative way by the continuous dreary, sunless and rainy weather during flowering.

I've got some psychoactive strains going this year just for the cob cure.

Hi idiit thanks for your input, I agree the more people trying it with different strains the better. You get one shot per harvest it takes forever to gain experience and thats with one or two strains. For my taste the more psychoactive the strain the better. There are strains out there that blow your mind once cured this way, the more people looking and testing the better for everyone IMO.
Tangwena

 

[Tangwena]

A couple of close ups of Panama jar cured and cob cured both 5 months. Both are very strong but the highs are completely different, you know its Panama but the cobs high is much more urgent and deep.
The jar dried is good if you want to function as in talking to people and working, while the cob is very hard to handle for the first 3 hours and then mellows out to a trippy, happy day.
Both are excellent and I like to have both on hand. The oil I made from the cob is super strong but more narcotic after the initial rush and not to my taste.
All in all i prefer the high of the cob as it lasts all day.


Tangwena

 

[Swamp Thang]

This latest cob un-boxing by Tangwena can be regarded as a repeatable scientific side-by-side potency test that proves beyond any doubt that the cob effect is real and profound.

By curing an identical strain, Panama, using the traditional jar method right alongside the cob method, species-dependent potency is eliminated from the equation, such that by default, the method of cure becomes the primary variable that can be credited with delivering the observed boost in duration and intensity of the high that results after a patient wait.

Being the impatient sort, I tried a joint of my bagseed sativa harvest that had only been vacuum sealed for about a week, yet already, the taste is truly superb, with none of the burnt aftertaste one gets with smoking joints. The clarity of the high was a nice change from what one would expect from the normal combustion of weed.

So I resealed my cobs in vacuum bags, then locked them in waterproof containers I took down to the cool of the swamp, where they will be stashed above the high water mark amid tree roots for a few weeks, before I try another sample.

Since my first cobs have been made with weed that was a bit on the dry side, that did not sweat as much as I would have liked, I figure the cure of my first cobs will take a good bit longer than the standard 3 to 4 weeks.

Hopefully when next I open the vacuum bags, the color will have changed to a nice golden hue, the aroma will be sublime, and the high will send me into low Earth orbit.

 

[Madjag]

Now Tang just needs two or three independent samplers so that the test isn't totally subjective. Let's get together at your house, shall we?

 

[Tangwena]

Well that is a good first impression, the smooth smoking is a good indicator of a cure, the clear effect is also indicative. I hope you get what you are after, but practice will make perfect.
Well done for a first attempt, the members of this forum seem to be killing it with their first attempts, it makes me feel good that people who so enjoy their herb are finding something of use from this method. Cudos to you my friend for trying it.
Tangwena

 

[Tangwena]

Now Tang just needs two or three independent samplers so that the test isn't totally subjective. Let's get together at your house, shall we?

Hi my friend. From your posts I would say your place sounds a lot more appealing Ha ha
Tangwena

 

[KingSkillz]

So do you give it a trim first? Or just knock off the big leaves.

 

[Tangwena]

Hi KS thats a good question, personally I like to leave the sugar leaves on if they are well coated, otherwise i trim it as usual. I try to use the pop corn in one cob primo buds in another so they all cure the same.
There are no hard and fast rules as long as you sweat them and then seal them up to cure.
Once they are cured say 3 to 4 weeks take them out and semi dry them before sealing them up to age. If you dry them too much it slows the cure or stops it altogether.
Once you get into it you will become addicted to every aspect of the plant from growing, harvesting to cureing, it still blows me away after more than 30 years.
Tangwena

 

[onefinity]

You might consider changing the name of this thread to "Race for the Cure"

 

[Tangwena]

You might consider changing the name of this thread to "Race for the Cure"

Hi my friend if I did that I would have to admit to taking the long route, because I cant see the finish line after a life time of trying.
Tangwena

 

[Cannabis Motiva]

Cannabis Motiva I suspect that there might be more going on in the cob process, from a chemical and microbial standpoint, than simply a compressed cure, because while I haven't yet tried cob weed, I have in the past been unfortunate enough to buy and toke on Mexican brick weed during my years living in SoCal, and, with very rare exception, that brick weed had precious little to offer in terms of a decent high, and, it generally tasted absolutely revolting, with a horrid lingering aftertaste.

Malawian cob weed, on the other hand, has earned a reputation for delivering an absolutely devastating TCH payload, whose debilitating effects have been vividly described in this thread by Tangwena, drawing on his memories of his African wanderings, and of course of his own harvests that were processed with a modified cob technique.

Also, the Malawi cob is prepared with a very specific, exacting procedure that only results in potent, tasty results IF the method of preparation is followed in the traditional manner, or in an adaptation of that process such as the one invented and shared here by Tangena. Conversely, the processing of Mexican brick weed is an arbitrary mass-production method characterized by a haphazard chop 'em, bag 'em and tag 'em philosophy whose results vary all over the spectrum of TCH potency and mold content.

Right now I have my very first set of cobs going through the vacuum seal phase of the game. I opened one after about 5 days, and was greeted by a sweet smell of fermentation that reminded me of African-made palm-wine. Sealed and vacuumed it back, and will now let it age for a couple more weeks before I take the plunge into the realm of the cob connoisseur.

I have a question for Tangwena regarding long-term storage of cobs. Would it be ok to leave cobs in the sealed vacuum bags, in the freezer, in the hopes of halting the fermentation process at its optimal stage, for as long as the bag contents are sealed in a vacuum, and kept frozen ?

I'm not talking about the garbage bulk-shipped Mexican schwagg you bought in Cali, where a pound of herb is compressed into a cigarette pack sized block.

You are incorrect to some extent because I'm not talking about that garbage, bulk-shipped Mexican schwagg you bought in California or Texas where a pound of herb is compressed into a cigarette pack sized block and costs $150.

In Southern Mexico they compress & wrap to cure; even their best weed, just like in Malawi. It's a part of the quality curing process that they use in many areas, just like in Malawi. The climate, mold prevention, humidity, etc.. It all plays a factor. In some of the lowlands it's literally impossible to cure outdoors, the hunidity is too high and there's zero air circulation. Bricking & wrapping is the only method to get a cure without getting mold in some locales and they have also perfected it.

I'm familiar with "hacking & packing". I spend a lot of time down there, living in Mexico. Obviously, the bricked-up brown ditchweed that shows up in the US was not properly cured or cared for.

a compress-cured sativa strain I had from Oaxaca has gotten me higher and smelled more pungent than most indoor I've ever smoked in my life, so I'm not denying the ability of this type of cure to produce quality product..

 

[Cannabis Motiva]

I'm not talking about the garbage bulk-shipped Mexican schwagg you bought in Cali, where a pound of herb is compressed into a cigarette pack sized block.

You are incorrect to some extent because I'm not talking about that garbage, bulk-shipped Mexican schwagg you bought in California or Texas where a pound of herb is compressed into a cigarette pack sized block and costs $150.

In Southern Mexico they compress & wrap to cure; even their best weed, just like in Malawi. It's a part of the quality curing process that they use in many areas, just like in Malawi. The climate, mold prevention, humidity, etc.. It all plays a factor. In some of the lowlands it's literally impossible to cure outdoors, the hunidity is too high and there's zero air circulation. Bricking & wrapping is the only method to get a cure without getting mold in some locales and they have also perfected it.

I'm familiar with "hacking & packing". I spend a lot of time down there, living in Mexico. Obviously, the bricked-up brown ditchweed that shows up in the US was not properly cured or cared for.

a compress-cured sativa strain I had from Oaxaca has gotten me higher and smelled more pungent than most indoor I've ever smoked in my life, so I'm not denying the ability of this type of cure to produce quality product..

...and sorry for my sloppy post, i'm on a tablet and had to re-write the first part.

 

[Cannabis Motiva]

Hi CM you are probably right I have never had the bricks from Mexico so I cant compare.
Its getting just the right combination of sweat, and aging that makes a good cob cure.
I am sure the compressing and sealing up for shipment plus the time it spends like that can produce a very good sweat if everything is perfect.
Tangwena

Hey man, Mexicans smoke weed too!

They compress what they're not shipping, too. That's why I said it's not meant to be an insult - everyone assumes Mexican weed is garbage but that's because the only Mexican-grown weed they've smoked is crap that's bulk shipped up to the states.

I guarantee the Malawi cob cure gives a better end result than if you air dried or jar-dried that same exact weed.

Again, thanks for sharing the method

 

[Cannabis Motiva]

By virtue of this highly informative internet forum, weed growers and smokers get to learn tried and tested ideas resulting from decades of experience, eliminating so much of the wasteful trial and error that would otherwise occur along the way, as new growing and harvest curing techniques are developed.

This is for sure.. A LOT of saved time is owed to our ancestor growers!

 

[Tangwena]

Yeah the Portuguese in East and West Africa could get good ganja, In Biera, Mozambique you could get the best of everything, its even better these days I have heard.
Tangwena

 

[Sforza]

Shot of the cob after it spent a few days in a dry, dark, and cool spot drying out after being removed from the banana bark. It lost about .2 oz of water weight or about 6 grams or so.

View Image

After drying and weighing, I sealed it up in a vacuum bag to age and cure.

View Image

Sealed with a kiss.

[YOUTUBEIF]ZvP42bkrhO4[/YOUTUBEIF]

Reporting back on how the cob smokes after curing in a vacuum bag for three and a half months.

Nice spicy aroma. Firm but still has a little moisture in it. Very powerful soaring high. Energizing rather than a down high.

In short, pretty much exactly as expected, based on the other smoke reports posted on this threads after following the methods explained by Tangwena.

 

[hard rain]

I made 3 cobs of Kali Mist which have been about 2 months cure. It's fantastic, much better so far than jar cured of the same age. I started smoking the cobs after a month cure and it was great then.

Just started a cob made with 20 week Ace Malawi.

 

[Tangwena]

I made 3 cobs of Kali Mist which have been about 2 months cure. It's fantastic, much better so far than jar cured of the same age. I started smoking the cobs after a month cure and it was great then.

Just started a cob made with 20 week Ace Malawi.

Ha hard rain I think we will not get that smoke report for a while, Ace Malawi cobbed is another thing all together, it wiped me out like I imagine a shot of heroin laced with lsd would. I was out of it till the next day and most of the time I was laid on my bed trying to control the crazy visions and dream like hallucinations awesomely potent.
Tangwena

 

[Tangwena]

Reporting back on how the cob smokes after curing in a vacuum bag for three and a half months.

Nice spicy aroma. Firm but still has a little moisture in it. Very powerful soaring high. Energizing rather than a down high.

In short, pretty much exactly as expected, based on the other smoke reports posted on this threads after following the methods explained by Tangwena.

Hi sforza nice one man you got the cob really well sweated it was on the cards to be good.
I am in fishing heaven at a place called shark bay in western australia with a heap of cobs and oil to try on the non fishing days. I cant even launch the boat properly when I chew any of the Ace gear i made into cobs so unless i want to end up swimming with the sharks its a no no while out on the water ha ha.
Tangwena